Online Social Network Fundraising Advice

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The Democratization of Fundraising

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011

During a learning session at the recent NTEN Conference in Washington, I discussed how, due to social media technology, average people have a lot more influence in shaping our world. FaceBook and Twitter have allowed individuals to broadly share images and information instantly. Revolutionary events in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya have been broadcast by individuals on the streets, when network news organization were kept out. Everyday people have become famous through YouTube, and famous people have become infamous (just Google “I got tigerblood” for a recent example).

I referred to this as the Democratization of Media, and made the point that, due to all these new media tools, your constituents have become more valuable than ever to your organization.

These same tools have also democratized fundraising. Small, fledgling organizations can tap into FaceBook and Twitter’s nearly 1 billion users, just like large ones. And those who support nonprofits are more and more becoming “free agents” who have many tools readily available to help them promote any cause they choose. It’s up to each nonprofit to make it easy to choose their cause.

How can you make it easy to do that? If you do nothing else, create a FaceBook page for your organization, then add a posting to it twice a week. Promote your FaceBook page, and ask (or beg) people to Like you. Ask your supporters to post on your page, or visit your page often and comment. This all helps get your organization’s name out in front of potentially 700 million people, or at least the 150 or so that the average FaceBook user connects with.

Now there’s an ongoing debate about whether using social networks alone provides any financial return. So, when you have your supporters using their own personal influence and reaching out to their social networks, give them the tools to close the deal and make the ask themselves, using a friend-to-friend online fundraising tool like DonorPages. When the person making the ask is known and trusted by the donor, and when that known and trusted person communicates their passion for your cause on their own personal fundraising page, the likelihood of a donation goes way up. Plus, the average amounts per donation are likely to double.

The Democratization of Fundraising can be a bit of a brave new world, but that’s what was said about the Internet itself 15 years ago. Can you imagine not having a website today? I encourage you to harness these tools to help your “free agent” fundraisers work their magic for your cause!

Posted in DonorPages, Fundraising & Nonprofit Social Networking, Online Social Network Fundraising, Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, Social Network Fundraising Online | No Comments »

Kitchimeegwetch, Wesley!

Monday, May 17th, 2010

As product manager for DonorPages, I often review the online fundraising pages our clients and their supporters use to raise funds for their causes. While my purpose is to look for ways to improve DonorPages, I’m often moved by the stories people tell about why they support a certain cause, as well as their creativity, passion and energy as they do the good works they do. Here’s a story I found particularly inspiring:

online-fundraising-participant

Wesley gets ready to camp out for Attawapiskat!

True North Aid has a supporter – a young man names Wesley Prankard – who set out to help people in the remote community of Attawapiskat, Ontario. Wes had heard how some people in Attawapiskat were left homeless and living in make-shift tent houses – and that gave him an idea. He decided to spend part of his March school break camping out in a tent to raise money for much needed supplies and shelter for the people living on the reserve. 11-year old Wes, with the help of his family, friends and hundreds of others he inspired to contribute, raised over $5,800.00.

With the help of his father, Wesley reached out using Twitter, Facebook, his dad’s blog and his personal fundraising page on True North Aids’s DonorPages site. As more people heard of his efforts, his camp out in support of Attawapiskat was published in newspapers, and he even found himself interviewed on the local radio station, promoting the cause. Hockey teams donated autographed sticks for raffle prizes, and Air Creebec, upon hearing of his efforts and how well he did, flew him and his parents to Attawapiskat to meet the people he helped, along with all the cargo for the homeless shelter for free – two full truck loads! When he learned he was taking his first real plane ride, Wes commented “Holy smokes!” in his DonorPages blog.

personal-fundraising-page

Wesley's personal fundraising page.

“We are very proud of him.” comments Wesley’s father, Bob. “Needless to say, this has been an amazing journey for Wes. Upon meeting the people he was helping, and spending time with the kids, he’s decided to launch his own organization. An organization of kids in the south who would cooperate with kids in the north to make their communities a better place to live. He wants to help supply playgrounds, recreational centers and sports fields, as well as making youth counseling services more readily accessible.”

Janie Kataquapit, of Attawapiskat, wrote on Wesley’s DonorPages message board: “What an inspiration to see such a young man as yourself taking the lead to help others. Kitchimeegwetch (with much gratitude) on behalf of our community. It has been a long struggle for Attawapiskat, and it only takes one person to make a difference.”

One person, like Wesley Prankard. Wes had an idea about how to help people who need it. He had the commitment and energy to make it happen. Happily, social networking tools like DonorPages, Twitter and FaceBook provided the tools that helped him rally and inspire others to support the cause.

One of the many rewards of my job is to see how ideas like his can help change the world. Sometimes, all a nonprofit organization needs to do is tap into the passion of their supporters, and empower them to do great things.

Kitchimeegwetch, Wesley!

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Posted in DonorPages, Facebook, Fundraising & Nonprofit Social Networking, Online Fundraising, Online Social Network Fundraising, Peer-to-Peer Fundraising, Social Network Fundraising Online, Social Networking & Twitter, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Social Network Fundraising – Price vs. Cost

Saturday, January 2nd, 2010

When talking with smaller nonprofits interested in social network fundraising, the top concern is price. What’s the upfront price? Will we raise enough to cover it? When talking with mid-sized or larger nonprofits, the same questions come in the form of cost. What’s the overall cost, and the cost per donation?

No matter their size, nonprofits need to be able to crunch the numbers and justify funds invested in their online social network efforts. If the numbers don’t add up, or if the nonprofit is not experienced in online event-based fundraising, they may take no action, rather than risk investing the funds, time and effort.

Happily, DonorPages now has an answer that removes any risk. For smaller nonprofits, or for those new to online peer-to-peer fundraising, we now offer DonorPages for the low price of $295 annually, with no set-up fees and a reasonable per transaction rate. For medium and larger sized nonprofits interested in keeping per donation costs low, we offer a very low rate of 2.99% per transaction, along with reasonable set-up and annual fees.

The new low upfront price option allows nonprofits the opportunity to try DonorPages with little financial risk. If they find they are successful, they may well decide to switch to the low per transaction cost model – DonorPages offers clients the opportunity to switch each year to whichever plan makes economic sense.

The true power of DonorPages is that it gives your donors, board members and other constituents the tools they need to easily reach out to friends and family on your behalf. DonorPages has been described as “painless fundraising” because it relieves supporters of making multiple phone calls ,and handling checks and money, and when integrated with DonorPerfect Fundrasing Software, saves time with easy transaction and data import. No matter which pricing option you choose, now is a great time to empower your supporters to become fundraisers.

Posted in Peer-to-Peer Fundraising | No Comments »

"Painless" Fundraising

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

The promise of social network fundraising was that you could set up a FaceBook or Twitter page, tap into the 100′s of millions of Tweeters and Frienders with a link to your website, and watch the donations roll in. But as mentioned in a previous post, the Washington Post reported in April that FaceBook – though good at spreading awareness – was ineffective for fundraising.

But nonprofits are certainly raising funds using the online peer-to-peer ask model. Applications like DonorPages have returned excellent results, especially for clients who guide their supporters with well-planned campaigns and events.

The Ophelia Project & Boys Initiative – Tampa Bay (OPBI) a community initiative focused on girls’ and boys’ issues related to bullying and peer aggression, have just recently completed their very successful Match Challenge, part of their annual fund drive. Using DonorPages, along with DonorPerfect Online, OPBI was able to double their previous year’s total, and even surpass this year’s goal.

How’d they do it? “Painless” fundraising. Cynthia Salas, OPBI’s former Director of Developement, explains:

“We had 48 participants, many having 100′s of personal contacts in their email accounts, fundraising for OPBI with their own DonorPage. Using DonorPages to invite those contacts to donate online was a time-saver – our board members & staff describe DonorPages as ‘painless fundraising.’ They appreciate how it helps them raise both money and awareness towards OPBI’s wonderful mission.”

Note the bold to ‘both money and awareness’, because it’s a key point that DonorPages is designed first and foremost to raise money. But OPBI also made it easy for their constituents by providing reasons for them to follow up with their contacts:

“We planned our campaign using a timeline, so we updated our DonorPages at certain times. For example, we first emphasized the girl’s story, using appropriate colors and photos. Then did the same for the boys. When fundraisers followed-up with contacts, we discovered that DonorPages automatically updated the email groups, removing those who’ve made a donation. That saved us a lot of time deleting those donors, and kept us from bothering people who had already donated.”

You can read the full story here, but what separates general social networking sites from a true Web 2.0 peer-to-peer fundraising application like DonorPages is that it’s not enough to remove the “pain” for your constituents who ask for donations on your behalf. You also have to give them the right tools that help them actually close the deal.

Posted in Online Social Network Fundraising, Peer-to-Peer Fundraising | No Comments »

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