Online Social Network Fundraising

A boy and his bike

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:21:00 +0000

I read this on the Walkathonguide the other day: “A young British schoolboy has raised more than 100,000 pounds ($160,000) Monday for Haiti’s relief effort by cycling round his local park.”

This seven year old boy became a sensation when he asked his mother to help him set up an online fundraising page to help the people of Haiti. He wanted to raise money by doing his own mini bike-a-thon around a local park. As word got out – via Twitter, FaceBook, YouTube, as well as traditional media – donations began pouring in. It's an inspiring story about how a boy and his bike can help those in a time of crisis.

It's also a shining example of how individual-driven fundraising, when combined with the right web 2.0 technology, can spread awareness and be a powerful fundraising force for your cause.

Our DonorPages clients have told me of many examples of individual, supporter driven fundraising. A triathalete who raised over $14,000 for brain aneurysm research, and is seeking to raise $20,000 this year. A kayaker raising $20,000 for medical supplies to be sent to countries that need them. A family hosting their own personal walk-a-thon to raise funds and awareness about SIDS.

Social network fundraising, using personal donor pages along with social media websites, are great for expanding and increasing your official, sponsored events and campaigns for your organization. But the real magic of these tools is how their viral nature can empower anyone to not only be a fundraiser, but a highly-successful fundraiser. Your supporters will reach out for you - just give them the tools!

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I'm looking forward to attending and presenting at some upcoming shows! I'll be in Dallas for the Run Walk Ride Conference on March 3-4, and on March 20, I'll be presenting a workshop at the 14th Annual New Jersey Land Conservation Rally. And of course I'll be at the AFP Conference in Baltimore this April. I hope to see you there!

Social Network Fundraising – Price vs Cost

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 04:00:00 +0000

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.

When Donors become Fundraisers!

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 13:30:00 +0000

The other day, I was talking to Ginny Tocci, a client from the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (BAF). She was relating how BAF uses DonorPages, not only for their own events, but for individual 'activity events', such as when a supporter runs a marathon, and uses DonorPages to raise money for BAF. Two stories stood out:

One BAF donor, a woman related to a victim of brain aneurysm, would occasionally send in small checks, giving what she could. Each donation was perhaps $10-20 each, totaling around $150 for the year. Like many of BAF's supporters, she wanted to do more. So when she heard about DonorPages, and how she could set up her own personal fundraising page, she tried it out. Within a year, this $150 donor became a $5000 a year fundraiser. And since BAF was already using DonorPages for their own events, there really was no extra expense, and very little staff effort required.

The other story was a man who lost a friend to a brain aneurysm. He was running a marathon in honor of his friend, and asked how he could raise money for BAF. Ginny gave him his own DonorPages site, and he reached out to his friends, family and colleagues, who donated over $14,000, supporting his efforts. Most of these donations came online, via his social network fundraising page. And since DonorPages is integrated with DonorPerfect, there was no manual entry of the transactions required. A very important time-saver for Ginny and her small staff at BAF.

Ginny describes DonorPages as a "wonderful tool" that BAF can provide supporters, making it much easier for them to do more and raise more. She intends to more heavily promote the use of DonorPages by individual supporters. The examples given are exceptional ones - not every $150 a year donor will raise $5000 (for a tidy 3,333% revenue increase!). But empowering your supporters with a tool like DonorPages, helping them use the Internet and Web 2.0 technology to do more for your cause, and saving your organization staff time on manual entry and the cost of reaching out to their social network, is a win-win for you and your supporters.

Keys to Change

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 02:06:00 +0000

“The key to change... is to let go of fear.” – Rosanne Cash

There was substantial controversy generated by a recent Seth Godin blog. The author chided the nonprofit community for being slow to embrace online social network media, such as Twitter and Facebook. He asserts, rightfully so, that volunteers and supporters would be happy to help spread the word, but far too may nonprofits are hesitant to tap this resource. According to Mr. Grodin, it's due to a fear of change:

"The only reason not to turn this over to hordes of crowds eager to help you is that it means giving up total control and bureaucracy. Which is scary because it leads to change."

Although I agree with many of the author's points, is it really possible that nonprofits – generally speaking – are afraid of change? The author correctly asserts that change is often the very reason that nonprofits exist. People need help. Animals need shelter. Wrongs need to be righted. Nope, nonprofits are all about change.

So perhaps it's the people running the nonprofits? Are they scared to change? Again, I imagine "change" is a primal motivation for most everyone who works or volunteers at a nonprofit. Many in the nonprofit community are highly motivated, dynamic people who are quite fearless when it comes to doing what's needed for their cause. They're downright impatient for change!

So maybe it's the use of Web 2.0 technology – not everyone is comfortable with social media outlets. Or they're not sure how to use it to advance their cause. Most nonprofits have limited staff and resources, and they need to justify time spent using social media sites with real, measurable fundraising results. Although most social media sites are free, staff time spent developing a presence is not.

This may be closer to the truth of the fear – if it is fear – that causes nonprofits to hesitate. Whether time or money is invested in a fundraising endeavour, nonprofits need to know there will be a real return on investment. Capital campaigns need to deliver more than just online social capital – donations need to be delivered to pay the bills. Development directors are used to delivering those donations, using their hard-won experience and skill. It's a leap of faith to give over some of that responsibility of "making the ask" to supporters, no matter how committed they are.

But the thing is, sites like DonorPages work. They deliver the donations. Or more correctly, they allow your supporters to deliver them. True peer-to-peer online fundraising applications are designed to be fundraising sites, not social media sites. They make it easy for supporters, staff, board members and others to collect online donations on your behalf. DonorPages is a great way to "expand your staff", and give your constituents the tools they need to become an army of effective fundraisers.

Online peer-to-peer fundraising can be the key to unlocking the fundraising potential of your supporters. Make that change, and you'll find that changing the world will be just a little bit easier.

The Mother Teresa Effect

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:15:00 +0000

I've recently read an excellent book called Made to Stick* which quotes Mother Teresa as follows:

"If I look at the mass, I will never act. If I look at the one, I will."

The authors aptly applied the quote to a clever study done by Carnegie Mellon University. After being paid $5.00 for filling out a random survey, test participants were given an envelope and and one of two versions of an appeal letter for Save the Children. Version one featured statistics: 3 million children facing hunger in Malawai, 4 million Angolans forced to flee their homes, and 11 million Ethiopians needing immediate food assistance.

The second letter focused solely on the plight of Rokia, a girl from Mali, Africa. This letter described how the money donated would help feed and educate her, and provide medical care.

The results, though not surprising, were compelling: donations by people who read about Rokia averaged $2.38, vs. $1.14 for the statistics-based version. Similar to Mother Teresa, the participants were moved to a much higher level of action when they saw how they could make a real difference in one person's life, as opposed to a tiny difference in the lives of millions.

Now this is not news to most nonprofits. Regardless of what media is used, telling a story of one person, one animal, one place that benefits from a donation has long been proven to be more effective than broad statistics. But what far too many nonprofits have not embraced is how online social network fundraising is tailor-made to deliver such a personal message, in a way not possible before this decade.

These personal appeals can be made on FaceBook and Twitter – both very effective at raising awareness. But the story that your supporters tell can be diluted or lost completely among all the wall postings, Tweets, and other day-to-day messages on these mass communication sites.

But a story told on DonorPages, or some other dedicated peer-to-peer fundraising web 2.0 based portal, not only retains its emotional power, it also adds the 'voice' of your supporter/fundraiser to the appeal. In that way, your supporter, by virtue of his or her relationship with the page visitor, becomes part of the story. The visitor to the page is there solely because your supporter is their friend, their colleague, their brother, sister, relative, and they read why your supporter is passionate about your cause. They see your supporter's photo. They care because your supporter cares. And they are far more likely to give – and give more – solely because of their affinity for your supporter.

Not surprisingly, some of DonorPages' most successful individual pages are those where the fundraiser has a personal connection to the cause. An illness that's affected their family. A related event that changed their lives. And not every supporter will be eloquent – you may need to guide and encourage your supporter/fundraisers with text they can edit or build on. But in the end, their personal commitment will tell the story of your mission, and how one passionate person can make the difference.

"Painless" Fundraising

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:59:00 +0000

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.

Expanding the Giving Pyramid

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 00:21:00 +0000

There's a well-known concept in fundraising called the Giving Pyramid (also known as the Fundraising Pyramid, or the Campaign Pyramid). For those not familiar, this pyramid is a strategy tool that helps plan how your nonprofit will achieve a fundraising goal.

For instance, in the green area of the pyramid above, a yearly strategy might be based on very large principle gifts and bequests ($100k) from a few donors at the top of the pyramid. Then comes more donors adding major gifts ($5k-$100k), followed by even more annual givers ($100-$5000). At the base are the many occasional givers and event participants – those who give from $10-$100 once or twice a year. The gift levels and supporter labels may change, but the concept does not – to forecast where the money is coming from to meet your goal, segment your potential donors into expected levels of giving, based on giving history.

Generally speaking, the top three tiers of this pyramid require traditional development efforts – calling a donor, meeting with them, sending personal emails, letters or mailings. But with the advent of peer-to-peer online social network fundraising, you have the opportunity to recruit your committed supporters from all levels to work for your cause as surrogate fundraisers. And if you give them the proper tools and guidance you can greatly expand the size and base of your pyramid, as illustrated by the red outer areas of the pyramid.

How so? By giving your existing donors, board members, volunteers and staff access to personal fundraising pages, such as DonorPages, you make it so much easier for them to promote your organization, event and cause to their friends, family and peers. DonorPages provides your supporters with a web URL that they can send to everyone in their email contact list. And, because their web page can collect credit card donations, they don't have to bother with paper checks and cash. These features alone make fundraising for your cause more 'painless', and will increase your results.

But the real power and value of personal, peer-to-peer Web 2.0 online fundraising is this: when your committed supporters tell your story to people who know and trust them, a donation is far more likely to be the result. As covered in a previous post, your supporter is the message. In other words, not only are you training your committed supporters to be fundraisers, but each of your supporters will have anywhere from a few dozen to hundreds of personal contacts, all of whom are much more likely influenced by your supporter than by your organization's website. People give to people more than they give to institutions.

This is no pyramid scheme. It works. So I highly encourage you to give your supporters the tools they need to be true fundraisers, working to fund your cause.

Your Supporter is the Message!

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 22:10:00 +0000

From Wikipedia:

"The medium is the message is a phrase coined by Marshall McLuhan meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in the message, creating a relationship by which the characteristics of the medium influences how the message is perceived."

So according to Mr. McLuhan, if you were reading (or hearing) these very words via newspaper, television, radio, a book, a lecture, email, postal mail, or even a different website, you would perceive and likely respond differently.

This relates to online social networking fundraising how?

FaceBook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 online communities are media. As such, they embed themselves into the messages exchanged by FB'ers and Tweeters. In fact, they actually shape and define the messages, including those from people asking for support for causes or nonprofits. FaceBook's Walls include all kinds of other info, plus ads, links to other users and sites, and comments from friends about anything from sports to politics to family gatherings. And Twitter's 140 character limit has, by necessity, shaped the language Tweeters use. Believe me, I'm not knocking them – I speak as a user and fan of both.

There's a good deal of data now available suggesting that, just because someone forwards a nonprofit-related Tweet or links to a FaceBook Cause, that doesn't necessarily – or even usually – translate into donations. They're both excellent media for getting attention, but too often social capital is all that's donated. In the search-and-click world of online social networks, just passing on the message is often seen as all there is to supporting the cause. That kind of support leads to broader awareness, and not fundraising results.

With a dedicated online peer-to-peer fundraising app like DonorPages, your supporter becomes the message. By making a personal appeal that is the sole focus of their fundraiser page, your supporter can effectively "make the ask" for actual donations, without all the distractions, restrictions and noise of massive social networks. On an individual supporter's dedicated fundraising webpage, your supporter is the message (and not your cause)! And the response is "My friend Bill must really believe in this cause. He took the trouble to make this page, and then email me. I like Bill, so I'm going to support Bill!" And, by extension, your cause.

There's nothing wrong with using the major social media outlets, so long as you understand they effect they have on your supporters ask. But learn from Marshall McLuhan's decades-old insight, and use a dedicated online peer-to-peer fundraising site to get results!

"Everything starts from a dot."

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:12:00 +0000

"Everything starts from a dot. "
- Wassily Kandinsky

Kandinsky, the famous early 20th century artist, believed in the spiritual power of his art. Even a single dot, he believed, has tremendous power. One dot, properly placed, can be the anchor point and beginning of a great work of art.

A single dot also has tremendous power to effect change on behalf of nonprofits. In the social network diagram at left, the single yellow dot represents one supporter of a nonprofit. Black dots are everyone he/she knows – family, friends, colleagues, neighbors. The closer the dots are to your supporter, the closer the relationship. And blue lines are the inter-relationships between your supporter and individuals in his/her social network.

The average individual personally knows a maximum of 150 people (although that number may be higher these days due to FaceBook, Twitter and other Web 2.0 social network sites). That's a lot of dots! Say your yellow dot (supporter) reaches out to his/her black dots (network) using an online social network fundraising site. And let's say merely 1 out of every 10 dots donate (actually, DonorPages averages an 11.7% conversion rate, nearly 4 times the average for nonprofit online conversion rates). Your single yellow dot can make your event or campaign results as valuable and impressive as one of Kandinsky's masterworks!

Now let's switch it up. Say the yellow dot is your nonprofit, and the black dots are supporters, donors, volunteers, board members and others in your database. When your black dots, – yellow dots in their own social networks – reach out to all their black dots, your results increase exponentially! Better yet, when supporter's black dots donate online, you get their contact info. So, they become your black dots as well!

Kandinsky was able to recognize the power of a single dot in his paintings. Hopefully, savvy development directors are connecting the dots as well!

Ridin' the curve to fundraising success!

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:16:00 +0000

There's a minor controversy regarding an April Washington Post article that states FaceBook was "ineffective for fundraising." From the article: The Facebook application Causes, hugely popular among nonprofit organizations seeking to raise money online, has been largely ineffective in its first two years, trailing direct mail, fundraising events and other more traditional methods of soliciting contributions. Comments on the article included proponents of Causes, claiming that exposure on FaceBook more than made up for the lack of donation results. Others argued the opposite.

Why, after two years and hundreds of millions of FaceBook and Twitter views, aren't nonprofits getting better results using social networks? My theory: Although such sites are spectacular successes as social network sites, they are not social network fundraising sites. Like – you guessed it – DonorPages!

Initially launched around the beginning of 2008, DonorPages has seen explosive growth to date. See for yourself in the chart, which shows a powerful upwards growth rate in actual donations. It's easy to see the spikes when our clients run seasonal events. But the real story is the red line – the Regression Curve. This shows how donations via DonorPages are expected to grow, based on the growth rate of the past year. And that past year – August 2008 through July 2009 – was smack in the middle of a severe economic downturn. Imagine the possibilities as the economy continues improving!

Plus, DonorPages, as a true Web 2.0 online application, allows for integration with DonorPerfect fundraising software, adding the benefit of saving time. There's certainly nothing wrong with increasing exposure, but there's everything right about seeing a direct ROI on your efforts.

Online Social Network Fundraising: Hop on Board!

rstrickler@softerware.com (Rob Strickler) — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:06:00 +0000

Ever use a buggy whip?

My lovely wife, Sue, has a horse named Loki. We adopted Loki through the Standardbred Retirement Foundation, an excellent nonprofit that finds homes for retired harness race horses. Sue drives Loki, riding in her wooden cart, using a buggy whip to gently guide him. Though I'm no horseman, I've took a few turns driving Loki, using the buggy whip as taught by Sue.

Although still used by horse enthusiasts, buggy whips are relics, made obsolete by something called an "automobile." When folks first saw these new, loud contraptions lurching along dirt roads, they covered their ears and scoffed at the "horseless carriages." At first dismissed as a luxury and unnecessary, the new technology was, over time, grudgingly accepted. "The new mechanical wagon with the awful name automobile has come to stay..." said The New York Times in 1897. Cars became a necessity, and have gone on to the change the world.

Today, social networks have already changed the world. They've changed our language (tweeted anyone today?), our entertainment (I love LisaNova's videos), and our economics (Linden Dollars, the currency on SecondLife.com, can be used to buy real life items).

And social networks are absolutely changing fundraising. I've seen it first-hand, in the results nonprofits achieve with [Shameless Plug Alert] DonorPages, our online portal that allows nonprofit supporters to create personal fundraiser web pages and make the one-on-one ask by reaching out to their social network. Any person who meets, chats with, friends or tweets one of these supporter/fundraisers is now potentially reached by the nonprofit, with little expense and zero staff hours spent.

Now I'm not saying that more traditional fundraising techniques and strategies are buggy whips. They are still vital to most nonprofit fundraising efforts. But like the automobile, online social network fundraising has gone through it's awkward phase, and now provides very real-world results.

Social network fundraising is very affordable for nonprofits, with a tremendous upside in terms of actual donations and raising awareness for the cause. In this blog, I'll be advocating for greater and better use of this new media by nonprofits. As DonorPages Product Manager, I love working with nonprofits as they use this technology to advance and promote their mission. I'd love to hear your story about how you've used online social media to support the causes you care about.