Coalition for Social Fundraising launches Website and holds Inaugural Meeting

Fundraising executives from Harvard College, Boston College, Harvard Business School, Fundly, United Negro College Fund, University of Massachusetts, and other top non-profit, education, and political organizations attended the inaugural meeting of the Coalition for Social Fundraising, a group dedicated to promoting the development and distribution of social and peer-to-peer fundraising strategies and best practices.

The first meeting of the Coalition for Social Fundraising was held on November 15th at the Harvard Club of Boston. The participants discussed best practices in social and peer-to-peer fundraising.  Some lessons shared by the participants include:

• Peer-to-peer fundraising allows organizations to expand and engage their donor networks even in tough economic times.
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• Those schools, political campaigns and non-profits that have leveraged their supporters’ peer-to-peer social networks for smaller but organically solicited donations have grown their Annual Funds in each of the last 3 years, set political fundraising records, and expanded their volunteer base; bucking the trend among fundraising institutions nationwide.
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• For peer-to-peer fundraising to be successful it should encourage volunteer fundraisers to draw on their own experiences to craft a personal solicitation messages.
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• Peer-to-peer fundraising is particularly successful to drive an increase in immediate use donations.
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• Social fundraising strategies are powerful tools to increase alumni engagement.
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About The Coalition for Social Fundraising

The Coalition for Social Fundraising’s primary goal is to provide a platform for members to share best practices and promote the use of Social and peer-to-peer fundraising strategies. The organization also aims to provide input to vendors working develop better tools to support the social fundraising process.  The group will host bi-annual member conferences. In between meetings, peer-to-peer discussions will be ongoing through a new, dedicated website that launched at the conference.

Interested to Join?

The Coalition for Social Fundraising is open to anyone with an interest in integrating social media and social networking technologies as part of their fundraising strategy. The CSF is free to join and new members can register at the website: http://www.coalitionforsocialfundraising.org.