Are You Appealing to the Right Audience?

For-profit companies spend billions of dollars determining who uses their products and hire ad agencies to create the perfect hook. From “hot chicks” to annoyingly perky jingles, it is often times easy to determine who the target audience is. As a nonprofit leader, do you know who your audience is? What are you doing to appeal to your spectrum of donors?

There are a lot of great things about online fundraising, but one of them has to be the ability to change your website’s appearance and the variety of ways that you can target different donors. While product marketing generally focuses on one demographic, nonprofit marketing needs to appeal to a vast amount of people. It’s important to analyze who the majority of your donor base is, how to attract a younger donor to instill future giving, and determine what past campaigns have worked and why.

Huffington Post writer Jessica Prois reported on a new study published by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University, which determined that baby boomers and older women give an incredible 89 percent more of their income to charity than men.

“Women of all demographics are influencing philanthropy in new ways through technology, family foundations and an insider ‘culture’ of giving that includes using groups to fundraise,” comments Prois.

Why is this study pertinent? I think it breaks down several misconceptions that we tend to have towards our donor demographics. Often times, the focus falls on the 35 and under crowd, with the assumption that they are the primary audience on social networking sites and are more skilled at using technology for social change. This study shows that the baby boomer generation is, in fact, just as active in fundraising through social media. Furthermore, while men continue to receive a higher paycheck then women, their female counterparts lead the pack in generosity.

Another important takeaway reveals that nonprofits need to take the time to analyze who is contributing the most to their cause, creating a strategy for future campaigns. While it is important to focus a large percentage of time and money on current donors, it is also important to incorporate opportunities for involvement for any gaps in the giving demographic you may have. Take your donor base into consideration when planning events and promotional graphics. These graphics can also be threaded throughout your campaign and website to draw potential supporters in visually. Check out some website examples that are using color schemes and images to grab attention, appealing to current and potential supporters.

LiveStrong.org is uses crisp graphics and a bold color scheme to appeal to a younger, athletic crowd.

SavetheChildren.org includes powerful close-up pictures of young children that would tug on any mother’s heart strings.


Finally, and most importantly, define and illustrate the personality and image of your organization. Take a look at your employees and leadership team, are they a proper representation for the people you are helping and the donors you are trying to attract? Does your website or giving page portray your organization properly? Knowing who you are attracting and then creating an outreach plan can help you work smarter, not harder with your fundraising efforts.

Feeling Burned Out? Stop, Drop, and Roll

I’ve worked with countless nonprofit leaders over the years and they all have a few things in common: an intense passion, extremely high expectations, and an incomparable work ethic. While these are all extraordinary qualities to possess, these traits can also cause a bad case of burn out. Since being exhausted is never fun (for you or your coworkers), here are some ways to prevent burn out and continue delivering for your cause:

Stop! One of the major causes of burn out is neglecting to take some time for yourself. A seemingly obvious remedy, the act of taking a little “me” time can be hard to accomplish with a long “to do” list weighing on your mind. This can be especially true in philanthropy, education, and child care, where there is a constant focus on meeting the needs of others. When there aren’t enough hours in the day, how in the world do you find time to take a breather from your impending tasks?

The best way to eliminate burn out is to prevent it. Try to set a consistent time of day when you take a walk around your building, synchronize your break time with a fellow coworker to chat, or just stand up and stretch. Do your best to also leave your workday at the office and focus on your family and friends. 95% of what we think is important can wait another day.

Drop! Get rid of what isn’t working. Take time to evaluate your projects, calendar, and events to measure input verses output during your work day. Sometimes our inner control freak comes out, clinging on for dear life – let go and delegate! While it may be easier said than done, trusting others allows you to focus on important aspects of your organization. Every task may feel important, but be sure to take the time to focus your efforts and avoid spreading yourself too thin.

Get rid of unrealistic expectations. As the leader your passion, dedication, and sacrifice will far exceed that of your staff. Though they are dedicated to your cause and organization, your employees may not be willing to put in 60 hours a week without overtime. Furthermore, not every supporter will attend every function, read every e-mail, or fund every project. It is a great feat to find qualified staff willing to work for and partner with your mission and monumental to have a donor show their support for your cause in any capacity.

Roll … with the punches. Some of the best leaders surround themselves with a trusted group of advisors who can handle problems when things don’t go as planned. Most of the time, supporters and volunteers won’t see a small hiccup in an otherwise flawless event or campaign. As cliché as the old saying is, “expect the best but plan for the worst.” Something is bound to go wrong when you are planning a major direct mail campaign, annual event, or important presentation. Do want you can to solve the problem and then let go. Holding on to a list of past problems or failures fuels burnout and distracts your focus.

Being flexible is also important as new fundraising trends spring up. Don’t stress about what you do or don’t know about online fundraising, social media, or phone apps. Build a strong support system of other nonprofit leaders that can provide encouragement and share valuable resources. Find out what works for them, what online resources they use, and what trends they tend to follow. Meeting with others who know what you are going through can be the best way to bring fresh ideas to the table and prevent you from spiraling out of control towards a sever case of burn out!

What Do Shark Week and Fundraising Have in Common?

This week marks the 25^th anniversary of the Discovery Channel’s ever-popular Shark Week! Here at Fundly, we too fall victim to shark mania, the annual celebration highlighting some of nature’s most captivating predators. From the first time I saw the movie Jaws to the many times I’ve watched the movie Deep Blue Sea on television, I love the suspense and action that these thrillers bring. I still have second thoughts about entering into the ocean!

What in the world does Shark Week have to do with online fundraising? Keep reading for some takeaways from these fascinating sea creatures…

1)      Prevent  your donors from feeling like prey – The shark fin in the water from Jaws and eerie music (da-nuh, da-nuh), sets the tone for sharks in popular culture. It gives the viewer a sense of feeling like they are being hunted (I’m coming for you!).  How do your donors view you? Continually asking for donations, rather than truly connecting with people who are supporting your cause, can often times cause them to lose interest. Listening to comments and ideas goes a long way towards building trust between your organization and donors. Timely thank you’s, sharing of milestones and progress, and discussion about topics beyond your cause can also do wonders as you create lasting relationships with your supporters. Don’t be a fin and the water hunting for donations, show your face and tell your story to allow people to approach your cause in a positive way!

2)      Don’t stay in one place, migrate! – Great white sharks travel thousands of miles to keep their bellies full, from the coastline to the deep waters of the ocean. As the weather changes and different species migrate, the shark explores different paths to avoid depleting one source of food and to find other means of surviving. Nonprofits can learn a valuable lesson from this: don’t spend the entire year feeding on the same limited resources. As a nonprofit leader, it is important to be mindful of your donors so they do not burn out and become extinct. Building a fundraising strategy that includes several types of donors and fundraising avenues will allow your nonprofit to sustain itself throughout the year. Look for new places to fish –  like social networks, community mixers, or public events.

3)      Getting “chummy” with your donors – We’ve all seen divers throw in buckets of fish parts into the water to attract sharks with the enticing scent of blood penetrating the water. To catch a larger shark with a fishing rod, the bigger pieces of bait need more hooks in them to hold heavier sharks.  The same is true when you are looking to attract higher end donors. What type of bait are you putting on the line? Consider advertising, press releases, public relations, tax write-offs, and volunteerism to build community as part of their benefits. You also may want to honor individuals at annual events, create a major donor plaque to display in your front office, or highlight levels of giving in your annual report or quarterly newsletter. Even the simplest of thank you on social media can go a long way to help keep them on the line.

Here a few more key lessons from Shark Week:

• Start a feeding frenzy.
• Keep moving.
• Sometimes it helps to hunt in packs.
• Trust your instincts to stay afloat.

5 More Top Nonprofit Leaders to Follow

In the last post, we highlighted five of our favorite nonprofit leaders that we find the most informative, innovative, and applicable for the nonprofit community. Here are five more useful blogs and nonprofit leaders to follow. (Please note that the list is in no particular order. Each expert brings something different to the table and they are all awesome!)

5)      Jeff Brooks: @JeffBrooks Seattle, WA; Blog: Future Fundraising Now
Brooks is great at finding current statistics, articles, and relevant blog posts, conveniently summing them up in one quaint package. His site is a treasure trove of information that varies from creating captivating content to syncing your online and offline fundraising strategies. When I read his posts, I want to print them and use them as checklists for future campaigns – they’re that good.

6)      Beth Kanter: @Kanter San Francisco, CA; Blog: Beth’s Blog
Heartfelt, real, and done right; these are the first words that come to mind when describing Kanter’s work. She has gorgeous pictures, compelling graphics, concise bullet points, and excellent content. From inspiring personal stories about her adopted children from Cambodia, to using social media to attract high level donors, you can’t help but walk away from her blog feeling refreshed and ready to make the world a better place.

7)      Pam Moore: @PamMktgNut Tampa, FL; Blog: Pam Marketing Nut

Scrolling down the list of Pam’s past posts, you can’t help but say to yourself “I could really use that info!”  Her posts are often times organized into lists, making them easy and quick to read, while providing useful information. She continually provides great ideas on how to maximize your nonprofit’s use of social media and content marketing  You don’t have to be a marketing expert, Moore’s fun and informative blog provides the tips and advice you need to develop and maintain a winning strategy. (And it’s always entertaining when social media guru “Granny” stops by for a guest blog post!)

     Heather Mansfield: @nonprofitorgs Springfield, MO; Blog: Nonprofit Tech 2.0

In the world of ever-changing technology, sometimes trying to keep up can result in my brain turning to mush. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all of the trends in the nonprofit world – a feeling that can easily get exacerbated when you add the the rapid growth of technology into the mix. It can be confusing attempting to apply the traditional ways of fundraising to the new platforms of social networking, but Mansfield easily incorporates online resources into any fundraising campaign. She uploads a plethora of samples, stories, and strategies that can benefit organizations regardless of their size or budget.

9)      Debra Askanase: @askdebra Boston, MA; Blog: Community Organizer 2.0

Askanase addresses social media, marketing, and fundraising with intelligence and practicality that is thought-provoking and clearly stated. Topics often times focus on content curation and social media strategizing, giving nonprofits tips on how to optimize their story and resources to make the most out of their online presence. She brings a fresh perspective and new resources to the table.

10)      Seth Godin: @ThisIsSethsBlog Hastings-on-Hudson, New York; Blog: Seth Godin’s Blog

Godin’s blog is completely random (in a good way) and is the equivalent of trekking up the hill to ask advice from a meditative monk. Some days he focuses on technology, other days fundraising, and yet many times he simply  provides a commentary on life. That’s probably why I like it – there are only so many articles you can read about content, what time of day to post on social media, and how to redesign your website. Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Godin balances thoughtfulness and pensive remarks with the business of philanthropy.

5 Fundraising Lessons Learned from the 2012 Olympics

Like many people across the world, at one time or another over the past two weeks my television has displayed visions of uneven bars, Speedos, and track shoes. From pride to disappointment to empathy, my emotions have soared and ached with those competing and the stories attached to each athlete. There are some great lessons to take away from those representing the nations of the world in the London 2012 Olympic Games:

1)      Success doesn’t come overnight. The majority of athletes competing have been training since they were around ten years old and will spend a minimum of $50,000 to get to the Olympics. While many are born with natural talent, they still need to be honed, refined, and strengthened to reach the global arena.

Nonprofits may not necessarily be training to compete, but they still should not expect instant success in the fundraising world. Other than causes helping natural disasters, rarely does a charity have money to pour into the initial stages of planning. It takes time to find people with a similar passion and to build trust with donors willing to contribute.

2)      Stories foster connections. The 2012 Summer Olympic Games seem to be chock full of touching stories of athletes overcoming stacked odds. From South African runner Oscar Pistorius and his triumph of qualifying to participate in the games as a double amputee, to Gabrielle Douglas becoming the first African-American to win an individual women’s gymnastics gold medal. This is truly a year that inspires everyone to overcome whatever hurdles they may come up against.

The use of athletes’ stories to entice viewers is an extremely valuable lesson for nonprofits: it’s the biographies and story lines that touch hearts. I’m not a big fan of track and field, but I was riveted to my screen to watch Pistorius compete and I cheered him on with the rest of the world. The stories that you tell about your organization are the best ways to recruit people to your cause and allow them to become an invested supporter in the long run.

3)      We’re all on the same team. Before the games began, a majority of Olympians that marched across the field at the opening ceremonies had yet to become household names. However, it really didn’t matter. The audience inevitably becomes attached to athletes that relate to their interests, whether it be because of interest in a particular sport or an attachment of pride in fellow countrymen.

As a nonprofit looking to get more donors, how are you relating to your donors? Educational and environmental issues draw in parents because the future of children is at stake. Cancer foundations tend to touch millions because so many have seen loved ones fight this common enemy. What common thread can you find that ties in your cause to individuals?

4)      Strike while the iron is hot. It has been said that, as the Olympian with the most medals in history, Michael Phelps has the potential to earn $100 million in endorsements. From Head & Shoulders shampoo to Subway sandwiches, we haven’t seen the last of this stellar swimmer.

While the Olympics lasts only two short weeks, Phelps knows that now is the time to rake in the cash before it all becomes a memory. Nonprofits should do the same. If there is a news story pertaining to your cause, emphasize why your services are needed. If you just had a successful banquet, keep the momentum going by thanking your guests and scheduling meetings with larger donors. Resting on past accomplishments will delay future ones.

5)      It’s not always a 400 meter dash. Running an organization is often a marathon, not a race. Conserve your energy, get knowledgeable people to coach you, and refuel when needed. It’s like the old cliché says: play smarter, not harder. When you have the right skills and tools at your disposal, you can accomplish more in less time. For example, using social media networks to share your cause and fundraising efforts will help you reach out to thousands of potential donors unlike any other platform.

Fundly Spotlight: The Ultimate Recycling Project

We’ve all been on camping trips or visited state parks where nature seems to call and we really don’t want to pick up the phone. Unfortunately, there is no voicemail for these situations so we muster up the courage to march up to a fly infested outhouse, take one last breath of fresh air, quickly take care of business, and bathe in Purell afterwards.

While this is an occasional inconvenience for most of us, it is a way of life for much of the world. Now imagine taking this necessary function and converting it into a sustainable way to create fertilizer to improve farming practices in countries that are impoverished. That’s exactly what Fundly customer Ecofinder Kenya is doing with the money they have raised through online fundraising.

Mike Skuja, founder of the Center for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE), realized that by supplying families with an Eco-San toilet the long term benefits to the community can be monumental. At a cost of only $950, “these toilets provide an easy and low-maintenance way to convert human waste to fertilizer through a chemical process of mixing the waste with ash, which, after several months can be safely used on cropland” explains Skuja. “These toilets are more sanitary than the existing pit latrines since they prevent the waste from seeping into the ground and contaminating the water table. Additionally, when combined with environmental education, these toilets help prevent human-wildlife conflict since more productive lands reduce the need for farmers to encroach on fertile wetlands territory, home to hippos and rare birds.”

When Skuja decided to create a Fundly page his goal was to raise $950 for the Otieno family who live on the shores of Lake Victoriain Kenya. Currently he has raised $956 with the help of 20 supporters and 21 donors. Skuja comments, “We have now raised the full amount, and are in the process of transferring the funds to Kenya to get the construction started. We will keep our donors and supporters updated as the construction of the toilet continues.”

What tips would Skuja give to other Fundly users?

• Add a Video to Tell Your Story - “We think that a compelling video is very useful. We felt that it was important for potential donors to be able to see the Lake Victoria area, and hear from a member of the Otieno Family herself.”
• Make it Simple – “It is important to give clear, non-technical explanations of what the campaign is about, and why it is worthy of support.”
• Vary Your Giving Levels – “It is important to have a wide range of giving levels. Our donations for this campaign ranged from $.50 to $200, but we were glad to have the support of our donors at all levels.”
• Use Your Inner Circle – “Value your inner circle. In our experience, it was these people who really understood the mission of the organization, and the potential of the project. While we were able to draw in others – including some funders who had never heard of CREE – it was this inner circle that donated early and actively publicized this campaign through their own networks.”
• It’s All About Marketing – “We utilized three primary marketing channels: direct outreach, Facebook, and Twitter. We sent personalized emails to existing supporters of CREE and of the Dunga Wetlands Project… We posted on the CREE Facebook page 11 times from June 10 to July 18. In this way, we were able to galvanize a few supporters who had, up until that time, been more passive, as well as to give the CREE supporter-base updates about a current initiative in Kenya.We used Twitter as a way to attract potential supporters who might not already know about CREE’s work. We used very intentional use of hashtags and other Twitter mechanisms to try to land on the radar of people who were interested in sanitation or human-wildlife conflict, but were not yet aware of the work of CREE. Over the course of this short campaign, we tweeted a total of nine times.”

A big thank you to Mike and Ecofinder Kenya for sharing their tips!

What Nonprofits Can Learn from Entrepreneurs

While the definition of entrepreneur is “an enterprising individual who builds capital through risk and/or initiative,” I consider many nonprofit leaders to be a type of entrepreneur who sacrifices the known to reap a harvest of the betterment of humanity. Risk and initiative are certainly characteristics of every philanthropic leader that I know, and the investment that they commit to a cause surpasses any dollar amount a checkbook can hold. However, there are a few things that nonprofit leaders can learn from successful entrepreneurs; after all, business acumen is the crux upon which social good can be performed.

Is There a Market for Your Product?

While most nonprofits aren’t selling a product in the traditional sense, they are selling their ideals, their burden for a cause, and methods for solving a problem. First of all, does the community you are seeking to help in fact want your help? As a nonprofit, focus on who your clientele is and who is willing to support your vision both financially and with manpower. What demographic are you appealing to? Consider what methods you can pursue to get more donors on board. Check the water before you dive into new projects or change the direction of your course. If you’re passionate about keeping the ocean clean, Arkansas might not be the best place to locate your charity. If you want to keep the tradition of folk music alive, Brooklyn may not provide an audience for your concerts.

Don’t Be Too Specific

I have a friend who has tried for three years to start a business with a product in a saturated market, he can’t make it as cheaply as the competitors, he has no experience in that field, and it is so specific appeals to maybe 2% of the population. Look around you: how many other causes in a 100 mile radius are addressing the same issue you are? Do you have a pool of potential donors to financially support a new project? Review the resumes of your board. Do you have a variety of expertise and advisors to create a successful outcome? Do you have a broad and relatable cause that people will want to be a part of? You may want to save the endangered four-spotted gerbil found on the eastern border of the Sudan, but it may be hard to get the masses to rally around you. Instead consider promoting the preservation of endangered animals in the Sudan emphasizing the cause and effect of the loss of these animals. How will this devastation impact your donors directly?

On the flip side, are you standing out from the crowd with a specific enough goal? Of course we all want a great education for our kids, but consider addressing an issue that others aren’t such as providing updated computer labs for inner city youth or making sure every school in your district has an after school tutoring program. Specify a reason why your nonprofit is different from the others and how you are catering to a need that others aren’t.

Do Your Homework

Count the cost before you invest your time, money, heart, and future into your nonprofit or a future project that you want to pursue. Find a mentor or advisor that can critically look at what you are trying to achieve, someone who can give you the honest truth about whether it is attainable, how to survive long term, and what you need to have in place before you get going. The most important part: take their advice! Learn from their mistakes so you won’t have to make your own and study their successes to map out yours.

Part of doing your homework should also include getting your website and online fundraising site up and running smoothly. Before asking people for donations, ensure that information on your organization’s website and social media profiles is up to date. If they are inspired to give, you want to make it as easy as possible and strike while the iron is hot. Once the moment has passed, it may not come back! Use cold hard facts and numbers to explain the need, detail how you plan on chiseling the problem down, and share how supporters can partner with you. For larger supporters, create a packet including the previously mentioned information plus a budget, business plan, and your credentials. The foundation you build upon today will greatly impact the results you have for tomorrow.

Fundraising News Roundup: Educational Institutions See Fundraising Success

So far, 2012 has been a good year for fundraising at educational institutions around the country. Many have set new goals, while others have shattered records with the help of social networking. Whether it’s to support operations, aid students in obtaining school supplies and learning materials, or to help colleagues in need, schools and colleges have been raising money like never before. Here’s a roundup of some of the week’s developments:

Urban Montessori: Urban Montessori, the nation’s first public Montessori, Design Thinking and Arts Integration school, is looking for donations to help pay for materials not covered by state funds, and the school’s leaders have taken to Fundly.com to garner support. The school needs classroom furniture, library books and supplies for art, design and music projects. With a deadline of August 1, Urban Montessori is already more than halfway to its $50,000 goal.

University of Wisconsin: Biomedical engineering students with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Standing Paraplegic Operating Room Device Group have kicked off a Fundly campaign to raise money for a project they hope will have far-reaching benefits. In 2010, Dr. Garrett Cuppels, an orthopedic surgeon, suffered a spinal injury that left him paralyzed from the waist down. The Madison team is hoping to raise $10,000 to help fund a new device that will not only help Dr. Cuppels return to his work at the operating table, but will help paraplegics around the country to gain increased mobility.

University of Southern Mississippi: Fundraising records for all previous years were shattered recently when the University of Southern Mississippi announced that it had raised $20.3 million during the 2012 fiscal year, the Hattiesburg American reported. While alumni donations and gifts from foundations registered in the millions of dollars, USM’s Vice President for Advancement told the source that the real outstanding success of the fundraising campaign was the $435,000 raised through independent student and faculty efforts.

Jefferson School City Center: Located in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, the Jefferson School City Center will be the new home of several different groups dedicated to health and education. One of those groups, Common Ground Healing Arts, hosted a unique fundraising event to raise money to complete its therapeutic health facility: a sit-a-thon. The non-profit’s organizers enlisted the help of friends and colleagues in their fundraising efforts, according to C-Ville, Charlottesville’s news and arts magazine.

Oakland Public School Board: Over in California, the Oakland Public School system is gearing up for election season, but not the one most people are thinking of. Four seats have opened up on the local school board, and Great Oakland Public Schools is looking for $10,000 to help fund the candidates it supports. The Fundly campaign has so far raised more than half its goal.

Fundraising for the Arts: Recently, Agnes Gund, president emeritus of the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art, challenged her peers in the arts community to improve their online and social fundraising initiatives to keep up with fundraising in other sectors, reported Nonproftit Quarterly. Speaking to attendees at the Crain’s Arts and Culture Breakfast, she said: “We are late adapters of social media, of the interactive ways of dealing that are now common among the young,” according to the source.

Ideas for Fundraising to Put Some Heat Behind Summer Donations

Summer is undoubtedly one of the slowest times of year for fundraising; between expensive vacations and the distractions of having the kids home from school, many organizations struggle to have the same fundraising success that they find throughout most of the year. Here are some ways to conquer those summertime blues using online fundraising.

DO keep your social media schedule

Just because your donors may be slowing down a bit in the heat of summer doesn’t mean that you should. Keep posting your blogs, writing on Facebook, and sending out Tweets. Many people are taking time off of work which means that they are spending more time on their computer reading e-mails and commenting back on social networking sites.

If you don’t have a schedule in place yet for your online activity, create one. At least once a week consider posting a story or update on Facebook and a few times a week create Tweets about an interesting statistic or news story pertaining to your cause. You may also want to send out an e-newsletter quarterly.

DON’T neglect your donor relationships

As I’ve said, many people take vacation days off during the summer months to spend with their kids. This is the perfect chance to nurture a partnership with your supporters or potential donors through creating family activities. Plan a picnic, volunteer day, concert in the park, art fair, or any other event that can include the whole family. Long-term donations are built on relationships and involving children is an investment in your organization’s future.

Many teenagers these days also have Facebook accounts and e-mails and would love to hear from you. When they volunteer or attend a fun event, they really feel like they are a part of your organization’s community.

One more idea on this point: kids are bored during summer and parents are looking for ways to get them out of the house. Maybe a day camp, art lessons, or painting your offices could bridge this gap. Kids love to feel important and involved in making a difference. They also love to brag about what they’ve done. Imagine the publicity online and through texting that one teenager could contribute (plus you’ll make a ton of donor parents happy and invested in your organization.)

DO plan for the future

Depending on your type of organization, work may be a little slow right now. If you are an after school program, you probably have the summer off. Homeless shelters also have less clientele in the warm weather. This is the opportune time to plan for those busy holiday months. Research what other organizations have done by using Google searches, posting questions on LinkedIn, or conducting an online poll using Facebook. How can you get the most bang for your buck with holiday fundraising? What marketing tools can you fabricate now so that you won’t be rushed during your busy season?

You may also want to compile data pertinent to your charity through conducting A/B testing. Basically, create two different campaigns with singular varying factors to determine which gets the better response. After this initial mailer or web traffic, you assess which got the better result and go that route for future campaigns.
These slower months are a great time to do the things you wish you could the rest of the year including analysis, brainstorming, and data collection.

DON’T stop learning about online fundraising

It seems like every day there is something new to be learned on the internet. Why not play around on your social networking sites or check out some tutorials on YouTube? Look up video seminars on fundraising that you may have missed or browse through popular fundraising websites such as mashable.com, thefundraisingauthority.com, and charitystar.org. Online fundraising seems to be an ever evolving platform and there are hundreds of new ideas out there to try. Every campaign is an experiment to see what works for your specific group of donors. Who couldn’t use new ideas?

What Online Fundraisers Can Learn From Online Dating

What do online fundraising and online dating have in common? Each requires you to set up a profile to pique interest of someone on the other side of the computer screen. Both require continual maintenance and interaction to reach the desired result. And, ultimately, both seek to foster an ongoing relationship between two parties. You are, at the end of the day, courting donors for your cause. Okay, call me crazy, but here are some great tips to follow:

What is special, unique, distinctive, or impressive about your organization?

For every basic cause or need, there are dozens of charities to address it. It’s easy to find hundreds of homeless shelters, PTA groups, political candidates, and medical research foundations out there. What makes yours stand apart from the rest? You may want to share that you are the only shelter in your area that has housing for families to board together. Maybe you have a project that was highlighted on the local news for reducing youth crime rates in your city. You might even be the only foundation researching the cause and prevention of a certain pediatric disease.  Think about what you do that no one else does.

Additionally, consider boasting about the longevity of your nonprofit, the vast number of people who have been helped, or an award or accolade that you have won. Ponder successes that have set you apart and prove that your organization is strong and necessary.

What is the single most compelling reason you can give a person to be interested in you?

In this fast paced world of information overload, you need to convey as much information as you can in a concise way. I’m sure you can write a page of reasons why people should donate to your charity, but create a hook that grabs your potential supporter to encourage them to keep on reading. Your reason should be urgent, attainable, and thought provoking and contain one or two sentences.

What would happen if your cause didn’t exist? Why should readers take an interest in your cause above others? On your website or donation site, I would write a sentence about the most compelling reason why people should give to your cause in bold letters at the top of the page followed by about 10 facts, figures, and statistics backing up why something has to be done to solve these critical problems.  How will people be affected if the problem isn’t solved? How will the donor directly be affected if something isn’t done? The best reason to give is when the problem hits home.

Don’t forget to run spell-check. 

If you have misspelled words in your profile, it tells the world that you just don’t care about what you’re doing. Have several people proof read your webpage, e-newsletters, or direct mail campaigns and be sure to double check your Facebook posts. A misspelled word portrays that you are sloppy or uneducated. Also, click on your links to ensure that your donors are going to the correct website.

Do respond to the e-mails that you get. 

If you were walking down the street and someone said hello, you’d probably say hello back. It’s the same protocol online. One great thing about social media is that you can contact people through posts and messaging saving about half of the time it would take to speak with someone directly. On the down side, it means that you have more people contacting you so the time that you may be conserving is negated.

However, if someone e-mails you, asks a question on your Facebook wall, or gives you a compliment on Twitter, you should try your hardest to acknowledge their comments in a timely manner. Just as social etiquette dictates that you call back someone or send a thank you note for a gift, so does social media etiquette suggest that interaction is not only polite, but creates a stronger bond to your donor. Of course you may have to delegate this task to someone else and pick and choose which things to respond to, but even a simple line of gratitude makes a big difference.

Who are you attracting?

What does your website say about you and what kind of donors are responding to it? If your suggested giving amounts are too high, you’re probably turning off lower end donors. If your pictures are only of a certain race, sex, or age, you’re potentially leaving out a large population of supporters.

What is the call to action that you are looking for? Certain times of year and different projects that come up have varied needs. If you are looking for volunteers, reflect that on your webpage. Are you collecting school supplies for underprivileged kids? Use this theme to design your newsletter. Are most of your donors older? Create a campaign that’s primary focus is to get supporters from the next generation.  Mix it up so that you have a broad base of partners joined with you in reaching your goals.

For both online fundraising and online dating, the purpose basically boils down to creating the best advertisement you can when someone is seeing the product on a one dimensional page. You need to generate interest, stand apart, and show your best qualities for an outcome of commitment.

3 Ways to Keep Your Donors’ Attention on Facebook

Facebook can be a lot like your elementary school game of dodge ball: you step into the game and all of a sudden you have a ton of things thrown at you. You run, you duck, you block, and you have no idea who hit you. Maybe you’ll focus in on a specific ball and catch it and throw out a ball or two of your own, but when you walk away everything just seems to be a blur. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite so dramatic (or maybe I had a troubled childhood), but it’s clear that it can be hard to stand out in a sea of posts on Facebook. Here are some ideas that may help you to catch your donors’ attention and better participate in the game.

Have Purpose

Whether you are on Facebook for personal reasons or professional reasons, we are all looking to get something out of it. It’s called a “social networking” site for a reason – your donors follow you to get updates, affirmation, information, and feedback. Are you meeting your donors’ expectations with your posts? As any investor in a stock feels part ownership in the business, so do committed supporters feel invested in the organization they financially contribute to. Create posts that update on current projects, affirm that dollars are needed, give information to show that you are making a difference, and respond to comments and posts with feedback of your own. Though donations may be the ultimate goal, people want to feel included rather than like an atm. Invest in their lives and they will invest in yours.

Make It Personal

As I was perusing through my Facebook home page I was looking at the organizations I have supported long term and realized that most are related to a personal attachment. When a natural disaster happens or someone asks for a contribution at a storefront, I may throw a couple of bucks their way but it is never ongoing. When I am asked for a donation from one of the organizations I support, I inadvertently think of the person I know who works there, their passion and integrity, and I am thrilled to be a part of something so important.

It’s vital to have your personality come across in your posts to remind your Facebook friends that you are an accessible, relatable human being. Isn’t that what advertising is all about: the human touch? So many brands and companies use celebrity endorsements to reach out to the consumers. As a nonprofit leader, you are the bridge to your “product” which is buying into your vision.

Switch It Up

You may post once a day, twice a day or even a couple of times a week. However, sometimes when you feel pressure to write something, your mind may go blank. Mix things up with these reader engaging ideas:

• Take a picture of your daily life – upload a view from your office and say “Excited to see what today will bring!” and you can mention a project that you are working on. Show the simple activities that go on in which you are helping others.
• Try taking a poll. If you are a symphony you could ask, “In a future concert, would you like us to highlight pieces from popular musical theatre, traditional classical composers, or upcoming new artists?” You may also want to write open ended questions so your donors can fill in the blank with a one word or short answer comment. “The main reason I support your after school program is to __________________.”
• As an expert in your field, sharing your knowledge can also be helpful depending on your cause. One pastor I work with sends out a 100 word daily devotional. An organization I help that promotes family unity sends out a weekly parenting tip. My sister is a teacher and the principal at her school posts the link to his biweekly blog.

Facebook is necessary for online fundraising and relating to our donors. Once you create a game plan and accumulate an arsenal of tools to use this platform, you may be surprised at the outcome.

Social Media for Nonprofits Best Practices: Gain Online Support for Your Charity Beyond Donations

Soliciting donations is the basis of fundraising, but creating a network of supporters is the avenue to this goal. How can you increase your online exposure to potential donors?

Online fundraising efforts are usually focused on that little donation button that is highlighted on our website, but creating traffic to the site is just as important. If people don’t know you’re out there, or what your organization is about, there is little driving them to give.

Sree Sreenivasan touches on this in Using Social Media to Bring Attention to Nonprofits, discussing the importance of having your donors promote your organization to their friends on various social networking platforms. Sreenivasan writes, “Sending money, of course, remains the single most important way to support nonprofits. But social-media users have learned that you can also have an impact by paying with something else. Attention — your own attention and your friends’ attention.” He goes on to add “hitting ‘Like’ or ‘Share’ or retweeting a post from a nonprofit can bring awareness to new circles of users — and potential supporters. And nonprofits big and small are finding ways to harness the energy of their fans to get more awareness to everything they do.”

How can you get more attention online?

 

Flipping through the channels, there seems to be trends emerging among many television news stations: at the end of every program they comment “Like us on Facebook.” They are asking their viewers to take action and join their brand page while also inadvertently advertising to their social network. Many supporters are focused on socializing on Facebook and probably haven’t considered “liking” your nonprofit or “sharing” your post with their friends. Bottom line: ask. Depending on your charity, marketing buzz words are a good place to start.

A few examples: Please like us on Facebook…

• … to share with your friends the importance giving children a brighter future.  
• … to help us feed 10,000 hungry people this holiday season
• … to bring awareness to the hundreds of homeless animals that desperately need a healing touch.

You can also encourage your donors on Twitter to retweet your comments, therefore introducing their followers to your organization.

Something Worth Sharing

 

Another way to empower donors to share your comments and posts with others is to produce engaging content. Utilize the incredible statistics about your cause and share them in new ways to inform your followers. Find a heartwarming story that will pull at supporters’ emotional side. Explain how a new law or candidate is going to impact your organization and encourage supporters to rally for your cause. Post any media coverage that highlights your organization. Reinvent content to keep it interesting, relevant, and causes a reaction to bring interaction.

Make Your Post an Invitation

 

There is one organization that I work with that had a great idea: they created a beautiful invitation for an upcoming event and posted it on Facebook. Several of my friends have “shared” it so it has popped up on my home page about four or five times with comments of support from the person who forwarded it. I get about ten pretty pictures with sappy sayings each day, why not use a great picture of your organization’s work with a call to action written below?

Finally, on your Fundly webpage your donors can make a financial contribution or just show their Facebook and Twitter friends that they support your cause. We make it simple so that even the most inexperienced computer user can spread the word on your behalf. Social media fundraising reaches its potential when it has a domino effect to touch countless possible supporters.

You Ask, We Answer! Getting Donors Involved with Social Media

We are getting asked some great questions from nonprofit leaders pertaining to online fundraising during our weekly Tweet Ups. Here are the expanded answers that will hopefully help with your social media fundraising goals.

Q: When sharing my story with potential donors, which works better: videos or pictures?
 
A: Both are great tools. Video can often captivate donors with a greater connection through music, voices, images, and words. It can give more depth to a story, show your personality, and create a stronger emotional pull. While having a professionally made video is great, it is also costly and time consuming. Depending on your cause and the size of the organization, an amateur piece that is interesting and sincere can be just as effective. (Consider the immense number of videos on YouTube.) On Fundly we have a broad spectrum of videos that are uploaded to fundraising pages which range from kids raising money for their schools to large organizations raising tens of thousands of dollars for their cause. While not every visitor to the page clicks on the play button, I’ve never known of a promotional video that hinders donations.

With that said, pictures are also extremely important for that reason: not everyone has the time or interest to watch a promo video. I believe that having some images are a must to grab attention and create a stronger emotional tie. Fundraising is about creating relationships and knowing who you are giving to, both the organization and the patron of the charity, which allows the donor to form a touchstone of who they are helping. In this fast paced and visual society, you need to grab attention and get your point across the fastest way you can.

Q: What is the best avenue to get people involved with my cause? Social networks, email, or street teams?
 
A: Email is definitely one of the most effective ways to communicate with supporters and has the capacity for the most information. Think about how you compiled your e-mail list in the first place; it was probably through an interest that a person had in your cause and gave a donation, volunteered, or filled out an information card at an event. With e-mails, you are communicating with people who care about your mission which is half the battle!

Social networks are also valuable for getting people involved with your cause. It casts a broader net than e-mails alone. While e-mails are reaching specific people you know, networking sites can advertise your cause to friends of your supporters therefore attracting potential donors.

Q: I have recently decided to run for office, what is the best way to jump start my fundraising campaign?

A: Tell your story, why you’re running, reach out to everyone you know, and encourage them to create personal fundraising pages. The best way for a candidate to get support is word of mouth. Generate interest on social networking sites and have your voters “Like” you on Facebook or tweet about your campaign. Advertise events, where to get signage, or how to volunteer using Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail.

Q: What do you find more effective: suggested giving levels or open donation forms?

A: Utilize both! Suggested levels help donors determine need and make the process easier, open forms give more freedom. Generically speaking, I would take the average donation amount and start a giving level at 50% of that amount then work up accordingly. For example, if the average gift was $50 I would increment the giving levels at $25, $50, $100, $150, and $200. I would also certainly leave a space for whatever the person could give emphasizing that no gift is too small. I would also consider the project that the donations are being used for and the supporters which you are including in your campaign. If you are raising money for school supplies for 100 kids, you wouldn’t necessarily ask for $200. If you are sending letters to your top donors to sponsor a new wing to your building, $200 is a miniscule amount. You may also want to use the formula that if 10% of your donors give to your project, how much would that average out per person and work from there.

Q: We are throwing a school fundraiser, is there a way to get students involved?
 
A: Getting students involved is always a good idea.  Encourage them to create personal fundraising pages and set goals! What grandparent could resist little Johnny in a video asking in a squeaky voice “Could you please donate to my school’s library so we can have some new books?”  (Check out this post for a great example used on Fundly.) Also, what kid doesn’t love a little friendly competition? You could have a contest and give a prize to the kid with the best video. You could have each class create a webpage and post how much each has raised. You could send e-mails to the parents to get them on board. Take a ton of pictures and post them online to keep the momentum going and to have inspiration for next year’s fundraiser. The possibilities are endless!

Due to the Fourth of July we will not be having our Tweet up this week. However, if you have a question about online fundraising that you want to ask one of our Fundly professionals, we would love to hear from you for our next Tweet Up! Please leave a question in the comment section below or follow #fundraisingtips on Twitter every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.

Recruiting Volunteers Through Social Media

It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to run a nonprofit. While many for-profit companies focus mainly on marketing and perfecting a product, it often times feels as though nonprofits are running two “businesses”. One side of their organization includes the day-to-day business operations that all companies have to oversee to ensure smooth operation. On the other side, they have a second list of management duties pertaining to fundraising and addressing the purpose of their cause with its countless projects. Garnering volunteers through social media is one way non-profits can juggle these additional tasks, while having supporters invest in the future of their organization. Here are some ways to recruit individuals to donate their time and talents using online tools.

Ask!

 

This may seem terribly obvious, but many people would be willing to help if they only knew what the need was. Create a wish list/job list of what you need done in your organization and post it on your website.
For example, if you have an event or big campaign coming up, analyze every essential aspect and list specific jobs that need to be completed, how long the tasks will take, and how many people will be required to get the work done. Once you post your plea for volunteers on your website, Facebook, and Twitter, provide the necessary steps to sign up online. Construct an easy-to-use form specifying day/time options and what task they would like to work on along with the basic contact information.

Know Where to Look

 

Sometimes just knowing where to look can make all the difference. There are several companies, students, and other organizations looking for volunteer opportunities. Many large businesses offer a day off for community work to provide team building skills. High school seniors have a required number of volunteer hours that they need to complete in order to graduate. Connect with a high school counselor or vice principal and ask if you can leave forms for students to contact you to complete their volunteer hours. Countless college students are looking for internships for job skills and experience to put on their resumes.

Organizations like the Girl Scouts or church youth groups want to reach out and get participants more involved in their communities.

There are also increasing numbers of online resources available to find individuals or organizations around you that may want to partner with you on a project. Check out websites such as Idealist.org, Volunteermatch.org, Sparked.com and Mediacause.org to get matched up with volunteers on short-term projects or for long-term commitments. The possibilities are endless!

Making Volunteering a Positive Experience

 

Organization is the key to any successful project. You want your volunteers to walk away with a better understanding of what your nonprofit is doing, how you are doing it, and that you are accomplishing your goals. This may be the first or only time that those who also give financial support step in to your building to see what goes on first hand, so it can have a huge impact on future support. Being organized by having all of the supplies ready, having a neat and clean work space, and carefully using your volunteers’ time by not having them wait around is fundamental to showing that you are professional and considerate.

Secondly, record your volunteers’ experiences through interviews and pictures to post in a follow up e-mail, blog, Facebook post, or next year’s volunteer recruiting push. It will bring back fond memories for those who were involved, while also encouraging others to participate in the future.

Show Your Appreciation

 

The best way to ensure that your volunteers will come back is to show your gratitude. Provide refreshments, have a director greet and thank your guests, give a tour of your facility, and send an old fashioned, hand written thank you note. Of course the depth of your appreciation correlates with the amount of work done, the time dedicated to the task, and the skill level required, but every job deserves a thank you. Your supporter should walk away feeling needed and that their time was well-spent making a difference.

Online fundraising can have many difference faces and finding volunteers is just one aspect. Volunteers can save you money, be encouraged to financially donate, and can be ambassadors for your nonprofit to their friends. What is free has the potential to be priceless!

You Ask, We Answer: Social Media and Fundraising

Fundly is excited to continue our weekly live Q&A on Twitter every Wednesday! We are getting some great questions and would like to expand on some of our answers. After all, there is only so much information you can give in 140 characters.

Q: How do I use social media to promote our fundraising efforts?

A: There are a ton of ways to use social media in your fundraising strategies. Consider sharing upcoming events on Facebook and adding little teasers about where it will be held, who your guest speaker will be, what project it will be benefitting, and pictures of last year’s event. You can also update the progress on a goal that you were fundraising for and display before and after pictures. Consider sharing a story about how your organization made an impact on one of your client’s lives.
Social media is also the perfect avenue for showing your appreciation to donors who contributed to your cause; it’s a fun way to highlight a people that have volunteered with your organization, advertise to others using social networking, or reach out to some of the respected people who support your cause. Finally, online resources can cast a huge net to acquire volunteers that can donate time and skills. Specify what you need and you’ll be amazed at the responses.

Q: Does online fundraising replace offline?

A: Not necessarily. Online fundraising can be effective in reaching out to existing donors with easy ways to give, while cultivating new ones. The variety of donors that you have probably varies by age, education, income, and involvement. Older donors may prefer receiving a letter in the mail, other donors may like to get a monthly e-mail, and still others just want to give a yearly gift or leave a bequest. Simply put, you need to meet your donors where they’re at. Just as one type of bait doesn’t appeal to all species of fish, the same applies to motivating your donors to give. To maintain relevance and to reach more donors, online fundraising and utilizing social networks are musts. You’ll stay connected to more donors and find potential ones in more effective and cost efficient ways than if you limited yourself to one avenue of fundraising. There is still much weight to be attributed to the personal touch of handwritten thank you notes, phone calls, and event fundraising.

Q: Should my organization’s social networks be focused on fundraising efforts?

A: Utilize social media tools to share stories and the impact of your organization is having on others, celebrate milestones, and to foster community. Let’s face it: no one wants to be constantly asked for money. Every Facebook post and Tweet doesn’t have to be an appeal, but it is a great way to stay in the forefront of your donors’ minds. Fundraising is a process which includes proving that there is a need, earning a person’s trust, and then showing appreciation. Online resources can successfully meet each of these steps. You may not be actually “fundraising” by asking for donations with every post, but you will be sowing seeds for a future harvest. Building a community online will integrate fundraising into an overall strategy of rallying supporters around your cause.

Do you have a question about online fundraising that you want to ask one of our Fundly professionals? Follow #fundraisingtips on Twitter every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. We look forward to helping you create successful online fundraising campaigns to promote your cause. If you won’t be able to attend the Q&A, leave your question in the comment section below and look for it in the recap next week!

You Ask, We Answer!

Fundly held its first Twitter Q&A this past Wednesday and we were excited to hear from some of our clients as well as other nonprofit leaders. While you are striving to make the world a better place, our goal is to make online fundraising as simple and successful as possible for you. Here were some question highlights and expanded answers from our session for those of you who may have missed it.

Q: How do we set a realistic fundraising goal that will appeal to donors?

 

A: First of all, start by tallying the number of current supporters on email and social media, then average response rate and donation size. For an example, a 2% email response rate would be great, while social media is usually less. The average donation on Fundly is $94.

Using these numbers, if you have 10,000 supporter emails and have been in regular contact with this group, applying the 2% conversion rate will give you 200 donors at an average donation size of $94 equalling $18,800. With this basic formula you can set an achieveable goal that won’t turn off your donors and will provide you with a reasonable number for cost projections.

Q: Which social media site do you recommend when trying to connect with potential donors?

 

A: Utilize network(s) where your followers are active and engaged. Don’t forget that email is one of the most effective ways to reach supporters and be sure to include that in your fundraising strategy along with social media promotion.

Generally speaking, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn are the most popular social media sites. Facebook has over 800 million users and half of them log on daily. Twitter has more than 140 million users and generates over 340 million Tweets daily. Google+ is gaining momentum and claims that 170 million people have upgraded to their social media tool.  LinkedIn has more than 131 million members which is up 63% from 2010.These are the four biggest social media networks, however it is important to know where your supporters tend to be the most active and engaged.  A small amount of research could save time and energy and maximize your campaign’s potential to reach the most donors.

Q: We have a donation button on our website and aren’t seeing as many donations as we’d like. Any recommendations?

 

A: Fundraisers are usually more successful when you have a defined timeline. There is no “magic” number, but several weeks give people a sense of urgency to give.

I would also take into account donation button placement – is it easy to find? Be sure to highlight the button and ensure that your donation process is easy to use.  If it takes too much time to figure out or upload, you’re going to lose donors.

Finally, what else do you have on your webpage? Be sure to include success stories, inspiring pictures, and examples of where your donors’ dollars are going to. Advertise current projects that you are working on that will explain to donors how their contribution will make a difference.

Do you have a question about online fundraising that you want to ask one of our Fundly professionals? Follow #fundraisingtips on Twitter every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. Pacific time. We look forward to helping you create successful online fundraising campaigns to promote your cause. If you won’t be able to attend the Q&A, leave your question in the comment section below and look for it in the recap next week!

In the TechKnow

For anyone who has been in the nonprofit world for any length of time, you probably are familiar with the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) and the vision, connections, and education they bring to the philanthropic world. With over 50 years of experience working in the charitable fundraising realm, they have stayed abreast of the difference strategies and technological advancements that have changed the landscape of how we garner dollars to promote a cause. At the beginning of this week, the AFP put on its first annual AFP TechKnow Conference in Orlando, FL and has proven to be a forerunner in strategic planning combined with social networking.

At the core of the TechKnow conference is the idea that fundraisers should know what tech tools are available to them without using complex jargon. In this world of instant messaging, a tangled web of social network contacts, and a new language of communication comprised of 140 characters or less, fundraising has more opportunities than ever before. Without the basic knowledge of current media forums, these opportunities can be major obstacles in reaching donors and supporters. At the TechKnow conference, these barriers were torn down with informative presentations, interactive workshops, and in-the-know exhibitors.

With social media being at the hub of the varying topics presented at the conference, the many speakers brought valuable insights to the sessions such as Laura Howe, Vice President, Public Relations for the American Red Cross and her discussion on case studies using social media success in fundraising and reputation management. International fundraising consultant Adrian Sargeant, Ph.D. focused on donor retention using technological strategies. Other topics included donor engagement, collaboration, and taking your social media strategies to the next level. The event closed with Apple Co-founder Steve Wozniak, his “vision for tomorrow”, and his challenge to nonprofit leaders: “Once you know something is possible, you can do it!”

Were you not able to get away to attend this extraordinary event? Obviously technology can come to your aid. Check out their website, http://www.afptechknow.org, for links to their Facebook page, to read up on Tweets posted from the conference, and to download valuable handouts that were distributed at select presentations. Online fundraising is a huge asset to any nonprofit organization. While this new cyber world can be intimidating and complex, there are great resources out there to help you tackle this medium to reach your fundraising goals.

Meeting Your Donors Where They’re At

A couple of weeks ago I went to my niece’s birthday party and had an interesting conversation with her grandfather. He was planning on attending a Crab Feed that I was organizing at our church and we were discussing the amount of money that came in last year verses the amount of guests who attended. He thought the giving rather low and I thought it was adequate for the level of guests that attended. In non-profit fundraising, different causes attract a certain group of people and you have to meet them where they’re at.
So far on my resume I’ve been a teacher then I entered the nonprofit world working at a homeless shelter, church and symphony. I’ve learned that in each of these fields, fundraising and the donors they attract are just as vast as the categories themselves.

Education Fundraising

Education fundraising attracts generous grandparents and family members who are usually hit up once or twice a year with jog-a-thon sponsorships, cookie dough sales and catalogs with overpriced candles and wrapping paper. These fundraisers tend to be fairly successful as prizes of cheap toys and gadgets are dangled before the eyes of sticky fingered, wide-eyed children; and what doting grandma or uncle can say “no” to little Susie when she says “Would you like to buy something to help my school?” (Currently I’ve consumed three out of five Girl Scout cookie boxes in two weeks with this approach and have two tubs of cookie dough from another niece stocked in my freezer… too bad the treats don’t come with “sucker” stickers for my forehead.)

Now I’m not saying to toss these ideas away, but my sister came up with a great idea to avoid overpaying for unwanted clutter and calories: she asks what percentage of the item actually goes to the school and then she gives a certain amount to compensate. For example, my niece sells wreaths to go to winter camp every year. It costs about $25 for a small wreath but regardless of the size, $5 goes into her account. I’d rather give her $10 and forego tossing the wreath in the trash when it dies. With Fundly she could even start her own website, e-mail friends and family members with her sales pitch and then give them the option to help with a purchase or direct donation.

School fundraisers are a great way for students to compete for and earn what their school needs, but a Fundly site would also be an ideal way to earn dollars year round. It would be perfect for a library building program, acquiring new playground equipment or buying updated textbooks. Friends and family members could get a letter or e-mail from the student and when they log on, they can see how close the school is to approaching their goal. No extra calories, no overpriced clutter, no juggling checks and cash in flimsy envelopes and all the money goes to the cause and not unwanted products.

Humanitarian Fundraising

This is one of my personal favorite areas of fundraising: homeless shelters, food banks and recovery programs. With the economy in its current state, more and more people are reaching out for help and the generosity of our communities is incredible as they are stepping up to help their fellow man. Sometimes I think that this is also one of the easier areas of fundraising because of the compassion factor: who isn’t moved by a picture of a family huddled in the cold or a before and after picture of a man caught in the grips of despair then miraculously transformed into finding hope and a future?

When I worked at a shelter, I had the privilege of being the Special Events Coordinator and I organized golf tournaments, annual banquets, Christmas gift giveaways and school supply drives. While most of our funding came through monthly direct mail campaigns, the connection with the volunteers and banquet guests kept the dollars rolling in. Currently they are incorporating more online fundraising options such as evites, e-mail campaigns and e-newsletters. I remember the budget for thousands of mailers was outrageous and I can’t imagine the savings that the internet is bringing. (However, I must also add that about 20% of the donors were elderly who prefer the traditional mailers and return envelopes. Compartmentalize your donors and focus on what works for each age group and giving level.)

Church Fundraisers

I’ve been at the same church since I was 13 years old and in those 23 years since, I think I’ve helped out and participated in just about every type of ministry with events ranging from car washes to banquets to craft fairs to building programs. From the perspectives of a child, teen, adult and parent, I’ve seen more than my share of fundraising opportunities.

Now with the church going crowd, there’s an easy side and a difficult side to garnering funds. First of all, there are moral and spiritual obligations to give… that’s the “easy” part. The difficult part is that these donors are already contributing and in a church environment they are continually asked to give more: the opportunities include tithing, missions, maybe a building program or special family in need. Then there are outside ministries such as crisis centers, inner city outreaches or clothing drives that tap into the same church-going crowd. (Now this is where this post started: the grandfather I was talking to couldn’t comprehend why people weren’t being more generous. My argument was that the guests that were attending our event were already generous and this was just an additional cause to support.)

In churches, I think that social media is a greatly underused resource. The church is already an established community and Facebook is just a visual extension of that family. When I opened my Facebook account, within two weeks I had 86 friends and 90% are from church!

So far I’ve started fundraising websites for a golf tournament and have two pending with a recovery ministry and outreach to veterans. Fundly is great for these projects because while the funding will be funneled through the church, each ministry can have its separate site to post future events, how close they are to their financial goals and they can share their mission with the friends on Facebook. Also, the cost is minimal so the funds go directly to the task at hand with little to no time, man power and effort invested.

Fundraising for the Arts

When I started working at a symphony, the dichotomy of fundraising really hit me. I was used to the homeless shelter food donations, creating something out of nothing and an entirely different clientele. Then at this creative office an expanse of Juilliard graduates, prodigies, business moguls and wealthy retired philanthropists paraded through the doors. I worked in the development department and helped with events such as food and wine tastings, concerts in private homes and an annual grand ball. Just as the causes had completely different goals, so did the donors who contributed.

While many of these supporters aided both the arts and humanitarian causes, the acknowledgement and expectations that they required from the nonprofits they contributed to were entirely different. The motivation seemed to range between moral obligations to social prestige. Petitioning for funds also required a new thought process: to attract the wealthier donors’ attention, it took a refined touch of wining and dining accompanied by bells and whistles. They had seen it all and heard it all and usually earned their money through fine business acumen; if anything less was presented, the ask was left on the table.

While relationships are the basis for any size gift, the bigger asks and more powerful donors require more in depth one-on-one attention and nurturing. However, incorporating social media is a great way to open the door to any donor. Showing a sample artists’ work, advertising events and ticket sales and petitioning funds for future projects are all perfect things to display on a fundraising page. By using Fundly, donors can also have their giving posted on Facebook to encourage their friends to join their efforts.

With every cause there are a variety of donors that come with it. Furthermore, within your donors it is important to categorize giving levels, the most effective ways of communication and the best angles to get them involved. From direct mail campaigns to online giving, the most valuable way to reach your donors is by knowing who they are.

Ghost Donors: Now You See Them, Now You Don’t

Every non-profit has ”Ghost Donors.” You know, those people who gave a onetime gift or once gave every month and then mysteriously you never hear from them again. Just imagine if you could regain every Ghost Donor. Okay, I’m not making any promises, but here are a few things you might want to try to make them reappear.

1)     Have a one-time gift campaign – People are scared of commitment and with the holidays just around the corner, now is the perfect time to plan a onetime gift campaign. “Provide one Thanksgiving dinner for $5.” “Bring one toy to your local community center.” “Give $20 to show your candidate support this Christmas.”

2)     Economy woes – Who hasn’t been effected by this roller coaster stock market and real estate crisis? Many people are taking a cut in pay or aren’t bringing in a profit like they used to. Use different levels of giving to accommodate these setbacks. Maybe your $50 a month donor can give $20 instead. Emphasize that every cent counts; it’s not the size of the gift but the act of giving itself that keeps your organization running.

3)     Be specific where the funds will go – Your supporters are sacrificing to give to your cause, so they want to know that the funds are being used wisely and frugally. Also, different direct mail campaigns appeal to different donors. If you are a homeless shelter, maybe one donor family is passionate about getting school supplies into the hands of children while another family has a heart for providing warm clothes. You might want to do specific fundraising campaigns for various needs your charity is compelled to fill.

4)     Appreciation – With Halloween just around the corner, don’t you want to give an extra handful of candy to the kid who says please and thank you and makes eye contact? Show genuine appreciation and results from your donors’ generous gifts. Make a call that is just to say thank you. Send Christmas cards to say “You made a difference.” If you only contact your donors to make an ask, when they see you coming they’ll run the other way.

5)     Keep them updated – Social media is a great way to let people know what you’re doing, what projects you are working on and what help you need. Make your posts short, sweet and to the point. Your donors will feel connected and online giving is the quickest, most convenient way to give – you’ve got to strike while the iron’s hot.

No one can survive in a haunted house full of ghost donors, so get creative to make these apparitions magically reappear. But, make sure you are using the best social fundraising tools to help you better find, engage, and retain all of your donors.

Fundraising Tips: Reaching Out to Younger Donors

It is vital to any charity to have a broad donor base. The more diverse your support base is, the more people you will be able to reach.

On Linkedin.com, Holly Hall explores this issue and gives examples of how two charities are reaching out to donors in their 20’s to 40’s. The Salvation Army and the New World Symphony have created strategies to incorporate programs to tie in younger donors.

Halls explains that, “In December the Salvation Army, with support from Universal Studios, held a free concert for teenagers in Los Angeles called ‘Rock the Red Kettle.’ The concert, which featured seven bands and tried to make the iconic fund-raising kettle more hip, drew about 2,000 young people. Another 18,000 watched it online… The concert was a success even though it raised only about $5,000 from attendees, says Major George Hood, the Army’s national community-relations secretary.

“It was not a significant amount, but every kid who watched it will not be able to walk past a red kettle and not put something in,” Hood said. “The whole purpose was to expose young people to the Salvation Army in an environment they enjoy.”

The New World Symphony also is creating concerts accessible to the younger crowd. Among their outreach program are $2.50 half hour concerts, free concerts in the park, fellowships for young musicians and a “friends group” which allows young donors to participate in concerts designed for them.

Another proven successful strategy is the implementation of technology and social media. What 20-something doesn’t stay connected to the world through e-mail, Facebook and texting? Keeping up with technology trends, such as utilizing social fundraising tools  is one of the most successful and easiest ways to reach and engage a younger and influential set of donors.