Getting Kids Involved in Online Fundraising

There are many reasons why kids should be involved in online fundraising: 1) They probably know how to use the internet and social media better than most adults. 2) It develops compassion and social responsibility towards helping others. 3) It gives them pride and a feeling of achievement when they work towards a project and succeed. 4) It allows them to hone their skills and develop maturity and responsibility. 5) It is an investment of their time beyond video games, television viewing, or hours of texting. Here are some ways to get kids involved in helping a cause through online fundraising:

Choose the Right Cause

It’s so much easier to reach a goal when you are passionate about the cause. Look online for different organizations that address a spectrum of issues (charitynavigator.org is a good place to start), research websites of organizations that focus on their topic of interest, or schedule summer field trips to local ones that touch your child’s heart – such as feeding the homeless or visiting a recycling center. For long distance topics such as preserving the rainforest or providing fresh water to remote villages, have your child write a list or report to show why these causes are important. Not only will they learn more about the outside world, but it will help clear the cobwebs out of their brain during the long summer months.

Take Action

Most local organizations are always open to having volunteers, even kids. Sorting library books, ushering at community concerts or theatrical presentations, or picking up litter at local parks are easy ways for kids and teenagers to make a difference in their community.

Creating an online fundraising page is another way to raise funds and awareness for their project and help reach their philanthropic goals. On Fundly we have created easy to set up fundraising pages for any cause to reach any financial goal. We have many campaigns spearheaded by kids (with the help and consent of their parents) to raise money for schools and animal shelters or to help other children who are battling illnesses.
Online fundraising also gives kids the opportunity to get friends and family involved in something they care about. They can tell others the location and time where they are selling lemonade or having a car wash to raise money for their project, ask for donations for a book drive, or even ask others to start their own fundraising pages to reach their friends. The possibilities are open for a child’s creativity.

The Finish Line

While fundraising can be fun and foster motivation, be sure to have a clear end in sight – either a deadline or a financial goal. If a fundraiser lasts too long, they could lose interest or it may turn them off of participating in future efforts.

A finish line also allows for a celebration when a goal is met. Just as school fundraisers have a prize catalog, it’s important for kids who are fundraising independently to have a celebratory act to acknowledge their efforts. Call ahead to your local charity to meet with one of the directors to have your child personally deliver the money. This will give him or her a sense of importance. Send an e-mail from your child to the participants thanking them for their support and donations along with a report of the total dollars earned to teach your child to appreciate the help given. Consider taking pictures of the volunteer day or your child counting the donations and posting it on your Facebook wall to show how proud you are. It’s important to end on a high note to encourage future giving.

Nonprofits know that the future of their organizations is based on relationships built today. For an organization to stay alive and continue meeting the needs of clientele, it is important to touch the next generation of givers. Teaching our children today will build a stronger 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.

Fundly Helps Raise Over $250,000,000!

When Fundly was created four years ago, it was with the idea that social media networking was on the verge of exploding and that a tool was needed to harness this potential to raise funding for social good.  Now, with clients ranging from established nonprofits, to smaller accounts helping individuals fighting illnesses, to political candidates, Fundly has crossed the $250,000,000 mark and has aided more than 25,000 clients in creating online fundraising pages.

“Fundly’s mission is to help more people give more, and we are delighted with our success to-date in advancing that mission,” commented co-founder and CEO of Fundly, Dave Boyce. “We are amazed and inspired every day by the generosity and commitment of Fundly’s customers and those who support their campaigns in such heartfelt and innovative ways.”

As the world’s #1 crowdfunding for social good platform, we strive to consistently create a quality product that is simple to set up and is easy for donors to give regardless of the size of the organization or fundraiser. Habitat for Humanity has launched more than 650 fundraising campaigns on Fundly’s platform with thousands of volunteer fundraisers raising more than $1.5 million to-date for building Habitat houses on four continents. Teach for America has also successfully incorporated Fundly into their fundraising strategy in 20 regions nation-wide to raise more than $400,000 to-date with the goal of partnering with professionals to ensure that all kids have access to an excellent education.

Social media can be intimidating for many nonprofit leaders as a new platform for fundraising and a medium for donor communication. With a staff of exceptional businessmen, software technicians, and systems operators ranging in backgrounds from Oracle to Google, this team has thoughtfully designed a free platform for nonprofits, politicians, and individuals alike to access the unlimited number of donors that can be reached through Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and other social networking sites. Not only is a Fundly webpage easy to set-up, but biweekly blogs are posted to provide a plethora of fundraising tips and there is a weekly Tweet Up for individuals to ask questions directly to our panel of experts. Fundly strives to help organizations in every aspect of fundraising to obtain profitable results.

Tom Kramer, VP of Marketing, sums up Fundly’s success perfectly: “Fundly’s growth is a testament to our inspiring fundraisers and their generous donors. We provide the platform, but they provide the passion. They have big goals and we love helping them. Here’s to the next $250,000,000!!!”

Fundraising News Roundup: Fundly Hits A Milestone, Political Campaigns See Boost

Following the Supreme Court’s landmark June 28 decision to uphold the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the political fundraising field has been awash with donations to figures on both sides of the aisle. But the political arena is not the only beneficiary of donors’ generosity: Fundly has succeeded in passing a major monetary milestone. Learn more about these developments and others in this week’s news roundup:

Fundly.com – Social fundraising giant Fundly.com recently announced more than $250 million has been raised for the many causes and events that use its online platform. Among the national and international organizations to use the fundraising site to good effect have been Habitat for Humanity, whose volunteers have created more than 650 Fundly campaigns, raising roughly $1.5 million, and Teach for America, which has raised more than $400,000 for projects in at least 20 regions across the country, reported the Paramus Post.

“Fundly’s mission is to help more people give more, and we are delighted with our success to-date in advancing that mission,” Fundly CEO Dave Boyce said at the Personal Democracy Forum thought leader conference early this month in New York City.

Restoring Love – With just three weeks to go until its “Restoring Love” event, Mercury One has nearly reached its social fundraising goal of $125,000 on Fundly.com. The rally, which will take place July 26-28 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas will include a day of religious and charitable outreach to local neighborhoods and organizations, followed by a day-long celebration featuring guest speakers and musical acts.

StudentMentor.org – StudentMentor.org has set a goal of $25,000 in its 2012 Fundly campaign, and as the year passes the six-month mark, they appear to be halfway to completion. The group is dedicated to providing academic support to students at the college level, 51 percent of whom fail to graduate within six years, according to stats from the organization. The goal for the year is to provide 500 students with one-on-one support from a mentor to help them graduate on time.

The American Revolution – Independent documentary film “The American Revolution” chronicles Boston radio station WBCN, which had an underground progressive rock format from 1968 through 1974. The filmmakers are approaching the halfway point toward their $250,000 goal, which will be used for post-production editing and promotional outreach. Donors can receive a ticket to the December 3 donor celebration event.

Blackbaud Social Score – Fundraising analytics firm Blackbaud recently announced the release of its new Social Score software platform, which is designed to help non-profits evaluate the influence of their donors on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. According to the company, organizations can use the data to increase awareness among potential donors and potentially increase their donor rolls and event attendance.

Political campaigns – The Supreme Court decision regarding PPACA has led to a surge in donations to congressional campaigns, according to the Huffington Post. Democrats in particular have reaped the reward of the high court’s healthcare endorsement, with House democrats alone raising a combined $2.3 million since the announcement. Interestingly, the donations are being made largely to congressional campaigns, which are seeing grassroots support surge in the runup to the November election. Donations of roughly $35 appear to be the average, the Huffington Post reported.

According to a Washington Post analysis, donations to congressional and senate campaigns during the 2012 election cycle have soared over recent years, topping $884.6 million as of March 31. This is compared with $685 million raised during the same period four years ago

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!

Fundly Spotlight: Online Fundraising Helps Students Dream Big

 

Education is the basis for a successful and prosperous future. However, with ever increasing tuition hikes and the challenge that many students face of balancing school and work, a college degree can seem like a far off dream. Astonishingly, 51% of all US students who enroll in college fail to graduate within 6 years.  The good news is that there are people working hard to provide solutions to this problem.

StudentMentor.org is an incredible organization that was created to help low-income students earn their college degrees with the help of mentors in the industries in which they wish to join.  Four out of five low-income college students fail to attain a bachelor’s degree by their mid-20s. With mentors who can encourage and give insight to these students, these statistics can be a thing of the past. StudentMentor.org has made a great impact in hundreds of young lives; 93% of students say their mentorship has made them more positive about their future and 85% say their mentor has helped them towards achieving their academic goals.

The next goal for StudentMentor.org is to raise their goal of $25,000 for the 2012 school year, which will provide 500 students with mentors. This organization turned to Fundly as a partner in achieving their fundraising goals and so far, they are halfway there. (Please visit their campaign page at http://fundly.com/studentmentor.)

Ash Jafari, founder and CEO of StudentMentor.org, has some valuable advice about creating your Fundly page and getting the word out. “We included a background about our organization, a video, our fundraising goal, relevant statistics about our outcomes, and the Fundly donation widget on our website. It’s important to keep your message relatively brief and concise since people will only take a quick glance at the page. Also, having media or visuals will help bring your words to life.”

With 31 supporters, 52 donors, and $11,420 raised, it’s clear that Jafari and his team are off to a great start with this campaign. “We are using Google Grants to target those people who are already interested in our cause and introduce them to our Fundly donation page. In addition, we modified our homepage so that the ‘Donate’ section appears in the top navigation bar,” explains Jafari regarding the tools they’ve used to reach new donors. “If it’s not working at first, change things up and keep iterating.”

Google Grants provides select 501(c)3 nonprofits with $10,000 a month in free advertising on Google.com.  If you’re not taking advantage of this program, we highly encourage you to apply here.  If your organization already has a Google Grant, don’t forget to create a campaign specifically designed to drive traffic to a donation page on your website.

We would love to hear what advice you have in creating a successful Fundly fundraising page! Please use the comment section below.

Twitter is the Testing Ground for Presidential Election

The fact that social media is being used in political elections is not news; the way that it is being incorporated is. While Facebook may be the most popular social networking site, Twitter has become a valuable testing ground for politicians to experiment with their political fundraising skills and their methods to improve their image. While this medium is certainly a double-edged sword, it is still one to be wielded.

Although only 13% of American adults are on Twitter, its influence has shown to be widespread. Many campaigns have begun focusing efforts on this site in an effort to secure the Oval Office. Heather LaMarre, a University of Minnesota communications professor who studies social media, discussed the shift in The Washington Post, “The subset of people on Twitter may be relatively small, but it’s a politically engaged audience whose influence extends both online and off. It’s not the direct message that has the biggest influence on people — it’s the indirect message.”

One amazing aspect of social media is its ability to enable public interaction with candidates like never before. In the past, the “average Joe” could voice his opinions in an article published in the editorial section of a newspaper or person-to-person in social settings with limited results. Now, he can freely write feedback on a politician’s Facebook page or Tweet a comment about a recent speech for thousands to read. This obviously could have positive and negative aspects that might impact a candidate’s image and therefore causing a need for new strategies of damage control.

“Our team understands that the most important issues in this campaign are jobs and the economy, not the Twitter controversy of the day,” Mitt Romney’s spokesman Ryan Williams said. “But we need to be on top of everything and monitor every aspect of this race. Twitter helps us keep our finger on the pulse of the fast moving pace of new media.”

Twitter has become a new sounding board, battleground, and public forum for the new era of politics. It has also helped with fundraising by guiding supporters to websites, garnering funds to further a candidate’s mission, such as a Fundly donation page. Sharing your opinions is one thing; sharing the fact that you put your dollars behind your beliefs certainly has more power. Plus, the ease of online giving has made campaign contributions more convenient than ever.

Sharing opinions, researching candidates’ stances on the issues, and political fundraising have never been easier because of the social media revolution that we are currently experiencing. While the presidential war may not be won on Twitter, it certainly is a battleground to contend with.

Training Your Staff to Effectively Use Social Media Part IV

In this final segment for this series I’ll continue to discuss a few more practical ways to train your employees to use social media sites to your organization’s benefit.  Online fundraising and networking are musts for any successful nonprofit. These ideas can save you time (and therefore money) and bring the highest results for your efforts.

Add a Graphic

As we’ve mentioned before, there are a ton of Facebook posts and tweets out there. One way that you can make yours stand out is by adding pictures from your library or graphics. There are some great resources for this, one of my favorite places to find stock photography and free art is on Yahoo!. Type your subject into the search engine, click on the “image” tab, and voila! A variety of great graphics are at your fingertips. It only takes a few minutes but can add intrigue to your posts.

Social Media is a Two Way Street

Coming up with new posts, blogs, or updates can seem somewhat daunting at times, but we all know that this is a great way to connect with donors. The key part is to create content that will facilitate engagement from your followers. Try posing questions, creating polls, or asking for comments. This is a great way to see who is listening and to show that you care about what your contributors think; it creates a partnership of commitment. Of course every comment does not warrant a response, but interaction is an important step to public relations online.

What Does Your Audience Want?

People aren’t going to read content they do not care about. Vague posts written in riddles, uninspiring stories, and irrelevant comments will not get your donors’ attention and will be a waste of your time. What exciting project are you working on? Did you have a great success story to share with followers and inspire others? Was there a news story or statistic published that addresses your cause? Keep it interesting.

Know and Utilize Available Resources

There are many great sites out there that you can tap into to find social media success. For example, at Fundly we are proud to create an amazing product to help nonprofits, schools, and political campaigns alike garner donations, while sharing their cause through social media. When a donor makes a financial gift, they can post it to their Facebook page or Twitter for their friends to see. Others are more likely to get on board when they see that a friend supports a cause. Why go through the time, hassle, and financial expense of creating a donation site when you can use an established resource?

I hope that these tips over the past week have helped you and your staff gain insight into effectively using social media to promote your cause. We are working in a time like no other, with the potential to reach thousands of people with the simple click of a mouse. Like any new marketing strategy or advancement in technology, it takes time and practice to fine tune the skills to make the most out of this resource. It may take a little more effort in the beginning, but the end results are certainly worth the investment.

3 Reasons Why Nonprofits Should Be “LinkedIn”

There’s an old saying that goes “It’s not what you know, but who you know.” I can’t honestly say that I agree with that, but with all of the online resources that are available, the knowledge that you can gather and the connections that you can make are limited only to the time you invest in it. This week we are tackling the theme of social media platforms and how to use them to your organization’s advantage. There are a variety of free tools available for online fundraising; why not make the most of them?!

LinkedIn has been around for almost nine years and has over 150 million professionals registered on their site. What separates it from other platforms such as Facebook and Twitter is that it is primarily for professionals looking to connect with others in their field or as a resource to further their organization’s goals. So how can LinkedIn help your charity? Here are three main ways:

1)      Groups – On LinkedIn you can sign up to join conversations with various groups who are in the same field as you. For example, as a nonprofit you may have questions about what fundraisers work, how to align your board members’ visions or how to apply for 501(c)3 status. You can post your question and other nonprofit leaders will respond with their experiences. You can also share your successes, a great website you found or an article that will benefit others. Another plus is that many leaders post when seminars are coming up (both live and online). Finally, this is a great way to get your name and organization out there for others to see and reference.

2)      Contacts -LinkedIn is a great way to connect to professionals that you already know and keep their information close at hand. LinkedIn also notifies users when their contacts add new friends; it’s like having twice as many resources! Furthermore, you can research companies, follow them to discover what current projects they are working on and see who “likes” them as a way to check their credibility.

3)      Business Resources – There are great tabs on this website for any professional to easily access. Articles on business trends, ways to post or look for jobs, reading lists, and polls are just a few of the features available.

With a multitude of online resources to increase your knowledge on fundraising and to connect to people with a similar mission, where do you start? Once you know how to resource LinkedIn for fundraising and pair it with other social media outlets and Fundly‘s social fundraising platform, you have an arsenal of tools to reach your organization’s mission.

Can a Facebook Timeline Increase Fundraising?

It seems like there is always something new in the social media realm. The latest trend seems to be focused on Facebook Timelines. So what is it, should you use it and will it help with online fundraising?

First of all, the name is pretty self explanatory. While this may be a technological version of your junior high history project, it basically is the same concept. A Facebook Timeline is simply a different format of your standard Facebook page. Instead of a small profile picture there is a custom masthead picture of your choosing and a timeline grid on the top right corner. This format allows you to highlight the most memorable or important days in your life or in the history of your organization. While a basic Facebook page lists posts in order of time listed, a timeline allows you to edit what is seen and by who, list various apps that define what’s important to you, and create a better understanding of the character of your nonprofit.

For a great example of how a nonprofit uses this online tool check out Livestrong, the organization founded by pro-cyclist Lance Armstrong.  His page is brilliantly constructed starting with the date that Lance was first diagnosed with cancer on October 2, 1996 and continues up to the present. With heart wrenching pictures, vivid graphics and amazing updates, their site truly gets the reader involved in the campaign and passion of this charity.

So on to question number two: should your organization set up a timeline on your Facebook page? Absolutely! Many donors base their giving on progress and what better way to show your impact than through a timeline? Furthermore, a report by the research company Simply Measured found that brands with the timeline gained an average of 46% more engagement through using this tool. Those companies and organizations that had videos and photos saw a 65% increase in engagement.

Finally, will this new feature help to garner more funds? Personally, I think anything that helps you to share your vision with more donors is surely worth a shot. A timeline gives a snapshot of your history, mission, successes, and humanity while causing the reader to emotionally invest into your organization. Through pictures, videos and storytelling, you will be able to capture the attention and the heart of your donors.

Online fundraising is progressing at a rapid rate and the tools that are being developed are allowing nonprofits to reach a monumental amount of donors. When your donors link to your Fundly site, their contribution will be posted on their Facebook page and therefore will guide traffic to your website or Facebook timeline. Just think of the potential!

Can YouTube Be Successful for Online Fundraising?

I confess that I am one of the millions that watch stupid videos on YouTube. From angry oranges with awkwardly shaped human mouths to sappy kid tunes to occupy my toddler, YouTube has worked its way into our entertainment arsenal as much as the television and Facebook. However, can this newer medium in the world of technology actually be useful towards online fundraising goals? How could it not?!?!

Last night I attended a board meeting and we were discussing strategies to get our mission more attention. I obviously touted the wonders of social media fundraising and the vast potential that Facebook has to connecting to more donors. We excitedly made a bare bones plan to incorporate more time and effort into this area, but one board member sat quietly in the corner and didn’t share our enthusiasm. When I asked his opinion about this topic, he commented that it felt too impersonal. Where was the human interaction and emotion? Everyone seems so connected to their media devices that we ignore the people that are in front of us.

This is a valid point and one that many nonprofit leaders share. However, with a limited amount of time and resources, social media can be a bridge between the needs of an organization and the giving power of a donor. YouTube is one such avenue to stay connected to supporters. I think this is a perfect way to have people near and far take a tour of your facility, attend events and outreaches and to hear the passion of the leadership through a simple video. You don’t need expensive cameras, editing equipment or directorial experience to create a powerful, heartfelt video clip.

YouTube is currently adding features to aid nonprofits to easily adapt to this platform. With live video streaming, image stabilization, light-filtering tools to help users clean up cell phone video, branding capabilities, and different resolutions to accommodate various internet connections, they are providing the tools to create quality videos with minimal time and skills needed.

Fundly has also tapped in to the power of YouTube by allowing users to view video directly on their donor page. There is something compelling about seeing highlights from a walk-a-thon to help a cancer patient or hearing a supporter explain why they are passionate about a cause. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then how much is a video worth?

The Future of Money

What is the future of money? Quite honestly, the farthest I’ve ever really gotten with the question is whether I’ll have any or not. However, Fundly CEO Dave Boyce was on a panel dedicated to this topic at the South by Southwest Music Conference and Festival (SXSW) in Austin, TX on Monday and the reality of technological innovation is mind blowing.

In an interview with AP Mobile and MTV host Abram Boise* , Dave shared some of the topics that were presented to the panel. The future of online payments and consumer transactions are ready and available for use today and credit cards, wallets, and cash will soon be distant memories. (I was going to add checks into that mix, but somehow they seem to have already entered into the almost obsolete category.)

Basically, the future of money boils down to trust. A few years ago when I first started to use eBay and make other online transactions, I was terrified of cyber-hackers stealing my credit card information. Now I have a habit of researching products online, looking for the best deals, and without a second thought I put in my personal data to purchase anything from clothing to furniture to vitamins.

Dave uses the great example of the trust that people put into Facebook. Users post family pictures, events in their lives and share information for all to see. Regardless of generation, Facebook users from 12 to 100 years old have put their trust in the Facebook brand. Can you imagine if you could purchase goods through a Facebook account?

Secondly, the Apple Corporation has also won the trust of its users. This is one of the most tangible ways that transactions will be effected. Picture going into Starbucks, pulling out your iPhone and having the funds directly taken from your account without a bill or credit card in sight. According to Dave, “the technology is ready; the missing link is the trust.” Furthermore, the applications are available to retailers with minimal investment.

Dave also brought up the valid point that you spend money on things you want to be a part of your identity such as music, film and the philanthropic causes that you care about. Why not share the charities that touch your heart with your Facebook friends and challenge them to give, too?

Also directed to non-profit fundraising, Dave mentioned that the reason PayPal is not fulfilling their potential is because it is a difficult platform for third party users and the experience isn’t pleasant. “You either have to own the experience or own the platform,” advises Dave. This is a great principle for charities to apply to their own websites: is your site difficult to maneuver? Is it too complicated for your donors to give?

The future of fundraising is online, and the future of money concerning internet payments and mobile transactions is closer than we realize. Are you ready?

* Watch the full interview: http://http://bit.ly/yueFXl

Is Your Nonprofit Standing Out on the Web of Media Clutter?

When is the last day that you can recall not flipping open your laptop, pulling out your iPad or making a call on your cell phone?

The internet and Wifi technology have taken over our world and are as much a part of our lives as television and automobiles. If you’re not fully incorporating social media into your online fundraising plan, maybe some of these facts will inspire you. After all, this is where your donors are at. If you are using social media fundraising, how are you standing out in the crowd of everyday media?



The minds at mbaonline have created this great infographic which gives the perfect snapshot of what a day in the internet looks like. With such immense figures and incomprehensible traffic, it is mind blowing to consider the impact that current technology is having on our world.

So with all of these videos, e-mails, blog posts and social networking sites, how can your organization stand out? Here are a few things to consider:

At the core of fundraising is story telling. Every person, every cause has a story to tell which can grab the attention and heart of the person reading it. Effective story telling involves pictures that trigger an emotion, sincerity and a call to action from the reader. Different stories also appeal to a variety of donors; be sure to use a spectrum of examples about how your organization is making a difference by highlighting men, women, seniors, youth, etc.

The bigger the net, the more fish you catch. How big is your presence online? Facebook, Twitter, and e-mail are the obvious choices, but have you considered looking into Google Grants for free online advertising or LinkedIn to share fundraising ideas with other nonprofits? Do you have a Fundly account to make managing online giving a breeze? Have you created a video to post on your website, Fundly site or YouTube to share your vision with a broader audience? There are a ton of tools out there to make your organization visible and to help you stay connected with your donors.

Finally, it’s important not to get overwhelmed by the influx of technology. The basis of every successful nonprofit is having a passion for your mission, an arsenal of people with a like mind, and providing accountability to your donors. Let social media work for you, not the other way around.

Fundly Taps Social Web for Nonprofit Causes

With fundraising a hot topic in the news, Fundly has been generating headlines and visibility as the leader in social fundraising.  

The San Francisco Business Times published a terrific article about Fundly today — and this comes in addition to the great stories written by Micah Sifry for CNN and Mike Cassidy for San Jose Mercury News, as well as Dave Boyce’s TV interview on FOX Business News this week. We’re delighted about the visibility because it will allow us to connect with more philanthropic causes and advance their social fundraising success.

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San Francisco Business Times

Fundly taps social web for nonprofit causes
Campaigns have raised over $238M since 2009
 – by Sarah Duxbury, Reporter
Fundly is dragging nonprofit fundraising onto the social web.
The result, Fundly believes, is more money raised at a lower cost to the nonprofit. Better still is the opportunity to meet potential new donors at a click by tapping the social networks of supporters — something most online fundraising does not yet do.

Americans give over $300 billion to charity every year, and few leverage their social networks to round up other friends in supprt of the cause.

When a donor makes an online gift, “Why not ask me who else I know who may be interested in digging wells or educating kids or feeding the hungry? Probably, some of my friends are interested,” said Dave Boyce, Fundly’s CEO. “Why not welcome me into the family like other web-based social experiences do?
“The social web is insanely well-wired up to facilitate the introduction, and those referred donations end up being where the magic is,” Boyce added. “That’s found money.”

In some ways, Fundly is the nonprofit world’s Salesforce.com, a cloud-based platform that’s taking on expensive, customized software giants like Convio and Blackbaud — the Oracles of the nonprofit fundraising world.

Fundly campaigns have raised over $238 million for charities and political campaigns (think Barbara Boxer and Rick Santorum) since 2009, Boyce said. It got its start as a political fundraising platform, but expanded to 501c3 charities in October 2010.

Of Fundly’s 8,000 customers, nonprofits outnumber candidates, though most dollars raised are still directed to political campaigns. Boyce hopes that will change once the election is past. Teach for America, San Francisco Goodwill and the national Boys and Girls Clubs are among Fundly’s thousands of nonprofit customers.

Between 50 and 100 new nonprofit customers sign on for a Fundly campaign every day, Boyce said, and 17 percent of them become active users of the platform.

It takes just a few minutes for a nonprofit or individual to set up a branded Fundly campaign, which can be embedded on a website, Facebook page or blog. Nonprofits can promote a campaign through different social networks, and Palo Alto-based Fundly provides online support to help fundraising campaign managers figure out how to slice and dice click-through rates and yields of specific campaigns.

“In my role as a leader of an education foundation, we found telethons and emails and all those processes very difficult to continue and to be effective,” said Mark Goines, a partner at Morgenthaler Ventures and an early angel investor and board member in Fundly. “Donors are migrating away from those methods to talking to friends on Facebook and other media available. It was time to be committed to this model of fundraising.”

In October, Fundly closed a $5 million series A round led by Morgenthaler Ventures, bringing to $7.5 million the total amount it has raised from investors, including Mitch Kapor.

Fundly is for-profit; it takes between 3.5 and 4.9 percent of all money raised as its fee and to cover credit card costs. Nonprofits only pay Fundly if it actually helps them raise money, and Fundly says it has helped nonprofits increase their online fundraising by over 50 percent. Privately-held Fundly does not disclose revenue, and it is not currently profitable because it is expanding.

It has doubled its head count to 22 since Oct. 1 and will soon move to a larger 4,000-square-foot Mountain View office. Fundly will add up to 10 more people this year, particularly engineers, visual designers and marketers.

It has always cost money for a nonprofit to raise money, be it an email or direct mail campaign, a gala or a telethon. Fundly believes it may be the cheapest fundraising platform out there.

“We’re out to transform philanthropy,” said Boyce. “I feel like philanthropy can use it.”
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Will Facebook, Twitter, and Fundly be the Fundraisers of the Future?

At Fundly, we know that the future of fundraising is through online social media channels. Twitter has over 300 million users and 1.6 billion search queries each day. Facebook boasts of having more than 845 million users and more than half of those people log on each day. Furthermore, this past year showed a 13% increase in online giving which equals a 35-55% growth rate over the past year! With numbers like these, which are only increasing over time, it just goes to show that online social networking and fundraising are here to stay.

While we continue to encourage nonprofits and political candidates to take full advantage of their online fundraising potential, it’s nice to know that we’re not alone in our optimism using this strategy for garnering donations. Mike Cassidy wrote in the Mercury News this past weekend an interesting article entitled, “Will Facebook, Twitter, Fundly and the like be the fundraisers of the future?” (Can we answer an astounding “YES!” to that question?)

Cassidy proposes that, “as we move into the meat of the 2012 election season, think of the accelerating convergence of social networking and campaign fundraising as the anti-Super PAC movement.

“Super PAC money rolls into campaign coffers in the form of six-zero checks signed by supporters who possess unfathomable means and political interests that they’ll spend tens of millions to protect. The social network money, on the other hand, comes from no-name nobodies, kicking in $20 or $50 or maybe $200 at a time, in part because one of their Facebook friends did the same.”

Cassidy also highlights the point that social networks such as Facebook and Twitter are allowing those who normally wouldn’t contribute to political campaigns to now actively participate. This is reaching a younger demographic and getting more people involved in the political process.

Fundly has definitely seen the popularity of online giving grow over the past couple of years. At the end of the 2010 election cycle, 120 political customers were using Fundly to raise money. Now the number is 10 times that. The campaigns range from local races to the presidential efforts of Republicans Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and a Newt Gingrich PAC. Candidates also successfully raised $71 million for the 2010 midterm elections, including $23 million for Fundly money leader Meg Whitman, who ran for the office of Governor of California.

Online fundraising is the wave of the future, and we are excited that the word is getting out. We have helped thousands of nonprofits, schools, individual causes and candidates and we would love to help your organization, too!