A Small Change- Fundraising Blog

Peter Deitz on Social Actions is asking the question at this month’s Giving Carnival whether person-to-person fundraising is dead. Here is my take on the topic. Person-to-person fundraising is an exciting new frontier, as is online fundraising. I think that we are at the very beginning of a new movement for the whole fundraising field to working online.

At this point when you read a study or talk to people everyone is saying that online fundraising is on the rise. I’ve heard a lot of different numbers about how many more people are giving online. But what we are not regularly hearing is that there are some nonprofits that do all their fundraising online.

The internet has leveled the playing field for non-profits (check out my article Micro vs Macro). But even greater than that I think that the internet has leveled the playing field for philanthropy. Looking at an organization like Kiva or the Obama Campaign and you start to see the power of small online gifts. The future of philanthropy is no longer the “super rich” giving to the “super poor.” In todays world it can be people of any age, any wealth demographic, giving in almost any way (i.e. voting, blogging, awareness, financially).

I think that the world is not yet ready for peer-to-peer fundraising. All we can think about is how great it would be if we could use peer-to-peer fundraising to get our donors to ask one of their friends for money. But the real power is going to come when every day people start realizing the wealth of their personal networks. When they realize that they can raise global awareness for an issue simply by voting for it, social bookmarking it, talking about it in forums & chat rooms, and giving small monthly donations we are going to see a wave of movement.

I don’t think we really understand the capacity of peer-to-peer fundraising. To me when the “Digitally Native” generation starts to see the impact that they can have we are going to see a radical change in online giving.

Monday, I wrote about many new models of giving. One of those is called Friendraising and I wanted to go in a bit more depth on some ideas that they have. Cultivating donors online can be tricky business for many non-profits and can never be reviewed as the replacement to personal interaction. Technology provides us with many opportunities but it is not the answer.

“One lesson from the technology revolution is already clear-a bold vision and good management will always have more impact that technology. So will poor focus and bad management.”- Richard McPherson, Digital Giving

Here are a few tips from Advanced Solutions International (ASI). I encourage you to visit the original website and read in more detail about each of these points and ideas. They have gone into more depth on each item than I have here.

• Integrate peer-to-peer fundraising into your current fundraising strategies.
• Introduce online events to the list of ways a donor can help.
• Identify campaign ‘champions’ and give them the tools to rapidly expand the donor network.
• Understand, motivate and thank your donors.
• Create friendly competition and build individual and team incentives into your campaigns.
• Reduce unnecessary administrative efforts from each campaign.
• Automate your donor acquisition strategy.

If you want to follow along with what ASI is doing you can check out their online interactive community. They also have regular webcasts that are of no charge to the listener on various topics and ideas. The next webcast on Freindraising is March 19 this would be a great way to hear these ideas directly from them for no charge.

For the first time ever, Micro-enterprise in some instances can be more powerful than macro-enterprise. What does that mean? It means that a small organization that is serving a very specific need may be the best tool to address a problem. For example a large relief organization might be able to help 30 villages in Africa, but a small organization focused on helping one village may do a better job. A small nimble organization in that instance can understand the needs of the village and respond specifically too them. The large organization is trying to run programs that fit with all the villages.

What does that mean regarding fundraising? It means that with online giving and social networking you can be just as powerful as UNICEF, World Vision, or St. Jude’s. How you might say? Well first you need to make sure that you have a very specific mission. No organization can be all things to all people so make sure to know what your strengths are. From that point find different mediums where you can get your message out their in a compelling way to the masses. Start a blog or create a website for your non-profit. Use social networking tools and your existing donor base to launch you into the online community.

I just finished reading a pamphlet talking about fundraising as ministry, a rather unique idea. The Henri Nouwen Society created this booklet, The Spirituality of Fund-Raising. Visit their website if you are interested in receiving a free copy. There are some really original ideas about how to treat a donor and how to think about asking for money. The book stresses a solid personal relationship with donors in a way that goes beyond just a financial gift. I’m interested in what you think, let me know if you have read this pamphlet or plan on reading it.

I’m participating in the Non-Profit Blog Exchange Virtual Event. Frogloop is a non-profit communications and marketing blog for an organization called Care2. The organization exists to, “connect people with opportunities to make a difference.” Through a network of over 8 million they use community-building platforms such as MySpace or del.icio.us to raise awareness for a non-profit’s cause. If your organization participates in petitioning or social activism this is a great site to check out.

Do you have any great resources that you think other non-profit professionals would benefit from knowing about? Post a comment with a few of your recommendations.

Welcome back to an online interview with experts in the online fundraising industry. I am excited to see what the future of online giving looks like. Today each expert has the opportunity to talk about exactly why his or her business is unique. Please make sure to post additional questions, comments and feedback at the bottom of the post. And make sure that if you are interested in talking with any of these groups in more detail that you visit their website (or post a comment or email me and I can introduce you them).

How your service is different and what do you provide?

PaySimple:
At PaySimple, we have developed a fundraising system that is simple to use and offers non-profits the ability to collect payments and donations in person, by phone, or online, and via electronic check or credit card. PaySimple sets itself apart from other systems by providing clients with live support and training during every phase of setup. Non-profits don’t have to worry about not being tech-savvy-we do everything for them. Read more about how a Boy Scout Troop simplified their fundraiser at Fundraising Made Simple www.paysimple.com/articles/boyscouts.html.
-Eric Remer, CEO for PaySimple www.paysimple.com

Firstgiving:
Firstgiving enables any individual to raise funds for any non-profit of their choice by creating an online fundraising page. Individuals create pages for an event, in memory of some one or an occasion like a wedding, birthday, anniversary, etc. Individuals can email their page to friends or add a widget to their blog, social network or email footer.

Here’s what’s different about Firstgiving…it’s easy and affordable for any organization of any size:

• Any individual can create a fundraising page for NPO registered with the IRS. We use the Guidestar database to vet these organizations. Fundraisers can personalize their fundraising page. The process is simple.
• As of last week, any non-profit can get their own free Firstgiving start page (like this: www.firstgiving.com/npo/3179). This enables any charity to engage their supporters to raise funds for them.
• Funds get routed to the NPO monthly via check or weekly via electronic funds transfer.
• Individuals get an email module to email their page and import email addresses. They get a widget to put on a blog or social network. We offer a Facebook app so they can bring their page to their friends on Facebook.

-Mark Sutton CEO of Firstgiving www.firstgiving.com

DonorPerfect Fundraising Software:
DonorPerfect provides a range of online donation services that makes it easy for a non-profit to collect donations AND analyze them. One of our key differences is that all of the donations are stored in a central database, and automatic duplicate checks are performed to make sure you have a complete view of a donor’s history. This way, you can target these donors for future solicitations using our unique analytical and wealth screening reporting system, so that you can maximize your returns and raise more money.

Many services, such as Paypal, only process the donation and the non-profit is left to fend for themselves. Worse, there is usually no way to customize the form (Does the donor want to remain anonymous? Is the donation for a special event and we need to know their T-shirt size?). Furthermore, it’s also unlikely that the service will identify how or why the donation was given, making future solicitation efforts useless because you’re not able to ascertain the intent of the donation.

With DonorPerfect, you’re able to capture all of these important details, store them in an unduplicated database, and then target these very same donors for future solications - both online *and* offline.
-Jon Biedermann, Vice President of DonorPerfect Fundraising Software www.donorperfect.com

GiveStream:
GiveStream is unique in its approach. It gives the non-profits a free easy-to-use dedicated giving center to fundraise and communicate in a new way. GiveStream benefits are:

• It’s free to you and your supporters
• It has the potential to bring in thousands of dollars in contribution using the Shop, Search & Donate.
• It has a comparison product search engine.
• Besides contributing the supporter can also compare prices and find for him self the best deal.
• It’s private, no other non-profit to share the same center.
• It’s customizable, you can add contents and links (can be used as a primary website or as a subsidiary).
• You can easily send out email newsletters to communicate with your supporters using our Newsletter Creator.
• The downloadable toolbar (which features the non-profit logo) puts the organization directly onto the supporters’ web browser and makes it convenient for them to use GiveStream without having to enter any website.
• You get a cool Facebook application that your supporters can show on their profile.

-Michael Ben-Nes, Director of Marketing from GiveStream.com www.givestream.com

Click and Pledge:
There’s a reason Click & Pledge has grown to over 7,000 customers: we provide the best value in the NP segment….world class software, security, ease-of-use, custom for NPOs…only pay for what you need and what you use. You can pay one of the big providers $1,000+ or pay us $50 for

• a payment system,
• a donor management system and
• a web content management system

When you invest in traditional software, the vendors are in charge…you must continually purchase upgrades, maintenance, training etc. With Click & Pledge, it’s on-demand, live software that you only pay for on a transaction basis. All support, upgrades, security and so forth is incumbent upon us to provide. True Software as a Service.
-Jim Barney VP, Marketing & Sales of Click and Pledge www.ClickandPledge.com

EchoDonations:
The service provided by my organization is different in that it is currently the only online donating service that allows the donor to receive Lifetime Cash Rewards^TM for donations as small as $25.

Here’s how it works: You make a donation to your favorite charity through echoDonations.org^TM. All donations, large and small, are combined in an online charitable mutual fund, which is invested and monitored for performance in the market. As the charitable mutual fund builds investment return, annual Lifetime Cash Rewards^TM are distributed to donors and charities while building an endowment for the charity.

The benefit to nonprofits is exponential by way of the annual cash received and through the increased donor loyalty gained from receiving their rewards.

There are two choices for donors on what to do with the interest earned: Give & Get Back^TM or Give & Grow^TM.

• Give & Get Back^TM - With this option, the interest is split between you (or your beneficiary) and your charity. Each of you gets a yearly check for the interest, and when you die, your charity gets your original donation. Use this option to get Lifetime Cash Rewards^TM.
• Give & Grow^TM - With this option, the charity gets half the interest in a yearly check. The other half is reinvested in the charitable mutual fund. When you die, the charity gets the original donation plus all the compound interest it has earned.

-Michelle Matthews, Social Media & Marketing Strategist from EchoDonations www.EchoDonations.org

Don’t forget to check out each expert’s website. Please comment with questions or other feedback. Check out other questions this week:

• Introduction to Online Fundraising: Interview Part 1
• Different Online Fundraising Strategies: Interview, Part 2
• Creating an Online Fundraising Plan: Interview, Part 3
• A Look Into the Online Future: Interview, Part 4