fundraisingonline's posterous http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com Most recent posts at fundraisingonline's posterous posterous.com Mon, 23 May 2011 13:31:00 -0700 677 Million Registered Users:Facebook Fundraising and the Potential for Non-Profits http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/677-million-registered-usersfacebook-fundrais http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/677-million-registered-usersfacebook-fundrais

 Non-profits are setup to fail.  1.5 million exist in the United States today and the number continues to grow.  For funding, many non-profits rely on a grant pool that over time has remained constant, not nearly matching the increase in demand.  To exacerbate the growing need for more funding the world’s economy collapsed in 2008 and is showing only meager signs of recovery.

 A reliance on grants and the reality of a shrinking pool of money have created a ‘can’t fail’ mentality for non-profits.  If a program is funded through a grant and the non-profit reports the funded program as a failure, the funder will most often choose to go somewhere else: find a successful program to fund.  A cycle of waste develops as non-profits choose to report only successes, for fear of losing the money.  In the end, broken programs receive money while potentially successful programs sit on the shelf and gather dust.

 Innovations in non-profit fundraising techniques have helped non-profits succeed when others have failed even as traditional revenue streams have dried up.  Social media spaces like Facebook can make the specter of raising money a whole lot easier by spreading your fundraising goals over a larger pool. 

 With over 677 million registered users worldwide and Facebook fundraisingsearches up 85%+ the Facebook community is an incredibly fruitful space for getting your message out and attracting donors. You can share links to your fundraiser on your friend feed, message or email your friends directly, participate in groups and much more to gain exposure and raise money and supporters for your cause. 

 Facebook fundraising is a very simple process that can oftentimes be covered with minimal staff, allowing your resources to go towards creating truly successful programs. 

 And once your friends are informed of the good you are doing they can act as a bullhorn, letting even more people know about what you’re doing.  Your message can quickly jump on the exponential bandwagon in short order go viral.  In no time you can have people from across the globe reaching out and helping fund your cause.

 Boiled down to its essence non-profit fundraising is about recognizing a cause, developing a message around that cause and getting that message out to the people who can best support you in affecting positive change around that cause.  

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Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:52:00 -0700 Plays Well With Others: Socializing Your Fundraising Campaign http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/plays-well-with-others-socializing-your-fundr http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/plays-well-with-others-socializing-your-fundr

Often it feels as though something hasn’t happened until it’s happened online. And that’s as true for your fundraising efforts as it is for relationship statuses and your baby’s milestones (in excessive detail). People live almost every aspect of their lives on the web. It’s where they get information, do business, entertain themselves and most importantly, share with others.

Therein lies your fundraising success, an opportunity to maximize your efforts by reaching people through multiple platforms that have already laid the groundwork for you. But the pace at which these platforms are evolving is non-stop, inventing new ways to connect with people and increase your donor base. Still, one constant remains: human beings are social. They want to interact, to be engaged and acknowledged, and doing so, will spark the greatest reaction. Luckily, there are countless resources at your disposal to help you do just that. The trick is in knowing how to use them properly.

Twitter: no spam is good spam (unless you’re desperate. Then only on pizza.)

Twitter is great for quick updates and real-time campaigning, but you’ve got to be able to cut through the clutter to keep anyone’s attention. There’s a lot you can do with 140 characters to spread your message, but such limited space means each character needs to pull its weight:

• Strip your tweet. Keep it simple so the message isn’t bogged down by fluff, and room is left for others to re-tweet it. Include relevant keywords and stylize your tweet enough to sound human, but keep it short and sweet.

• Hashtag that puppy. Include Hashtags with topical nouns, causes, industries, etc that are associated with your message. This makes it more search friendly and helps to incorporate it as part of a conversation with users who are interested in that topic. Encourage others to re-tweet it.

• Follow tweeters carefully, and engage in a dialogue with them. If someone tweets you, respond back and re-tweet them. Ask your users questions, offer incentives and pass comments along. People are more likely to react if they feel like they’re talking with a human being, not a faceless organization.

• For the love of canned meat, don’t spam. Keep tweets relevant and engaging, not a barrage of useless information. Talk with your users. Don’t give them a rambling monologue.

Facebook: You like me! You really, really like me!

Facebook is all about community, to establish a link between you and your donor base. Once you get people to officially “like” you, they’re privy to all the great content updating your page. It offers a space for more in-depth conversation than Twitter and a richer atmosphere for your cause (with photos, profile information, associated groups and so on). But to avoid a moot Facebook profile that just sits there, you’ve got to create an experience for your fans:

• When creating your profile, define a vision or purpose for your page. Consider it from your fan’s viewpoint. What does you audience get out of “liking” your page? How can they interact with the cause and feel more connected to it?

• Update regularly with statuses and wall posts that are applicable to your cause and will get people to act upon seeing them: whether it’s just checking out your page or following a link through to a full donation. The spam rule, as always, is in effect here. Avoid hyperbolic statements and excessive capital letters that make people feel as though someone’s yelling at them.

• Be generous with your information, time and resources. Offer incentives that compel people to move forward and respond to comments quickly and keep a conversation flowing on your page. Make it so that people feel acknowledged and rewarded for helping your cause, be it with interesting linkable content or documented credit for donating that they can share on their own profile.
Piryx: the Swiss Army knife of social media.

While Facebook and Twitter are the most highly used networks, they’re only a sampling of the myriad of options for marketing your cause. In fact there are so many, that undertaking a complete social media campaign can feel daunting. Piryx understands this issue, having built a fundraising platform that gives access to countless social media sites and the tools to easily manage them, from one online hub.

A free account offers links to your online fundraising page through email, Facebook and Twitter, along with a simple analytics dashboard to help you keep track of your online influence and donations. Information and tips to master your social media campaign and spread your content throughout the web allow donors to market your cause for you and multiply your audience. Piryx makes the process as simple and manageable as possible so you can dedicate your time to raising money and championing your cause, without getting lost in tedious details.

Embracing the marketing potential of social media is necessary for any fundraising campaign that wants to make an impact. While door-to-door canvassing and bake sales are good for fresh air and a sugar rush, operating online is the best way to reach your donor base and maximize support. And learning the nuances of social media now, puts you in a greater position to adapt to the constant evolution of online marketing. So, hop online and master the fundraising campaign of 2011. Before we start quoting Bob Dylan.

By using the Piryx online fundraising platform, you can create and track as many facebook fundraising and/or twitter fundraising campaigns as you wish. Increase your causes’ reach worldwide, gain new supporters, donors, and donations with ease. All you need to do is create a free account at Piryx today!

By: Hayley Mullen

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Tue, 05 Apr 2011 11:36:00 -0700 Facebook Fundraising – Making the Most of this Social Media Platform in Raise Money http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/facebook-fundraising-making-the-most-of-this http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/facebook-fundraising-making-the-most-of-this
Facebook fundraising is a growing trend for causes today. Fundraising started many years ago. A lot of schools, non-profit organizations from youth athletic clubs to cheerleading groups are raising funds to maintain the cost of their activities.

Facebook is a social networking site and has been a great fundraising tool in keeping in touch with supporters and donors. It has been the most efficient venue to spread the word with your cause and in gaining volunteers who in one way or another can provide help that will really contribute substantially in your campaign. Like many other fundraising tools, it is important that you know how to use it effectively so you can get the most of the benefits that it can offer. One of its main benefits is you can sign up with it for free. The only thing that you have to take note of is you will need to spend most of your time working with it.

To raise money online with Facebook, there are only few ways to get you started. First you need to set up personal profile of yourself on this social network. Nowadays, almost all people have their own Facebook account and this expands your donor base. The second step that you need to do is to create page for your nonprofit organization. Then you need to create a cause for your organization and have it attached to your page. You can ask everyone, your friends and neighbors to join and become a fan of your page. You can even encourage them to become members of your cause. After setting up your profile and page, you can ask more people to support you.

For Facebook fundraisers, after creating the page, don’t just wait for the money to come in. You have some work to do. One of which is reminding people on a regular basis that you have a presence on this social media platform and ask them for support. You should also give continuous effort in keeping them updated with your events and in reaching out to them.

In order for you to make the most out of your Facebook presence, there are some essential things that you should do. First you should set a plan and identify what you want to get out of it. Begin with an idea of the result you want to get. Or you will spend most of your time without getting anything in return. You also have to explore Facebook and its features. For instance, you can take advantage of teleseminar that allows you to learn new things. Spending time a little more to make your page work is also crucial. The more you play with it, the better you get and the more learn about using it. You may also want to check other nonprofit organizations that are doing great on Facebook. Take a look at their strategies and try to mimic them.

Facebook fundraising is an effective method of drawing more donors and supporters given that there are over 600 millions users of this social networking site and they are rapidly growing in numbers every minute.

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