fundraisingonline's posterous http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com Most recent posts at fundraisingonline's posterous posterous.com Wed, 25 May 2011 15:34:00 -0700 Fundraising To Make It Through A Tough Economy http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-to-make-it-through-a-tough-econom http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-to-make-it-through-a-tough-econom

In general, asking for money can be awkward, and asking for money in a bad economy is very difficult. However, for non-profits, there is no such thing as a recession or a good economy, they have to continue their work and to be able to do this, fundraising is a constant effort.

Usually, causes that are close to the heart rarely suffer too much during a tough economy because people always find ways to give and support a cause that has a personal affiliation to them. Typically, political fundraising campaigns bring big and small donors to contribute since people are always passionate about their political parties/affiliations. Fundraisers that emerge as a result of a natural disaster or tragedy such as the earthquake in Haiti will also bring a humanitarian response and get people to empty their wallets. Of course, one hopes that these disasters don’t happen at all or at least too often.

In a stable economy, there are several fundraising ideas that one can implement to raise money for their cause or campaign. Non profit fundraisers are mostly events, auctions and banquets – a great way to engage with donors but not the best and most sustainable way for non profits to fundraise. Event fundraisers usually come at a cost; even if the space or food are donated, there are overheads involved and this drives up the cost of the ticket for the donors; and eventually limits the number of people who can afford to buy a ticket or two for the fundraiser. As you can see, this is all too complicated and it really doesn’t have to be this way!

All non profits should look into online fundraising for their causes. It is the best way to fundraise without incurring additional costs. Setting up a fundraising page online is very easy, there are several websites that allow you to do this with little or no fees involved. There are some great fundraising tools available that will let you track the contributions made to your cause and also allows donors to keep track of how the funds are being used.

Especially today, with the whole world hooked on social networking platforms like Facebook and Twitter, online fundraising allows you to connect with people all over the world. You no longer have to depend on the same group of donors to come forward each time. Your cause may appeal to a group of people half way across the world! Through online fundraising, you also eliminate costs involved in printing and postage for direct mail and through an email you may even get people in India or New Zealand to donate to your online fundraiser!

Online fundraising allows everyone to donate as much as they want to and makes every penny count! So don’t let the bad economy discourage you and hold you back from doing good…turn to online fundraising and be on your way to changing the world!

For online fundraising tools for your non profit and to monitor donations and progress of your fundraiser, check out the several fundraising ideas available on the web and get your fundraiser off to a great start

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Tue, 24 May 2011 15:06:00 -0700 Raising Money Online: Little Tricks to Up the Ante http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/raising-money-online-little-tricks-to-up-the http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/raising-money-online-little-tricks-to-up-the

Ok, let’s give credit where it’s due. You’ve resisted the siren song of the fundraising tactics of yesteryear. Charity galas and bake sales SOUND really fun – for the people attending them. For the people running them, they’re the culmination of weeks or months of planning, logistics and hassles so that people can give you $1.50 for the banana bread you spent $10.00 on ingredients for.

Until recently, busting your butt in order to raise money for your cause was expected. And a lot of the time, when people hear the term fundraising they subconsciously feel the ‘raising’ efforts should be akin to raising a barn. Or one of those giant jugs upside-down onto the water cooler when no one’s around to help you, without spilling half of it onto the office carpet/the front of your pants (awkward). That is to say – pretty freakin’ tough. But raising money online means fundraising doesn’t have to be like that.

The arrival of online fundraising has made raising money so much easier. It almost feels criminal, posting bigger returns for less effort and, maybe, the fact that running it from a computer makes you feel a bit like you should be selling Nigerian investment scams. But that feeling quickly fades away when you realize that the easier it is for you to raise money online, the more your cause benefits.

Less time is wasted on the tedious elements of offline campaigns (there’s gotta be a pretty lopsided ratio between the amount of money raised and the amount of cut-eye from people who open their door to someone carrying a clipboard) and more people reached through the ever-growing tentacles of the world wide web (Twitter? Facebook? Anyone?). Along with the undeniable convenience of donating through the click of a mouse as opposed to the click of your high heels up the walkway to a dinner at the local community center, as they pinch your baby toes and you wish you’d just bought the ticket (it’s for charity, of course) and stayed home in your cozy, cozy slippers. All of this translates into a more efficient campaign and a bigger donor base full of happy people more likely to give their support and rally behind your cause.

So friend, good for you for realizing this, and readily embracing the world of fundraising online. Clap clap! Gold star! Smiley face! Whatever makes you feel best appreciated. But now that you’ve got your online fundraising campaign all set up and ready to go, there are a few tricks to take it from “what a success!” to “YEEEEAH BABY PEOPLE ARE ALL OVER THIS!!”

A Multiple Appeal Series: Send out several messages over the course of a period of time as a part of a cohesive campaign, as opposed to a standalone appeal. It not only serves as a reminder to people to give, but lets you approach them in a less aggressive way – you have more chances to talk to them, explain the cause, etc. It’s been shown that in a multi vs. standalone appeal, peoples’ response time was higher and average gift was greater. So give it some salad and boiled chicken and spread your message a little thinner.

Deadline-Driven Appeals: Tapping into peoples’ innate fear of due dates? Giving them a deadline for donations is more effective than open-ended appeals and reaps greater rewards. In fact, the average gift amount is almost double in some cases. So whether your deadline is tethered to an actual event for your cause or it’s the anniversary of that time your Chihuahua played with a rolled up potato bug for the whole afternoon (and you laughed and laughed), specific dates spark a bigger reaction when raising money online. Who knew?

Matching Gifts: We’ve all seen it before: “If we reach $2,000 for the One-Eyed Wallaby Foundation, the Two-Eyed Wallaby Foundation will match it to bring us to $4,000!” Maybe not that specific example, but promising a matching donation has been a proven motivator for both response rate and gift amount from donors. Most likely because it makes people feel like they’re doing more with what they give since anything they donate is literally doubled. This is also a great way to introduce deadlines into your online fundraising campaign. For example, “Whatever amount we reach by February 12 will be matched! We won’t stop until every wallaby gets an eye”.

Dollar Goals: This is the least effective out of all four on its own, but is great to use in combination with others as a solid goal for people to connect themselves to. For example, setting a deadline to reach a dollar goal and then sending out multiple appeals up until that deadline would be a tour de force of raising money online. Leave no tactic unturned!

The fact that you’re online in the first place is a great step in turning your fundraising campaign into a successful, ever-reaching Megalodon version of what it would be offline. Not only is online fundraising quicker, easier, and more expansive than its offline counterpart, but there are lots of ways to easily tweak your campaign to ensure more support and more donations from your growing donor base. So pat yourself on the back and throw out your comfortable “walking shoes” that you secretly know give you a bad case of the cankles. Your door-to-door days are over!

 

For free fundraising tools that will help you effectively raise money online for your online fundraisers, you can create, manage, and track the success of an unlimited amount of fundraising campaigns today by using a robust online fundraising platform. Fundraise with ease for your cause’s fundraiser now by using these free and easy to use, fundraising tools.

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Mon, 23 May 2011 15:53:00 -0700 Twitter Fundraising is Changing the Way Fundraisers Connect with Donors http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/twitter-fundraising-is-changing-the-way-fundr http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/twitter-fundraising-is-changing-the-way-fundr

Fundraisers are beginning to tap into the potential Twitter has to offer by connecting with people and developing relationships that matter.  Fundraisers can converse with potential donors, exchange ideas, listen to feedback and change the way they approach fundraising.  Twitter is a real-time people driven information network that connects you to the latest information about what you find relevant and interesting: a tool vital to fundraisers that want to raise money fast and effectively.

Before Twitter fundraising and social media, connecting with a global donor base was next to impossible, unless you had unlimited access to capital, or you were Michael Jackson.  Now, Twitter can bring your cause to a global audience all for free.  

Twitter creates an environment similar to your local neighborhood.  Next-door neighbors chat about the weather, politics; issues that matter to them.  The same conversations form naturally on Twitter.  It acts as a forum of ideas and promotes intimacy amongst people who would never have met.  A follower can respond to a tweet by a favorite musician and develop a dialogue with someone he’s admired for years.

Before social media a picture of Twitter on the street might look something like this: Type 140 characters, in large font, on a sandwich board and place it over your shoulders.  Pick a busy area like Times Square in New York – which doesn’t even come close to the numbers of people on Twitter today – and walk around with the hope that someone will read your message and choose to engage the guy walking around Times Square with the sandwich board on his chest.

Now that the sandwich board is virtual, the possibilities are considerable: ask questions, connect with interesting people, promote causes and websites, share links, swap news stories, raise donor awareness and recruit volunteers.  Twitter fundraisers give non-profit, political and community fundraisers instant access to all of these tools in the few minutes it takes to sign up.

You can use tools like TwitterFeed to automatically broadcast your blog posts over Twitter updating your followers automatically.  If a follower likes your post they can retweet your posts.  Tweeting and retweeting become infectious as others promote your cause.

In conjunction with Twitter, online fundraising platforms have developed to maximize the potential of a connected world.  People using social media are most often found on more than one platform.  Twitter users have accounts with Facebook and LinkedIn and engage in Internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, and podcasts.  Online fundraising platforms create fundraising campaigns that connect all the different forms of social media.  And like Twitter, it’s all for free.

Twitter can help your cause further by:

  • People across the globe can be informed of your cause with a click of the mouse
  • Twitter is succinct, people voice their opinions keeping you up to date about what they are thinking
  • Follow other fundraisers to share ideas and receive real-time advice
  • Twitter gives you the tools to promote your website and cause

Virtual communities are developing every second and the world of interconnectedness positions the smart fundraiser to capitalize on its unlimited potential.  Twitter and online fundraising platforms are bringing the world to your doorstep and many in the world, are interested in social good.  Try connecting today.

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Mon, 23 May 2011 15:31:00 -0700 How Charity Fundraising Benefits from Technology:Online fundraising is changing the game http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/how-charity-fundraising-benefits-from-technol http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/how-charity-fundraising-benefits-from-technol

Charity Fundraising has moved to the web.  Today an individual or group with a charity fundraiser can sign up and create an online fundraising campaign with just a few clicks – all for free.

As budgets are slashed to meet the new fiscal demands of the twenty-first century the return on investment of traditional charity fundraisers is sinking precipitously. In response charities are developing new cost effective ways of generating funds.  They realize that in order to compete for the money available each year, they need to harness the power of technology.  

With the advent of social media, and the development of online fundraising platforms, charities can pursue a multitude of web channels: Facebook, Twitter, LinkeIn for the cost of sitting down and navigating through a few clicks.  Once your page is setup you can add widgets that connect with your friends, followers and connections alerting them to the positive change you are effecting.  With one click every friend you have on Facebook will know what you are doing and how he or she can help.

The online fundraising platform provides your charity fundraiser with the tools to connect to the social media platforms but further allows you to connect using a variety of devices: desktops, laptops, iPads, mobile devices – including SMS texting.  We live in a connected world.  The more opportunities you have to connect with your donors the more efficiently you will raise money and the more successful you will be with reaching your charities’ fundraising goals.

Traditional forms of charity fundraising like bake sales require the generosity of people to make and sell the goods, collect the money and securely transfer the funds so the charity so it can support its efforts in positive social change: a big effort for a small return on investment.  With technology the old ways of doing things have become just that, old.

Technology is developing at light speed in directions that mimic a three-dimensional net: reaching out in every direction.  The online fundraising platform is developing around this net, taking advantage of this ever-changing paradigm.  And the charities are reaping the benefits: connecting with more potential donors than ever before for very little cost increasing their return on investment in ways not imagined even ten years ago.

The charities that recognize this evolutionary process will prosper and compete for years to come.

 

 

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Mon, 23 May 2011 13:48:00 -0700 Connecting with Donors in the Digital Age:How Savvy Charity Fundraising is Finding Success in the Modern World http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/connecting-with-donors-in-the-digital-agehow http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/connecting-with-donors-in-the-digital-agehow

Bake sales, 5K runs and raffles have traditionally been tools of charity fundraising.  While these methods remain relevant forms of raising money, many charities are beginning to tap into the potential of the Internet by bringing their fundraising efforts to the web.

 It is estimated that 240 million people in the United States use the Internet according to ITU – the UN agency for information and communication technologies.  That’s about 77% of the population.  And those numbers are projected to grow. 

 If your charity fundraising goal is $1 million dollars and you potentially had access to 240 million people in the United States alone – the World Wide Web is accessible to 25% of the world’s population, about 2.1 billion people – it would be a foolish choice to disregard the web as a viable source of funds for your cause.

Examples of online fundraising

  •  Email – Email campaigns can target donors and deliver personalized messages about your cause 
  • Websites – Websites can be customized to attract donors from around the world and provide detailed information about what your cause is and how to help 24 hours a day 7 days a week
  • Social Media – Social media is a more recent phenomenon that gives charity fundraisers the opportunity to connect with communities and inspire whole communities to join the conversation

 The Internet would not be what it is today without innovation.  That desire to create something new from what existed before has spurred a new wave of Internet tools looking to change the world.  These tools have come to be known asonline fundraising platforms. 

 Online fundraising platforms bring together email, websites, social media and other tools into one space centralizing the tools of the web.  Best of all these platforms can be created in minutes with a simple sign up.  Your donor page is created automatically.  It can be customized to your specifications from a simple donor page to full integration with your current website.  And you can connect with friends and followers in the social media sphere with the click of a button.  All for free.  Your charity fundraiser will not incur any cost for the life of the campaign.

 The Internet holds endless potential for individuals and organizations that possess the desire to change the world for the good.  If you have a charity fundraising campaign that needs to join the 21st century it would be foolish to overlook the possibilities forming on the Internet.

 

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Mon, 23 May 2011 12:08:00 -0700 Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools for Causes http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-online-with-free-fundraising-tool http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-online-with-free-fundraising-tool

If you want to raise money for charity, fundraising can be done online using various free fundraising tools that are available in websites. Internet surfers can become possible donors. The first thing to do is to create a website and make your presence known online. With a website or a web page, this will get you money from donors with just a click of the mouse. A website will allow you to make a fundraising event, do an online auction, accept donations and sell event fundraiser tickets.

Once you have a website, you can do all the preparations and invitations of a fundraising event. You can hold a dinner-concert where the proceeds will go to your favorite charity. You can invite donors to the event through your website which contains all the necessary information of your activity. They can buy the tickets online using their credit cards and confirm their attendance there. This will save you and your donor time and money spent on communication.

With your website, you can do fundraising online by accepting donations. A donor can just give your organization money using his credit card. For this, you will need a tool to be used on your website that will allow you to collect money via e-transaction. Make sure your site has a donor’s page and make it informative, attractive and compelling enough to capture people’s interest and encourage them to donate. Donating via credit cards is a way of showing that your organization is professional and legitimate and because of its convenience and accessibility, it will encourage supportive people who are far away to donate.

You can also sell event fundraising tickets via your website. People who are interested to attend the fundraising activity you have organized, such as a benefit concert, can with just one click and purchase many tickets at once. They no longer need to go to an office to buy the tickets thus saving them time and money. For your part, selling tickets online will allow you to make an easy inventory as online ticket sales can be immediately documented and easily tracked.

You can also conduct online auctions with your website. Ask your family, friends and members of your organizations to donate some things and sell them online. You can also enter into agreement with other websites that do online auctions and bid items with them. You share the profits, depending on your agreement. Donors will purchase something they do need and be able to contribute to the less fortunate or to the cause you are fighting for.

When you have a fundraising event advertised in your website, you can add a Sponsors Page where individuals and businesses can place their ads. They just need to upload their ad and pay for it via credit card. This will earn you money and give your donors exposure. You can also tie-up with a fundraising website that will allow you to create a web page with them. There, you can have free fundraising where you invite people to donate to you while the website owner manages the page for you.

With these fundraising ideas, your noble cause will surely succeed.

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Mon, 23 May 2011 11:28:00 -0700 Church Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/church-fundraising-online-with-free-fundraisi http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/church-fundraising-online-with-free-fundraisi

 Churches need money for its operation, maintenance, renovation, charity, and mission trips. They are able to get money through communion services and offerings from parishioners and churchgoers.  Church fundraising is often necessary so that the church’s needs are met. They also solicit for help from the neighborhood or community they are situated in. There are times that the money raised is not enough therefore they constantly need to think of ways to generate cash for other necessities.

Nowadays, many churches have used online fundraising platforms to raise money for their needs. They have discovered that in having their own website, they can reach many people and solicit for their support. Their website serves as their virtual office and very minimal expenses are spent. They no longer have to incur communication expenses such as phone and fax bills and they can use the money saved for other charitable purposes. People, especially those who are located in other cities, states or countries, can still visit the church via its website and acquire information or make a donation with just a click of the mouse.

Church fundraisers can also be conducted online. They can hold a live auction in certain websites that do auctioneering and ask their supporters to donate some items to be bid in these online auctions. Many people from all over can participate in this event and they can donate at their convenient time as the auction can run 27/7 for a year or so. In traditional fundraising activities, much time is spent on planning and these can also be very expensive. Churches have to rent a venue for the event, get additional staff, and spend on advertising and invitation.

The use of the Internet for fundraising activities breaks all geographical boundaries as people from the United States can correspond with individuals, organizations and governments from Asia in seconds. The Internet allows massive exposure of the church and its activities. Social media sites have millions of members and when the church has its account on such sites, its mission and objectives will reach many quickly. An online church fundraising campaign for an orphanage does not only reach a nearby community but a global level.

Most of the time, church fundraisers end up spending a lot of money for advertisements and other expenses. They make banners to be placed in specific locations. These banners however will not be used again once the activity they are promoting is finished. Sometimes, churches also advertise on local dailies and radio and TV programs to get support for their causes and this can be very expensive. With online advertising, such expenses are eliminated. There are even search engines that pay for ads of charities and place the link to the church’s website on their pages, as long as they are a registered 501 c 3 non profit.   

Donors can also make online donations to the church fundraisers using their credit cards. They no longer need to travel all the way to the church and give their donations. In just seconds, they can give to their favorite churches to support their causes.  Fees for credit card transactions online are paperless and less expensive and hectic than depositing money through a bank.

Using multiple channels for church fundraising online is indeed very convenient, traceable, and economical.

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Mon, 23 May 2011 10:53:00 -0700 Charity Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/charity-fundraising-online-with-free-fundrais http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/charity-fundraising-online-with-free-fundrais

Organizers of charity fundraisers have discovered the benefits of technology. Groups and companies now conduct charity fundraising online where they are able to use and be aware of free fundraising tools and ideas available on the Internet. These organizations have set up their own websites where they can plan and conduct their charitable events. People and businesses donate money through credit cards, electronic payments and wire transfers.

One fundraising idea or tool is the use of a website to hold an online auction. Items are displayed and people bid for them online. The highest bidder gets the item and proceeds from the sale will be donated to charity. Such auctions can cater to people living nearby or in the other side of the world. Unlike live auctions that run on a specific schedule with a time frame, the online auctions are done every day therefore people can participate any time. With online auctions, you will also be aware of the items and products that are easily sold therefore you can use this information in similar endeavors in the future.

 You should also allow members of your organization to each have a fundraising page in your website. These pages should be attuned to the main site in terms of appearance and design. The members however can upload their own images, wordings and videos that describe the cause you are all advocating for. Studies show that organizations giving their members their own page from the main website raise more money. This is because these people know may other individuals whom they can tap to make a donation.

 Charity fundraisers like you can also hold an entertainment event such as a dance show or a gala to raise funds.  People love entertainment and they will actually be keen on the thought of enjoying something and at the same time giving to a cause. You can promote this activity in your website and people who will attend will fill-out a form and make the necessary payments online. You can also sell tickets to the activity in your website. Your event will entertain people and help the less fortunate as well.

 Fundraising for a charity can also be done through the popular social media websites. Almost everybody has an account in these sites where they have hundreds or even thousands of friends. Your organization can create a Fan Page in the popular social media sites and there you can invite everyone to donate to your cause. You can even put a link to your own website in this Fan Page so that people will click on it and will arrive at your site.  It is your job therefore to make you site appealing, interesting, informative, and convincing so that people can participate in your activities and donate online to your charity fundraiser.

 The internet is a very powerful fundraising tool because of its way of making people from all across the world to communicate, share and interact with one another.  A charity fundraising campaign will never go wrong and is sure to raise lots of money when he/she uses this tool for a good and noble cause.

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Mon, 16 May 2011 18:24:00 -0700 How Non-Profit Fundraising Programs are Using the Power of Social Media: Online fundraising platforms key to non-profits’ success in 21st century http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/how-non-profit-fundraising-programs-are-using http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/how-non-profit-fundraising-programs-are-using

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n the past non-profits raised money through community fundraising, government grants and relied on volunteers to help support the causes they were most passionate about.  Yet to compete and succeed in our ever-evolving world of connectivity savvy non-profits are turning to social media to advance their causes.

 Over 600 million registered users on Facebook.  That’s almost twice the population of the United States.  The more people you are able to get your message to the greater the opportunity to convince them that supporting your cause is the right thing to do.  And social media platforms do not operate as a collection of disparate parts.  When you connect with one person you are really connecting with a community of people.

 Online fundraising platforms like Piryx have developed to take advantage of the social media movement.  A non-profit can create a campaign for free with a few clicks of the mouse and be up in running in a few minutes.  Free fundraising tools alert your friends to the great work you are doing and invite them to ‘join in the conversation’.

 When people join in the conversation they are announcing their support.  Once one person joins, friends follow.  A feeling of social well being develops because people love recognition of the good they are doing and that feeling drives people to celebrate their goodwill by:

 ·      Liking on Facebook

·      Posting on their walls

·      Tweeting

·      Creating links in LinkedIn

That community of goodwill spreads as more and more potential donors are informed of the cause. 

 Oftentimes social media platforms are linked to spread updates automatically so a single tweet can ring across a range of social media platforms.  This gives non-profits unprecedented access to potential donors.  As word spreads throughout the social net more and more people are inspired to participate.  Inspiration drives action and the more people that become inspired to act the more work you can do to effect positive change.

 Online fundraising platforms are free to setup and simple to use.  Non-profits do not have to rely on a team of people to carry out fundraising efforts.  Resources can be devoted to supporting the cause instead.

 Connecting with people on a more personal level inspires call to action.  With social media people can share their social good with friends and inspire those friends to advance the good.  For non-profits looking to help their causes in the 21st century recognizing the power of social media is tantamount to their continued success.

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Mon, 16 May 2011 18:08:00 -0700 Moneybomb!How Much Money Can You Raise in One Day? http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/moneybombhow-much-money-can-you-raise-in-one http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/moneybombhow-much-money-can-you-raise-in-one

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In 2007 the term ‘Moneybomb’ was coined to describe a grassroots political fundraising campaign in support of Ron Paul’s candidacy for President.  The explosive nature of the term is meant to dramatize the mass marketing frenzy intended to generate as much media buzz and excitement as humanly possible.  Everything is meant to happen in one day with the intent of raising boatloads of cash.

 On the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party in 2007 a group staffed exclusively of volunteers participated in a Moneybomb, an effort that rose between $6-6.5 million in a twenty-four hour period.  That effort is still the biggest one-day political fundraising event ever. 

 A bake sale just doesn’t cut it when running for President.  Looking for new and innovative ways to reach more people in less time political fundraising campaigns began tapping into the potential of technology and the evolution of online communities.  Social media has become the ideal vehicle for informing your entire base – and connecting with new ones – of where and how to donate with a simple click of the mouse.

 Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn boast hundreds of millions of registered users and unlike traditional forms of political fundraising, including direct mail marketing campaigns and email campaigns, social media provides a platform for connecting with your communities immediately in a much more intimate way.   Friends can discuss and share ideas in real-time while accessing those discussions on a variety of devices: desktops, laptops, tablets and mobile devices.   As friends discuss passionate ideas they invite more friends and so on.  In no time groups of social networks are engaged and the possibility of discussions going viral is considerable.

 Facebook is predicated upon the idea that users are part of a community of 677 million Friends: more than twice the population of the United States.  Now online fundraising platforms are developing to meet the twenty-first century demands of a connected world by creating tools specific to political fundraising that integrate with Facebook and other social media spaces like LinkedIn and Twitter.  The possibilities are limitless when you have the potential to reach 677 million people.

 Online fundraising platforms give individuals and organizations the power to create fundraising campaigns with a simple sign up.  A hosted donations page is created immediately with the functionality to customize a single page or fully integrate into your existing website.  All for free.

 Scalability is a key feature when considering how to get the word out to your donor base.  Whether your goals are $500 for a tee ball team or $1 billion campaign for the White House, online fundraising platforms help causes raise money online fast and effectively.

 

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Mon, 16 May 2011 17:26:00 -0700 Texting To Support the Cause: Texting Donations vs. the Benefits of Raising Money Online http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/texting-to-support-the-cause-texting-donation http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/texting-to-support-the-cause-texting-donation

Fundraising organizations have been turning to text messaging as a way to raise money.  A text messaging campaign raised over $30 million for the people of Haiti in the wake of the tragic earthquake that devastated the small island nation on January 12, 2010. 

The immediacy of text messaging and the convenience of typing in a short code on your mobile device, instead of a complete phone number, has been an effective way for charities to raise money.  It is estimated that 1 in 3 people in the United States alone will own a cell phone by 2012 and as the age of Internet children mature – children born after the advent of the Internet – text messaging and mobile devices will become as ubiquitous as televisions.

Convenience comes at a cost.  A fundraising organization accepts donations by partnering with an intermediary like mGive, a wireless application service provider.  mGive provides a software application that connects the fundraiser with major cell phone carriers.  The software creates a code, donors type in the code on a cell phone, wait for a response to confirm, ‘yes’ and the donation is made.  Each donation is billed to the donor’s monthly cell phone bill.

100% of the donation is passed to the fundraising effort.  But software licensing fees can cost the charity $400 to $1500 a month plus a small transaction fee for each donation.  These charges add up quickly.

Texting your donation is a quick and easy way to pledge your support for a needy cause.  But that’s where the quick and easy stops.  Donations can take 30-90 days to process.  In the wake of a disaster, like the earthquake in Haiti, the delay can cost lives because assistance is needed immediately.

Efficient and cost effective ways of supporting your favorite cause through fundraisers have been developing to capitalize on the growth of the Internet.  Online fundraising platforms, like Piryx have been created to provide charities with a way to raise money online fast and effectively.  A fundraiser can be created in just minutes by signing up for free.

Online fundraisers can be accessed by donors on a myriad of devices including laptops, mobile phones and tablets.  The donations are made immediately like a text donation by clicking a donate button on a webpage.

Unlike texting, online fundraising platforms are free to setup, free to manage and provide the charity with tools to collect donations in a variety of ways.  And the charity receives the donation within a maximum 10 days.

 Innovations in technology continue to provide community fundraising organizations with the power to reach their donors in newer and more efficient ways.  The most successful ones carry out due diligence to determine which are the most efficient and cost effective so they can concentrate on the most important part of their work: supporting the cause.

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Thu, 12 May 2011 14:47:00 -0700 Does Your Non Profit Have The Fundraising Blues? http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/does-your-non-profit-have-the-fundraising-blu http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/does-your-non-profit-have-the-fundraising-blu

Don’t allow the campaign season to dig into non-profit revenue.

 U.S. Charitable Giving was up 8.1% in the first quarter of 2011.  But, according to Rob Mitchell, former Chief Development Officer with The American Cancer Society, charities can find their fundraising efforts hamstrung as individuals divert money earmarked for their favorite charities, making a choice to support political candidates instead.

 “Historically, election campaign fundraising has a negative impact on the charitable giving economy. With the U.S. economy growing at glacial speed, much of the giving momentum gain produced so far this year will be eroded as election campaigns divert funds that would have gone to nonprofits. The impact will become more pronounced as electioneering activity increases—especially if the economy is not growing fast enough to blunt much of the blow.”

 For those non-profits looking to compete for the limited funds available innovation and non-traditional means of raising money are key.  Online fundraising platforms allow non-profits to create turnkey solutions, reaching scores of potential donors with a few clicks of the mouse: At zero cost.

 The social media revolution has increased interconnectedness exponentially.  With friends, followers, communities and the ability to reach people with common interests the potential to raise money and awareness is limitless.

 Online fundraising platforms integrate social media tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and even SMS texting.  With the click of a button you can reach an unlimited number of potential donors through any device the tech world can throw into the market. 

 Beyond spreading your message far and wide the online fundraising platform can accelerate more traditional means of raising money like charity events.  Tickets can be sold online and the money can be processed securely just like donations.

 An online fundraising campaign can be established in just minutes with a simple sign-up process.  It can be configured to meet your non-profits’ needs, whether you require the ease of a simple hosted online form or the complexity of full integration into your website and brand.

 The ease with which to create an online fundraising campaign frees up resources and time for staff to concentrate on more important details like creating successful programs that can benefit your cause for years to come.

 Donor pools will decrease with the coming political season in the face of increased demand for the same funds.  Online fundraising provides the non-profit with the ability to reach more donors, quickly with less effort, increasing your potential for raising money even in these difficult times.

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Mon, 02 May 2011 10:25:00 -0700 Political Fundraising – Viral Fever: 2012 elections will take the Internet by storm! http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/political-fundraising-viral-fever-2012-electi http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/political-fundraising-viral-fever-2012-electi

Ever since Obama set the trend by using social media for his online fundraising campaign in 2008 there has been a surge of politicians using the Internet for fundraising. The 2012 elections is about to take the internet by storm. President Obama “announced” is re-election bid via digital video that reached 13 million of his supporters and tied up with none other than Facebook to hold a town hall meeting to answer questions from both in person and “online attendees”.

Having learned their lesson since 2008, rivals and contenders have hopped on to the social media wagon. The benefits of taking your political fundraising campaign online stare at you in the face; you can reach a wider audience in a cost effective way, engage more discussions and field more questions than possible with in-person meetings and political rally’s. Yet, most importantly, fundraise for your campaign online and monitor progress by tracking the number of followers online. Politicians now understand that rallying support to get them elected is not just visiting small towns in middle America for fundraising but also becoming savvy with social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter that has most of the country’s young and old hooked! 

An article in the Associated Press by Beth Fouhy is calling this “Welcome to the Social Network, the presidential campaign edition”. While this is great news for politicians and supporters alike, taking your political fundraising campaign online also makes you vulnerable to an uncomfortable level of transparency. Get ready to be inundated with more rhetoric as the presidential elections gain momentum online.

 I bet no one thought that limiting your message to only 140 characters would actually be sought after by politicians, huh? With little or no control over messages that are distributed via social media, the slightest slip-up could work against the campaign. And with the world of politics being murky as it is, there will be a lot of controversy and mudslinging to watch out for with very few avenues for damage control.

Also, the next presidential election campaign will see those that have used online fundraising tools before get more sophisticated as they use new tools and innovative online fundraising ideas for political fundraising; and there will be a many new and first-time online fundraising users who will leverage social media to get their message out to voters. With the presidential elections just around the corner, there will be many more political fundraisers to watch out for.It seems like ‘Viral Fever’ will be inevitable this upcoming presidential election!

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Fri, 29 Apr 2011 16:29:00 -0700 Online Fundraising – Successful Non-Profit Fundraising Ideas http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/online-fundraising-successful-non-profit-fund http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/online-fundraising-successful-non-profit-fund

Fundraising for your non-profit is now just a click away with so many great online tools that makes donating money to your favorite charity easy and convenient. Often, non-profits set up their online profile and donation pages and wonder why they are not getting the large amounts of traffic or donations that everyone’s talking about. That’s mostly because just creating a profile and sending a few emails is not enough. Your non-profits online presence needs to be monitored constantly to make sure you are connecting with all the right people!

Here are a few useful non-profit fundraising ideas that every non-profit organization should think about while setting up their fundraiser online:

Baby Steps: Set small and achievable goals to make donors and volunteers feel like they can help make a difference with their time or money. Smaller goals can be achieved quickly; giving everyone involved a sense of accomplishment, and a boost in morale. Setting huge goals can be intimidating especially to people who can’t donate large amounts of money and may force them to back out.

Reviews: Your donors will do your marketing for you! Get your donors to review your non-profit or fundraiser and tell the world about all the good work you do. New and potential donors always feel comfortable about making a donation after they learn about other donors’ positive experiences.

Stay on the message: This is key. Often, non-profits emotionally blackmail their audience into donating. This usually works the first time but you want your donors to keep coming back! Your message should be consistent and should talk about the non-profits commitment towards the cause, talk about the great work and progress already achieved and the amount of work left to be done. Too much of any one message will most often falls on deaf ears.

Get Help: With social media tools expanding, often non-profits fail to stay up to date with new techniques that are freely available on the Internet. It always helps to get help from great companies like Piryx that are committed to helping non-profits meet their fundraising goals by helping them set-up their online fundraising pages and giving them the essential training and skills required to run those pages successfully!

Connect: It’s most important to constantly connect with new and old users. Make sure to send them progress updates, promote your charity with new messages and every time you reach a fundraising milestone, thank them for their contribution- be it time volunteered or money donated.

A mix of these above steps in setting up and managing your charity’s online presence is sure to get your fundraiser on its way to success!

 

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Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:47:00 -0700 Fundraising – Benefits of Fundraising Online http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-benefits-of-fundraising-online-0 http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-benefits-of-fundraising-online-0

Every school, organization, club, and team needs some kind of funding to do what they need to do. That money usually comes from fundraising efforts or donations from a benefactor. Traditional fundraisers, like candle sales and car washes, are usually a hit or miss. You either make sales or you don’t. There is nothing you can do to fix that. If you want a bigger guarantee though, you may want to focus your efforts to fundraising online. This is a revolutionary process that could do wonders for your group or cause. Here is a look at the benefits of online fundraising.

When you start fundraising online, you can pull from a much larger group of people. Think about a standard car wash in comparison. With that kind of fundraising, you can only rely on money to come from the people that happen to pass by your car wash. If you market the event for a few days earlier you may be able to pull some people in from neighboring towns, but that will be it. When you work through social media on the internet to market your cause, you can literally get funding from across the world. The potential earnings are endless.

Managing your fundraising is much easier online. You can see just how much money is coming in and going out for your fundraising efforts, and you can see where you are getting the most money from. If you find that one fundraiser is working better than another, you may think about focusing more efforts on the successful one. You can make a plan that will actually yield results, and then you can adjust your fundraising to fit your needs. All of this happens in an instant through the World Wide Web.

Online fundraising is simple to do, and you can manage it all from home. You never have to think about going out and spending a whole day at a bake sale only to make $5. You can stay at home and still earn money for your fundraiser. This is one of the most convenient and fast paced ways to go about fundraising nowadays, and it is sure to change the way that people earn and donate in the future. If you have internet access and a cause you need money for, think about putting your efforts on the web. You may only be a few clicks away from the money you need.

For free fundraising tools that will help you effectively raise money online for your fundraisers, you can create, manage, and track the success of an unlimited amount of online fundraising campaigns today by using a robust online fundraising platform. Fundraising online is now easy for your fundraisers by using these free fundraising tools today.

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Tue, 26 Apr 2011 13:06:00 -0700 Innovative ways to fundraise: Creating a sense of belonging for your donors http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/innovative-ways-to-fundraise-creating-a-sense http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/innovative-ways-to-fundraise-creating-a-sense

With so many non-profits fundraising for causes and just as many willing donors, it has become imperative for non-profits to make sure that they continue adding to the new pool of donors and make sure their donors keep coming back.

To keep your donors coming back to you, it’s important to keep your non-profit on “top of mind” for your donors. It’s important for donors to feel a sense of belonging to the cause so they can continue to donate as well as champion for the cause. It’s always easier to attract donors who have had a personal connection to the cause – often the ones who come forward have first-hand experience with the cause themselves or through a family member. It’s difficult to attract donors who don’t have similar associations and they often tend to question the legitimacy of the non-profit or ask themselves if it’s a cause they really feel strongly about.

Non-profits have often tried to personalize their fundraising approach. Usually fundraising events are a platform for non-profits to engage potential donors and explain how every dollar donated is being spent. Obviously, this kind of outreach can’t be sustained as events cost money and don’t always reach out to everyone. Non-profits have also used direct marketing approach via postcards and literature about their causes.

Given the volume of postcards and handwritten notes that must be sent out, RST Marketing has created Real Pen, a product that can send out hundreds of “handwritten” notes for non-profits. Keith Kanode of RST Marketing says “I think if you can’t speak one on one with a donor, your next best option is a personalized, hand addressed-looking package.” Several other personalization strategies used by non-profits have ranged from activities such as marathons, bake sales and gift baskets, yet all these strategies are limiting and cannot be sustained for long-term fundraising.

Today, with a boom in social media and internet marketing, the personalized approach has been taken a step further. Companies like Piryx work with non-profit organizations to build their very own non-profit fundraising pages at no cost and also train them to leverage social media tools such as Facebook & twitter for their fundraising campaigns. Using the internet for fundraising not only reduces the cost of mailers & postcards that eventually get recycled, but most importantly allows non-profits to engage with new and current donors and keep track of all the donations coming in more effectively. Allowing the donor to research the cause, create their own donor profile and keep track of how their donation adds to the overall fundraising goal, gives them a sense of pride and belonging.

At the end of the day, making sure your donors feel good about what they have done to support your fundraiser will automatically translate into a loyal donor and more new donations.

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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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Fri, 22 Apr 2011 15:51:00 -0700 Online Fundraising: Get out of the Woods and Out of the Hole http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/online-fundraising-get-out-of-the-woods-and-o http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/online-fundraising-get-out-of-the-woods-and-o

Say you want to have a dinner party. A potluck! You’re pumped about this potluck, and want to make it the luckiest pot this side of the Mississippi (whichever side you happen to be on). Needless to say, you want a lot of people to come because, well, if nobody shows up then no food will appear and that would be a pretty useless dinner party. So you better start pimping that shizz.

The thing is, you live in a cabin deep in the woods, that’s tough for people to get to. Sorry ‘bout that. With no Internet connection and therefore (gasp!) no Facebook or Twitter accounts. So, your grapevine consists of you and your buddies’ phone numbers. You rack up your bill calling everyone you know and even spend the dough to get some flyers made, with a little map to you. You want this to be the potluck of the century! To end all potlucks! When the day rolls around you’re in the red, but the massive turnout is sure to make up for it in casseroles and Jell-O mold. It’ll be a huge spread and declared a massive success. Right? CUE DRUMROLL!

On second thought, cue “wamp-wamp” trombone: your friends show up with their girlfriends and a few others. An elderly couple that passed a telephone pole one with one of your flyers taped to it on their way to go mall-walking. And a couple of stoner kids who misread the meaning of “potluck” on the ads you stuffed under the wiper of their ’95 Cavalier. Anyone else that heard about it couldn’t figure out how to get there. So for those who actually brought food, there’s barely enough to make it worthwhile.
Oh yeah, and then a bear comes charging out of the woods and gobbles up what little there is before anyone gets a chance to eat it. Psyche!

What happened? Well, you were over before you began. Because you live amongst bears, but also because you’re not online, while everyone else is. It’s where the kids go for all their information nowadays – kids being almost anyone who, at one point, had a mother and father. Which brings us to this just being an elaborate metaphor for a small non-profit that relies on offline fundraising practices. TA-DA!

The party = your cause

The cabin = being offline and harder to find

Guests = donors

Potluck food = donations

Phone bills, flyers = traditional marketing costs

Evil bear = the numerous fees and expenses that go into running a fundraising campaign and end up devouring most of your donations since you didn’t reach enough people

Basically, if you’re not working from an online hub, the ratio between your efforts, costs and rewards will be seriously out of line compared to the benefits of using social media.
For a non-profit, getting online is the easiest and most cost-effective way to raise awareness for your cause and connect with donors at an exponential level. Social networks act as platforms that allow you to create fluid campaigns and reach targeted audiences - audiences that will do a lot of the legwork for you if you take advantage of the resources at your disposal and connect with them in the right way.

Word-of-mouth is the most effective marketing tool and the best part is that it’s possible to achieve with little to no cost. Madness? Sorcery? A shady deal that sounds like it would come out of the mouth of a bridge-dwelling troll? Actually, no…and don’t call us trolls. We just haven’t had a coffee yet.

Enter Piryx, a free fundraising platform that gives non-profits a space to create awareness and reach donors without the energy and money-draining minutia of traditional offline tactics. Time that would be spent organizing expensive charity galas and convincing people you’re not Jehovah’s Witnesses during door-to-door canvassing could be used to reach thousands of potential donors through Piryx’s social giving platform. Via email, Facebook, Twitter and multiple other applications (for free!) you can share your cause with others and enable them to fundraise on your behalf. Simple payment processing makes donations quick and easy, and access to analytics helps you keep track of your fundraising campaign’s performance.

All you have to do is supply information and create linkable content that donors will respond to and want to share, easily managed with Piryx’s free fundraising tools and services. Have you noticed that the word “free” comes up a lot? It’s not a typo – there are absolutely no costs associated with a Piryx account, beyond a 4.5% transaction fee for all the donations that come rolling in. None. Seriously. We ripped up the flyers and shot the bear. No, that would be cruel. We sent him to live on a farm far, far away.

So, the bottom line is: you can spend time and money busting your non-profit butt to register on peoples’ radar the old-fashioned way, and reach a fair number of people. Or let the World Wide Web do the dirty work and watch your donor base grow like bamboo on steroids. Piryx believes that causes shouldn’t have to begin raising money from the bottom of an expensive red hole, and that donations should go towards what they were meant for. Instead of gimmicks, events and expensive marketing campaigns that, offline, are necessary to get people to donate in the first place. A little counterproductive, wouldn’t you say? We say yes! So, we did something about it.

Go on. Sell the cabin, call your Internet provider and join the rest of the world. Everyone’s just wandering around with crudités and deviled eggs in search of a potluck to go to.

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Fri, 22 Apr 2011 09:48:00 -0700 Fundraising – Benefits of Fundraising Online http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-benefits-of-fundraising-online http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-benefits-of-fundraising-online

Every school, organization, club, and team needs some kind of funding to do what they need to do. That money usually comes from fundraising efforts or donations from a benefactor. Traditional fundraisers, like candle sales and car washes, are usually a hit or miss. You either make sales or you don’t. There is nothing you can do to fix that. If you want a bigger guarantee though, you may want to focus your efforts to fundraising online. This is a revolutionary process that could do wonders for your group or cause. Here is a look at the benefits of online fundraising.

When you start fundraising online, you can pull from a much larger group of people. Think about a standard car wash in comparison. With that kind of fundraising, you can only rely on money to come from the people that happen to pass by your car wash. If you market the event for a few days earlier you may be able to pull some people in from neighboring towns, but that will be it. When you work through social media on the internet to market your cause, you can literally get funding from across the world. The potential earnings are endless.

Managing your fundraising is much easier online. You can see just how much money is coming in and going out for your fundraising efforts, and you can see where you are getting the most money from. If you find that one fundraiser is working better than another, you may think about focusing more efforts on the successful one. You can make a plan that will actually yield results, and then you can adjust your fundraising to fit your needs. All of this happens in an instant through the World Wide Web.

Online fundraising is simple to do, and you can manage it all from home. You never have to think about going out and spending a whole day at a bake sale only to make $5. You can stay at home and still earn money for your fundraiser. This is one of the most convenient and fast paced ways to go about fundraising nowadays, and it is sure to change the way that people earn and donate in the future. If you have internet access and a cause you need money for, think about putting your efforts on the web. You may only be a few clicks away from the money you need.

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Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:30:00 -0700 Fundraising Ideas That Help You With Online Fundraising http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-ideas-that-help-you-with-online-f http://fundraisingonline.posterous.com/fundraising-ideas-that-help-you-with-online-f

Fundraising is an activity that has been around for a long time.  It is one of the popular ways of gathering or collecting money to fund operations.  There are different types of fundraising ideas.  There are the traditional methods like auctions, dinner events, and bake sales.  Newer methods are being created to ensure the success of fundraising through creative ideas and events.  The main rule in fundraising is to stand out.  If your event is unique enough to attract attention, it would be easier to invite donors and supporters.

One method of fundraising that is becoming the 'go-to' way today is online fundraising.  Because of the influence of the internet to everyone’s lives nowadays, posting your fundraising ideas online is one of the best methods you could think of.  By going online, you could reach out to everyone, not only to people within your region, but to foreign countries as well.  It is like hitting a million birds with only one stone.  Plus it is not difficult to do.  All you have to do is post your fundraising link or page and the internet will take care of the rest.

Piryx is an online fundraising platform that allows you to promote awareness about your fundraising efforts.  Anyone with an intention of raising money for a cause can set up a free account with Piryx.  Once you have successfully set up your account, you can now create not only one but multiple fundraising pages.  So if you have different causes or operations that you need to raise money for, Piryx is an ideal online tool for you. 

Fundraising ideas should be unique and attractive to be able to catch the attention of people.  This is why Piryx made sure that you would have the required tools to be able to personalize and customize your fundraising page.  You can set the design, colors, themes, and layouts according to your own preferences or to the operation you are raising money for.  For example, if you are raising money for a local baseball team, you can design your fundraising page with baseball bats and mitts.  You can also incorporate the team colors into the page you are creating.  You can also post photos of the team so that people would see that there is indeed a baseball team that needs financial assistance.  People are willing to help as long as they are provided enough evidence that there is a need and that they can make a difference. 

After making your fundraising page as attractive as you possibly can, you can now post it online.  Where?  Post it on websites where most people go, of course.  Social networks are the latest trend in social interaction through the internet.  Facebook, for example, has a million users worldwide.  You can post your link here so that people within your Facebook network would be able to see what your fundraising is all about.  This is very convenient for them because they do not have to leave their homes to be able to get a chance to help out.  It is also convenient for you because you do not have to deal with time pressure, unnecessary expenses, and exhaustion just to raise the money your organization needs.  Unlike other fundraising ideas, Piryx multiplies the number of your donors and supporters with only a minimal effort requirement.

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