How Charity Fundraising Benefits from Technology:Online fundraising is changing the game

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.

 

 

Connecting with Donors in the Digital Age:How Savvy Charity Fundraising is Finding Success in the Modern World

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.

 

Charity Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools

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.

Charity Fundraising – How the Modern World Holds Charity Fundraisers

Charity fundraising is always a challenge if you do not have the right donors in your area. You may have a completely valid cause, but if you don’t have the right people to care about it, you cannot fundraise for your charity. Most people think of trying standard charity fundraising methods like catalog or food sales. Those do not always yield the right amount of money. If you want to work with the most up to date and successful form of fundraising, you may think about doing that online. Here is a look at how the online fundraising process works.

To do your charity fundraising online, you first need to think about where you want to have the fundraiser. You can go to a website and post your cause, and then you will work on marketing it from there. Some online fundraising sites cost money, so you need to be watchful of setup fees, monthly fees, annual fees, and other hidden costs you will have to pay. In many cases, you actually lose money with an online fundraiser because the company cheated you out of a ton of funding in fees. If you look carefully though, you can find a place that offers you a hassle-free option for your online charity fundraising.

Once you have an account on the website, you can start your different charity fundraising campaigns. Enter information about your charity and what your needs are, and create as many campaigns as you like. You will be able to manage all of these campaigns from one account online, so you can see if you are making money through each of them. When donors want to make a donation to you, they can go online to the site and do that right away. Money is processed right to your account, minus a standard processing fee that every site has.

When you want to withdraw money for your charity fundraisers, there will be an option to do that through the site and you can collect the funds and deposit them where they need to go. You can market your charity fundraising through social networks or even on your charity’s website. Since the online audience is so large, chances are that you will find donors who are compassionate towards your cause. The Internet is a great place for online charity fundraising, so check out your options right away.

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

Charity Fundraising Online Continues to Help Those in Need

Charity fundraising has been around as long as anyone can remember. People have been giving to charity or people of less fortunate circumstances than themselves since the beginning to time. This is really true of many different sources from both history and today. Charity fundraisers and usually used by mostly religious organizations or by other non-profit organizations that seek to better the common person and combat some of the more long lived problems in human history. Charity fundraising tackles things like hunger, disease, poverty, and illness. All of these things charity fundraisers have been trying to battle or banish for hundreds of years.

Although many different organizations have tried, none have really met with much success in most of these fields. Charity fundraisers have tried to help people in what is usually the worst situation of their lives. However, organizations such as the ones that champion charity fundraising do not just work or promote their causes in small cities or towns. They try to reach the hearts of everyone in the world via the Internet and others forms of communications that can help other people hear about their charity fundraiser.

However, some of the best charity fundraising campaigns have been the work that has been accomplished online. To raise money online, charities really need to be cognizant of the audience that they wish to reach out to and raise money from. Now, this audience may not just be limited to the people in your city or town. It may be a cause that affects people across the entire world and therefore it would be a good idea to broaden the search for donators to the entire world rather than just your own city or town. To do this you will want to try to use larger medium to raise money online.

These mediums will most likely include email, blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. You may be familiar with one or even all of these mediums; however they can be used to great effect in raising money. With these someone around the world from you can hear your message and understand that charity that you are trying to raise money online for. These mediums help your charity to reach across the world and broaden your exposure to people and places that you would not be able to on a regular basis. Charity fundraisers online typically use some or all of these programs in their quest to raise money over the Internet and the world.

Charity fundraisers may be happening right now in your own city or town. Go and check your local paper, you would be hard pressed to find an issue that some sort of non-profit was not trying to raise money for some sort of charity or group. Charity fundraising has a long history of kindness and humility that should be considered the next time you try to either raise money for a charity organization or when you may think about giving back to a charity fundraiser. These charity fundraisers seek to help people do things that they could not do before hand and better the society as a whole.

Charity Fundraising – How the Modern World Holds Charity Fundraisers

Charity fundraising is always a challenge if you do not have the right donors in your area. You may have a completely valid cause, but if you don’t have the right people to care about it, you cannot fundraise for your charity. Most people think of trying standard charity fundraising methods like catalog or food sales. Those do not always yield the right amount of money. If you want to work with the most up to date and successful form of fundraising, you may think about doing that online. Here is a look at how the online fundraising process works.

To do your charity fundraising online, you first need to think about where you want to have the fundraiser. You can go to a website and post your cause, and then you will work on marketing it from there. Some online fundraising sites cost money, so you need to be watchful of setup fees, monthly fees, annual fees, and other hidden costs you will have to pay. In many cases, you actually lose money with an online fundraiser because the company cheated you out of a ton of funding in fees. If you look carefully though, you can find a place that offers you a hassle-free option for your online charity fundraising.

Once you have an account on the website, you can start your different charity fundraising campaigns. Enter information about your charity and what your needs are, and create as many campaigns as you like. You will be able to manage all of these campaigns from one account online, so you can see if you are making money through each of them. When donors want to make a donation to you, they can go online to the site and do that right away. Money is processed right to your account, minus a standard processing fee that every site has.

When you want to withdraw money for your charity fundraisers, there will be an option to do that through the site and you can collect the funds and deposit them where they need to go. You can market your charity fundraising through social networks or even on your charity’s website. Since the online audience is so large, chances are that you will find donors who are compassionate towards your cause. The Internet is a great place for online charity fundraising, so check out your options right away.

Charity Fundraising Ideas: Making a Difference Online

You would often hear about celebrities donating big amounts of money to their preferred charities.  We all want to help as well; however, we lack the money and the influence to be able to make charity fundraising ideas work.  There are numerous charities that have their own different purpose.  There are those that focus on the elderly.  There are those that provide food and shelter to orphans.  There are charities that help provide education to unfortunate families.  There are a lot of various charities around.  You, too, can make a difference without the need for money or influence and power.  All you have to do have is an internet connection.

Once you are online, go to Piryx.com and set up an account.  What is this for?  This website is the best way to raise money online for charities compared to other charity fundraising ideas.  By setting up a free account, you will open up the doors for you to be able to create a page dedicated to your cause.  The great thing about this site is that you do not need to worry about having to spend a lot to make your good intentions happen. 

The website would only charge you when someone makes a donation through online banking.  The website charges an industry low and minimal fee for them to be able to process the donation from the donor to your fundraising page to your bank account or the bank account of the charity you are trying to help.  By gathering donations online, you are also freeing yourself from stress and exhaustion so you would have more energy to other tasks you need done.  You not only save your energy, you also save precious time.  Instead of spending all your time in organizing and setting up an event, you could rather spend it at the charity helping out in whatever way possible.  Of all the charity fundraising ideas, this is the one that allows you to do two good things at same time.

The other great thing about Piryx is that you can create more than one fundraising page.  So you can help more than just one charity with just one account.  Each page can be customized and designed to match the purpose of the charity you are about to raise funds for.  For example, if you are planning to help out a charity group that focuses on women’s rights, you can make the page pink to signify femininity.  So no matter what type of charity fundraising ideas you come up with, you can easily incorporate it with Piryx and the innovative tools they provide to make your page more professional and successful.

After setting up an account and finally being able to create a charity fundraising page for your chosen charity, you can now post this online through social media networks like twitter or Facebook.  The family and friends in your network would easily see your post this way.  Then they could easily donate through your post and share it to other people in their network as well.  You are not only getting the much-needed donors and supporters, you are multiplying them with less effort and less time. 

Charity fundraising online evolves for charity fundraisers

Charity fundraising online is the new evolution for charity fundraisers. You can use the Internet to increase the exposure for your cause’s noble endeavors to make your world a better place. And while these are noble endeavors intended to make your life better and to put a smile on your own as well as other’s faces, there is a lot of work involved. A charity fundraising endeavor is no easy task, there is planning and execution involved. The Internet can now make the execution part a little easier.

With the decreased importance of cash on hand for the average American, traditional charity fundraisers such as bake sales, candy sales, raffle tickets and car washes are being slowly rendered insufficient means to raise a significant amount of money. Car washes might be an exception if you target male donators and you have a number of attractive female car washers, but that will likely be the only exception. In person physical means of raising money are not so much practical as they are becoming vestigial.

With the human evolution of money heading to electronic and cashless means, charity fundraising has to evolve as well. Charity fundraisers are much more effective online when all you need is a bank account and a quality online fundraising platform, such as using Piryx. “Cause” Walks began using the Internet for their charity fundraising tool over the past five years and they are raising much more money than they did when they had to rely solely on cash or check donations. While many walks still take cash and check donations, the Internet charity fundraising is quickly surpassing the other forms of physical money.

When you find a charity fundraising website you like, you should really take advantage of the opportunity to raise funds for your causes. You can raise funds for multiple charity fundraisers at the same time using the Internet. This can add alacrity to projects and charities you are trying to accumulate money for.

You can use Internet charity fundraising websites and promote your charity over the web using social marketing sites like Facebook, Twitter and Myspace. These sites are largely popular and most web users have accounts on at least one of these sites. Your friends are the people most likely to donate to your charity fundraising venture, therefore using one of these social networking sites is the best idea. It is easy and fast to do, all it requires is linking your profile to the charity in question and you just need to promote it.

63 Percent of Charities Predict an Increase in Giving in 2011, says Report

Giving to most charity fundraisers stayed the same or increased last year, according to a new survey released by the Nonprofit Research Collaborative, a coalition of six organizations that study or represent non-profits and fundraisers on Tuesday.  However non-profit officials and charities said that gifts did not increase as much as they had hoped, given the economic recovery.

The study asked about two key measures of fundraising — the percentage of organizations reaching their fundraising goals and the percentage of charities raising more funds in one year compared to the previous year. In the NRC survey about 2010, just 52 percent of organizations reported reaching their fundraising goals that year. In a survey conducted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP, a member of the NRC) about 2009, 53 percent of charities reported meeting their yearly fundraising goals that year. 

63 percent of the more than 1,800 organizations studied said they expect private donations to rise in 2011. Nearly two-thirds said they do not plan any increases in the number of fundraising staff members this year.

The study pointed out that the fundraising situation for these causes was more stable in 2010 than in 2009, when many of the charities were reeling in the wake of the 2008 recession. While only 11 percent reported that they had raised about the same amount of money in 2009 as they did back in 2008, 24 percent said they had raised as much money in 2010 as in the previous year.

The percentage of charities that said their donations declined fell from 46 percent at the end of 2009 to 33 percent at the end of 2010.

“While many organizations stopped the bleeding, giving simply didn’t rebound like we thought it might, especially given the economic growth we saw in the last quarter of the year,” said Paulette Maehara, president of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, one of six organizations that make up the research collaborative. “Despite the unexpectedly flat fundraising results that charities reported, the survey showed that success was more likely when organizations invested resources in fundraising staff and infrastructure, including volunteer management.”

Spending More Pays Off?

According to the survey, three-quarters of the organizations that increased their spending on fundraising activities saw collections rise. Almost half of the organizations that increased their spending on fundraising by 15 percent or more saw contributions increase by 15 percent or more.

This does not point out if there was even a return on their investment. So, you increased the spending on advertising (those dollars donated to your organization for ‘projects’ most likely) and you saw an equal increase in contributions?

Let’s say organization X spent $15,000 on advertisements and increased their contributions 15%, which was up from $10,000, that is only $1,500 and a loss of $13,500 that could be used to feed multiple families in poverty, rescue animals, provide clean water to villages in Africa, etc. This type of scenario would not be productive and an utter waste of resources.

The survey also showed that online giving produced the most growth out of all types of solicitations charities use.  Of course, it should. Fundraising online is much more easier, requires less time, and is overall much more productive for organizations. It’s easier to track the results of fundraising campaigns and see what works, what doesn’t, and allows you to measure very accurate results.

Online giving rose for 58 percent of organizations that use the Internet to seek donations by running online fundraising campaigns. Net proceeds from special events rose for half the organizations that use that approach; efforts to seek big gifts also rose for half of the groups. Less than half the groups that sought foundation grants, sent direct-response appeals such as mail and e-mail messages, or solicited gifts from board members or corporate contributions saw increases in those categories.

The study did not point out how much of an increase those organizations realized, nor is it completely accurate in its findings. While only aggregating data from several resources, which accounted for ONLY 1800 organizations, there are still more than 1.5 million other registered 501 c3 non-profit organizations that data was not gathered from.

The large organizations that are all most likely surveyed account for incredibly high amounts of overhead and are notorious for being inefficient with their fundraising and giving. Many of which are not effectively fundraising online to be more productive with time, capital, and return on fundraising efforts.

The way people give to causes is changing. More and more people would like to see transparency with the non-profits and charities they give to.  Instead of giving $100 and having no idea where it goes, yet most likely 99% to salaries and other expenses, while 1% gets distributed to actual causes, donors would like to see that if I give $100, there will be tangible evidence that my contribution was used for this project, and this was the result, etc.

There is a shift in the way people give and will continue to gain momentum over the coming years, as online fundraising campaigns by causes, big and small continues to grow. More donors will donate to smaller, flexible, and more efficient causes, opposed to the very big ones that have proven to be not as effective, when measured pound for pound to the smaller ones.

For example, if a smaller non-profit is fundraising to raise money online for a project to build a school and fresh water system that will allow a community of 1,000 people in Kenya to be self-sufficient for $40,000, and will take 90 days to complete, would you donate to them, if they have proven results with other projects, good donor feedback, and pictures and videos to back it up?

Or, would you donate your $100 to the American Red Cross for example, as they do not point out where and how exactly the money will be spent for a cause such as the Japan Earthquake Relief Efforts? Most likely it will go to salaries, events, and other expenses, as maybe $1 or so gets passed on those in need.

The times and way people are giving is changing, while the Internet and cause transparency will be major fuel for this momentum in the coming years. For donors that are debating on what cause to give to, it is highly suggested to do some research on the organization and understand the percentage of donations that go to what part of the organization. This will help you decipher what cause is more effective in helping those that need it.

Raise Money Online With Your Charity Fundraising Efforts

If you are running out of innovative and interesting ideas for your next charity fundraising event, you’ve come to the right place: the internet! Where else can you reach millions of people quickly and effortlessly with just a click of your mouse... and little bits of other efforts? If the thought of running a charity fundraiser online has you confused, don’t worry. With a quality online fundraising platform, all of your fundraising efforts can be quick and painless, and allow you to raise money with ease. 

By using an online fundraising platform, you can create an unlimited amount of fundraising campaigns, share your cause with your supporters, along with thier individual social networks, with the many free tools and resources they provide for you. Not mention, you'll be able raise money using the many social media outlets available on the internet today such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more. You can even manage multiple campaigns for each of these unique outlets.

When using free fundraising tools, it is free and easy to sign up; you can register in just a few minutes. There is no long-term commitment, no set up fee, and no monthly fee. The only charge you may incur is a fee for donation processing. From your dashboard, you will be able to see at a glance how much you’ve raised so far, where the donations are coming from, how much each person donated to your charity fundraiser, and much more. You will be able to analyze and optimize your fundraising campaigns from the valuable information you gather.

When you take your charity fundraising efforts online, you can have a much more effective and successful campaign than all of your offline methods combined. No more baking cookies, or canvassing door-to-door; and no more picking up the phone and calling people who just hang up on you. It can be quite defeating and most likely never produce the results you desire with your fundraising needs. You can streamline your activities and run a more efficient campaign.

Once you start your online fundraising campaign you will be amazed by how many people become aware of your cause and how many donations will start pouring in. The power of the Internet is amazing and if your campaign goes viral, as it does for many causes, millions of people will know about you, your mission, and your charity fundraiser. There is no better way to get the word out about your cause than the using the Internet as your go-to vehicle.

Online fundraising is gaining more popularity as more and more people are getting on the web and tuning in to social media. Facebook is no longer for the college crowd; it has become a way for young and old alike to share information and connect with each other, as it transcends time, space, geographical, and other boundaries that tend to limit human interaction. Think of anyone of your charity fundraisers as just one more thing to share with your friends and family online.