The Most Common Fundraising Challenge Plaguing Non Profits

Non profits have a lot to worry about! For starters, many of them are on a shoestring budget with mammoth goals to achieve. With a long to-do list, one of the first and most difficult challenges all non profits face is getting people to volunteer and help out with fundraising. Today, convincing someone to do something without any reward, in kind or cash, is a huge issue. I guess that’s what they mean when they say “there are no free lunches anymore?”

When people think of volunteering or philanthropy in general, I suppose their first instinct is to hold on to their wallets. I suppose the common notion is that charitable giving is for those who have spare cash or for the incredibly rich and famous who can donate hundreds and millions of dollars at fundraisers. Obviously, such a mind-set is tough to overcome. Very little, do people stop and think that the world has billions people, while hundreds of millions of people that can afford to give maybe $10, $30 or $50 more frequently and that there are less people out there who can afford to contribute huge amounts of money to fundraisers.

Today, hopefully that challenge of getting people to work with your charity is a lot easier with fundraising online. Using the internet is definitely the most efficient way of getting your message across to a wide network of people, informing them of your cause and encouraging them to participate in your fundraiser. It can be tempting for non profits to work with just about any one who rolls through the door but it is important to make a distinction between those who are interested in the cause and passionate about making a difference in society versus those who just want something to put on their resume. This might seem like a ‘for profit’ approach, but really, if you think about it, for a non profit to be successful in their fundraising and overall goals, you need to hire people just like a for profit firm would. You want people with easily transferable skills, bring new fundraising ideas to the table and manage fundraisers with little or no supervision!

Usually, if a charity or a cause is able to tie up with a corporation, their volunteer problems are solved. Corporates like to encourage their employees to do some “time” and employees get to use it as work hours. Occasionally, you’re able to gather a group of people who are regular volunteers and from a for profit background who can then contribute some great fundraising ideas that can be very useful to the cause. To top it off, both the company and the employee get a tax break when a donation is made by the employee and matched the company!

There are great online fundraising tools available today that can be managed with ease and need very little prior experience or training. Today’s lifestyle has made it such that everyone shops online, so nobody is uncomfortable with using their credit cards on the web. Time is scarce and it’s an online world out there, so non profits should definitely keep this in mind and explore the gamut of online fundraising tools available to them!

Taking the time and effort to get savvy with fundraising online is definitely a good investment; it will solve your problem of looking for volunteers to approach people for donations, you can send out hundreds and thousands of outreach emails at a time and build your donor base, and you can host multiple fundraisers at the same time. So be sure to check out all options available online quickly so you don’t miss out on achieving your goals and doing good in the community due to lack of volunteers and participation!

Fundraising Ideas for Online Fundraisers

People from all over the world spend most of the time on the Internet therefore fundraising activities can be successful using this medium. Donors can give to charity or donate to organizations online without leaving their house. There are many fundraising ideas that can be done through the Internet that people in need can benefit from. The proceeds immediately go to organizations in a short period of time as payments are done via electronic transactions. These organizations do not need to make time-consuming and stressful inventories just like in regular fundraising activities that are done personally.

Fundraising online is possible through Internet auctions. Members of the organization can bid some of their stuff in websites that do auctioneering. They collect a portion of the proceeds to be given to charity. Non-profit organizations can also register their group in a certain website that has a charity program of their own. These groups will be able to get all of the proceeds from the items that they auction provided they open a seller’s account in the said website.

Another way for fundraisers to raise money for charity is to tie-up with local businesses. A specific amount of some of the items sold online by these businesses can be given to the fundraisers. For example, a company that sells baby clothes can donate 10% of the sales they make online to an organization supporting an orphanage. A cosmetic company’s website that sells make-up for women can also donate a percentage of their monthly sales to a women’s crisis center. A publishing company can also donate children’s books to a public school.

 There are also fundraising websites that allow organizations to create a page of their own with them. The website manages the page while the organization is the one who asks for donors and does the fundraising activities by advertising the page to family, friends and supporters. All the proceeds that the organization will receive will directly go to them. This is a way for the fundraisers to help such organizations in their missions and goals for a specified time.

There are also fundraising malls in the Internet that help organizations raise funds for charity. To do this, an organization has to have a website where they will put a link to the online shopping mall. When a person buys something from the seller’s website through the link provided by the organization, the latter gets a portion of the sale made. The customer gets to buy something he really needs and at the same time would be able to give to charity. There are also online shopping malls that encourage organizations to create a web page in their websites for easier and instant access.

 Online fundraising is easier to do than the traditional fundraising activity, which requires time, preparation, location, transportation expenses, advertisement, and inventories. Fundraising online just requires a web page and that alone can reach millions of people around the globe. There are just so many fundraiser ideas that can be implemented via the net that would benefit those who are truly in need. 

School Fundraising Online with Free Fundraising Tools

Schools conduct various school fundraising campaigns for the repair, maintenance and renovation of their buildings and facilities. They also raise money for books and scholarships for the less fortunate youth. They are ensured of donors because these can be their alumni, their students, the parents of their students, faculty members and staff. But because most of their graduates are living in other cities, states or countries, it is therefore necessary to put up an online fundraising capability system in the school’s website. This will allow people from all over to donate to the school for their noble causes. 

Almost everybody knows how to use the Internet. They have email addresses, accounts in social media sites, blog sites and even personal websites. It is possible that graduates of a certain school do everything online such as communicating with others, shopping, paying utility bills, and donating to their favorite charities. With a school’s own website, their graduates would be able to maintain a connection to their alma mater and be informed of the latest activities. Their loyalty would encourage them to donate to school fundraisers. In addition, participating in such events is very convenient and easy. 

One event that can be organized online is to sell merchandise. Students, teachers and the school administrators can have an online auction sale. They can invite the alumni to buy these merchandise and the proceeds will go to the purpose of the fundraising activity. The school can also make use of other website’s free fundraising tool and just pay a minimal portion of the proceeds to the websites.

There are also free fundraising web sites that can manage a school’s fundraising event for them. The school just needs to sign up with them and have an online presence. One website also conducts ways to raise funds for a school and sends the school the money collected once the desired amount is reached. The school just needs to send a link to the site to all their contacts which gives free advertisement to the website. 

The school can also participate in online charity malls by registering to them. When the school sends a customer to the charity mall and he buys something from that site, the school will get a commission. If many customers are referred, the funds earned will be bigger.  Referral is the key therefore the school just needs to send the link to the charity mall to all its contacts via email or by posting the said link to its own website or social media accounts for their online visitors to see.

The school can also put a system in their website that allows people to donate funds via their credit cards. With just a click of the button, donors can immediately give money without any hassle. Depositing through banks is inconvenient as this entails going to the bank, filling out a deposit slip, lining up, and waiting to be called by the bank teller.

Online school fundraisers are the best way to raise money for the overall welfare and betterment of the school’s students and community.

Plays Well With Others: Socializing Your Fundraising Campaign

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

Fundraising Ideas That Help Causes Raise Money More Effectively

There are many ways to go about trying to brainstorm for quality and creative fundraising ideas. These ideas could be used for any number of applications however it would be a good idea to look at the root of the problem of why people want to go ahead with fundraising rather than trying to take it completely out of pocket. The idea about fundraising is that people do not want to pay everything for an event or fundraiser, completely out of their own pockets. So, they go out and look for an idea that could involve numerous people who would donate their time to try and to raise more money over their time invested into fundraising.

This could also be used to have children help you who may be too young to hold a job that could put money toward the cause at hand. This helps in many different ways when you’re trying to come up with fundraising ideas. Most of us have had to come up with fundraising ideas ourselves for either one group or another. We have all had to go out and sell something that we were not necessarily happy with selling, just to raise money. In a way you can almost think of this as a rite of passage of being in school and for raising money for any one of your causes. However, fundraising ideas have sprouted into many other different areas. The traditional means fundraising have proven to be not as successful as fundraising online, as this is what has advanced new fundraising ideas in lieu of new technologies, mainly web based.

New and creative fundraising ideas have slowly turned to the Internet as the Internet began to gain in popularity. This popularity was mostly due to the fact that the Internet started to be center stage in the lives of people who either use it as a social nerve or as a contact medium for any number of people. Using web channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, causes using these channels have become a standard for both getting your message about your fundraisers to the masses.

Another reason the Internet is so great for getting your message out about your fundraisers, is because it increases your exposure and engagement with potential new donors. With normal and traditional fundraising ideas, they were kept as close to home as humanly possible so that you would not have to go very far while you were involved in any fundraising efforts. However, with the advent of the Internet it has made it much easier to describe your fundraiser as well as send the message about your fundraising ideas all across the world. This will also help you reach people who may have interests that are extremely similar to your fundraisers but are not geographically nearby you.

In closing, there are many different fundraising ideas out there. However, the only thing that is limiting you in the amount of exposure your fundraiser has to both the outside world but also to the community around you. It would be a very good idea to explore all your options with fundraising while you have the opportunity to do so.

Fundraising Online Brings Great Success to Causes Who Fundraise

For the last hundred years or so, fundraising has played an integral part of many different charities. These charities have sought to better other people, animals, places, and other causes via a variety of different means, however fundraising has become one of the chief methods by which charities earn their money. You may be familiar with some sort of fundraising that you have done during you life at some point. Everyone has eaten Girl Scout cookies during the spring or summer depending upon where you live. Girl Scouts sell these cookies as a fundraiser for different charities that they give to each year. This is one of the easiest examples of fundraising in America or the world today.

However, there are really two different types of fundraising today; fundraising online and fundraising offline. Offline fundraising, which is how fundraising was traditionally done by a number of ways. Fundraisers could be done for example by the girl scouts and them selling cookies for charity. Or it could be people trying to sell raffle tickets for any number of charities that they are trying to raise money for. All of these are great examples of fundraising and how it was traditionally done in years past.

Flash forward, during this more modern day and age these are an easier way to go about fundraising. Fundraising online has become the new medium for raising money either close to home or around the world. It makes a fair bit of sense when you sit down and thing about it. Traditional methods of fundraising only would encompass the number of people that they could either see or solicit in a set amount of time, which although good did not cover a lot of people pending on the location. Fundraising online on the other hand really gives unlimited possibilities of touching millions to billions of people around the world.

If you add in other mediums that you can use for fundraising purposes then you really have a great tool to start fundraising online. These mediums could include things like Facebook or YouTube. Either of these two sites are both watched and monitored by thousands if not millions of people every day. This allows the fundraisers to have a lot of exposure to people who may not be near you geographically who are interested in your fundraising efforts.

A good example of fundraising online is the causes of both Haiti and Japan that are still ongoing right now. Every time you see a large world catastrophe you see an ad campaign afterward usually looking for donations for some sort of a fundraiser to try and help the citizens of that country. These may be massive undertakings, but how many ads did you see on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube during the last catastrophe? Most likely, you saw many and it would be a good idea that the next time that you think of trying to fundraise either offline or online, it would be a good idea to take a hard look at the ideas that were set down in this article to help get your fundraising campaign off the ground and in higher probability of raising a lot of money with minimal time and effort.

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.

Fundraising Ideas That Help You With Online Fundraising

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.

Free Fundraising Tools for Causes to Raise Money Online Fast

You might have heard the buzz about it and you might be interested in reaping the benefits of it. We are talking online fundraising. And nothing will help you better in achieving a fundraising goal than a fundraising tool that is preceded by the word “free”. Yes, there are in existence the so-called free fundraising tools.

What are fundraising tools by the way?

First, these are usually sites or software that help a fundraiser, whether a team or an individual, set up an online fundraising gimmick. These fundraising tools are sometimes referred to as online giving. Some sites require membership fees, while some of the available software require the fundraiser to purchase such before the benefits are reaped. With free fundraising tools, you get the same benefit but with almost no cost, except for minimal fees that the tools incur in helping you out.

Have you checked out Pyrix yet?

There are a myriad of fundraising tools out there and not to mention the wallop of free fundraising tools that abound the world too. But at Piryx, they offer the best tool that is virtually free. They offer you the same comfort and security that other tools offer. But what they can offer you that the others simply cannot do is the ability not to require humongous service or purchase fees that make the purpose or attempts to raise funds futile.

Piryx considers itself one of the free fundraising tools that are available to the noblest and most honest of fundraisers. They make ask for fees, but these are only minimal and only used to cover expenses for processing all the donations that pour into your cause from your benefactors. Compare that to what the other so-called tools are asking or requiring and you would be surprised at how minimal these fees are.

As one of the best free fundraising tools out in the market, you get quality fundraising accounts wherein the credibility and visual presentation is not sacrificed. You get more benefits than you can think of and demand from a fundraising tool, even from a paid one.

The price of convenience and safety

Your safety is as priceless as your own life itself, with online fundraising, your physical safety is indeed protected and assured. But how about the safety of your identity and your benefactors as well? Piryx assures that every page in its site is as secured as any federal banks’ website. No need for you to worry about identity theft. This is what sets Piryx apart from the other free fundraising tools available.

Need it be mentioned that the site offers utmost convenience? Most free fundraising tools will only allow a user to set up a single account for a single cause. Not Piryx. They allow multiple accounts per user and multiple causes per account. You do not need a separate and fancy website, you can actually use your social networking profiles or accounts to set up an online fundraising. If zero fees for setting up an account, zero monthly or annual fees and zero commitment does not spell out the word “free” clearly enough for you, then nothing will.

If your cause needs to raise money today, check out these free fundaising tools

Facebook Fundraising – Making the Most of this Social Media Platform in Raise Money

Facebook fundraising is a growing trend for causes today. Fundraising started many years ago. A lot of schools, non-profit organizations from youth athletic clubs to cheerleading groups are raising funds to maintain the cost of their activities.

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

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

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

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

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