Raising Money Online: Little Tricks to Up the Ante

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.

Raise Money Online For Your Causes’ Fundraiser

There are many ways to raise money online, some of which are ways that you may have never imagined or at least were not aware of previously. Most of these efforts to raise money online have to do with large fundraising operations that are used to benefit catastrophes or other large disasters, but not all. There are many different charities that try to raise money online for a number of causes that there are for people who wish the money raised is as numerous as the stars in the sky.

That is the way that it has been for raising money online. It is completely possible to raise money online in large volume and with minimal time and effort; however you need to really have the right tips and tricks for it. The reasons for this are numerous because many different non-profit organizations out there try to gather the donations that people are giving away every year. To say that competition is fierce out there for funds would be an understatement, so it takes a special type of person and cause to be able to raise money online form various donors. However, with the right training and instruction anyone can increase their ability to raise money online either now or in the future via the social web.

The reasons for this type of training is simple, many people will not give money to a cause that they don’t believe in. Therefore, you need to be able to sell your charity that you’re trying to raise money online for. It should also be noted that you should widen your spectrum geographically too. You should not try to limit yourself to just the local area in which you live because you could be denying yourself the opportunity to reach a much larger audience online.

To raise money, you really need to be cognizant of the audience that you wish to reach out to and raise money online 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 you 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 using email, blogs, websites, applications, widgets, press, 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 you to reach across the world and broaden your exposure to people and places that you would not be able to on a regular basis. So it would behoove you if you are trying to raise money to look into either one or all of these different mediums to raise money online. There is no harm in trying and that is literally all you have to do, try.

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

Piryx Provides Free Fundraising Tools and Support for Causes

Piryx is an online fundraising platform that helps causes raise money online and connect people with charitable organisations whom they wish to donate money to.

We all know that every year there are literally billions of dollars raised for many different causes both across the country and around the world. Piryx provides a whole range of highly valuable, yet free fundraising tools to assist both sides of this fundraising equation.

For those that wish to actually donate to causes, they can do this via the Piryx social giving platform that has a registry of featured causes and charities.


For those that wish to raise money online for charity, there are numerous tools that can be used to assist. Whether these fundraisers are for and with schools, with sports clubs or other popular collectives, there are separate, very useful areas of Piryx that can be used for free by these groups.

In fact, the site is so versatile there are areas for people that wish to raise money online and would like to get some great online fundraising ideas. There are numerous dedicated pages for assisting you with the ideas you might need to better raise money for your cause. In this case you can even get ideas for fundraising for political campaigns, non-profits, and a whole lot more.

The best part is that they provide free fundraising tools for all causes. Piryx only charges a small fee to cover credit card donation processing and their operating costs, there are no fees of any other kind.

Check out their free fundraising tools today.

Fundraising Online Grows Fast in 2010

Online fundraising is the fastest-growing fundraising channel for nonprofits, a new study says.

In 2010, clients of Convio raised over $1.3 billion online, up 40 percent from 2009, says the annual Convio Online Marketing Nonprofit Benchmark Index Study.

Based on an analysis of data from nearly 600 nonprofits with at least 24 months of data and that raised a total of over $1.15 billion in 2010, the study says 79 percent of those organizations raised more online in 2010 than in 2009, while 21 percent saw their online giving decline.

The median growth rate in online giving totaled 20 percent, up from 14 percent in 2009, with online giving growing fastest for small organizations.

Groups with fewer than 10,000 email addresses saw a 26 percent increase in online giving.

Among organizations that grew fundraising in 2010, 88 percent saw an increase in the number of gifts.

Among 430 organizations that were fundraising continuously in 2009 and 2010, the median donation size grew to $91.94 in 2010 from $83.44 in 2009.

Among organizations that saw online fundraising grow, 88 percent saw the number of gifts grow, with the size of the average gift growing more than $8 in 2010.

The increase in the number of gifts and average gift size indicates “more people are moving online to give even if inspired through other channels,” Convio says.

Constituent engagement “is profoundly multichannel,” Gene Austijn, CEO and president of Convio, says in a statement. “Leveraging only traditional channels or only online channels results in partial engagement. The modern nonprofit and the modern constituent realize the value of fully engaging through multiple channels – traditional and online – to get the most out of each relationship.”

The total number of advocates on file grew 20 percent, with 6.4 percent of advocates on file also making donations, up from 5.9 percent in 2009, the study says.

The median total email file grew 22 percent to 48,700 constituents, it says, indicating that if nonprofits want to maximize the value of each relationship, they should ensure their communications and their non-profit fundraising requests match their constituents’ channel preference.

While giving to relief efforts related to the Haiti earthquake accounted for roughly $250 million, or about 20 percent of the total raised online by Convio clients, the “efficiency and timeliness of online and other digital forms of engagement is creating more opportunity for other organizations to reach people and engage them in a deeper relationship,” Convio says.

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.

Common Causes for Fundraising

 In order for certain causes to continue thriving, financial assistance is almost always required. In most cases, fundraising is the most common and effective solution to help provide ongoing support for a particular group, organization or program. When their financial needs are met, this makes it possible for the cause to remain successful. The most common reasons people donate to causes are to support a local church, school, sports league or non-profit organization, amongst others.

Church Fundraising

Regardless of denomination, many people tend to agree that their local churches are great causes to support because of the programs and services they provide that benefit the parishoners and community. Maintaining and running a church fundraising campaign can be very expensive and because they are typically a non-profit organization, this makes it even more important for individuals to donate to causes that allow a church to keep its doors open. Often times regular donations received by the church are not enough. Many churches hold fundraiser events such as food and clothing drives and even after-school programs for students. When a church’s financial needs are not met, this could result in a loss of such programs and lack of resources.

School Fundraising

It goes without saying that school fundraising campaigns are among the most important causes that people should support. These days, schools require additional assistance with obtaining certain necessities, such as new textbooks, renovating classrooms and purchasing computers and supplies for classes. Fundraisers give the community a chance to donate to school fundraising campaigns that will give those schools the opportunity to ensure that their students receive a fair education that is equipped with the proper resources and items they need to be successful in life.

Sports Fundraising

From local youth sports to adult recreational sports leagues, there are plenty of costs involved that are necessary for a successful and productive seasons. This includes paying for uniforms, travel, referees, and sports equipment. Sports fundraising related causes gives a team a fair shot at providing a positive, team building experience through their favorite sport (i.e. baseball, softball, football, soccer, etc.). When people donate to causes that support their local sports team, they also make it possible for recreational sports programs to continue giving both adults and children alike the chance to participate in an activity that will increase their likelihood of staying out of trouble, build character, leadership, and much more that is gained by being a part of a team.

Non-Profit Fundraising

Out of the many causes in need of financial help, non-profit organizations are among one of the most important to make donations to, for the simple fact that they require these funds in not to just keep their lights on, but to fund projects, and other activities that they care about. As the name implies, non-profit groups do not receive regular payments for their services or programs. Because of this, it is vital that they get donations not only at the state and/or federal level but from wherever they can find such funds. Anytime a financial goal is not reached, this increases the odds of having a non-profit shut its doors for good.

If one of your goals is to donate to a cause or non-profit fundraising for a project and/or operations costs, be sure to support those that are central to your community and are in the greatest need of funds. Not only can you make a financial contribution to benefit your favorite causes, you can also volunteer your efforts to help ensure each fundraising event is successful. 

Free Fundraising Tools

No matter how small or large your cause is, there are a variety online fundraising tools available, yet only a small select few of companies that offer completely free fundraising tools that will allow you raise money online, yet only charge a small transaction fee to cover credit card processing and operating costs, such as company called Piryx.

Instead of paying set up fees, monthly, annual, and/or licensing and consulting fees, you can simply use all the online fundraising tools that will help your cause raise money, yet only pay a small fee based on the performance of using that fundraising platform to process donations, help you manage and grow your donor base, while reviewing analytics to make sense of what would be rather complex information in a simple and intuitive dashboard in order to measure your fundraising campaigns successes and more.

How To Effectively Raise Money Online For Your Cause

It is now possible to raise money online for a social or political cause without having to organize an event or advertising in newspapers. The Internet has come up with an easier solution where you can reach out to millions without incurring expenses. You can raise money online, as there are many avenues that you can employ, including social networking sites.

Raise money by targeting your audience

If you want to raise money online then it will be a good idea if you target the audience that supports your cause. You can do that by assessing the popularity of your cause and promoting it across a number of social networks. You can start with Facebook and Twitter and later expand your footprint to other social networking sites. All it needs is a simple approach that can help you in expanding your outreach.

  •      You can start with creating a page on Facebook. This will serve as the mainstay of your fundraising efforts.
  •      You can then start the process of outreach by visiting pages supporting similar causes and encouraging people to join your page.
  •      You will be able to reach maximum number of people if you promote your page on social networking sites. The greater the number of fans and friends, the more will be the money raised.
  •      Twitter can serve as the secondary platform to raise money online. A single tweet can encourage many to donate towards your cause if you have significant number of followers.
  •      LinkedIn and other websites can also help you to raise money for your cause.

How to raise money online in significant amounts?

While you may be able to find some donors on social networks, it is important to expand your footprint to raise significant amount of money. This will call for a streamlined approach where you can track analytics on every social networking site. It is also important to create a network of payment where people are able to donate without lengthy procedures or glitches. Credit cards, electronic checks, and other modes of payment should be enabled on your platform.

A single online fundraising platform for making donations may increase the number of donations as people will find it easier to donate to your cause. You can use payment platforms that offer simple procedures of accepting donations from social networking sites. These platforms offer an application where you can post links to the payment module on social networking sites and people will be able to make donations by clicking on that link.

Some donation platforms do not even need the posting of a link as you can directly embed the donation module on your Facebook or Twitter page. Visitors to your page can use this module to donate on the spot without being directed to an external site.

You will also be able to keep track of each donation through this arrangement. You can raise money online in substantial amounts by using donation platforms and applications. You will be surprised by the ease with which you will be able to raise money.

 

Fundraising Online: How To Raise Money More Efficiently

Fundraising for personal, political, social, and health issues has become a part and parcel of modern life. It is possible to raise funds for any issue as long as it is relevant to a social or political cause and enjoys support of a significant number of people. The growing interest in these issues has started a new trend where you can raise money online.

Why fundraising via the Internet?

You can begin fundraising online to speed up the process of raising money for a particular cause. You will also have the option of staying on the traditional route where funds are raised in face-to-face canvassing, events, and merchandise sales. There is a major drawback of this method as you can only reach out to people who attend these events. A sizable number of people will remain out of your reach and you will not be able to raise enough money to support your cause. You may not be able to make profits in merchandise sales as it requires significant hard work with limited returns. This is where fundraising online come into play and offer you the easiest way of achieving your targets.

There are two ways of raising money over the Internet with the first one relying on people visiting your website and donating money using their credit cards. The second method uses social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter to encourage people to support your cause. The first method is becoming obsolete as you can only reach out to those people who visit your website. Millions of others will remain aloof of your cause thus severely limiting the amount of money raised.

Social Media Fundraising

You can use social media to your advantage by starting a campaign that can attract people to your cause and start fundraising online. Facebook remains the most popular social networking website where hundreds of millions of people interact with each other. You can create a page promoting your cause and this will enable you to encourage people to donate. You can also use Twitter, Linked-In, and other social networking websites to promote your cause and raise money.

The only problem with promoting causes on social networking websites is that you have to track progress on each of these portals separately. This can be a daunting task especially if you want a simplified and one-window operation for fundraising.

It is now possible to streamline your money raising efforts and track changes and donations from a single platform. You can use these platforms for fundraising online where you can start campaigns on social networking sites. The working of this website is simple as you can create an account to start taking donations. The platform accepts donations from credit cards and e-checks that are contributed by people on different social networking sites.

You can use online platforms to raise money from a number of sources while using a single analytical and accounting tool. You can incorporate this innovative way of fundraising to ensure greater donations while reaching out to maximum number of people.