G-Team is a new way for non-profits to raise funds locally for a specific cause. An example (from their site) would be “If the G-Team collectively raise $1,000, a local bike cooperative will fix up 100 broken, used bikes, and donate them to disadvantaged youth in your city.”

What makes this service different from your other online fundraising services, is that you’re able to raise funds locally which makes it ideal for smaller fundraising drives that wouldn’t make sense for a nationwide campaign.

You also have to put a specific dollar amount on the campaign at which it is deemed successful and you’ll be able to reach your specific goal (like being able to fix up those 100 bikes). Only if your campaign reaches this tipping point will users’ accounts be charged and your campaign will receive the money.

Their current campaign (which is nationwide) is for asking donations for Feeding America.

When you sign up for Groupon’s Daily Deal, you select to only get information about deals in your area and not from across the country. This is how the G-Team will distribute information about your local fundraising drive as well.

Currently this service is available in the following cities:

Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dallas, Denver Area, Detroit, Toronto, Houston, Indianapolis, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Madison, WI, Miami Area, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Nashville, New York, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland (Oregon), Raleigh Durham, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa Bay Area, Vancouver, Washington, D.C.

As you can imagine, they already get inundated with requests. According to the site the key is to have an easily measurable and very specific fundraising drive (see example above). Don’t generalize. Surely, an aspect of fun in your application wouldn’t hurt either. Besides contact information be prepared to enter your social media accounts, your group’s mission and your “top three reasons you love your organization.”

From their site:

“Keep in mind, G-Team campaigns typically…

- benefit the local communities of our subscribers
- run for a limited period of time
- support causes that resonate with our subscribers
- aid specific projects, as opposed to broad fundraising efforts
- only succeed if they reach a “tipping point”
- are creatively organized around a compelling story”

The link to apply can be found on this page.

Note: As the internet evolves, more and more neighborhood services are becoming available. A new service for connecting with your neighbors through the internet is NextDoor.com. Even though this site has nothing to do with fundraising, it may be beneficial for finding out about needs within your community, or for drumming up help for local fundraisers.

Related posts:

• Fundraisers To Raise Funds And Team Spirit
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Raise Funds With InsiderPages.com
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service

Accepting donations online is an excellent way to convert interest in your group from online visitors and to greatly expand the outreach of your campaign to far-off friends, family, alumni, supporters, or other individuals with a desire to help further your cause.

When accepting donations online, it’s imperative to give a donor the option to pay with a  credit card. Asking a potential donor to write and mail a check to you after they visit your web page, probably won’t result in the amount of donations you’re hoping for.

The problem for most non-profits when it comes to accepting online donations is that they don’t have the technical means to process them safely online. Obtaining the technical, security, and programming skills to manage an online donation campaign can be costly and time consuming. But with today’s internet tools, groups can safely, easily, and effectively solicit and accept donations online to either supplement a fundraising campaign or to run a campaign completely online.

There are different ways to go about accepting donations online with the help of third party companies. It can be as simple as adding a donation button to your website, or you can sign up with one of the many online fundraising services. The ideal way to take advantage of these excellent online options may  be to implement a combination of them.

Following are several ways to help you accept online donations:

Accept online donations with a donation button

- Probably the easiest and fastest way to add a payment solution to your website or blog and start accepting donations today is to sign up with PayPal. You get a snippet of code for a button for your website and  anyone who clicks on this button will be able to make a donation instantly. There are no sign-up fees or monthly fees; your donors don’t have to have a PayPal account to make a donation and you only pay a small fee per transaction. And if your group has registered for 501(c)(3) status, you’ll get discounted rates.

You’ll get reporting tools, you’ll be able to export reports to Excel, Quickbooks and Quicken, accept foreign currency. You can also accept donations with PayPal through your Facebook page.

- Google also offers a donation option through their popular Google Checkout service. Google Checkout also offers low per transaction fees, allows you to accept donations from different countries and even waives fees altogether if you’re a Google Grant recipient. In order to implement a Google Donation button, you have to identify yourself as an IRS Certified 501(c)3 organization.

Accept online donations via Facebook Causes

You can also sign up with the online platform Facebook Causes to solicit donations. If you already have a Facebook page, you can simply add a Causes Tab and start collecting donations.

Read about how to create a Facebook page for your group and how to add a Causes Tab. Cause donations are processed by Network for Good.

Accept online donations via online fundraising services

There are dozens of companies that offer services for accepting online donations. They usually also offer reporting tools and back office tools whereas some customized or additional services may be optional and will be available for a fee.

Click over to our article 15 Most Popular Online Fundraising Services or search for “accepting donations online” to find companies that help you accept online donations.

Requirements to start accepting donations online through any of these services may vary slightly, but you usually have to be registered as a 501(c)3 organization and have to have a profile in the GuideStar database.

Often the service is offered for free or for a low monthly cost and a small transaction fee for each processed payment is added. Even if the company charges a set-up fee or monthly fee, the cost is usually minimal compared to the expense of implementing and maintaining donation and accounting services on your own.

Generally you will receive a free fundraising web page for your group that you can send your supporters to, a widget or payment button to place on your website and tools to track and manage your donations and donor information.

When signing up, you’ll basically go through the following steps:

• Your group registers and provides information
• The site automatically creates a web page for your group and/or widgets and donation buttons you can add to your group’s website
• Visitors to the site use your customized page or the button/widget on your website to make an online donation
• Visitors are taken to a secure third-party site for processing of the donation and collection of account data
• Visitors are returned to the original web page once the transaction is finalized
• The funds are deposited into their account (There may be a holding period)

Visit EasyFundraising for further online fundraising ideas and services. (Sponsored link)

Making it all work

OK, so now you’ve set up donation buttons on your website and created fundraising pages on one or more third party service’s website. Now what? You’re ready to start accepting online donations, but to actually receive donations, you’ll need visitors and then you need to convert these visitors into donors. This sounds very simple, but does require some work.

To start, make sure you have all pertinent information about your non-profit, like your financials, mission, goals etc. easily available on the web. If you have your own website, make this info easily accessible and also add links to other websites that a have information about your group, for example news sites and sites like Guidestar and Charity Navigator. That way, when you do have a potential donor on your site, he or she will be able to find all important info about your group right away and without too much work on their part. Make it easy for them to get information about your group, so they feel confident to make a donation!

Once you have all your info readily available, create social networking accounts, like a Facebook Page, connect your online and offline marketing strategies, and keep improving your website!

Note: Regardless which option you choose, we recommend you consult your legal adviser before accepting any donations online.

Related posts:

• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• PayPal Donate Buttons Illegal in Florida?
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• The Basics Of Running An Online Auction Fundraiser

You can now download our fundraising app – it’s free!

Or search for ‘fundraising ideas’ on your iPhone, iPod or iPad. Please do leave your review within the app store! If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment below.

Note: If you’ve clicked over from Apple’s website, please ask any questions in the comments below.

To read more about how we got started making this app, click over to Mobile App on a Small Budget. If you’re curious about getting your own mobile app, read Are You Considering a Mobile App for Your Non-Profit?

Our fundraising app

Since it’s a do-it-yourself service, Appmakr.com doesn’t provide endless features, but the ones it does provide are essential and are pretty good! For example, if you have a WordPress blog, or any other kind of blog, you can simply add your feeds to deliver your articles.

We’ve used our most popular feeds and added tabs for fundraising ideas, internet related articles (like this one), fundraising letters and our main feed to browse through latest articles. We’ve also added one static About page. Very simple!

As mentioned in another article about mobile apps, you don’t need an app if you want people to be able to access your site on a mobile device. If you’re running a blog, you can simply install a plug-in to format your blog for mobile access and you’re all set.

The advantage of having an app is that your website, your group and message can be marketed through a whole new channel that millions of people all over the world have access to. Another advantage is that you could add functionality to your app that your website can’t offer, like location services, push notifications etc.

Are you ready to create an app with Appmakr.com? Here is what you need to know or do to get started:

1. Learn about what a ‘feed’ is and how it works. ‘RSS’, ‘feed’, RSS feed’ etc. all stand for the same functionality. If you have a blog that uses WordPress, or you’ve signed up for a blog through Blogger or Blogspot for example, your blog already has a feed which is marked by this familiar icon

(More about feeds.)

A feed automatically broadcasts any article you post through different channels: it let’s the search engines know that you have a new post, it triggers emails to your blog subscribers if you’re signed up through a service like Feedburner, it sends your article to anyone who has signed up to your blog’s feed with a feed reader, and it also broadcasts your articles to any place that you’ve added your feed to, like this free app, and also websites that allow you to add your feed.

For example, the feed address to our articles is http://www.fundraisingip.com/fundraising/feed.

You will be asked for your feed URL when you create your app. Yours may simply look like this http://www.yourblogsURL.com/feed. You can also add feeds for different categories of your blog, which would look like this http://www.yourblogsURL.com/category/feed. Go ahead and try it out with your blog’s web address!

You can also add your photo feed from sites like Flickr, a location feed, simple static pages, or your Ning social network (for a fee).

2. If you simply want to add static pages, you have to know some HTML to format your pages. A good place to start learning for free is w3schools.com. In fact, this is a great website to learn about any web related technology for free!

3. Create graphics for your mobile app: this includes a button that will appear in the app store at 512×512 pixels, a welcome screen or splash screen at 640×960 pixels and a header graphic at 640×88 pixels.

4. Sign up for an iOS Apple Developer Account at $99 per year. This is the only expense that you can’t get around. In order to get your app into the app store you have to have this account and you have to renew it every year.

Important: Appmakr.com has a functionality in place so that you don’t necessarily need an Apple computer to create the app on their website, but to actually upload the app to the Apple store you need a Mac.

5. Within Appmakr.com you will be asked to create Developer and Distribution Certificates in your Apple Developer account and upload them to Appmakr.com. You have to make sure you follow the instructions to a ‘t’ and in the right sequence, otherwise it won’t work. We had already unsuccessfully tried a few times when a developer friend recommended to delete every certificate we had created and then simply start from scratch. Then it worked!

You can sign up with Appmakr.com to do this part for you, but it can be pricey. It still may be worth it to you to have your app out there.

Bottom line for creating your mobile app in Appmakr.com:

If you know a little bit of HTML and feeds and can get the graphics done yourself, the process is pretty simple and your only expense will be the $99. If what you just read is all new to you, you can still get your app done by hiring a graphic designer to do the simple graphics (should be fairly inexpensive) and a programmer through a site like oDesk.com to help with the process of creating the certificates (this should also be inexpensive, because you’re not asking them to program anything).

If you don’t want to deal with any of the above, you can simply hire Appmakr.com to do it all for you! (We’re Not affiliated with Appmakr.)

Whichever way you decide to go, or if you have questions, please let us know in the comments!

Related posts:

• Mobile App On A Small Budget
• Are You Considering a Mobile App for Your Non-profit?
• Google For Non-Profits, Mobile App, and Other Updates
• Video Volunteers, Mobile Phones And Your Cause
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service

So let’s get started: In order to get our mobile app done for free or a low budget, we’ve been looking for do-it-yourself ways on the internet. We’re going for an iPhone app, since they’re currently the most popular.

Creating our first mobile app!

To keep it simple, the plan for our very first mobile app is mainly to deliver our content and to make it easier to access our articles via mobile devices.

If you’re planning on creating a mobile app just to make your website easier to read on mobile devices, you actually don’t have to have an app. You can simply install a mobile plugin if you have a WordPress blog, or you can create a mobile style sheet and add it to your website. The advantage of having a mobile app is that you can offer it through Apple’s iTunes store which means your content is being presented to a much wider audience compared to simply offering it in another format on the web.

As we’re trying to do this on a small budget, we’ve decided to give the online app maker service Appmakr a try. Note that you can use Appmakr only for apps that deliver content from a site that has blogging software installed, or uses a feed in some way.

So if you have a blog on your group’s website, you can use this service to make your own app!

Once you log in to Appmakr, (registration is free) it asks for a graphic for a splash screen in 640X960 .png format (the screen that shows when you open the app) and a 512X512 .png button for the icon that will appear on the iPhone.

You can also change the font color, header bars and make some other tweaks. The site gives you the option to add push notifications (a message pops up when a new article is published, even if the app isn’t open) and advertising. There are also lots of videos to help you through the process. When you’re done you can even have Appmakr submit the app for you for a fee.

We will submit it ourselves which means we had to open an Apple Developer account for $99 per year. You can use all of Apple’s software and resources for free, but in order to submit your app for approval and to distribute it through their app store and iTunes, you have to have an Apple Developer account.

To get our splash screen (first screen when you open up the app) and buttons we’ve decided to work with a designer to make sure the app will look professional. Appmakr displays links to professionals who can help you design your app, or you could look for a designer through one of the many freelance websites, like ODesk.com, or vWorker.com. There isn’t that much to design, so if you know a graphic designer, he or she may even do it for free.

The design work for our app will be done this week, but then it still needs to be tested and sent to Apple for approval. So far our only expense has been the $99 for the Apple Developer Program (which includes all kinds of software, how-to videos and sample code) and whatever our designer will charge us.

Here’s a screenshot of one of the pages inside Appmakr:

We will keep you updated on the progress!

Update: It’s been 2 weeks since we’ve applied for the Apple Developer Program. We’ve had to send some forms and are waiting for approval. Maybe applying for the program should be one of the first things on your to-do-list, since it can take a while.

Have you tried Appmakr yet? Please let us know in the comments!

Related posts:

• Our Fundraising Mobile App is Live!
• Are You Considering a Mobile App for Your Non-profit?
• Google For Non-Profits, Mobile App, and Other Updates
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Video Volunteers, Mobile Phones And Your Cause

With more and more of us using smart phones it makes sense to consider using mobile technology to reach more people and more new potential supporters. It may be especially useful to connect with the younger generation in that way, who has been growing up with the internet in their pockets.

If you think increased usage of smart phones isn’t enough of a reason to take mobile traffic serious, then consider that statistics project that the number of users accessing the internet from their mobile devices will surpass the number of users who access it from their PCs within five years.

To be prepared to reach potential supporters through different channels on the internet, wouldn’t it then make sense to move at least part of your fundraising and marketing efforts to the mobile sector?

Can you use mobile apps to collect donations?

There’s been an ongoing debate and petition to Apple to allow non-profits to collect donations from mobile apps. Apple maintains that the reason for not allowing this functionality is because the process of weeding out legitimate applications from scammers’ apps is currently too complicated.

Having apps that make it easy to give from your phone would be a great way to harness a donor’s goodwill right when they’re ready to give; no need to wait to get to a PC! By then the potential donor may have forgotten about the plea for help all together. And going to an actual website from a mobile phone’s small screen to make a donation can also be cumbersome to the point where the donation simply is never made.

Hopefully Apple will figure out how to scrutinize bogus non-profit mobile apps from legitimate ones, but in the meantime, how else could you connect with mobile users?

So what else could you try?

If you already have a budget for an app, you could use an app itself to raise funds. You could create a useful, or simply fun game app and sell it or put it up for free in the app store. You could sell an app for 99 cents or more, but taking into account that currently the majority of downloads are still free apps, you may want to consider giving your app away for free as well.

Now you say it makes no sense to give the app away for free, but free apps can actually create income through advertising opportunities and also in-app purchases. If you currently own a smart phone and have downloaded some free apps, you can see first hand what kind of advertisers are prevalent and how the advertising is presented. Would this work for your own app? You’ll have to decide for yourself. (More about mobile apps and earnings potential.) Many free apps also offer the option to add on premium services for a fee, another way to create income from an app.

What kind of mobile app could you create?

It could be something as simple as creating an app that presents the content from your website. A simple game, or useful utility (f. ex. a price checker) would have a much wider appeal, but would also cost a lot more to create.

Since apps aren’t cheap to come by, maybe it’s possible to strike up a marketing partnership with an app developer? Think about it: a useful and/or fun app could be a great marketing tool and also create income. With so many people owning smart phones, who wouldn’t want to help by downloading a fun app for a good cause? We certainly would!

If you’ve already worked on fundraising partnerships in the past, your experience with getting sponsors and working with companies to promote each other will come in handy.

How much does it cost to build a mobile app?

As opposed to building a website as an interface to interact with visitors through a web browser, a mobile app is actually software that needs to be meticulously planned out, merged with design elements and tested. It needs to be updated as operating systems are updated and continuously managed and marketed.

Software development costs upwards of $100 per hour within the US. In other words, you need to have a pretty large budget to create and manage your own app. If you happen to have the budget for a mobile app, you have to ask yourself, how long it would take to earn the money back, and how you will keep it updated and interesting so people will actually keep using it.

Can you create a mobile app on a budget?

There are some affordable do-it-yourself services available (like appmakr.com) that let you build apps based on the content of your website. Note, that to get your website content formatted for mobile phones and displayed on a small screen, you don’t necessarily need to have a mobile app. You can simply use a plugin if you use WordPress for example (This is what we’re currently using. To try it out, go to http://www.fundraisingip.com/fundraising/ on your smart phone.), or have a mobile stylesheet created and added to your current website.

However, if you have your own mobile app, you’ll be able to market and distribute it (along with your content) through many more channels than if you simply make your website available for small mobile screens.

That’s why we’ve decided to try one of the do-it-yourself services available and report back to you with what we’ve learned! We’ll let you know what’s involved and how much it costs and how well it works. Look for more posts on this topic in upcoming weeks and months!

If you have already tried any of the free app creators out there, or have otherwise created or considered your own mobile app, please let us know in the comments.

Related posts:

• Mobile App On A Small Budget
• Our Fundraising Mobile App is Live!
• Google For Non-Profits, Mobile App, and Other Updates
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Video Volunteers, Mobile Phones And Your Cause

Yes, managing social media accounts will create another item on your to-do list, but if you keep a few simple things in mind (use our social media strategy checklist to help get you started), you’ll be able to put them to good use without too much hassle! The following is focused on social networking sites, but the information can also help when defining guidelines for posting comments, creating blog posts, or taking part in forums.

Choosing a social media platform

There are many different social media sites to choose from. It’s probably best to start with one of the currently most popular social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter. If you already have a personal account with either one of these, why not start your fundraising social media account with the same one: You already know how to use it and you could easily recommend your new fundraising page to your current followers through your personal account.

Once you’ve created your account(s), link the updates to your website and vice versa and cross promote them through any other channels you may already have, like your e-mailing list, your newsletter, other social media accounts etc.. (More on linking online and traditional marketing strategies.)

Define the purpose of the social media account

Your social media sites need a purpose or perhaps different but overlapping purposes. Do you want to increase awareness and build a community of people interested in your cause? Do you want the page itself to inspire donations? Do you want to use the page to bring more visitors to your website? Pinning down the purpose of your social media page will help you form an effective social media strategy.

Create social media rules

Your social media pages will be part of the public face of your fundraising efforts so you need to decide what you want that face to be. You may enjoy a certain degree of familiarity but a lack of professionalism can make it seem as though your efforts are not serious or as though your cause is not deserving of real attention.

Decide on the tone of your posts and how you will convey your mission statement. The best way to do this is to appoint a social media leader so that all your posts are consistent. Be sure to convey these rules to anyone in your organization who might use their personal social media pages to talk about your cause and your fundraising efforts.

Updating your social media accounts

Social media sites are not phone trees to be activated only when you need help. They are most effective when you update them regularly and provide information that is relevant to your cause in a captivating way. This keeps people checking in and your cause always on their minds. Simply adding random bits of information won’t help you reach the goals you have set for your group and then it simply becomes a massive waste of time. Regular updates show that you care about your cause and your followers before and after an actual fundraiser.

It’s also useful to create guidelines for whom to follow back. You will always encounter spammers who will follow anyone in the hope to get a follow back upon which they can spam you with sales messages. Scrutinize each follower; decide if you will follow others who do not have any updates; will you follow other non-profit – why or why not? and so on.

Getting started

An easy way to get started is by simply updating your social media account with the posts from your blog. You can entirely automate this process. Each site will have instructions on how to do this or you can use twitterfeed.com which works with other social media sites as well. Once you see how your posts are being found and retweeted or reposted and who your followers are, it may make it easier to start your social media strategy from there.

To help you get started and create a comprehensive social media strategy, click over to our social media strategy checklist!

Give yourself time to create a social media strategy. Each post will be an ongoing representation and promotion of your efforts. Make sure that each one promotes your fundraising efforts the way you want the world to see them.

Related posts:

• The Power of Social Media
• Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing
• Nominate Your Charity To Win A $25,000 Social Media Makeover
• “Tweet To Beat” Social Media Fundraising Experiment
• Tweak Your Group’s Website To Attract More Visitors

The good news is, with some planning, you’ll be able to form a strategy that incorporates all the seemingly disparate elements which can benefit each other and reinforce your overall marketing message.

Developing a strong brand for your group and fundraising efforts

Linking all of your different marketing activities together makes it much easier to deliver a consistent message. One of the first tasks to undertake is developing a strong visual brand for your communications by using the same logo and themes throughout all of your on- and off-line activities. This will help make your brand and your cause more recognizable within each published item, gradually building up awareness for your cause.

Another way to strengthen your brand would be to use a tagline consistently throughout all your communications. This could be taken from your mission statement, but it has to be something that will work for different projects and for different communication channels. It’s not as easy as it sounds, because it has to be unique to your group (do your research), shouldn’t sound ‘generic’ and has to be simple and somewhat memorable.

Target content delivery to audiences at different channels

The best way of linking all your communications is by drawing up a plan for your content delivery. Not every article, call for donations, or other communication may be ideal for every audience across all channels, or to be delivered at the same time. Target each message or communication to a specific audience channel and at a specific target date. For example, a formal call for donations may be appropriate for mail delivery, maybe an e-mail campaign, but may not work at all for your audience on Facebook or Twitter.

Conversely, design messages specifically for your target audiences at different channels. For example Twitter lends itself to get snippets of information about your group to the public, or keeping your followers informed about a current campaign.

Differentiate your messages by audience and content and tailor your communications for each media you publish to. You don’t have to communicate the exact same words with everyone at the same time.

Coordinate your various online and traditional media channels

Coordinating online efforts

Your website acts as the main hub that contains all your group’s background information and that you can link to from all your other online activities. E-mails, blogs and social media channels all refer back to your main website. That way if anyone would like some more information about your group or fundraiser, they’ll be only a click away. You’ll also be able to keep most of your messages short, sending those interested in more detailed background information to your main website.

Conversely, your group’s website should link out to all other channels available: your social media accounts, newsletter sign-up, physical address and map etc. Social media icons make sharing of your posts easier and inform your audience about your different social media groups at the same time. Don’t forget to add social media icons to your e-mail signature.

Coordinating with traditional or ‘offline’ activities

All of your traditional marketing activities that take place on-site at your group’s physical location can follow a similar principle to your online marketing activities. Networking presentations, paper messages, newsletters and business cards should all direct people to your online activities by adding your website URL and/or social media addresses. (Reminder: keep all your URLs and social media account names as simple as possible.)

Consider your offline marketing as a conduit to your online activities. Your audience can take your printed communications, look you up online, get a ‘bigger picture’ about your brand and your group’s key messages, or connect with you through social media or your blog. Make sure that your traditional marketing strategy always includes all information about your group as well (incl. contact information), since not everyone can or wants to go online for more information.

Monitor your marketing efforts continuously

Have your latest posts on Twitter – or lack of them – resulted in losing followers? Have you received negative press? Have donations been unusually low? Have you not been able to reach as many people as you hoped with your latest fundraising efforts? Causes for any of these can be many and even though a knee jerk reaction is usually not to your advantage, listening and acknowledging what’s going on is, especially when you have received complaints or any other kind of negative feedback. You can use several tools to monitor your online reputation; but when it comes to how to react you should have a plan in place, especially when you’ve had negative press. How exactly you will address it may be subjective, but to address it at all and in a positive and timely manner will be very important.

Get started!

It can be quite a handful to get organized and coordinate all marketing efforts into one complete strategy. How to get started? Make a list! For example, list all your upcoming events incl. calls for donations (leave plenty of space underneath each point), then add the channels that each event will be held at or communicated about next to the events.

Or you can start out with a list of your channels (website, social media accounts, printed newsletter, e-mail newsletter etc.) and then add to them news, upcoming events, calls for donations and how or if you’ll communicate them through each channel. Finally, assign responsibilities based on each channel or based on activity.

Even though it takes some time to get organized, coordinating your online and traditional marketing efforts will pay off in the long run with a more consistent message for your group and more efficient use of your time, because your efforts will be more targeted and there will be less room for errors or miscommunications.

Related posts:

• Moving Fundraising Efforts Online
• Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Does Your Group Have A Social Media Strategy?
• Low Cost And No Cost Marketing Tools For Your Fundraiser

- A blog
A blog will allow you to easily add information to the site, regarding your group, your fundraising efforts, your sponsors etc. Blogging software is free (most popular is WordPress), easy to learn and will allow you to create separate accounts for members in your group. Having a blog also allows you to keep all your updates well organized and uncluttered.

- About page
The ‘About’ page on your website should include information about your organization, its mission and accomplishments.

- Contact page
A contact page that includes a form instead of simply an e-mail address is also essential. Not displaying your e-mail address will prevent spam in your inbox and having a form will allow you to collect specific information you’d like to have from people who contact you. There are free contact form plugins available if you’ve installed a WordPress blog.

- A clear call for help or donations
This seems obvious, yet some groups still do not have a clear call for donations on their sites. It’s a fundraising website, don’t hold back – people want to help a good cause! Make it easy for people to give. If you choose to add a “Donate” button to your site, we recommend that you get legal advice before doing so. (See article about donate buttons and the State of Florida.)

It may be easier to simply sign up with a site that will manage your online donations for you.

In any case, make it easy for visitors to your site to give to your cause by placing a button or a link to a page or site with information on how to do so. A 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis stated that on 17% of the fundraising sites tested, users couldn’t find where to make a donation! For more information about online donations and tweaking your website, visit Fundraising Website Checkup.

- Pictures
A picture tells a thousand words. Regularly include pictures in your posts and updates from your group, your fundraising drives, volunteers and beneficiaries (with permission only of course), key people in your group and so on. If you subscribe to a photo sharing site like flickr.com, include a link to it in the sidebar, or add a widget that continuously shows your photostream. Update pictures regularly, so that people keep checking the site to see new pictures and stay updated with your cause.

- Video
The only thing better than pictures, is moving pictures. If you’ll be raising funds for a brief time or more than a few months, it might be very useful to make a short (2-3 minute) video to put up on your website. The video can introduce your cause, present your accomplishments and your needs and introduce key people in your group. With most hosting services, you can upload the video directly to your site; or, you can upload it to YouTube and put a link to it on your site. Regularly adding short videos about special events, speeches or talks by key people in your group would also be a great addition to your site.

Finally, since online fundraising is a relatively new, the laws governing it are sometimes cloudy and are still changing. You may want to check with other non-profits in your state as to how they have proceeded, but we recommend to also get legal advice before soliciting funds directly online.

Related posts:

• Tweak Your Group’s Website To Attract More Visitors
• Create Your Own Website!
• Fundraising Website Checkup
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2

Set up a Page (not a Group) on Facebook:

The easiest way to do a Page on Facebook is, first of all, to log out of your personal account. Although you will need to use your details later on, it’s easiest to start while logged out. Go to Facebook.com (without logging in first) and click on “Create a Page” near the bottom of the page, right below “Sign up”. Clicking on the “Create Page” link will take you to the page where you will choose between creating a Page for a business, artist, brand, a cause and more.

Click on “Company, Organization, or Institution” and you will be presented with a drop down menu. Scroll down until you find “Non-profit,” then enter the name of the page you’re going to create, ideally your group’s name. Clicking on “Causes and Community” will create a Group page to help support a specific cause or create another community of which you don’t necessarily have to be an official owner or member. Creating a Page through the Company, Organization, or Institution link will give you more options when managing and customizing your page. Whichever one you choose, be sure to read Facebook’s terms before you click “agree,” because they are continuously updated. Next, go through prompts.

Now here’s where it helps to already have a Facebook account. You have to choose between “I already have a Facebook account” and “I do not have a Facebook account”. If you don’t have a personal Facebook account yet, Facebook requires you to have one when creating a Page. Again, follow the prompts to either sign in with your personal account, or create a new one. Log in and voila! your Page is now created.

Keep in mind that a Facebook Page is not transferable, so make sure that the personal account it is linked to won’t change, or will be accessible by others if necessary. That means to not let just anyone set up your Page, but as the head of your organization, it’s best to do it yourself. Facebook continuously changes and updates its rules, so make sure you do read all the fine print when crating your Page, or if you give anyone else admin access to it.

Raise money through your Facebook Page with Causes:

Great! That was easy, right? Well…yes, and no. You still can’t raise money on your site, at least not directly. The best way to do that is go back and add your non-profit as a “Cause” (you can search “Causes” on Facebook, or just go here; you may have to log in first). Since “Causes” is a Facebook application or app, you will have give it permission, etc. Once you’re there, fill out the necessary details and click on “Continue”.

Once you’ve created a Cause, you can designate a non-profit to receive the funds that you raise on your website. If you are registered with GuideStar, your name should come up when you type it in the box. If not, you might consider getting registered with them, because most online fundraising organizations require you to be registered with GuideStar.

Once your Page is set up, you’ll have to let people know about your new Facebook Page, and consistently update it. Link to it from your website, add a link to it in each e-mail you send out and also post the link in your office, and any printed materials you have.

What else can you use your Facebook Page for?

- give consistent updates about your activities as a non-profit
- reiterate details about your mission
- ‘listen’ to your supporters: answer their questions and get new ideas
- study who your supporters are on Facebook
- announce events
- announce new fundraising projects
- post links to your website about latest news or articles
- add your blog feed
- use it as a branding tool for your organization (In contrast, if you create a Facebook Group, all Group pages look alike. Groups are meant to support an idea or a cause, but not a brand.)

…and the list goes on!

A Facebook Page is not only useful as a fundraising tool in itself, but also to create awareness and as a branding tool for your group. Make sure you assign someone to be in charge of your Page, post updates and keep track on the activities on the Page. In time you will notice how having a Page on Facebook is a great tool to complement your other marketing and fundraising efforts online.

Related posts:

• Target Facebook Bullseye Campaign
• Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing
• Does Your Group Have A Social Media Strategy?
• Creating Gift Programs
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2

(Note: SMS stands for “short message service.” You send someone a text message using a SMS.)

The Role Of SMS Fundraising For Haiti

This relatively new form of fundraising has managed to net impressive sums of money even in a time when unemployment is high and the economy has seen much better days. People have pulled out their phones in droves to contribute via text messages. All donors have to do is text a keyword to a short code to make a mobile donation from their cell phone.

The large amounts given through text messages to Haiti has created a new beacon of hope for all those involved in fundraising efforts. This means of raising money appears to be simple and effective. But there is more to it than just asking people to text money to a cause.

SMS Fundraiser Challenges

The first challenge that this type of fundraising presents is the cost. This is a relatively expensive method for smaller groups to raise money, at least initially. The start up cost of such a campaign add up to at least about $1,000. While some charities have this kind of cash at their disposal, many don’t. (Visit mGive.com for more information on how to set up an SMS fundraiser and get an estimate of what it would cost for you. Then stop by the American Red Cross website for FAQs about their mobile donation program.)

Even if you manage to get this technology set up then there are more details of which you should be aware. Your charity will be paying transaction fees to make this type of fundraising work. Anywhere from 3.5% and up is a typical amount for your charity to be paying back to the vendor for fundraising through SMS.

More than that, vendors may have minimum requirements as to the size of your charity. The challenges continue as you realize that text donations are smaller and make it harder for your charity to form an ongoing relationship with donors.

Are SMS Fundraisers Worthwhile?

The answer to this question depends on the charity. If your charity can manage the basic requirements to set up such a fundraiser then you still want to crunch the numbers before you do. The money that such a fundraising attempt generates may or may not be worth it. The SMS fundraising efforts have done amazing things for Haiti but raising funds through SMS is not for every non-profit, especially smaller ones.

The success of the Haiti texting fundraiser has many non-profits excited about the potential for their own fundraising efforts. You just need to figure out if this type of fundraiser will be worth your while before you sink any money into it. Your group may have to consider other options.

Related posts:

• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Does Your Group Have A Social Media Strategy?
• Tweak Your Group’s Website To Attract More Visitors
• Join Our ‘Fundraising Ideas’ Group On Idealist.org!
• In-Kind Donations and Low Cost Products and Services For Your Group – Part 2

Calendars:

In the old days you’d have to go through a lengthy process of designing a calendar on your computer (or hire a designer) and then have the pressure of ordering a minimum amount for your fundraiser. Those days are over and creating a calendar for your next fundraising event is easier than ever!

There are several services out there that let you assemble calendars from your own pictures and preset designs and then order any number you choose with the option of printing more in the future ‘on demand’ without any additional setup costs. Look for tiered pricing options to get the best deal.

You can easily order calendars through software you may already have on your computer, like iPhoto for example, or you can use pictures from your Flickr page and create a calendar with them.

Online publishers like Lulu.com (sponsored) also offer several different custom calendars at good prices. You can choose from several different themes and designs.

Tip: When choosing pictures for your calendar, try to choose pictures that you think will please the majority of your supporters and any people portrayed in them. It’s best to decide on pictures and design together as a group. Be sure to get a ‘release’ signature from any person appearing in the images. If there are under age kids in the images, get permission from their guardians.

Also, only order ONE calendar with your first order as a ‘final proof’ copy. This will allow you to make any changes and get more feedback from others involved in the fundraiser.

Search for more calendar fundraisers…

Cookbooks:

Creating a personalized cookbook for your group has also become much easier with the new print-on-demand online services. You can upload your own recipes and photos collected from your group members, or use recipes that have been made available by a cookbook service like TasteBook for example.

Online publishers like Lulu.com also offer different options for creating custom cookbooks, including wallet size cookbooks.

The ordering process is made easy with the availability of choosing from pre-made templates and layouts for your pages. Supporters can either go online to order their copy, or you can keep a stock of cookbooks for direct sales. If your group has a website, you can simply add a link to the site where the book can bought online. You can also add the link to any e-mail campaigns.

Since the books will always be ready to ship, this is a great way to raise funds year round. You can set your own price and periodically offer special pricing for specific holidays for example.

Search for more cookbook fundraisers…

Related posts:

• Cookbook Fundraiser
• Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser
• Show Off And Have Fun At Your Next Fundraising Event!
• Valentine’s Day Flower Fundraiser
• Portrait Photography Fundraiser

Whereas the internet’s growth has dominated the past decade and greatly affected our lives, efficiency seems to quickly become one of the mottos of the coming years. There are probably some things you have already changed within your fundraising group to either save money, or to work more efficiently, or both. After all, fundraisers are known to get the most out of every dollar! But there is always room for improvement and following are a few examples of how you can save even more money and time by implementing cost savings and making the way you run your fundraising group even more efficient.

Save on office related costs and phone services:

- Reduce your cell phone plan’s minutes with Google Voice. Another great free service from Google; Google Voice is not a stand alone cell service provider, but more like an ‘add-on’. You can make your calls through their service which does not use up the minutes on your cell phone plan. You can even sign up for an additional phone number only to be used through Google Voice that you can then share with others in your fundraising group (or family) thus savings lots of minutes for everyone. (This service can also be used to make international phone calls from your cell phone or a landline for as little as 2 cents a minute.) Other useful features include receiving your messages transcribed as a text message or in your e-mail box. Since this is still a fairly new service, you have to sign up to get an ‘invitation’ to join. When we signed up, it took about 10 days before we got one.

- Use Skype. Another great way to save on phone costs is to use Skype. Skype’s free service works over the internet, so make sure you have a good internet connection, before you sign up for it. Callers can make free video calls from computer to computer anywhere in the world. You can also use it on your cell phone (without the video feature), but both parties need to always be signed in in order for the service to work. Skype also offers paid plans for ‘landline’ calls, which may be cheaper than what you’re currently paying.

- Use Google Docs. If you’re looking for a no cost option for a word processor, spreadsheet, presentations and collaboration tool, try Google Docs, another great free service from Google. It may not replace Microsoft Office 100%, but it may be all a smaller group needs and the price is right! There is no software to buy or install and users can sign in from anywhere to collaborate on a project.

- Use technology you’re already using to its fullest potential: Use your cell phone alarm and calendar features more often. Studies have shown that simply sending periodical reminders to people who had decided to save more money, actually resulted in them saving more than people who didn’t receive the messages. Seems like a no-brainer! Often we have good intentions and plans, but are simply to busy or distracted to always stay focused on our goals. If you have a newer phone, there are plenty of apps out there you can use to help you reach your goals, be more efficient and stay on track.

If you’re running a website:

- Like everything else, postage fees are ever increasing and present an opportunity to save money. Are you still sending out monthly newsletters by mail? Unless you get a financial return from any mailings, why not post all your communication online, or send it by e-mail, or both? You’d save postage and printing cost. Most people have internet access and making this switch should be a painless one. You could still keep some printed copies around as needed, but the bulk should be distributed electronically. Start by adding a note in each newsletter that states where people can leave their e-mail address, or sign up for the e-mail version directly.

- Have you considered selling sponsorships (advertising) in your newsletters, print or e-mail and website? Local businesses may welcome the opportunity and this may present another income source for your group. Tip: instead of simply posting an ad, you may suggest to the advertiser posting a coupon that can be printed and brought to the business.

- Signing up for Google’s free Analytics and other webmaster tools is a must. (Can you tell we like Google’s free services?) Google’s free tools provide a much clearer picture of your visitors interests and habits than the statistic programs a web host makes available for free. Also check the ongoing list of free website tools at RankRaiser.com for lots of free resources for anything web design and development related.

Reduce, reuse, recycle!

- It’s not just good for the environment, but can also save loads of money. Need a sofa or coffee table for the meeting room, or a file cabinet? Instead of looking for a good deal on a shopping site, see if you can get it for free through Freecycle.org, a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free. The network is made up of over 4,800 Yahoo groups across the globe. Simply type your city and state in the search box and sign in with your Yahoo ID (free) to see what’s available for free in your neighborhood.

We’re actually using all the services and tips described above and will periodically add more to this post. Are you using any new free services or have you taken any drastic cost cutting measures? Please let us know in the comments below how you’re weathering the storm!

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• How To Make The Most Of A Cell Phone Fundraiser
• 2010 Recap: New Opportunities Arise Out Of A Challenging Year For Raising Funds
• Google For Non-Profits, Mobile App, and Other Updates
• Recycle Ink Cartridges And Cell Phones – Tips For Success

To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA) is a charity about suicide prevention, started by Jamie Tworkowski in 2006. Jamie himself is a major draw for the organization, as beneficiaries of TWLOHA feel a personal connection with him.

The organization’s strategies for spreading the word include live events and effective use of the internet and have helped to create almost two million dollars in gross receipts. Not every group will be able to produce such stellar results in such a short time, but there are several things you can do to…

Improve your group’s fundraising efforts:

* If your group is a non-profit, sign up with SocialVibe: TWLOHA is a member on SocialVibe, which currently runs a ‘Givapalooza’, a charities competition that will yield an extra $20,000 for the winner. When you go to TWLOHA’s SocialVibe page, you’re asked to do a number of ‘activities’: Basically this means that you watch some commercials and when you’re done TWLOHA will get a donation for their cause. We’ve written about SocialVibe before and it’s a great way to give to a charity without actually spending cash, because the funds come from the advertisers. Signing up with SocialVibe is a great way to spread your message throughout the web and earn some extra cash for your organization! If your group is a registered 501(3) organization, e-mail partners@socialvibe.com for more info about how to sign up.

* Invite your supporters/beneficiaries to interviews and photo shoots! Jamie Tworkowski of TWLOHA invited his ‘friends’ from all over the country when he did an interview and had photos taken for Rolling Stone Magazine. It’s great PR and a chance to meet your supporters and the people who benefit from your cause.

* Tweak your website: TWLOHA’s website is well organized, kept up-to-date and features a blog. Your group’s website is representative of who you are and how you run your organization. It has the ability to create trust, but it can also portray a lack of vision, or lack of leadership. It also acts as a purely functional arm of your group that provides information to supporters and collects donations. Maybe your website needs some tweaking? To give your website a makeover, click over to Fundraising Website Checkup. If you don’t have a website yet, our article on Creating A Website may be of help.

* Go for transparency: TWLOHA has their finances displayed on their website in a way that’s easy to find. The page also shows their 501(c)3 IRS Approval Letter. Offering up your info in this way creates trust and insight in how funds are spent.

* Offer plenty of options to donate and otherwise support your group: TWLOHA prominently displays Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, ‘DONATE’ and other buttons to sites and services that let you support them in some way.

* Consider selling merchandise: a large chunk of gross receipts at TWLOHA comes from t-shirt and other apparel sales. Use your website to sell well designed products that supporters would like to use or wear and give away as gifts. One or just a few products is all it takes to earn some funds for your group, while also spreading the word about your cause.

If you don’t want to go through the hassle of ordering and shipping products, consider signing up with sites like CafePress or Zambooie which let you create your own online store; they also manufacture and ship products directly to the buyers. This means there is no product for you to order, store or ship – the service takes care of everything.

* Sign up with the major social networking sites, Twitter and Facebook. Use the accounts for quick updates, for answering questions, info on events etc.; also link your blog through Twitterfeed to automatically update your social networking sites with your latest posts. (More about social media marketing.)

Creating a marketing and fundraising strategy that includes both, online and live events will give your group maximum exposure to different demographic groups while offering plenty of options to support your cause!

PS: Does your group use different channels online and ‘offline’ for marketing and fundraising, or some creative ways to attract new supporters? We’d love to hear about it! Why not drop us a note – be sure to include your website’s URL – and we may feature your group on FundraisingIP.com: We will all learn something and get new ideas for our own fundraisers and you will get free marketing and links back to your site!

Related posts:

• Raise Funds On SocialVibe.com
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing

Luckily, there are several resources on the web that bring you into contact with individuals who will provide free web services for your non-profit fundraising group. Whether these services or actually free or are offered at a reduced price, they can help your group start or maintain a web presence and also provide consulting on attracting visitors, or efficient web design.

Web Design Services at Grassroots.org

At Grassroots.org you gain access to an array of free services. In the area of web design specifically, Grassroots.com is able to provide these services by matching up non-profit fundraising groups with volunteers who are professionals in web design. Web design can be an expensive prospect but is essential for non-profits to have maximum impact.

Without a website, the potential audience that a non-profit group can reach is cut down considerably. The ability to create a web site without the cost allows charitable organizations to focus their financial resources on their cause and not their web site.

Basically this site helps to create relationships between those with web design skills who wish to help charitable organizations and the charitable organizations that could use this help. Not limited to web design services, Grassroots.com also offers free website hosting, SEO, domain names, graphic design, and other services.

Services Grants at Taprootfoundation.org

Another such website is Taprootfoundation.org. This site also helps to connect professionals of various types to the fundraising groups who need their help. Their unique approach includes services grants.

While everyone is familiar with traditional cash grants, services grants are grants of professional services that will help fundraising groups to maximize their effectiveness. These grants can include professionals in web design to create the all-important web presence for your non-profit group. To take advantage of these free resources your non-profit will have to meet certain grant criteria and will have to make it through the grant-making process.

While this will take some work, the possible end result of free web design and other professional services could catapult your non-profit into new levels of effectiveness without overtaxing your financial resources.

Non-profit service providers at TechFinder

The TechFinder service (a part of Techsoup.org) is yet another great tool for non-profits. This site requires a more proactive approach on your part because of the sheer scope of potential services and providers. TechFinder is a site that provides a massive list of providers that supply goods and services and who are specifically geared toward non-profit and voluntary organizations, but not necessarily free.

This site can help provide you with leads on consulting, hosting, and web design services. Because this is more of a collection of potential contacts than any one specific contact to help provide you with free services, you will have to do the work of searching through all the potential service providers and learning about them and their potential fees.

The drawback of this site is that the services and products offered may not actually be free. They may only be discounted. Part of the work will be sifting through the available organizations, their services, and finding out if they can provide their services to your area.

Resources and volunteers at Idealist.org

Another great resource is Idealist.org, where those who wish to volunteer can meet up with those who require volunteers. It can be difficult to gain support through ordinary means and this site helps to direct you to those who are eager to join up with the efforts of fundraising groups.

This website is comprised of individuals who either require volunteers or who wish to volunteer their time and skills to help worthy causes. This is wonderful in that you can see all the people who wish to help out and you can get an idea of all the services that you might be able to use. You may not have previously realized that there are volunteers out there to help not only with simple tasks but also with skilled endeavors such as web design.

The services you could find through this site are practically limitless. You may find local volunteers for hands-on fundraising jobs, or remote volunteers for such jobs as web design, or creating e-mail newsletters. There is generally no cost as the people you will find are volunteers but this can only be confirmed on a case by case basis.

Volunteers may come to this site and offer up any services that they feel may assist charitable organizations. This website brings together a wonderful cross-section of professional skills and abilities that can be put to good use to further charitable interests. With thousands of listings under the heading of ‘Volunteers’ alone, the scope of this website becomes clear. There are so many individuals out there wanting to help that you could find a plethora of professional services for free to further the lofty goals that you have for your cause.

Volunteer Match

VolunteerMatch.org aims to match non-profits up with volunteers as the name implies. These volunteers may be well meaning individuals without specific skills or they may be professionals in web design or other areas.

While you will have to pay for access to the site in order to get your hands on certain services, the fee of currently $8.95/month or $75/year (Nov. 2009) is a small price to pay for access to this resource. Aside from just matching you up with volunteers, VolunteerMatch can also help you to coordinate your volunteer programs. This help may begin with online recruitment of volunteers and can progress from there. You can learn how to manage your volunteers and how to make your organization a great place to volunteer. Depending on your membership with this site, you can gain access to tools such as Tracking & Reporting, Basic Recruiting Tools, and Monthly Account Summary just to name a few.

It may take some time and effort to reap the rewards of these websites but often no more time or effort than you would have to put into services that you would have to pay for.

Free or not, if you decide to work with a service or volunteer through one of these websites, putting the details of your project or job in writing (even if it’s only through an e-mail) will assure that both parties know what to expect of each other in their new partnership.

Related posts:

• Grants: Find Free Government And Foundation Money For Your Non-Profit
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Blame Drew’s Cancer Fundraising Campaign

Fall 2009: Twitterer Drew Olanoff, who is currently being treated for Hodgkin Lymphoma, has started a social media fundraising effort for Lance Armstrong’s LiveStrong campaign. How it all started: When Olanoff realized that he was blaming everything that went wrong in his life on his cancer, he encouraged his friends to also blame their problems on his cancer and make it known via Twitter by attaching #BlameDrewsCancer to their tweets. From there #BlameDrewsCancer grew into a huge movement.

Drew’s Twitter name is simply @drew. With short Twitter names being highly sought after, Olanoff saw an opportunity to raise money and decided to auction off his Twitter name for a minimum of $10,000. The auction is running until November 9th, 2009 and will take place on Twitter using the merit system: anyone can place their bid on the @drew Twitter name using the #drewbid hashtag. All money will go to the LiveStrong foundation.

Shortly after the auction started, The Price is Right host Drew Carey placed a bid for $25,000. He then promised that he would pay $100,000 if his current account, @drewfromTV, exceeds 100,000 followers by November 9th, 2009. Since then, Carey has raised his offer even more to donate up to $1 million to the LiveStrong campaign if he can reach 1 million followers by year end!

Beat Cancer Everywhere Fundraising Campaign

Fall 2009: The Beat Cancer social media fundraising campaign experiment was launched (and completed) within a 24 hour period. From Friday, October 16th at 9 am (PDT) and lasting until Saturday, October 17th at 9am (PDT) people all over the internet were asked to send tweets, Facebook status updates and blog posts including the #BeatCancer hashtag. Besides raising money for charity, the goal was also to set a Guinness World Record.

Sponsors to this campaign are eBay and Miller Coors. According to Radian6, the official online monitoring company, the phrase #BeatCancer did set a Guinness World record with a total of 209,771 mentions on Twitter, Facebook and blog posts within a 24 hour period. This translates into an estimated number of impressions (during this 24-hour period) at over 100 Million! Total proceeds for this campaign so far are about $70,000, which will be donated to non-profit cancer organizations SU2C (Stand Up to Cancer), Alex’s Lemonade, Bright Pink, and Spirit Jump. (All are 501 (c)(3) organizations and accredited by The American Cancer Society.) The official site for this campaign is at BeatCancerEverywhere.

What can we take away from this?The possibilities for raising funds on the internet are endless! But we’re still in the beginning stages of figuring out what will actually work well. Adding a creative aspect to your campaign seems to be key for getting noticed and partnering up with another person or group will also help greatly.

Obviously having the support from celebrities or large companies doesn’t hurt, but even without a celebrity or large corporate support a worthy cause can raise substantial money through social media channels on the web. Case in point EpicChange’s Twitter fundraiser. (Read about more online fundraising campaigns here.)

Do you have an idea for a social media fundraising campaign? Or have you already tried one? Let us know in the comment section below.

Related posts:

• Successful Online Fundraisers
• “Tweet To Beat” Social Media Fundraising Experiment
• Online Auction Fundraising Services
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Moving Fundraising Efforts Online

Feel free to add your own suggestions in the comments section!

YouTube Video Volunteers

Would you like to use YouTube to market your fundraiser, or promote your non-profit, but you need someone to help with putting a video together? YouTube has launched YouTube Video Volunteers to connect non-profits with video volunteers. Non-profits can post their requests for volunteers to choose. Video volunteers get exposure, gain experience and can feel good about themselves, knowing they’ve done something good for our world!

MobileActive.org

How can you use mobile technology to promote your cause? MobileActive.org is a ‘resource for activists using mobile technology worldwide.’ It is also an excellent resource for how people around the world use cellphones to promote their causes, keep otherwise ‘unconnected’ groups of people informed and how mobile phones are used to promote social change.

Alltop

Alltop.com calls itself an ‘online magazine rack of popular topics.’ It’s basically a collection of blogs and feeds on specific topics that update every hour. Check out nonprofit.alltop.com and fundraising.alltop.com for all the latest posts on the web about these topics! You can also apply to have your own cause’s website listed. (FundraisingIP.com is also on Alltop!)

WeAreMedia

Want to learn more about integrating social media into your organization’s communications strategy? Visit WeAreMedia.org for ideas and resources from others involved with non-profits in a ‘community’ based environment.

Causes

Ready to start your own cause? Causes offers tips on how to get started with your cause, create a following and make a real impact. It also helps non-profits promote their causes through social media and lists them on their own website.

Related posts:

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• The Power of Social Media

The project application period starts on June 1, 2009 and ends on August 30, 2009. After this deadline a review panel will narrow down the applications to 50 finalists. The finalists will then be posted on their website so the public can vote for the top 5 projects that should be awarded funding.

On their website they make it clear that they are looking for applications from all 50 states. The winners will be announced in November and will receive funds by the end of the year.

Click here for terms and conditions: TomsOfMaine.com

For an application go here: TomsOfMaine.com/community-involvement. You must submit proof of 501(c )(3) status on your application.

Good luck to all who decide to apply! Let us know if you get into the finalist round and we’ll be sure to vote for you!

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• Nominate Your Charity To Win A $25,000 Social Media Makeover
• Fund Your Social Cause With The Pepsi Refresh Project
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• The Secret Source for Grant Money
• Google Grant: Free Advertising For Non-Profit Organizations

At CommuniCause you can nominate and vote for your favorite charity that you’d like to see win the grand prize of a Social Media Makeover valued at $25,000!

A winner will be randomly selected from the top ten charities that receive the most votes. MindComet, the agency behind CommuniCause will provide the winner with expert consulting services to help improve their social media presence and fundraising outreach.

You can view the terms, eligibility and how to vote here: CommuniCause.com/terms
Apply through this link: CommuniCause.com

>> Deadline is July 31, 2009 <<

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A non-profit has informed us that the State of Florida deemed the PayPal Donate Button on their website to be in non-compliance with Florida’s Solicitation Laws. (The non-profit is not located in Florida by the way.)

The reason? The Donate Button is interpreted as “an appeal or campaign” to the public of the State of Florida, which means anyone displaying such a button would need to file for a permit with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services that allows them to raise funds specifically in Florida.

If they don’t, they’re in non-compliance with their solicitation laws. The non-profit was also told that anyone who has a ‘Donate Button’ on their website, regardless of whether they are located in Florida or not, and receives an online donation for a charitable purpose from a resident of the state of Florida must file a Solicitation of Contribution Act report and pay an annual fee.

So we ask you, our readers: What are your experiences with having a ‘Donate Button’ on your website? Have you had any problems with the State of Florida or any other state? Also, if your website has a lot of visitors, has it been lucrative to have a ‘Donate Button’ on your site? Is it worth it?

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Anyone with a Twitter account automatically gets 50 Twollars to start with. Claim your Twollars here. You can then give away Twollars to anyone you like as a ‘thank you’, or to your favorite charities. (The person or charity receiving the Twollars also needs to have a Twitter account.)

The main point of this service is to help out charities, that’s why charities can sell their Twollars for ‘real’ money to businesses. Businesses can buy the Twollars from charities at the rate of 1$ for 10 Twollars.

Private persons can not sell their Twollars, but can pass them along or donate them.

Why would businesses want to buy Twollars? Businesses can use their Twollars to reward their customers in a meaningful way and at the same time create a social media presence on the web. It’s a win-win situation for them.

Do you work for, or run an organization with 501(c)(3) status? This is a good reason to open your free Twitter account now. Once you have your Twitter account, register your charity on Twollars website. Your supporters can then donate their virtual Twollars (which they can claim here) to your organization.

Twollars seems to be an easy and automatic, low effort way for charities to raise funds on the web. It looks like it’s also a great way to add another income stream without much fundraising efforts.

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Target has launched the “Bullseye Gives” campaign on its Facebook page which allows people to choose among 10 charities eligible to win a portion of $3-million that the retail chain is donating. (The company gives away $3 million each week.)

Target will base its funding allocation on the percentage of votes received. People can vote once a day through May 25 on the company’s Facebook page, choosing among the Parent Teacher Association, Feeding America, the Salvation Army, American Red Cross, National Parks Foundation, Breast Cancer Research Foundation, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Kids In Need, Operation Gratitude, and the HandsOn Network/Points of Light Institute. All of these organizations have received Target contributions in the past.

Get a Facebook Page For Your Group

If you’d like to sign up your group or non-profit on Facebook, you can create a Facebook Page for your ‘Public Profile.’ It works just like a ‘Personal Profile,’ but represents your whole organization instead of just one person. You can add all your groups’ information, including mission and goals to the Info section. You can use your page for regular updates about your group, to link to your main website, promote fundraising events, proclaim your achievements, post photos, videos, thank your supporters, etc. Besides a Facebook Page you can also set up a Group on Facebook. Use Groups for individual projects, smaller projects, or projects that only apply to a specific group of people.

Examples of organizations’ Facebook Pages are Greenpeace USA and the American Red Cross.

More info for non-profits on Facebook.
For an in-depth explanation between a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group, click over to Mashable.

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According to this analysis online giving is growing rapidly with many donors still giving offline as well. Well-designed non-profit websites are very useful for attracting new donors and encouraging ‘small-scale impulse giving’, but less effective at sustaining long-term donor relationships. So how can you make sure you attract as many new donors as possible, collect some funds at the same time and get the most out of your group’s website?

According to the study, only 43% of sites that were analyzed prominently displayed the organization’s mission, goals, objectives, and work. Having your mission, goals, objectives easily found by the visitor will create instant trust. Take a look at your website: can the visitors to your website easily find this information?

Also according to the study only 4% of the websites analyzed had information about how donations and contributions were used displayed in a way that was easy to find by the visitors. Again, this information will create trust when a potential donors is trying to decide if they should donate through your website. Make it easy for them!

In addition to analyzing what factors successfully resulted in user contributions, the study also analyzed the turn-off factors that caused visitors to leave without donating, even if they had spent considerable time on their websites.

The donation-killers:

- 47% were usability problems relating to page and site design, including unintuitive information architecture, cluttered pages, and confusing workflow.

- Amazingly, on 17% of the sites, users couldn’t find where to make a donation. You’d imagine that donation-dependent sites would at least get that one design element right, but banner-blindness or over-formatting caused people to overlook some donation buttons.

- 53% were content issues related to writing for the Web, including unclear or missing information and confusing terms.

Websites of Local Chapters of a National/International Charity

The study also found that bad user experience was caused by inferior integration of local chapters with the higher-level organization.

When users were seeking information about a non-profit’s activities in their communities, usually local chapter websites looked completely different than the organizations’ main sites, often not even following the same color scheme as the main website. If you run a website of a local chapter of a major charity, be sure to integrate the same colors for unified look-and-feel easy brand recognition.

Other key findings from the 2008 donorCentrics Internet Giving Benchmarking Analysis include:

- Online giving still represents a relatively small portion of donors and revenue at most organizations, but it is growing rapidly and is becoming an important source for new donor acquisition.

- Online donors are younger and have higher incomes than traditional direct mail donors. These are important constituents that nonprofits very much want to attract and keep, given the older average donor age in many files.

- Online donors give larger gifts and, as a result, have a higher overall long-term value than donors to more traditional giving channels like direct mail, but they are less loyal in terms of repeat giving. Higher average gifts mask the lower retention rates of online donors, which may present an opportunity for improvement at many organizations.

- The online giving channel must be an integrated part of an entire direct marketing program because although offline donors do not generally migrate to online giving, online donors do migrate to offline channels in large numbers. In addition, online donors tend to downgrade when they move offline, further evidence that online donors are not cultivated to their full potential.

If you feel your group’s website hasn’t been very useful or hasn’t attracted the amount of donations you’ve hoped for, maybe now is the time for a usability makeover. Take an honest look at the site or page, get third party opinions and decide if you can make changes yourself, or you should maybe even hire someone to build the site from scratch.

Going forward, a well built site that’s easy for the visitor to navigate and contains all the crucial information will elicit trust and result in more donors and funds for your group. (Tip: you might be able to partner with a webdesign company to do the website for free in turn for free advertising. Read Free Web Services For Your Non-Profit for more info.)

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This fundraiser will benefit U.S. public school students by donating proceeds to DonorsChoose.org.

Here is how it works:

Tim Ferris of The 4-hour Workweek will donate $1 for each new Twitter follower he gets within the following two weeks, ending March 23rd. 2009. In addition to that an anonymous person will donate another $2 per new Twitter follower on Tim’s Twitter account.

On his blog post about this fundraiser Tim mentions that he might add some twists and details to this fundraiser in order to increase donations.

How much do you think this fundraiser will yield?

Will Tim reach his initial goal of $150,000 by March 23rd? Our guess is yes!!

If you’d like to help, simply follow him on his Twitter account and $3 will be donated.

Not on Twitter yet? :0 Sign up here, it’s free.

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What can you learn about this fundraiser and potentially apply it to your own?

- This fundraiser makes use of a (real or imaginary?) fundraising partner who will provide matching donations. This motivates potential supporters and is a popular way to create more interest and therefore attract more donations.
- This fundraiser makes use of social media and the internet to spread the word.
- Of course what helps a lot here is the fact that Tim Ferris is famous for his book The 4-hour Workweek. He’s basically ‘donating’ his time and persona to DonorsChoose.org in order to raise money for them. Nice! He’ll also get lots more Twitter followers in return. It’s a win-win situation!

More about this fundraiser when it’s completed. Or maybe the momentum will be great enough to make this an ongoing fundraiser? We’ll see…

Update: Well, Tim didn’t even come close to his goal by the March 23rd deadline, but nevertheless, DonorsChoose.org still benefited from this experiment; read more at DonorsChoose.org.

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To make matters even more confusing, there is no one set of rules governing all the United States. Each state has their own set of sales and use taxes, and the responsibility to collect and pay them varies depending on the type of organization, the amount of funds raised, and the organization’s status as a certified [501(c)(3)] non-profit.

With so many factors at play, it is impossible to provide blanket answers to questions like, ‘does my group need to collect sales tax?’, and ‘is my group required to apply for tax permits?’ Some states, cities, and towns also require groups to pay local sales and/or use taxes.

The question, then, becomes…

Where Can You Find Reliable Fundraising Tax Information?

Fortunately, a group has come together and recognized the need for a reliable, straight-forward resource for fund raising tax information; the name of the group is the Multistate Tax Commission.

The Multistate Tax Commission works in cooperation with the Association of Fund-Raising Distributors & Suppliers (AFRDS). Through the sponsorship of the AFRDS, the Multistate Tax Commission has set up a website for the express purpose of serving as a fundraising tax informational clearinghouse. The site is located at FundraiseTaxLaw.com.

Reliable Fundraising Tax Information From State Resources

The Multistate Tax Commission developed a tax survey for distribution to each of the U.S. states; the survey asks targeted questions about tax exemptions and responsibilities for fundraising groups (both for profit groups and non-profit groups) in the given state.

The commission then collated the responses and posted them on their website, making the survey responses easily accessible by a link for each individual state. The survey covers issues such as:

• What types of groups are exempt
• Whether additional local taxes are applicable
• What types of products are exempted from taxes
• Limitations on exemptions
• Procedural requirements to determine exemption
• Responsibility for collection of and remittance of taxes
• How to calculate sales tax

In addition, the survey includes the governing state agency and contact information so that groups can contact the appropriate agents for more help. Responding to the survey was voluntary; if a state chose not to respond, the appropriate contact information is at least provided so groups know where to go for answers.

The Multistate Tax Commission’s website is probably the most straightforward resource for tax information for fundraising groups on the web. Of course, since this is information provided by a source other than the IRS, there is no guarantee for accuracy, but there is so much useful information, incl. phone numbers and government website links, that it’s a very valuable resource!

For More Information

To find more fundraising tax advice specific to your locale and organization, talk to school/group administrators, visit IRS.gov, or consult an experienced tax adviser.

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To easily receive updates on new articles, fundraising ideas and more subscribe to FundraisingIP.com today.

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The Appeal Of Online Magazine Fundraisers

There are some excellent advantages of running magazine fundraisers online:

• There are no door to door sales involved.
• The potential outreach is vast.
• Supporters can be reached at home and abroad without the expense of mailings.
• Online magazine fundraisers are usually free, without any upfront cost.
• Online magazine fundraisers can be ongoing, bringing in profits every month that sales are made.
• Your supporters can order or renew online whenever they need a new magazine subscription.

And best of all…

Online magazine fundraisers are easy!

Getting Started With Online Magazine Fundraisers

Fundraising companies have designed online magazine fundraising campaigns so that the entire fundraiser can be run online. There is very little involved in getting an online magazine fundraiser up and running – the entire process takes just minutes.

To begin, you’ll need to register with an online magazine fundraising company, like eFundraising.com (sponsored link), or search for magazine fundraiser.

Once registered, your group will be given a website – your “online magazine store” – and a web address to give out to supporters.

Next, your group needs to personalize its store space and its message. You can modify the text, colors, images, and more so that it represents your organization and communicates your need to visitors.

Launching Your Online Magazine Fundraiser

With your online magazine store complete, the only thing that’s left to do is to officially launch your fundraiser and get the orders rolling in. The easiest way to get out the information about your fundraiser is with an e-mail campaign. E-mail the specifics of your online magazine fundraising campaign to all group members, and ask that they forward the e-mail to as many friends, associates, and family members as possible. Include in the e-mail an overview of the ordering and renewal process. Assure them that all orders are secure, handled by your reputable fundraising company. Also detail any savings supporters will enjoy (online magazine fundraiser subscriptions are normally offered at great customer savings of as much as 85% off cover price).

Once launched, you’ll need to maintain your online magazine store and periodically e-mail reminders that the fundraiser is ongoing. With regular reminding, your supporters will take the opportunity to buy through your group so that you can enjoy the funds raised from their regular magazine subscriptions and renewals, and your fundraiser will virtually run itself.

More about online fundraisers or creating your own website.

Tip: Raising funds online may present new legal considerations for your group. It may be best to consult your legal adviser before raising funds online.

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Users sign up for a free account, select their favorite cause to support, then select a sponsor (Apple, Sprint, NBA, Billabong and other big names) whose ‘badge’ (or ad) they add to their profile pages on SocialVibes.com and on other social sites like MySpace.com and FaceBook.com.

The great thing about the site is, that no one is ever asked to donate money to a cause. They’re simply asked to put a sponsor’s advertising ‘badge’ on their profile pages. Points are earned from views/impressions of these badges: the more views or impressions, the more points are earned. The user can then turn the points into donation dollars for their favorite cause. Users can also form networks with others and track how their own points add up.

How can I get my cause on SocialVibe.com?

Since there are only limited funds available, SocialVibe.com will only accept a limited amount of non-profits for their website. Here the selection process according to them:

“We are honored to have the opportunity to work with such great organizations on a daily basis. Like any business, we have a limited amount of funds and, in order to make the maximum impact for each organization, we must limit the number of charities we partner with each year. At the end of each year, we will be assessing those charities that we are currently working with, as well as those who have requested to partner with us. We will then select our charity partners for the following year. We strive to both choose a wide array of causes and also to select those that most strongly resonate with our members.”

SocialVibe.com has recently changed their sign-up process. You do not have to sign up through the website anymore; instead just e-mail them at partners [at] socialvibe.com

Do you already have a member page on SocialVibe.com? Feel free to leave your username and the name of your cause in the comment section below.

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So what exactly is Idealist.org?

In their own words:

“Idealist is a project of Action Without Borders, a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 with offices in the United States and Argentina. Idealist is an interactive site where people and organizations can exchange resources and ideas, locate opportunities and supporters, and take steps toward building a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives.”

To get started on Idealist.org, simply create a free account.

You can then go straight to our ‘Fundraising Ideas’ group, where you can introduce yourself, and ‘talk’ to others who have joined the group.

To explore the site, simply use their search function. Just type in a search term (fundraising ideas, your city name, specific fundraising campaigns, charities, names of non-profits etc.) and you will get a selection of groups, charities, volunteers etc. related to your search.

Another way to get around Idealist.org is to simply browse and search by topics (left sidebar) like ‘people’ ‘groups’ ‘programs’ ‘volunteers’ ‘speakers’ ‘events’ and more.

Idealist.org is a great way to connect with others, post your own volunteer opportunities and even advertise for your non-profit. Sign up here – it’s free.

Our Twitter updates contain volunteer opportunities posted on Idealist.org!

Are you already a member on Idealist.org? Feel free to leave your username and group names in the comment area!

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EpicChange.org created the website TweetsGiving.org specifically for their fundraising campaign to fund building a classroom for a school in Tanzania. During Thanksgiving week (2008), they’ve been using their Twitter account to help get out their message and have managed to reach their fundraising goal of $10,000 within just 48 hours! (Twitter is a site where you can log on and exchange short messages or ‘tweets’ with others. Sounds easy? It is!)

How can you start an online fundraising campaign like this one?

The great thing about this campaign is, that it is pretty easy to implement if you already have a website for your group. A website is important, so potential supporters can easily get more information about your cause and have a place where they can donate. However, unless your group already has a Twitter account, plan for some additional time to attract followers, find others to follow and learn about how Twitter works before you start your campaign.

You have to sign up for several accounts, so make sure you have all contact information handy before you start.

1. Sign up for a PayPal Business account. (Sign up is free.) PayPal will verify all new accounts, so it may take a few days before you can actually use your account and accept payments through it. PayPal is a great way to collect money, because supporters can donate with credit cards or electronic transfers and PayPal is integrated with many online donation services. You can also use PayPal to raise funds through your website. Having a payment portal like PayPal is useful for any online fundraising campaign, not just this one, so sign up now, even if you’re not ready yet for this particular campaign.

2. Sign up for ChipIn.com. (free) This will allow you to create a widget that shows current contributions – like a ‘fundraising thermomenter’ – to your campaign (see example on TweetsGiving.org website) through PayPal. Put this widget on your website to show your fundraising progress.

3. Create an account at Twitter.com. (free) Be sure to pick a user name that reflects or describes your cause. Do allow some time between signing up for a Twitter account and the start of your campaign, so you can get familiar with Twitter and attract some followers for your cause. You will see that the more you interact on Twitter, the more followers you will get; you will also meet many others who have worthwhile causes!

4. Confirm your time frame (over a weekend or just a few days) and make sure you or your volunteers get familiar with Twitter before you start your campaign. This will assure everything will go smoothly.

5. You’re ready to launch your fundraiser! Announce your fundraising campaign on your website and through your e-mail list.

Make sure your or your volunteers are signed in to your Twitter account during every day of your campaign. You can chat with others, answer questions about the campaign, direct followers to your website (where they can also donate), thank each person for their donation, etc. The key is to be a part of the campaign and spreading excitement about your cause.

The TweetsGiving campaign asked followers to ‘tweet’ about what they’re thankful for. This created a conversation and a buzz around the campaign. Some posted funny videos or photos and linked to them on Twitter, which created even more interest. You can do something similar with your fundraiser to get people talking, laughing and telling their friends about the fundraiser. People like to be a part of something positive and people like to help!

Overwhelmed?

Yes, it can get overwhelming. But don’t fret! There’s another way to gain a better understanding about this type of fundraiser: look at it from the perspective of a supporter.

1. Learning about the ‘giving information’ and ‘receiving donations’ part: Go to the TweetsGiving.org website to read about their fundraising campaign and to see the fundraising widget at the top of the page. Then click on the fundraising widget, which takes you directly to their PayPal account. Now donate – any amount is welcomed! You can just donate a dollar if you like. (Since they’ve already reached their fundraising goal, any additional funds will go to building a library for the school.) As you go through the payment process, take your time; this is the same process your supporters will go through, when they donate to your cause once you’ve set up your fundraising campaign.

2. Learning about the ‘social networking’ ‘creating a buzz’ and ‘asking for money’ part: Go to TweetsGiving.org’s Twitter page and read the messages created by them throughout their campaign (3 days around Thanksgiving). They welcomed new followers, thanked people who donated and spread the word about their cause, asked for money, made jokes, linked to funny videos and pictures etc. This is the part that you or your volunteers need to take time for if you decide to do a campaign like this. This is also why a short time frame works best; someone always needs to be available.

(While you’re on Twitter.com, you may want to set up your own personal account and start using it. You’ll see what others are ‘tweeting’ about, you can search for your favorite websites’ Twitter accounts, follow others who are promoting their causes and more.)

Don’t forget:

Just because this fundraiser is virtual doesn’t mean you should just forget about it when it’s completed. Make sure you ‘tweet’ about your fundraising success, thank everyone again for their generosity and also write about it on your website.

Also ask supporters if they’d like to keep informed about future fundraising campaigns and collect e-mail addresses.

Any questions about this fundraiser? Please post them in the comments section below.

Update: For Thanksgiving 2009 EpicChange is moving the celebration offline with live gratitude parties across the globe, to be held during November 24 – 26, 2009. Already, events are scheduled from Tel Aviv to the Silicon Valley, and from Phoenix to Frankfurt. Learn more about staging your own Gratitude Party.

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For final statistics on this fundraiser visit MeshugAvi.com. He was part of the team putting this fundraiser together.

More about How Others Raise Funds.

Visit our Twitter page!

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cMarket Network, an online auction fundraising service for nonprofit organizations, announced in a press release that they had surpassed $50 million raised for charitable causes through its online auctions, which included a $10 million increase in just six months.

They attribute this recent growth in record sales to a tightening economy and a growing need for nonprofits to increase their fundraising income.

Is an online auction right for your group?

Read more about online auctions, or go to cMarket’s website. To see what’s currently up for auction, visit BiddingForGood.com.

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Unicef’s mobile donation campaign makes use of SMS to raise funds:

This year, UNICEF employed a text messaging SMS ‘Text-or-Treat for UNICEF’ campaign to raise funds for their annual Halloween fundraiser. Each SMS to Unicef resulted in a $5 donation which was added to the supporter’s mobile phone’s billing statement.

This mobile donation fundraiser added another dimension and fundraising opportunity to their regular trick-or-treat campaign. There is no word yet on how successful this fundraiser was. Go to their site for details on this fundraiser.

Where can you get more information about mobile donation campaigns?

Mobile donations are still fairly new in the US, which means there aren’t many providers yet. Unicef’s mobile fundraiser was run through mGive.com.

WirelessFactory.com and mCommons.com both also offer mobile donation services.

For a list of charities that accept mobile donations, visit the Mobile Giving Foundation ‘charities’ page. The Mobile Giving Foundation is responsible for certifying nonprofits wishing to participate in a mobile donation program, managing the wireless industry’s Mobile Giving Standards and Best Practices and insuring compliance with Federal and State Regulations. This organization’s website is also a great resource for more information on mobile donations.

As with any financial service, be sure to inquire about any fixed and variable fees, like application fees, monthly fees, per donation fees etc., your organization will be charged when signing up for a mobile donation fundraising campaign. Expect fees for a mobile donation campaign to be quite a bit higher than fees from a ‘donate now’ button on your website.

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Virgin Money announces new online fundraising website:

Virgin Money announced their new non-profit charity donation and sponsorship website to be launched in the Spring of 2009. This announcement was made on their UK website and it wasn’t quite clear if this service will also be available for US charities. Virgin Money Giving will be a direct competitor to such popular online fundraising sites as JustGiving.com.

The organisation noted that by operating on a not-for-profit basis it would be able to give a higher percentage of sponsorship money to charity and non-profits. That means that a higher percentage of donations would go to the actual cause than can currently be paid by the popular online fundraising sites.

Fees for online fundraising services can be as high as 10% which cuts deeply into fundraising profits. Competition in this field will be welcome by non-profits everywhere!

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This fundraiser is for Book Aid International and uses eBay to auction off books. The books were picked (and autographed) by celebrities and politicians because of the big impact these books had on their lives.

Book Aid is also auctioning off original illustrations by Nick Sharratt, Satoshi Kitamura and Sue Heap.

“Celebrities, authors and politicians have selected and inscribed beautiful editions of the books that have meant the most to them, to help us raise money! Over 50 gorgeous lots are available, including books chosen by Robbie Coltrane, Sir Ian McKellan, Helen Mirren and David Cameron.”

You can view the eBay auction here until October 22nd.

This live auction takes place on the UK eBay website, but the same auction would be possible on the US eBay website as well.

Are you running a fun, creative, or innovative fundraiser? Let us know!

Click over to our Fundraising Online category for more information on online fundraisers.

* * * * *

To easily receive updates on new articles, fundraising ideas and more subscribe to FundraisingIP.com today.

Related posts:

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• How Can We Benefit By Hosting An Online Auction Fundraiser?
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Which one is the right one for you? First, make a list of what kind of services you need: online payments and tracking, online auctions, volunteer management, marketing, e-mail campaigns, website design and hosting? Anything else?

Then – remember that each of these services is in business to make money from the groups that sign up with them – compare services and fees of three to five of the fundraising services listed. Fees to consider are one-time setup fees, any monthly fees and per transaction fees. Some fees might be higher or lower depending on how much you collect in donation dollars.

Each of the websites below provides a variety of services, some which might be useful for your group, some won’t. Be sure you don’t pay for services you don’t need and that the customer support offered is sufficient for you. Of course, make sure the website itself appeals to you and is easy to use! (Tip: Raising funds online may present new legal considerations for your group. It may be best to consult your legal adviser before raising funds online.)

Finally, when you raise funds online through one of these companies, your group usually has to be an officially registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Are you ready to apply for non-profit status?

So here we go, the 15 (or so) most popular sites that offer online fundraising services – we occasionally update this list:

If you’d like to get your own online fundraising page:

NetworkForGood.org. This company is also the nonprofit processing partner for Causes on Facebook

JustGive.org

DonorsChoose.org This one is for teachers only.

ChipIn.com Micro-funding site – supporters can give as little as 25 cents. Collect your funds via PayPal. This site is set up for individuals to raise funds on behalf of others.

ThePoint (by the creators of Groupon). The Point isn’t only for activists and philanthropists. You can raise money for other purposes as well.

FirstGiving.com (JustGiving.com in the UK)

GivenGain.com

Crowdrise

Razoo.com

If you need online fundraising management software:

Convio.com

DemocracyInAction.org

BlackBaud.com

eTapestry.com

ServiceU.com

CharityAdvantage.com

BlueStateDigital.com

ClickAndPledge.com

DonorPerfect.com

After comparing some of these services, ask yourself, if the money you’re going to spend in the form of fees – which reduces your donation dollars – is really worth the service you’re getting.

Maybe recruiting more volunteers, or putting more effort into marketing your fundraiser would be sufficient for your group.

Related posts:

• Online Auction Fundraising Services
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Accept Online Donations

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This is a great fundraiser if you already have some volunteers ready to help your group, or you have a good size e-mail list. There is no selling, no asking for donations, no minimums and no left-over candy bars with this fundraiser!

About InsiderPages.com:

The website helps you find a local business based on recommendations of others in the area: “Insider Pages was created to help people find the best local businesses through recommendations from their friends and neighbors. At InsiderPages.com, people share reviews of local businesses and find great services they can trust.”

How the fundraiser works:

Since the website’s service is based on reviews of businesses, they’re always in need of more reviews in order to create a useful service for their website visitors. Writing reviews are how your group will earn money: Your group’s members and volunteers, and their friends, families, and supporters, write online reviews of local businesses they use, such as doctors, hairstylists, home contractors, mechanics, or local restaurants. For each review they write, Insider Pages makes a donation to your organization of $1.50 for the first review of any business and $.50 for each follow-on review.

Let’s say you get 50 people to each write 10 first reviews, that would earn $750 for your group. The reviews on Insider Pages are pretty short, and writing 10 reviews wouldn’t take much time at all. According to Insider Pages, most people will write between 20 and 50 reviews for a fundraiser.

Note: Reviews of restaurant chains (McDonalds, Outback Steakhouse, KFC, etc.), gas station chains, movie theater chains and national or regional chain stores (Target, Dollar Tree, Home Depot etc.) DO NOT qualify; only truly local businesses.

The rules are pretty simple:
1. Participants have to be at least 18 years old.
2. Each fundraiser lasts three weeks.
3. You get a check in the mail for your group!

If you’re not familiar with the website, why not try it out and
search for a business in your neighborhood and read the reviews.

To sign up, go to InsiderPages.com.

Related posts:

• Raise Funds On SocialVibe.com
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Recycle Bottles And Cans To Raise Funds
• Raise Funds in your Neighborhood with the G-Team

2. IF YOUR GROUP DOESN’T HAVE A WEBSITE

- If you’d like to have a website:

If you feel comfortable setting up your own site with the help of templates, you can get started easily and inexpensively by signing up with one of the larger hosting companies like aPlus.net or Hostgator. They offer starter packages and templates to help get you online. Advantage: low cost, less than $10 a month. Disadvantage: requires time to use tools and set up site.

If you don’t want the hassle of setting up your own website, you could hire a company to build a customized site for you, either locally or through the internet – search for “web design services”. Advantage: professional design is done for you. Disadvantage: high cost.

If the expense of a customized site is too much, but you need help with design and marketing, try SiteSell.com (sponsor link). This company has a great track record of helping to build successful sites with easy to use design and marketing tools and lots of motivation! Advantage: much lower cost than customized site, lets you set up a site in minutes. Disadvantages: None really, if you need help with setting up and marketing your website.

If you have the knowledge to set up your own site, we recommend the hosting company of our site, Hostgator.com. Advantages: great live tech support 24/7. Disadvantages: None, if you’re able to design the site yourself. (For more info on finding a webhost, visit RankRaiser.com.)

- If you don’t want to deal with the hassle of having a website

You can still very successfully raise funds online even without a website!

For example, you could run an online magazine fundraiser with the help of an e-mail campaign. It is very important here, that you have a substantial e-mail list to help with your fundraising efforts. An online magazine fundraiser is one of the most lucrative online fundraisers out there! Search for ‘online magazine fundraiser’.

Another way to raise funds online is to set up an account with any one of the popular online fundraising services. You set up a campaign and then rally your supporters.

With any of these online fundraisers it is very important, that you inform potential donors on a regular basis about your fundraising efforts. That’s why, as with other online efforts, having a good size e-mail list will be a major factor in the success of your fundraising campaign.

Another way to get online exposure without your own website is to set up a dedicated page for your group on sites like Ning.com, Twitter.com or Facebook for example. This allows you to get the message out about your group.

Any of the above strategies might be more effective however, if used in conjunction with your own website. A website can give useful information about your group or cause and strengthen trust of the public in your fundraising efforts. It is also a great tool for collecting e-mail addresses and sending messages.

Read more about online magazine fundraisers at Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser

OVERWHELMED? NOT ENOUGH TIME?

If you’re unable to actually start any online fundraising campaign at this point, you can still prepare for it by collecting e-mail addresses from members of your group, potential donors and other interested parties.

Get into the habit of always collecting e-mail addresses at functions, meetings, or on your website, if you decide to create one. Of course, assure anyone who signs up that you won’t use their e-mail addresses for anything else, but for the sole purpose of keeping them informed about your cause.

People will appreciate being updated on any fundraising efforts and successes. Be sure to include a link to your website in each e-mail.

For more about fundraising online, visit our “Fundraising Online” category where you can find articles like Create Your Own Website!

Related posts:

• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser
• Automate Your Fundraiser With An Online Magazine Fundraising Campaign
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Raise Funds in your Neighborhood with the G-Team

If you’re looking for an online fundraising service that lets you create your own fundraising campaign and page, click over to 15 most popular online fundraising services.

Part 1. IF YOUR GROUP ALREADY HAS A WEBSITE

Asking for donations on your website:

- If your site already has a lot of visitors,
consider adding a “Donation” button. PayPal.com (sponsored link) offers a very simple way of accepting donations online: supporters can pay by credit card or through direct debit and there aren’t any set-up fees. You only pay a small percentage on each amount donated. You can also try Google’s Checkout service, but in order to display their ‘donate’ button you have to be a certified 501c3 non-profit. (Tip: Raising funds online may present new legal considerations for your group. It may be best to consult your legal adviser before raising funds online.)

- If your site has only a few visitors,
you can add donation buttons to your site, but you should also spend some time promoting your site on the web. With simple marketing techniques, including social media marketing and e-mail campaigns you can easily increase the amount of visitors to your site. The more visitors you can attract to your site, the more people can learn about your cause and donate to your cause!

Read more about increasing traffic to your fundraising website:
>> The Basics About Internet Marketing SEO When You Raise Funds Online
>> Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing

Selling products online to raise funds

You can also sell products online in order to raise funds for your group. You could create your own online store, but an easier alternative would be to set up your own hosted store on a site like CafePress.com, or create an account with an online charity mall like iGive.com. Setting up your non-profit with eBay is also a viable option: you can sell donated goods and services through their auction feature, or sign up through their Givingworks Program

Another very lucrative fundraiser is an online magazine fundraiser. Read more about Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser, or search for ‘magazine fundraiser’.

Once you’ve set up an account with any of the services above, you can simply send visitors from your site to the respective sites and each sale will generate income for your group!

Use an online donation service for your fundraising campaigns

You don’t need to have your own website for this, but when you set up a campaign with one of the popular online fundraising services, you can send visitors to your website over to your campaign. You can also send visitors who go directly to your campaign to your website for more information about your group and your campaign.

Be sure to collect e-mail addresses!

Any type of online fundraising will be easier and more lucrative, if you have a substantial e-mail list, since it is important to send out periodic messages to remind people to buy through your site, or other websites’ programs your group is signed up with. Having a website isn’t even necessary for some online fundraisers, since all the ordering, e-mail management and payments are done through the fundraising company’s website. However, having your own website can greatly contribute to the amount of visitors taking part in your online fundraising efforts.

Get into the habit of always collecting e-mail addresses at functions, meetings, or on your website. Of course, assure anyone who signs up that you won’t use their e-mail addresses for anything else, but for the sole purpose of keeping them informed about your cause.

People will appreciate being updated on any fundraising efforts and successes. Be sure to include a link to your website in each e-mail.

For more about fundraising online, visit our “Fundraising Online” category where you can find articles like Create Your Own Website!

If your group doesn’t have a website, but you’d like to raise funds online, go to
Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
for information on how to raise funds online without your own website, or how to set up your own website if you’d like to have one!

Tip: Raising funds online may present new legal considerations for your group. It may be best to consult your legal adviser before raising funds online.

Related posts:

• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service
• Raise Funds On SocialVibe.com
• Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser
• Raise Funds With InsiderPages.com

Online magazine fundraisers do require some effort on an ongoing basis to keep them profitable. Here are some extra things your group can do to increase the profitability of your online fundraising campaign.

Tips & Tricks For Successful Online Magazine Fundraisers

• Launch your online magazine fundraising store via e-mail and include a convenient link directly to your site.
• Build as large an e-mail list as possible for your launch and for all reminder e-mails; include all group members and associates, and strongly encourage them to forward the e-mail to friends, associates, and family members.
• Be sure to include in the e-mail that this is not just a one-time deal; that the store will remain open and they should come back repeatedly to renew or order new magazines they see elsewhere.
• Personalize your online magazine fundraising store space by using colors that represent your organization; add photos of your group working hard and having fun.
• Include a strong appeal on your site; tell visitors who your group is, what you represent, why you need money and how online magazine fundraising profits will be spent – show them exactly how they are helping and why that is good!
• Tell your visitors what’s in it for them personally; in most cases, ordering online through your magazine fundraiser will result in great discounts for your supporters.
• Create friendly competition among members by offering incentive programs and setting goals.
• Utilize address import features for e-mails and review lists to make sure everyone you know is included.
• Send reminder e-mails and thank you notes to keep your campaign visible and promote ongoing participation.
• Mention your campaign in all communications; discuss the effort on blogs, websites, and forums.
• Use any print material resources you have such as newsletters and local media to advertise your online magazine fundraiser.
• Re-launch your online magazine store at least annually so that all new group members are aware of the ongoing campaign, and so that old group members renew their fundraising resolve.

Search for magazine fundraiser.

Creating a large outreach is the key to success and big profits with online magazine fundraising campaigns. The more people you can communicate with, the more potential you have for orders; since not everyone will participate, your e-mail address list should be as large as you can manage. And list maintenance should be ongoing, ever growing the list so that new customers are added as often as possible.

More about online magazine fundraisers.

Related posts:

• Automate Your Fundraiser With An Online Magazine Fundraising Campaign
• The Basics Of Running An Online Auction Fundraiser
• Successful Online Fundraisers
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1

Keywords, content and links

Internet search engines use different factors to determine what sites they return in response to a surfer’s search. Factors such as the search phrases (also called keywords or keyword phrases) entered in the search engine (or directory), keywords used on your site, the content on your site and the number and quality of sites that are linked to your site can all affect whether or not your site comes up as a result in search engines – as well as where in the long list of results your site is listed.

Using relevant keywords and keyword phrases can help to improve your listing in a search engine’s results in two ways:

• First, it can help your site to be returned at a higher placement in the list of possible websites that a potential visitor is looking for, the search engine result pages, or SERPS. Chances are, if your site is not listed on the first two or three pages of links that are returned, it is unlikely that it will be found.
• Second, using relevant keywords on your website’s pages will not only help to get a good position in search results, but will also help to get the most appropriate visitor to your site. In other words, the more careful you select your keywords or phrases for example, the more likely it is that you get the kind of visitor who will actually use your site or purchase from your site, as opposed to a visitor who’s only browsing.

So how do I use keywords and phrases to my advantage?

Keywords and phrases are in fact, a very important aspect of getting your site offered to a potential visitor. But the problem is, you might not always include in your text the exact key words that a searcher enters into the search engine. There is a very easy to use and free keyword search tool available at Keyworddiscovery.com that lets you search for the most commonly entered search phrases and words.

For example: type in ‘fundraising’ and you’ll not only get the results for that word, but also all kinds of related keywords and phrases people are looking for on the web. Remember that the most popular keywords and phrases will also have the most competition in the search engines and directories.

Unless you’d like to spend potentially a lot of time (and money if you’re planning on buying text ads on Google for example) to compete for the top keywords, it may be wise to pick keywords and phrases that most closely describe your service, but that aren’t necessarily at the top of the list. Use these keywords and phrases in the title and header tags, the keyword and description tags and throughout the text on a related page for said keywords and phrases.

How NOT to use keywords and phrases:

You might say “If I just get as many keywords and phrases as possible on a page, I should do pretty well in the search engines and directories, right?” Well… You could try to do that by creating rather jumbled copy that crams as many keywords and phrases into a page as possible, but you’ll find that this is not a good idea.

First, search engines and directories know this trick and will not respond to it. Second, remember that you don’t just want to attract a surfer, but you want to attract visitors that will keep coming back for future visits. So a page that lists a bunch of keywords but doesn’t give them what they were looking for is not going to rank well with your visitors, no matter what it does for your SE ranking.

Back to keywords and content

Stick to what makes sense: using content rich articles related to your subject and taking advantage of keywords and phrases in the title and header tags of your pages and the keyword and description tags. This strategy can help you improve your search engine rank and keep your visitors interested.

Regularly adding articles broadens the amount of interesting and relevant information you offer to your readers and increases the likelihood that your visitors will stay on the site. Not only that, but if your articles prove to be useful, then you also increase the likelihood that other sites will link to yours – another important factor in increasing your search engine ranking. A great way to add updates about your group is through a blog on your website. People can easily subscribe to it and it is automatically syndicated on the web.

How do I get our URL on other websites?

1. An easy way to spread your group’s website’s link around is to create profile pages on several social networking sites (like Facebook and Twitter) and then, assuming your group has obtained 501(c)(3) non-profit status, also sign up for profile pages on social action sites like ChangingThePresent or SocialVibe.

2. If your site has a blog (it should!), you can hook up your blog to automatically post any entries on your Twitter and Facebook pages as well with Twitterfeed. This saves a lot of time and keeps your supporters on all sites up-to-date automatically.

3. Make sure you comment on other websites and add your website’s URL. Try it out at the bottom of this article!

4. Find websites to add your link to. How do you find sites to have your link listed on? Search for the name of a similar cause to yours and see what websites come up. Then either use the contact form on these websites to ask to have your link added, or add it yourself, depending on the choices offered. Many sites, including ours, will publish a well written ‘guest post‘ with a link back to the desired site. (If you’re interested in writing a guest post for FundraisingIP.com, please contact us.)

5. You’ve paid attention to keywords, you’re adding good content, you started to blog, you’ve signed up for some social sites. Sit back and relax! As your website becomes more popular, more people will visit and link to your site naturally!

Not all links to your site will carry the same amount of weight when it comes to search engine results for your website, but, your link is still out there for other people to click, which results in more visitors to your site.

For more articles about online fundraising, go to our Fundraising Online category.

Related posts:

• Fundraising Website Checkup
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Ideas For Your Fundraising Website
• Create Your Own Website!

The right “ingredients” for your website

The first step to designing a successful web based fundraising campaign is to be sure that you have a well designed, informative and easy to navigate website. If your group is small, a very simple site will be sufficient. Your site can serve as the main ‘point of contact’ for all of those that you are trying to reach. It also acts as the ‘face’ of your organization on the web, so it should put your best face forward: You want it to portray you as the professional (or at least professionally volunteering) organization that you are, with the valid and legitimate cause that you are trying to promote. Use your site to give potential donors in-depth information about your cause as well as to provide those ‘tugs at the heart’ via pictures or stories that can help to sway a visitor into becoming a donor – and perhaps even increase the donations of those who already intended to support your cause.

By harnessing the web, you're promoting your cause to millions instead of hundreds!

Ways to promote your website

Once your website is ready to play its part, you will need to use it to its greatest advantage. Remember that one of the best things about the internet is that it allows you to reach a much wider audience than you ever could without it. So your job is to try to reach as many supporters as possible. There are the obvious methods, such as announcing your website to all of your members and encouraging them to go online to visit it. You can ask them to spread the word online (social networking, tagging or bookmarking sites, like myspace.com or kirtsy.com etc., e-mails) and “off line” as well. You could also pay an internet marketing company to help you spread the word, but there are other means of broadening your reach that are free and extremely effective:

Chat rooms, forums and blogs

The internet is a virtual community, and you can gain access to a number of the niches in those communities simply by looking for them. Look for chat groups, forums and blogs that have members either in your physical community or who are likely to be sympathetic to your organization’s mission, sign up, and then put your website address out there through your account tools. Brainstorm all of the possible businesses, organizations, associations, clubs or other membership organizations that might have websites or email newsletters and who would be willing to help you. Ask for a brief article to be included in newsletters, announcements, flyers, group emails or any other communications that these groups might be issuing. Many will be willing to include a link to your site as well. For more tips on how to use the web o spread the word about your group, read Promote Your Fundraiser On The Web With Social Media Marketing.

Related posts:

• Connect Online And Traditional Marketing Efforts For Your Fundraiser
• Online Cancer Fundraising Campaigns
• Successful Online Fundraisers
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Online Auction Fundraising Services

What’s Great About The Online Auction Fundraiser

As sites like eBay have proven, online auctions are extremely popular. More and more, people are including online auctions as a first choice for purchases.

The popularity of online auctions has not been lost on the fundraising crowd. In fact, entire companies and websites have been built purely to serve the needs of online fundraising auctions. Many organizations are coming to realize some real advantages of choosing online fundraising auctions to raise money for their groups.

A few of the reasons why online fundraiser auctions have grown in popularity are

• Fresh ideas – many fundraising options have become trite and stale; online fundraising auctions offer something fresh and new for volunteers and supporters
• Cost effectiveness – products aside, the costs of hosting an online fundraising auction are very low; most groups search for in-kind donations from group members and business supporters, though, so even with the product included, there is still very little expense involved in running an online auction fundraiser
• Profit potential – with a good product mix, online auctions can profit very handsomely. Since there is no pre-set price for items, the potential sale price can grow continually in response to consumer demand
• Product variety – a variety of products can easily be auctioned to suit the tastes of many different kinds of bidders: signed sports memorabilia, event tickets, art, etc.
• Outreach – there is no geographical limit to the consumer base for online auction fundraisers; supporters can be across the room or across the world
• Manageability – online auction companies do a very good deal of the work for fundraising organizations. Largely, the group has to put time into procuring auction items, entering information on their website, and advertising the auction within their circle of supporters
• Expansion – options like advertising and sponsorships increase the profitability of online fundraising auctions
• Availability – the internet is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; that means that online auctions are open 24/7, too. There’s no beating that kind of availability with an offline fundraiser.

Plainly, there are many good reasons to consider using the online auction fundraiser format. Thanks to the great design and excellent support of online auction fundraising sites, online fundraiser auctions have become one of the most promising ways to hold an individual or group fundraiser.

Related posts:

• The Basics Of Running An Online Auction Fundraiser
• Online Auction Fundraising Services
• Silent Auction Fundraiser
• Tips For Hosting a Car Wash Fundraiser
• Book Aid International Uses eBay Live Auction To Raise Funds

(Looking for an online fundraising service that lets you create your own fundraising campaign and page? Click over to 15 most popular online fundraising services.)

Create A Website: Free options

The quickest and easiest way to create a website is to sign up for a free blog at a site like wordpress.com. Don’t be fooled by the word “blog” – you’ll be able to format it to look just like any website that displays and archives articles/posts. You’ll have a choice of different themes and you can customize the colors and add pictures and graphics.

Your blog will allow you to write messages or articles which will be posted on the site, archived to your liking and it will also have a feature were people can sign up to automatically receive your posts in their e-mail box.

As with any service that offers a free website, your URL (URL = domain = website address) will look something like this: http://yourfundraisingsite.wordpress.com.

You can’t beat the service you get when signing up for a free blog – all software updates are done automatically – and, you’re not paying a dime. You’re free to spend all your time writing about your fundraising efforts and you’ll never have to worry about any programming, or server issues.

If you don’t need any features that sort and archive messages and articles, but just need a couple of pages for example to display your organization’s message, simply search for “free website” on Google.com or Yahoo.com. There are lots of services that will accommodate your website for free. Be aware though that most will display annoying advertising on your site, or that the site may only be free for a limited time.

Free webspace providers such as Lycos’s Tripod are very popular, but they lack the features and functionality that commercial web hosts provide.

Note that some free services will allow you to convert to a paid service with your own unique URL. Be sure to read the fine print about terms and cost for such a plan.

Actions to take: sign up for a free blog or non-blog site and determine which one meets your needs.

Create A Website: Paid options

If you’re serious about creating a professional web presence and it’s important to you to have a unique website address, like http://www.yourfundraisingsite.com, than you need to get a paid plan. Don’t worry, there are plenty of plans out there for less than $10 a month. Your unique URL will cost you about another $10 annually.

Besides having your unique URL, you’ll also be able to have any design you like, add any features and also display advertising. Companies that offer free websites generally do not allow you to display advertising. Advertising will help you recover the cost of your website and add to your fundraising efforts.

Having a website with a unique URL will also look more professional, especially if you’re planning to build a site for a larger organization or group.

Selecting a web host:

For a list of web hosts that offer lots of features – some even offer free domains – and have good tech support, visit RankRaiser.com, or search for “web host“. (Our site is hosted by Hostgator. )

To start, you can probably sign up for the smallest hosting package; you can always upgrade later. Note: You do not have to buy your domain and hosting service from the same company. Many hosting companies also offer a one-click WordPress installation, if you’re interested in setting up a blog.

Having a blog is highly recommended, because it allows you to update your content easily and allows for multiple logins if you have several contributors. Also, blogging software is set up to easily spread your content around the web. If your host doesn’t offer the one-click install, you can also install WordPress blogging software yourself; it’s free. Another advantage of having a blog is that you can easily change the look of your blog with the use of ‘themes’. There are lots of free and paid themes available.

Buying a domain (URL):

There are many different websites where you can buy your unique URL. We’ve used aPlus.net and GoDaddy.com for domains (search for a “domain registrar“), but make sure you do your own due diligence.

Actions to take: come up with some ideas for a domain (the URL); shop for a web host and try out their customer service by calling, e-mailing or chatting with tech support.

Good customer service and support will be invaluable when it comes to setting up your site or if you run into any kinds of problems. Shop around!

About buying a domain:

Don’t get discouraged when shopping for a domain. Most simple and short domains have already been sold. The key is to find something that’s easy to remember, makes sense, and isn’t too complicated to write, or too long.

Just imagine yourself telling someone about your website:

“You can visit our website at whynotfundraiseforourwonderfulgrouptoday-xyzorg.com”
or “You can visit our website at “yournamefundraising.org”. Which one would you remember?

Note: You shouldn’t have to pay more than about $10 per domain per year or more than $10 for hosting per month to start. Shop around!

If you’re a non-profit be sure to buy a .org domain. Non-profit or not, you should also consider buying at least the popular .com and .net and .org domains, to prevent others from setting up websites with your group’s or organization’s name.

Actions to take: buy your domain with the .com, .net and .org extensions, but use only one. And finally, with your desired domain and webhost in place you’re ready to set up your website!

Now is the time when good customer service comes in very handy: they can help you through the set-up process, can help you with getting your content up, setting up your e-mail addresses etc. That’s why it is so important, that you try out a web host’s customer service and tech support before you sign up.

Related posts:

• Ideas For Your Fundraising Website
• Tweak Your Group’s Website To Attract More Visitors
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 1
• Raise Funds Online – With Or Without Your Own Website! Part 2
• Our Fundraising Mobile App is Live!

How to Get Started With An Online Auction Fundraiser

The basic things your group will need to host a fee-based or free online auction fundraiser are

• A web-based auction company partner
• An auction website
• A small group of volunteers

Although theoretically your group could just post items for sale on a public online auction site like eBay, you’ll find much more profitability and longevity if you partner with an auction website that either specializes in fundraising auctions or has a segment of their company that does.

A good online auction fundraising website will provide you with all the tools you need to get your fundraising auction up and running. They will provide a group website and templates that can be easily customized by group volunteers, and they will handle all transactions securely through their site. For more info about what features to look for, read Online Auction Fundraising Services.

Once you have chosen the platform for your online auction fundraiser, your group could assign teams for the following jobs:

1. One team will handle customizing the website – entering information about who your group is, your cause, how proceeds from the online auction fundraiser will be spent. Once items have been donated, this team could also handle uploading photos and setting auction prices and specifications.

2. Another team will manage the donation of goods. Look to group members, cause supporters, area businesses, and interested supporters for in-kind donations of items to be auctioned. Include everything large and small, common and rare. This increases the appeal of the overall fundraising auction.

The next step is to promote the fundraiser as much as possible. This is done in much the same way as promotion for any other type of fundraiser. Advertise and send appeals out to all group members, the community, and known supporters. Post flyers, send out a press release, write it up in your newsletter, send home a notice, post a memo – whatever you would do to let your group know that your fundraiser is ongoing. Of course, you should also look at the options you have for informing supporters via email, and talk with your fundraising auction website to see what else you can do online to support your auction. Promoting your online auction fundraiser could be assigned to a third team.

The basics of running an online auction fundraiser are fairly simple and straight-forward. The key to your success will be in great organization, great outreach, and a great partnership with a reputable online auction fundraising site. With these things in place, add a few interesting auction items, and you’ve got all it takes to have a raging success of an online fundraising auction!

Related posts:

• Online Auction Fundraising Services
• How Can We Benefit By Hosting An Online Auction Fundraiser?
• Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser
• Silent Auction Fundraiser
• Successful Online Fundraisers

What Is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a casual approach to internet marketing that works on the old premise of traditional networking – ‘talking’ to people, building relationships that can benefit your efforts now and in the future. It’s based on the fact that people feel more secure trusting and helping out people they know and also because there is power in numbers: if a website or product gets mentioned over and over again by thousands of people, we believe that it must have substance.

Where To Engage In Social Networking For Fundraising

There are a number of platforms for social networking that can be adopted for fundraising. Some of those include:

• Social networking sites (like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more)
• Blogs
• Forums
• Chat rooms

For each of these, the vehicle is basically the same: creating exposure and visibility by engaging others, then linking back to your fundraiser and/or organization. (Note: Our website allows comments at the end of each article; take advantage of this feature and be sure to include a link to your fundraiser’s website, or your charity! )

On chats and forums, this will be done informally by adding pertinent points to the discussion and including a link to your favored site as allowed (usually as an offering in the post or as part of a signature line or profile).

Sites like Facebook can give you even more targeted exposure while providing a platform for more information and detail. You’ll be able to set up a page on behalf of your organization that explains who you are, what you do, and what your fundraisers support; you may also include posts and articles about your current fundraiser, need, need for volunteers, and so on. Your page is yours to control, so you are not limited in topic; there are endless ways to utilize social networking websites to the benefit of your organization’s fundraiser. In the end, though, always remember your motivation: to get support for your fundraiser. Make sure there is either a link or contact information provided so that interested supporters know how and where to buy or donate.

Social Media Sites You Should Know

Here’s a list of links to the websites mentioned above, and a few others that you can use for social networking to promote your fundraiser:

• Twitter.com – A place to post your profile and tell everyone what you are doing (in mini blog format); which is, of course, fundraising!
• Facebook.com – A must for anyone serious about raising funds. Through ‘groups’, ‘pages’ and your personal account you can easily spread the word about your fundraiser.
• Ning.com – Create your own social network related to your cause.
• MySpace.com – Tell all your ‘friends’ about your fundraiser. Recently MySpace has become more and more entertainment oriented; so if you’re just starting out with social media, start with Facebook or Twitter.
• LinkedIn.com – A place professional non-profits can link to other professionals and organizations.
• Kirtsy.com – Similar to Digg where you submit, mark and vote for your favorites, but dedicated to women.
• StumbleUpon.com – Set up a profile and link to things of interest to you, make friends, and point your friends/contacts to your site.

If your group has obtained legal non-profit status, consider adding your website to social action sites like ChangingThePresent.

If your group has a website, be sure to to include the URL to your site whenever you create a profile.

UPDATE: Have you signed up for Twitter or Facebook yet? Do you have a blog on your website? Then sign up with Twitterfeed to automatically have a link to your latest blog entries posted on Twitter. This is another great way to spread the word about your fundraiser!

For a social media marketing success story and tips, read about how tweetsgiving.org used Twitter to reach their fundraising goal.

Related posts:

• Does Your Group Have A Social Media Strategy?
• Connect Online And Traditional Marketing Efforts For Your Fundraiser
• The Power of Social Media
• Nominate Your Charity To Win A $25,000 Social Media Makeover
• “Tweet To Beat” Social Media Fundraising Experiment

What Can An Online Fundraising Auction Service Do For Us?

Expect the basics like managing auction transactions. But you’ll have a much higher level of success with your online auction fundraiser if you partner with a company that offers an extra leg up.

At the very least, your online auction fundraiser service should provide you with the tools and templates you need to set up your auction. These should be complete with secure services for bidding and processing of transactions.

In addition, the service you choose should offer live and ongoing support to help you work your auction and customize your website.

Still, a good fundraising auction website will do more. Some of the services that online auction fundraiser websites are offering include:

• Resource Library – a resource library still might be considered basic; look for a website that offers a host of free tips, tutorials, and articles to help you increase online auction fundraiser profits and manage the behind-the-scenes of fundraising with an online auction.

• Price breaks for extended contracts – some sites are offering unlimited auctions for up to a year for one set fee. This means you can run as many online auction fundraisers with as many items as you like for the contract period.

• Training classes – online training classes, sometimes free with contract, are offered to groups so that the key players can become adept at running the online auction fundraiser.

• Auction marketplace – some sites offer a marketplace so that you can purchase auction items (below retail) through them and offer them in your auction to increase appeal. This is a great way to expand a catalog of goods, and is a good option for a group that has few donations of auctionable items. On some sites, there is no exchange of money unless the item actually sells above cost; that means there’s no up-front expense for using this service.

• Public bidding – groups are offered the option of opening up bidding to the general public – anyone who visits the parent website. It’s simple to choose this profitable option and expand the outreach of your auction (simply opt in to this in the admin panel). This way, your auction is never limited by your advertising ability.

• Sponsorships and advertising – some companies allow you to place ads and sponsors on your website so that you can generate profits by selling marketing on your site.

Different online auction fundraising websites offer different value-added services. Knowing what is out there will help your group weigh one site against the other, so that you can be sure you are partnering with the best service, the one with all the best ways to increase the profitability of your online auction fundraiser.

Related posts:

• How Can We Benefit By Hosting An Online Auction Fundraiser?
• The Basics Of Running An Online Auction Fundraiser
• Silent Auction Fundraiser
• 15 Most Popular Online Fundraising Services
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service

One way to raise money for your favorite cause is with an online auction. One branch of the Better Business Bureau in Colorado found this to be the pot of gold when it came to fundraising, managing to raise $13,000 from the online portion of their fundraiser. Online portion, you say? Was there another? Actually, there was. In addition to using BiddingForGood.com to auction off various items like a hot-air balloon ride and a getaway vacation to the Canary Islands, they also had a live auction with some of the items that had been featured online. Combining an online auction with a live one meant that they raised more than twice what they would have raised using only one or the other.

Of course, nothing compares to that old standby, word-of-mouth. Which is what Joshua Wells counted on, when he set a goal to raise $1,200 for the Expedition Inspiration Fund for Breast Cancer Research. He asked people to sponsor him to climb a nearby mountain, Ryan Peak, in order to donate the money to the Fund. He ended up raising nearly twice that amount, at $2,322.

And when it comes to fundraising, sooner or later someone’s gonna bring up magazine sales. Why not do it online? The Marquette Rowing Club did – and they managed to raise $1,700 using the site magfundraising.com. The premise is the one we all know: order magazines from them to raise money for the group. But the twist is that with online sales, there’s no door-to-door selling, so the fundraiser is safe even for school groups. And with it being online, the event can go on all year – raising funds little by little for your organization.

An innovative way to raise funds online is fundable.com. Though many of the projects on this site have a small budget, there’s no reason why anyone couldn’t use it to raise any amount of money. One creative director of the dance group Misnomer Dance Theater used it to raise money for a new choreography routine in New York City, and reached their goal of $800. What sets fundable.com apart from other online fundraising services is that if you don’t reach your goal by the deadline, your supporters aren’t charged anything – ensuring that you won’t be left with partial funds and wondering what to do with it.

Read more about online fundraising, magazine fundraisers and other fundraising ideas.

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• Online Auction Fundraising Services
• Online Cancer Fundraising Campaigns
• The Basics Of Running An Online Auction Fundraiser
• Tips For Running A Successful Online Magazine Fundraiser
• In The News: Record Profits, Mobile Donations – Using SMS To Raise Funds, New Online Fundraising Service