Using Social Media to Fundraise
Clients have been asking me about using social media to fundraise and so I have been doing some research and poking around to see if I could find some hard numbers or data to help make the case that you really can raise money online. I also have been looking at online donation forms and have a few opinions I want to share on what makes a good form and what doesn’t.
First can you raise money online – of course you can. But you must do more than simply have a “donate now” button on your website – like all things – you have to drive individuals to your site and have a compelling call to action to prompt for a donation *now*. In other words:
1) Tell me why now – what makes it urgent, why should I care today more than yesterday or tomorrow?
Discover Massage – a local business – is using their Facebook page to promote their collection of blankets for a pediatrics hospital that ran out – the blankets are used by child patients as their “blankie”, something I personally feel pretty strongly about having carried my binkie all over the country (literally). And this is a time sensitive appeal – they are out of blankets now and it is getting colder here in Colorado so I feel the need for a blanket more than ever. I like this kind of visceral, tangible, urgent ask.
Offer options – use a Paypal account and VeriSign. State on your site that all data is encrypted using the latest security protocols. You might also tell me that my personal information is not going to be sold or used by anyone other than you.
4) and in the words of Steve Krug “Don’t Make Me Think” – make it as simple and as easy as possible to give you my money. The longer it takes me to figure out your system or fill out the form the more likely I am going to change my mind. Sad but true.
I also want to mention a June, 2009 report by Beth Kanter and Allison Fine that I recently re-discovered. The Case Foundation held a Giving Challenge in December of 2007:
“for 50 days—from December 13, 2007 to January 31, 2008—thousands of individuals competed for donors, donations, and matching awards from the Case Foundation for their favorite charitable causes…. The experimental Giving Challenge comprised two events. America’s Giving Challenge in PARADE Magazine and on PARADE.com raised $1,193,024 from 46,044 donors for 2,482 causes. The Causes Giving Challenge on Facebook raised a total of $571,686 from 25,795 unique donors for 3,936 causes. And in both challenges, causes with the highest numbers of unique donors received awards from the Case Foundation.”
The report identifies four key elements that made the challenge such a success. It was competitive – the idea that supporters were competing with each other to “out support” other participants in the name of their favorite cause “energized both donors and volunteers.” The Challenge was for a very short and intense period of time. The holiday season typically prompts individuals to generously give to their preferred charity – and in this case the season created urgency as the competition ended once the holidays were over. A leaderboard on the web allowed individuals and nonprofits to follow the results in real time for the duration of the contest which kept the juices going. And lastly, the incentive provided by Case Foundation’s willingness to award additional funding to the winners – on top of what they raised by participating – added value to the overall proposition.
So as you create your end of the year and holiday fundraising campaigns keep in mind that your online appeals need to be as well thought out as your traditional campaigns and that the two can work in tandem.
I would love to know more about how you will be using social media in your fundraising campaigns this year – please write and tell me more.
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