Best Practice in Online Fundraising: How to Use Teams, Competition and Prizes to Raise More Money

Welcome to Firstgiving’s Webinar

The webinar will begin shortly

Please be sure you are able to hear audio

Call: (641) 715-3222

Access code: 361-338-962

If you are having any trouble with the above number, please call 888-387-8686 Enter 1935301 and press #

Presented by: Susannah Richardson, Firstgiving David Karp, Firstgiving Andrea Farwell, Junior Achievement of Eastern Massachusetts Best Practice in Online Fundraising: How to Use Teams, Competition and Prizes to Raise More Money Call: (641) 715-3222 Access code: 362-049-451

Agenda

Person-to-person online fundraising

The benefits of teams

Junior Achievement case study

Competition and prizes

Demonstration

Firstgiving account types

Call: (641) 715-3222 Access code: 362-049-451

What is Person-to-Person Fundraising? Donors

People making personalized appeals for causes that are important to them

Giving your supporters the ability to leverage their social network to make a difference

Call: (641) 715-3222 Access code: 362-049-451

Your Nonprofit Supporters/ Fundraisers Donors

What is a Fundraising Page?

It puts a face to your nonprofit organization

They eliminate “fear of asking”

Gives donors a convenient option: give by credit card

Automatically generates donation receipt , for tax purposes

Progress thermometer Personal appeal Donations and comments

Donors Give and Leave a Comment “ Good luck with your recovery, I admire you more than you know!!!” “Glad to help! H.S. classmate of your dad.” “I am so proud of you!” “ Better late than never” “ I Gave More Than Martha, Thus I Care More....” “You are an inspiration”

Now: The Benefits of Teams

Why Teams?

Great recruitment tool

“ Join my team” is an easier ask than “Walk with me”

More personal

Easy to rally around a unified cause:

i.e. “My sister has Autism—join our team to raise money for research and programs”

Bonding, camaraderie and comfort

Less daunting to know you won’t be going at it alone

Why Else?

4. Teammates hold each other accountable to raise more money

One is more motivated if responsible to peers

5. More friendly opposition

My Team vs. Your Team is nicer than Me vs. You

6. Competition is inherent

Rankings are expected, raising you more money

Please Welcome Guest Speaker: Andrea Farwell Special Events & Marketing Manager

Junior Achievement & Firstgiving

JA is currently using Firstgiving for the second year in a row.

JA uses Firstgiving year-round for our Bowl-A-Thon (BAT) events.

During the 06/07 BAT season, JA raised $50,000 more than the previous year without Firstgiving.

As of 4/25/08, JA has 287 active fundraising pages on Firstgiving.

Benefits of Firstgiving’s Team Function for JA

Firstgiving’s ‘team’ function helps JA organize the entire BAT season.

Teams can set goals and keep track of fundraising efforts. This proves to be a

great way to motivate our bowlers.

Firstgiving’s easy to read fundraising reports dramatically reduce accounting time,

helping JA to serve our ‘teams’ better and faster

Tip: Give clear instructions, make teams simply part of the process

We have more than 20 BAT events scheduled this spring, thanks to Firstgiving, each company (team) can easily access their own page and begin fundraising!

On the back end, Firstgiving makes it very easy to see how much money each team has raised.

Why Firstgiving?

“ I wanted to see how much my company had fundraised before our event. I called JA and within minutes they turned around an excel spreadsheet with a list of everyone’s names and how much they raised.

I praised JA for the wonderful customer service but they said to thank Firstgiving. Thanks to Firstgiving, I approached all the bowlers who hadn’t reached their goal and gave them a ‘friendly’ reminder.

Now we’ll raise even more money for Junior Achievement!”

-Bowl-A-Thon Coordinator, PricewaterhouseCoopers

Thank you, Andrea!

Next: More about teams

How to Start?

1. Include team info on all event material

Website

Start Page

Event posters

Flyers

Etc.

Send an email asking

supporters to create

their own teams

Friends (i.e. Class of ’88)

Family (i.e. The Smiths)

Coworkers (i.e. Team Firstgiving)

Departments (i.e. Firstgiving’s Marketing Team)

3. Let your supporters dictate the terms

Your supporters know what “teams” are, so let them make it their own

Be patient—it may take some time to catch on

Tip: Don’t Leave ‘em Hangin

Send frequent emails with team rankings to motivate and remind fundraisers

Ask successful teams to give tips and pointers to lower performing ones

Tip: Use Social Networks Encourage your supporters to use social networks to recruit donations and team members

Prizes The event is over—what next?

Tip: Don’t be Afraid to Use Small Prizes

Oftentimes, it’s more about the thrill of winning

than the prize itself. Offer small prizes or simply

bragging rights!

a) Mention the winners on your homepage, blog, or newsletter

b) Trophies: websites offer trophies for less than $10

c) A tour of your facility—the inside look most people don’t get to see!

d) $10 gift certificates: Starbucks, Amazon, local sandwich shop, etc.

Tip: Use Non-Monetary Reasons for Giving Prizes

It’s easy to spotlight those who raise the most money, but that’s not what it’s all about.

a) Who took donations from the most people?

Example: A supporter obtained $1 each from 50 friends. Though

he only raised $50, he has introduced your cause to 50 people!

b) Who sent the most emails?

c) Who has participated in your event for the

most (consecutive) years?

d) Who completes your event wearing the

craziest costume?

e) Who has the best/most creative/funniest

picture on her fundraising page?

Special Olympics Polar Plunge, 2008

Next: Demo The Firstgiving Experience

Cost

Creating a fundraising page and making a donation are free

We deduct a 7.35% transaction fee from donations

Credit card processing charges are included in fee

Premium Start Page Organization and/or event description Total raised online Easy call to action for fundraisers Your banner Top Teams Top Fundraisers Nonprofit Resource Center Up to 3 custom Images

Firstgiving Nonprofit Accounts