Welcome!
Today’s topic:
From Bowlathon to Annual Appeal:
The many uses of online fundraising
Presenters:
– James Campbell, Firstgiving
– Joy Barrett, CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters
of Greater Nashua
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Today’s agenda
• Person-to-Person online fundraising
review
• How Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater
Nashua succeeded
• Online fundraising beyond the Bowlathon
• Time to answer your questions
• Appendix: Common Board objections,
costs, and details about Firstgiving
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Before we start…
• If you have a question for James or Joy,
type it in the question box in go2webinar
(usually on the right)
• We will answer as many as we can live
during the presentation, and email
answers to the rest
• We will send the slides and recording in a
couple of days
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Person-to-Person Fundraising
Your NPO Supporters = Fundraisers Friends & Family = Donors
• Your supporters making personalized appeals to friends
and family for your cause
• Allowing your supporters to leverage their social network
to make a difference
• Giving power to the people who want to do more than
make a simple donation
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

I already have a “Donate” button on my
website…
• Online donations – Place a “Donate” button on
your NPO website, wait and hope for donations
from your immediate donors only
• Not very engaging
• Not terribly effective
• Only the first step in
e-philanthropy
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

So what’s the difference?
• Online fundraising – Empower all of your
constituents to outreach to their social and
professional networks and “ask” for donations
• Net new donations from donors you would not
have received donations from otherwise.
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Put a personal face to your cause
• Lack of familiarity with
your nonprofit
organization has little
bearing on the decision to
make an online donation
• Appeals are made on
your behalf at a personal
and emotional level
• Donors feel compelled to
support their friends’
efforts in a show of
personal support
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Personal Fundraising Pages
Fundraising progress
Personal appeal
Donations and comments
• Eliminate “fear of asking”
• Convenient, easy and
secure payment
• Donors are more involved
• Automatic donation
receipts
• Automatic Thank you
emails
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Welcome Guest Speaker:
Joy Barrett
CEO
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua
http://www.bbbsnashua.org
http://www.firstgiving.com/BBBSNashua
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

About the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater
Nashua
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Nashua was established in
1982 and has provided mentors for children living in the Greater
Nashua area.
• Our mission is to make a positive difference in the lives of at-risk
children, primarily from single parent families. We accomplish our
mission through professionally supported one-to-one mentoring
relationships between caring, committed volunteers and children who
are in need of a positive role model and friend in his or her life.
• Currently the agency has over 270 children matched with volunteer
mentors in our Community-based program and our School and After
School/Site based programs.
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Bowl For Kids’ Sake
• Bowl for Kids' Sake is about having fun
while helping kids.
• It is the largest annual fundraising event
for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater
Nashua.
• Funds raised go directly toward matching
children with caring Big Brother and Big
Sister volunteers.
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

How has online fundraising helped us?
• How our supporters use it?
– Bowlers
– Teams
• Our initial concerns:
– Cost
– Control over content
– Security & Privacy
– User experience
– Reporting
• What’s our experience been?
– Our fundraising results
– Our fundraiser & donor feedback
– Net increase
– Other campaigns
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Fundraising Totals
$78,000
$76,000
$74,000
$72,000
$70,000
$68,000
$66,000
$64,000
$62,000
$60,000
$58,000
2007 2008
Donations $65,000 $77,000
$23,000 raised online for 1st time in 2008
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Thank you Joy, and to The Big Brothers Big
Sisters of Greater Nashua, NH
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Beyond the bowlathon, beyond events
• Annual Appeal / Board Appeal
– Board Members create personal pages and email their professional
networks
• Holiday Fundraiser
– Get creative, top fundraiser gets free tickets to your Gala or other event
next year
• End of year tax-deductible donations
– More than half of adults in the US plan to donate to charities online this
2008 holiday season despite the economy…. more than $3 Billion
• Awareness Months
– A perfect opportunity for people to spread the mission and raise money
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

BBBS outside the box story
Give the gift of a Mentor
• Year end appeal
• Tied into Mentoring Awareness
Month
• Had mentors set up fundraising
pages
• Commit to raise $1,500 (cost of a
match)
• November thru January
• $17k raised online by over (50)
mentors
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Question Time
• If you have a question for
James or Joy, type it in the
question box in go2webinar
(usually on the right)
• If we don’t get to it now, we will
reply by email afterward
• Then we’ll continue on with
some details about Firstgiving
next
Try Firstgiving risk-free.
Join now at www.firstgiving.com
call (617) 591-2121 x1005
or email james@firstgiving.com
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Board’s top objections…
• Costs
– You won’t lose money fundraising online, rather you cut down
administrative costs and increase donations
• No event
– No problem, people can still raise money for your cause around
any reason, occasion, anytime they wish
• Demographic
– Everyone can use online fundraising pages to easily reach their
friends & collect donations for a cause they care about
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

• Time
– Online fundraising isn’t a staff consuming project, it is quick,
easy, and fun.
• Control
– Let go, your fundraisers know best how to speak to their
friends, so give them with the freedom and ability to do so
online
• Security
– The research shows identity theft is more frequently committed
offline than online.
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Firstgiving
Credit
Fee 5%
Card Fee
2.5%
NPO nets Yes, that’s all,
92.5% no catch, we
promise!
ONLINE
DONATIONS
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

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Firstgiving
YOUR NPO
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Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

NPO gets detailed
breakdown of all
payments, donors, and
fundraisers on reports
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

When your nonprofit joins Firstgiving, you get your own
homepage on Firstgiving called a Start Page which serves
as the hub of all your online fundraising activity
Basic Nonprofit Account
• Free doorway to online
fundraising for all your
supporters
• Personal pages all linked
together, displays fundraising
history
Optional Premium Account upgrade
available for:
• Custom NPO branded site
• Online Event Registration
• Fundraising Teams
• Only a $300/annual fee
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Some nonprofit organizations using Firstgiving
person-to-person online fundraising pages
Online fundraising and Firstgiving are tried
and true. It’s a safe & highly effective way
to raise money, and people around the
United States embrace the concept.
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com

Thank you again!
Try Firstgiving risk-free.
Join now at www.firstgiving.com
call (617) 591-2121 x1005
or email james@firstgiving.com
Firstgiving recorded webinar 10/29/08
www.firstgiving.com