Person-to-Person Fundraising Tools

Presented by Peter Deitz Social Actions, Founder www.socialactions.com webinar hosted by

Definitions

Selecting the right tools

Side-by-side comparisons

Costs of implementation

blogger living in Montreal, Canada.

When I’m not consulting or writing, I run an online community called Social Actions .

Social Actions aggregates person-to-person fundraising campaigns, and helps people to start their own.

About Me I am a micro-philanthropy consultant and This presentation is intended for registered 501c3 non-profits based in the United States.

The process of gathering money and other gifts in kind, by empowering individuals to solicit from and communicate with prospective donors of their own choosing through the use of blogs, widgets, images, video, face-to-face interactions and other social media.

Synonyms : group fundraising, personal fundraising, viral fundraising, grassroots fundraising, peer-to-peer fundraising.

A widget is an online tool that permits a portion of one webpage to appear on other webpages. These multiple appearances look exactly the same and can be updated from a single source.

Applications enhance the functionality of existing social networks. For example, the Causes application for Facebook adds the ability to solicit and make donations from within Facebook.

Nonprofits should avoid working exclusively within a single social network or application.

A wired fundraiser is anyone who uses email, websites, and other social media to raise money for a nonprofit or independent project. Wired fundraisers range in age and technical expertise.

Nonprofits can increase fundraising success by communicating regularly with potential wired fundraisers.

To find the right tools, you first have to ask the right questions.

Who are your potential wired fundraisers?

How do they use social media?

Where can you find wired fundraisers?

What should you ask wired fundraisers to do?

What tools do wired fundraisers need?

Tech-savvy bloggers Social network members Email hangers-on People you don’t know yet… Current donors Visitors to your website

People ages 18-27 are the most likely to create blogs, post comments, and join social networks.

NetworkforGood reports that the average age of online donors is 38 years-old.

Participation rates in social media by age. Source: Business Week, June 11, 2007 (Data from Forrester Research)

For wired fundraisers to be effective, they will need to use a combination of tools to reach donors of all ages.

Who Ask them to Remind them to Tech-savvy bloggers Create a fundraising widget and invite blog readers to donate. Use email and social networks to reach potential donors. Social network members Join a fundraising application and start a campaign. Invite friends within the social network to join the campaign. Create a fundraising page outside of the social network. Email hangers-on Create a fundraising page that supports your organization. Send emails to their list of potential donors. Current donors Send a donate now invitation to friends, family, and colleagues. Fundraise for the nonprofit in other ways. Visitors to your website Fundraise for your organization using a range of tools -- People you don’t know yet Support your organization through a giving community . --

Make the most of person-to-person fundraising by giving supporters the appropriate tools.

Change.org SixDegrees Firstgiving ChipIn ChangingthePresent

Firstgiving Pros Cons

No picture

No control over colors

# of donors not listed

No control over text

User generated

fundraising goal

Connects to a

fundraising page

Flash based

Integrates with

Facebook

Shows latest comments

Includes fundraiser title

ChangingthePresent Pros Cons

No barometer

User generated

fundraising goal

Includes picture

Connects to a

fundraising page

Includes fundraiser title

Includes custom text

Change.org Pros Cons

No fundraising goal

Includes picture

Flash based

Integrates with

Facebook

ChipIn Pros Cons

No picture

Fundraiser title must

be short to fit

Payments only

received through

Paypal

User generated

fundraising goal

Flash based

Shows # of donors

User controls color

Links to user’s

ChipIn blog

Shows donations

over timeline

Includes fundraising

deadline

SixDegrees Pros Cons

No fundraising goal

Fundraiser title not

listed

Not connected to a

fundraising page

Includes picture

Includes link to video

(optional)

Shows # of donors

Lists GuideStar

description of non-profit

Change.org Firstgiving GiveMeaning ChangingthePresent ChipIn

Firstgiving Features

Includes picture

Embedded videos work

Shows # of donors

Lists GuideStar

description of non-profit

Includes “email to a

friend”

Does not include a blog

per fundraising page

Nonprofits can create

branded fundraising

pages for individuals

ChangingthePresent Features

Includes picture

Shows # of donors

Permits fundraising

‘ drives’ for nonprofits

and specific nonprofit

projects (listed as gifts)

Includes blogging

option per drive

Change.org Features

Includes picture

Shows # of donors

Includes blog for each

fundraising page

Fundraising pages

show up on broader

community “changes”

and nonprofit profiles

Fundraising pages also

appear in Facebook if

the user has added the

Change.org application.

Nonprofits can create

branded fundraising

pages for individuals

ChipIn Features

Includes picture

Each ChipIn widget

comes with a blog

Shows # of donors

Videos can be

embedded in blog

entries

Widgets can be added

to Facebook

GiveMeaning Features

Advertisements appear

at the top of pages

Includes a section for

videos and pictures

Each fundraising page

comes with a blog

Fundraising ‘proposals’

require 100 votes

before donations can

be received.

No integration with

Facebook

No fundraising widget

Change.org Project Agape Firstgiving ChipIn ChangingthePresent

Firstgiving Active Users

16 users (3%)

Number of Users

534 users

Links to Nonprofit Profile

No

Emphasis

Providing Facebook

integration for specific

fundraising pages

ChangingthePresent Active Users

16 users (1%)

Number of Users

1,600 users

Yes

Emphasis

Allowing individuals to

send ‘gifts’ that support

specific projects at a

nonprofit to their friends

on Facebook

Change.org Active Users

122 users (1%)

Number of Users

12,200 users

Yes

Emphasis

Allowing nonprofits to

broaden their supporter

base and raise money

within Facebook

ChipIn Active Users

79 users (2%)

Number of Users

3,950 users

No

Emphasis

Providing Facebook

integration to specific

ChipIn fundraising

campaigns

Project Agape Active Users

242,746 users (3%)

Number of Users

8,091,530 users

Yes

Emphasis

Allowing nonprofits to

raise money and build

community from within

Facebook

Assist donors in asking other people to make a contribution to the organization;

Can be built into the donate process;

Can be offered in follow-up correspondence with the donor.

Can be offered to non-donors who know people that might want to contribute to the organization.

Guide individuals through the process of starting a person-to-person fundraising campaign;

Feature various fundraising opportunities, ranging from simple “donate now” invitations to full fledged widget fundraising campaigns.

A button to your organization’s “Fundraise Now” page can appear next to all “Donate Now” buttons.

How much will it cost to manage a person-to-person fundraising strategy?

Platform Credit Card Processing Fee GiveMeaning 0% ChipIn 2.9% + $0.30 ChangingthePresent 3% + $0.30 SixDegrees 4.35% Project Agape 4.50% Change.org 4.50% FirstGiving 7.35%

Department New Responsibilities Communications Help wired fundraisers draft their appeal statements; offer wired fundraisers sample images, video, and text to accompany their campaign; Development Spend time getting familiar with person-to-person fundraising tools; manage the content on the “Fundraise Now” page; draft profile text for giving community profiles; keep donor database up-to-date. Accounting Record donations from various sources, resulting from person-to-person fundraising campaigns.

Some of the eCRM platforms listed above include person-to-person fundraising tools. Using these tools can simplify the record keeping and communications process.

Peter Deitz Social Actions, Founder [email_address] 514-907-8725 – Montreal 718-766-5367 – New York City