SWEET Online Fundraising Blog

Recession-proof your nonprofit

Make your nonprofit recession proof.

Here's a link to one of a long list of articles that shows that there is a lot of anxiety in nonprofit circles over the economy.

http://www.npr.org/2011/08/13/139589747/nonprofits-watch-anxiously-as-market-wobbles

S--t happens and it's happening now. Here are few things you can do to make your nonprofit recession-proof.

1. Implement a Peer to Peer Fundraising: Internet and mobile platforms make it easy to raise money. Let your supporters tap their networks for you. This type of fundraising has actually grown during the recession and it will help your organization get through this period.

2. Get more volunteers
3. Give more responsibility to Board members
4. Continue to invest in technology that generates revenue.

Good luck.

JRunners Raise Over $90000 in the 5K Run for Our Place

It's always nice to spotlight our clients who make the most of their event with the SWEET Fundraising Software for A-thons.

JRunners (http://www.jrunners.org/) did just that in a recent 5K Race (http://ourplace5k.jrunners.org/) where they raised over $90,000 for Our Place.  The original fundraising goal was $75,000.  The keys to the success of this campaign?

1. A Compelling Cause that is apparent immediately on the home page of the site and i'm sure through other materials and communciations.
2. Committed runners who agreed to raising a minimum fundraising amount.  Runners who didn't reach their commitment were billed for the remaining amount.  This is something many organizations are afraid to do to their own peril.
3. Aggressive management of the race with constant follow-up and feedback with runners, vendors, and sponsors.
4. And, of course, the world's best a-thon website.

 

Bookspring Read-a-thon in Texas Lets Students Raise Money for Books for Students

So far, over 3000 elementary school students in Texas have created their fundraising pages on SWEET and have raised close to $150,000 in the Read-a-Thon.

Everything is bigger down in Texas!

The money they raised goes toward providing books and assistance to needy kids in Austin TX. The event also inspires reading and community service in elementary school students who read hundreds of pages of books to collect pledge money.

For more information, please visit http://readathon.bookspring.org.

Webinar Recording: Personal Fundraising - Why Your Organization Needs to Leverage the Most Effective Form Of Online Giving

https://www.gatherplace.net/gp/jview.jsp?pf=82705188&confirmed=true

Here's a link to a 40-minute webinar discussing the undeniable merits of online fundraising using the 'peer-to-peer' / 'personal'/ 'friends asking friends' fundraising model.

The Webinar also includes tips on how to get such a program started at your organization.

Memphis Grizzlies Charitable Foundation is donating $425,000 to 15 area nonprofit organizations

The Grizzlies Foundation is getting it done.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/2010-11-05-1163176569_x.htm

They've  raised over $26.1 million since 2004.  They've funded numerous Memphis area organizations including the New Ballet Ensemble & School, Memphis Prep Program, Leadership Memphis, ArtsMemphis, the Memphis Child Advocacy Center and the Mid-South Food Bank.

I know first hand (http://grizzliesbowlnbash.com/) that they really do care.  The Grizzlies Foundation continues to be an excellent model for other professional sports foundations.  For more information, visit http://grizzliesfoundation.org/.

 

From Mashable: 5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network

5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network.

This Mashable post shares some ways that your supporters can help your cause by doing things that they typically do online through services that give a kickback to your charity.

 

Perhaps you can tell your supporters to do these things if and only if you can't get them to actually show real support and give you money.  As always, try to get the donation first.  

 

Cash is King and a Facebook widget won't pay the bills.  Plus, the kickbacks on these services are either miniscule or reserved for the nonprofit giants like the Red Cross, etc... But if all else fails, they're better than nothing at all.

'Bowling for Boobies' Bowl-a-thon begins in Houston

The SSS Foundation has officially launched the SWEET site for its 'Bowling for Boobies' event in Houston. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Busted Foundation.  

The SSS Foundation is trying to raise $20,000 through the effort.  

Bowling for Boobies is a nice spin on the Bowl-a-thon.  The SSS Foundation is asking event-goers to raise money using personal fundraising pages on the SWEET  system.They are also giving people the opportunity to sign up to raise money without attending the event.

Good idea, good cause, good luck!

Facebook Causes Continue to Show Little Promise as Fundraising Tools

In April 2009, the Washington Post riled up the nonprofit blogosphere by stating that Facebook Causes was ineffective for fundraising.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103786.html

At the time,the Nature Conservancy was  one of 3 organizations that had raised over $100,000 on their Cause page.  At that time, there were roughly 80,000 'people' on The Nature Conservancy Cause page. That's an average of $2.40 generated for the nonprofit per member.  That's not so great and it's understandable why the Washington Post came to the conclusion that it did.

Today, nearly a year and a half later, I found myself talking to a client who wanted to know how much of their resources they should invest in Facebook Causes.  My gut feeling was to say, 'none at all' because  there's no data showing that a Cause page actually helps your organization in any way.  But I held back, because I didn't want to seem like an old-world curmudgeon. 

So, I went back  to  the Nature Conservancy Cause page.  Today, they have 286,000 members and have raised nearly $388,000!  Sounds great, right? That's about a $1.36 per member.  Thats pretty awful.  That's DOWN over 40% since the Washington Post article in August 2009.

At Blue Sky we've seen small groups of 80 or so people generate over $388,000 over the course of a few months for very small nonprofits.  That fact that a behemoth like The Nature Conservancy shows such poor results on their Cause page leaves very little hope for the small to mid-size organization on Causes.  You can bet that The Nature Conservancy is dumping millions of dollars in resources to their Cause page annually.  To what end?  I'm not sure, but its not for revenue.

I know that the marketing folks won't like my stance.  They will tell me about all the abstract value that Causes has but I'm a numbers and data guy. And if the time and money invested into a Cause page can not be converted into real revenue or savings then what's the point?

If I were a nonprofit manager, I would think twice before investing more time and money into Causes.  

Facebook Causes Continue to Show Little Promise as Fundraising Tool

In April 2009, the Washington Post riled up the nonprofit blogosphere by stating that Facebook Causes was ineffective for fundraising.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/21/AR2009042103786.html

At the time,the Nature Conservancy was  one of 3 organizations that had raised over $100,000 on their Cause page.  At that time, there were roughly 80,000 'people' on The Nature Conservancy Cause page. That's an average of $2.40 generated for the nonprofit per member.  That's not so great and it's understandable why the Washington Post came to the conclusion that it did.

Today, nearly a year and a half later, I found myself talking to a client who wanted to know how much of their resources they should invest in Facebook Causes.  My gut feeling was to say, 'none at all' because  there's no data showing that a Cause page actually helps your organization in any way.  But I held back, because I didn't want to seem like an old-world curmudgeon. 

So, I went back  to  the Nature Conservancy Cause page.  Today, they have 286,000 members and have raised nearly $388,000!  Sounds great, right? That's about a $1.36 per member.  Thats pretty awful.  That's DOWN over 40% since the Washington Post article in August 2009.

At Blue Sky we've seen small groups of 80 or so people generate over $388,000 over the course of a few months for very small nonprofits.  That fact that a behemoth like The Nature Conservancy shows such poor results on their Cause page leaves very little hope for the small to mid-size organization on Causes.  You can bet that The Nature Conservancy is dumping millions of dollars in resources to their Cause page annually.  To what end?  I'm not sure, but its not for revenue.

I know that the marketing folks won't like my stance.  They will tell me about all the abstract value that Causes has but I'm a numbers and data guy. And if the time and money invested into a Cause page can not be converted into real revenue or savings then what's the point?

If I were a nonprofit manager, I would think twice before investing more time and money into Causes.  

Slideshare Platform Underused By Nonprofits for SEO

Slidehare www.slideshare.com has been around for a while.  Basically, it's a "youtube for powerpoint presentations."

Recently slideshare announced pricing for its premium offerings. http://tcrn.ch/cmit6n

The basic account is free and has powerful SEO (search engine optimization benefits.

Most orgs have a stash of presentations languishing on their employee's hard drives.  If you take these powerpoints and post them to slideshare with titles filled with keywords and those presentations will show up very high in google search results.