Two important events for fundraisers come together this time of year:
- The holidays (and the giving spirit they engender).
- The year-end tax deduction cutoff.
This is fundraiser prime time. Everyone is, of course, aware of this and the competition is fierce. Creativity and innovation are indispensable. The same old smiling Santa on your nonprofit’s holiday card will no longer get the job done.
Creative nonprofits are using crowdfunding techniques on social media networks to turbo-charge their fundraising by turning donors into newly minted fellow fundraisers.
Simply by asking donors to mention their mission to friends on donors’ networks, they are turning an existing donor’s $25 donation into $250. This is the fundamental concept that “peer-to-peer” fundraising is based on; leveraging their donors’ social media networks to connect with new donors.
Peer-to-Peer
Crowd funding techniques are based on a simple principle; people like to give to people they know. For nonprofit fundraisers this “group” instinct motivates the friends and colleagues of existing donors to donate as well. If your donor is willing to give, would he or she be willing to tell their friends they gave and encourage them to give as well? When the answer is yes, your donor’s network becomes your expanded network and suddenly $25 could turn into $250. Magic!
Social Media
Without social media platforms this networking opportunity was not possible. Now, however, by utilizing social media. nonprofits can get the word out quickly and have their message spread like wildfire. Simply, by asking your most loyal donors to talk about your mission on their social media sites, you can turn your donor’s contacts into donors. This is a powerful leveraging tool.
Timing
This fundraising technique is most effective around the holidays. Suddenly appearing on a respected donor’s Facebook page, for example, the message is new and timely and hasn’t gotten stale hanging around the page all year. What’s more, new donors are suddenly offered an unexpected way to participate in giving just when the impulse to give is glowing inside them. The holiday season is the most opportune time to ask your donors to leverage their social media networks on behalf of your mission.
Overcoming Obstacles
The easier it is to donate, the more likely someone is to give. Funding raising platforms like DonorDrive, Giveeffect, and FundRazr, offer nonprofits and supporters donation page templates that can be customized to their needs. Companies like Ogiv, Salsa, Double the Donation, CiviCRM, and Fundly all offer custom donation page features like:
- Enabling you to set different pages for teams and even groups of teams.
- Customizing every detail of the page template.
- A text-to-give feature that utilizes a simple giving keyword so anyone can easily donate via an ordinary text message.
- Early Bird Event Discounts.
- Matching gift software.
- Tell-a-friend systems that re-leverages the donor that just donated in response to their friend’s new holiday donation page.
One Step Further
CrowdRise by GoFundMe even offers a holiday nonprofit fundraising contest designed to initiate peer to peer fundraising for smaller nonprofits who have not used it before. It runs from November 26th to January 2nd and the nonprofit who uses the platform and raises the most money wins a $100,000 first prize bonus.
Tis the Season
As the holiday season approaches, nonprofit fundraisers are busy organizing Christmas parties, fashion shows and other major fundraising events. There doesn’t seem to be enough time. However, social media peer-to-peer crowdfunding should become a permanent part of your overall fundraising efforts. It is simply too effective to neglect.
