Web-based Fundraising
Tomorrow I’m going to teach “Fast Fundraising” at the Nonprofit Support Center in Santa Barbara. Since we’re in an Internet world now, I have to address fundraising through the web.
Here are two examples of fundraising online that I’ve been involved in:
http://wevonline.givezooks.com/grassroots_fundraisers/the-best-business-training-ever
Now, if you look at these two examples, they’re completely different. The underlying technology is similar: individuals can post web pages to talk about their involvement with the charities, and there is a way to donate. However, they’re different in that one doesn’t make a strong ask and the other does.
Here’s the difficulty: you still need an underlying structure that pushes people to fundraise. In the case of NAMI, it’s a Walk. It has a deadline and goals. The other doesn’t really make an ask. (Yes, I wrote both.)
In order to use web-based fundraising, you’ll need to give people a reason to post their pages AND get them out to others. Ask yourself how you’ll do this, then ask how many other people you can get involved, and finally, ask if the time and effort you’ll put forth will raise enough money to be worth it, or, as I like to say, “Werth-It.”
Questions about web-based fundraising? Write me, Katherine Wertheim, CFRE, at katherine@werth-it.com.