No Event? No Problem: The Power of Grassroots Fundraising

Online fundraising made easy

Welcome to Firstgiving’s Webinar

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• Please be sure you are able to hear audio– Call: (616) 883-8055 – Access code: 597-456-616

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Presented by: Susannah Richardson, FirstgivingHannah Greenfield, Firstgiving Sharon Bradley, YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas

No Event? No Problem:

The Power of Grassroots Fundraising

Call: (616) 883-8055 Access code: 597-

456-616


Agenda

• Person-to-person online fundraising• What is grassroots fundraising?• YMCA case study• How to implement • Demonstration• Firstgiving account types

Call: (616) 883-8055 Access code: 597-456-616


What is Person-to-Person Fundraising?

Potential 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

Call: (616) 883-8055 Access code: 597-456-616

Your Supporters

Your Nonprofit


What is a Fundraising Page?

• It puts a face to your nonprofit organization

• Eliminates “fear of asking”• Convenient : give by credit or

debit card• Fun for the individual!• Automatically generates

donation receipt, for tax purposes

Progress thermometer

Personal appeal

Donations and comments


Donors Give and Leave a Comment

“Good luck with your recovery, I admire you more than you know!!!”

“Glad to help! H.S. classmate of your dad.”

“I am so proud of you!”

“Better late than never”“You are an inspiration”

“We can all help in some small way”


What is Grassroots Fundraising?

Grassroots Movement*:

• driven by the constituents • natural and spontaneous• focus on community• raising money through small donors• cost effective

*wikipedia.org


How Does it Work?

• Grassroots fundraising is like a modern-day chain letter – After created, appeals are passed on again

and again by email, blogs, social networks, and more


Fact #1: This Applies to You!

• Ignoring it is like leaving money on the table– It gets your organization in touch with people you can’t easily reach in

other ways

• Your supporters want to help, they may just not know what’s available – Grassroots efforts help your cause as much, if not more, than donating,

volunteering, etc.

• Less emphasis on monetary size– Instead of chasing and fighting over big donors, get support from a

variety of small donors


Fact #2: Expand Your Donor Database

• By definition, grassroots efforts spread your cause to new audiences

• Your supporters ask their networks for you

• Free advertising• Grassroots = more donors


#3: Every Dollar Counts

Example:

Pixie’s Page has already raised over $30,000

Breakdown of last 100 donations by amount:

Note: 88% of donations were $25 or less!

www.firstgiving.com/campgradyspruce

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Please welcomePlease welcomeSharon BradleySharon Bradley


What is Camp Grady Spruce?• Branch of the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas. • Has a 70 year legacy as THE residential camp for the Dallas YMCA. • Year-round Offerings:

– Summer Camp – Outdoor Education– Conferences– Retreats – Teambuilding for families, churches, businesses and Y-Guides

• Mission: To deliver exceptional outdoor programs that inspire, build and strengthen relationships with God, His creation and each other.


My Roles With CGS

• Then (70s/80s)– 2nd Generation Camper – Summer Staff

• Now– Board of Management (Volunteer)– Partners’ Campaign chairperson on the

Rainmaker Fundraising Committee


Goals for Online Fundraising for 1Q-08

• Expand online fundraising as a new tool to accompany the traditional person-to-person, snail mail, phone call and e-mail fundraising tools.– Above provided by our 118 year old city-wide organization

with approximately 25 branches

• Encourage a handful of established campaigners to use Firstgiving pages and provide feedback


Why’d we chose Firstgiving?• Individual fundraisers create their own pages, tell their own

stories and manage their own donor relationships– Our campaign is based on approximately 100 volunteers raising

between $500 - $20k each. – Firstgiving’s individual fundraiser pages were a perfect fit for the

way our association traditionally manages our campaign• Reasonably priced

– Firstgiving’s pricing fit within our budget• Teams

– Our fundraisers are broken into 3 teams to stimulate friendly competition.

– Firstgiving supported this concept “to a T”• Portable data• Customer Service

– Responsive, courteous, professional


2008 Results to Date• Money Raised $13,320• Average Gift $140• # of Donations 94• # of Active Fundraising Pages 13• # of First Time Donors 39 • # of Prior year Donors 28• # of Increased gifts from 21

Prior year Donors


Grassroots in Action:Making Lemonade out of Lemons

www.firstgiving.com/woodle

At the family’s request, a page was established to collect memorials in honor of our friend and former staff member, Scott Woodle

• $3,500 has been raised to date

• Met the instantaneous need of people to “do something now” to honor him


Thank you, Sharon!

Next:

How to Implement Grassroots Fundraising


Tip: Give Ideas

Give supporters reasons to make pages so they find one that’s right for them

• Start an appeal• e.g. 2008 fund for new equipment, send Tim to summer camp

• Anniversaries/Milestones• e.g. The day you were diagnosed or officially disease-free, the day you adopted

your dog

• In memory/In honor• e.g. In memory of my best friend, please donate to cancer research

• Awareness months• e.g. April is autism awareness month


More Ideas!

• In lieu of birthday or wedding gifts• Instead of birthday gifts, please help me celebrate by donating to my

favorite cause

• Local events• Encourage people to fundraise for you online when participating in

events: e.g. walkathons, marathons or 5ks

• Organize an office casual day• Coordinate with your office so donors may wear jeans for the day


Tip: Lead by Example

• Familiarize yourself with the tools and make your own fundraising page

• Start a staff competition to see who can raise the most

• Ask each board member to set up a page as part of your annual appeal


Tip: Make the Commitment• If you don’t adopt it, neither will

your supporters!– Give clear directions and multiple

ideas– Promote on your website and all

correspondence


Tip: Hold a Virtual Event

• Treat it like a regular event!– Registration– Teams– Competition and prizes

Note: all above virtual events hosted by Firstgiving!


Tip: Give a Timeframe

• When there’s no deadline, it’s easy to procrastinate

• Everyone is used to end dates—fundraising is no exception

• Instigate a countdown to evoke a sense of urgency


Tip: Give Your Supporters Multiple Calls to ActionTell ‘em, tell ‘em, and tell ‘em again!

Supporters can…1. Make a fundraising page and collect donations

2. Donate to the fundraising page made by you (the nonprofit)

3. Forward the page on to others• The internet is viral—make the most of it and ask everyone to

forward it, post it on their blog, etc.• If people can’t donate, they can still help by forwarding the

page on to friends and family


Next: Demo

The Firstgiving Experience


Cost

• Creating a fundraising page and making a donation are free

• We deduct a 7.35% transaction fee from donations• Credit card processing charges are included in fee


Premium Start Page:www.firstgiving.com/atlantahumaneStart Page:

www.firstgiving.com/npo/3179

Example Start Pages


Firstgiving Nonprofit Accounts

Nonprofit Account

• Cost: Free• Start Page• Unlimited fundraising

pages• Online reports: fundraiser

and donor contact details

Premium Nonprofit Account

• Cost: $300/annually• Branded Start Page

– Branded fundraising pages with your logos and banner

• Includes:– Event registration– Event reports – Team functionality


Premium Start Page

Organization and/or event description

Total raised online

Easy call to action for

fundraisers

Your banner

Top Teams

Top Fundraisers

Nonprofit Resource

Center

Up to 3 custom Images


Interested in learning more?– Visit our website – Sign up for a nonprofit account today

• www.firstgiving.com/statements/npo

– Email [email protected]

Thank You For Joining Us

Business

No Event? No Problem: The Power of Grassroots Fundraising