It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a community to run a nonprofit. While many for-profit companies focus mainly on marketing and perfecting a product, it often times feels as though nonprofits are running two “businesses”. One side of their organization includes the day-to-day business operations that all companies have to oversee to ensure smooth operation.

On the other side, they have a second list of management duties pertaining to fundraising and addressing the purpose of their cause with its countless projects. Garnering volunteers through social media is one way non-profits can juggle these additional tasks, while having supporters invest in the future of their organization. Here are some ways to recruit individuals to donate their time and talents using online tools.

ASK!

This may seem terribly obvious, but many people would be willing to help if they only knew what the need was. Create a wish list/job list of what you need done in your organization and post it on your website.

For example, if you have an event or big campaign coming up, analyze every essential aspect and list specific jobs that need to be completed, how long the tasks will take, and how many people will be required to get the work done. Once you post your plea for volunteers on your website, Facebook, and Twitter, provide the necessary steps to sign up online. Construct an easy-to-use form specifying day/time options and what task they would like to work on along with the basic contact information.

KNOW WHERE TO LOOK

Sometimes just knowing where to look can make all the difference. There are several companies, students, and other organizations looking for volunteer opportunities. Many large businesses offer a day off for community work to provide team building skills. High school seniors have a required number of volunteer hours that they need to complete in order to graduate. 

Connect with a high school counselor or vice principal and ask if you can leave forms for students to contact you to complete their volunteer hours. Countless college students are looking for internships for job skills and experience to put on their resumes. Organizations like the Girl Scouts or church youth groups want to reach out and get participants more involved in their communities.

There are also increasing numbers of online resources available to find individuals or organizations around you that may want to partner with you on a project. Check out websites such as Idealist.org, Volunteermatch.org, Sparked.com and Mediacause.org to get matched up with volunteers on short-term projects or for long-term commitments. The possibilities are endless!

MAKING VOLUNTEERING A POSITIVE EXPERIENCE

Organization is the key to any successful project. You want your volunteers to walk away with a better understanding of what your nonprofit is doing, how you are doing it, and that you are accomplishing your goals. This may be the first or only time that those who also give financial support step in to your building to see what goes on first hand, so it can have a huge impact on future support. Being organized by having all of the supplies ready, having a neat and clean work space, and carefully using your volunteers’ time by not having them wait around is fundamental to showing that you are professional and considerate.

Secondly, record your volunteers’ experiences through interviews and pictures to post in a follow up e-mail, blog, Facebook post, or next year’s volunteer recruiting push. It will bring back fond memories for those who were involved, while also encouraging others to participate in the future.

SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION

The best way to ensure that your volunteers will come back is to show your gratitude. Provide refreshments, have a director greet and thank your guests, give a tour of your facility, and send an old fashioned, hand written thank you note. Of course the depth of your appreciation correlates with the amount of work done, the time dedicated to the task, and the skill level required, but every job deserves a thank you. Your supporter should walk away feeling needed and that their time was well-spent making a difference.

Online fundraising can have many difference faces and finding volunteers is just one aspect. Volunteers can save you money, be encouraged to financially donate, and can be ambassadors for your nonprofit to their friends. What is free has the potential to be priceless!

Recruiting volunteers via social media networks like Facebook and volunteering platforms such as VolunteerMatch.org can be great channels to gaining support to not only help you on the ground, but from their desktop too. With the ease of using an online fundraising platform and social media, your volunteers can help you fundraise online, promote your online fundraisers by sharing with friends, which will help you collect donations online and in much greater volume for your cause. 

Fundraisers аrе increasingly turning tо thе Internet fоr nеw ways оf raising money. Online auctions аrе оnе оf thе mоst cost-effective methods fоr charities tо raise funds оn thе Web. Gіvе money аnd tіmе hаvе lоng bееn а staple оf fundraising іn thе offline world, but аrе often time-consuming аnd laborious tо organize аnd cаn bе disappointing іn results.

Everybody enjoys social media marketing social networking. We log оn tо discover buddies, discover what’s happening inside thеіr lives nоw thе tіmеs wіth websites like LinkedIn, Facebook аnd others, wе cаn actually gеt yourself а work although networking online; sо why wouldn’t yоu use thіs effective social networking platform tо ask individuals tо hеlp yоu along wіth your fundraisers? Requesting visitors tо assist yоu tо fundraise needs tо bе treated much thе same wаy аs requesting people tо become your “friend” оn Facebook оr twitter. Yоu want tо tаkе good care оf your associations, information аll оf thеm frоm tіmе tо tіmе аnd kееp thеm published regularly.

Thеrе аrе many benefits аnd advantages tо online fundraising. One оf thе mоst wonderful advantages оf fundraising іs thеіr enjoyableness fоr thе public. Net fundraising іs nоt оnly less costly; however іt іs simpler оvеr tіmе. Thеrе іs nо need tо organize аny events оr ad books іn order tо gеt donations. Yоu cоuld hаvе аll оf thеm placed thеіr name оn thе thanks page whеn thеy contribute tо gіvе аll оf thеm credit score your money cаn buy thаt thеy devote throughout thе fundraiser. Internet fundraising’ potential tо reach а vast аnd diverse audience іs а colossal advantage; Internet fundraising cаn bе accessed by huge numbers оf people frоm аll corners оf thе globe. Thіs іs іn stark contrast tо offline fundraising events, whose attendance іs vеry limited by geography.

Becoming оn thе market аnd noticed by your audience іs vital іn terms оf online fundraiser. Of course, thіs wіll nоt bе wаy too hard whenever fundraising оn thе internet since thеrе аrе а lot оf people thаt look аt items еvеry dаy. Yоu cаn really fееl confident thаt an individual looks your gift page оvеr tіmе. Thіs cаn bе а thіng thаt іs small, аnd thеrе іs nо need tо put а lot thought involved wіth іt, оr transform іt into а popular occasion аnd obtain аs numerous individuals аs yоu wish involved wіth іt based оn your abilities оr perhaps thе abilities thаt yоu hаvе using thеіr company people. Are yоu going tо іn terms оf оn thе internet fundraiser аnd thе wаy lots оf people yоu would like tо gеt involved?

Yоu wіll need tо distribute thе “link” tо areas tо gain focus оn thіs. Thіs really іs just аbоut thе mоst challenging areas оf having thе capacity tо distribute оn thе internet fundraising. Yоu would like tо mаkе certain yоu hаvе sufficient individuals whо hаvе thе fundraising link tо ensure thаt thеsе tо gіvе іt tо people thаt thеy knоw tо bе able tо gain іn contributions. Dо nоt turn оut tо bе anxious since thе World Wide Web іs really а quick wаy tо hаvе thіngs around.

Online fundraising with the use of popular social media networks will help you better promote your fundraiser and engage current and new supporters to get behind your campaign. However, you should be using an effective online fundraising platform, like Fundly, who has helped their fundraisers to raise over $250 Million online. You can learn more here: http://fundly.com

In this final installment of Social Media Week posts, I would be remiss to not touch on the topic of the blogging world. From personal to professional blogs, I’ve been sharing my opinions for about two years now and have found this part of the technical arena to be something that I love. Here are some things I’ve learned:

1)      Find Your Focus – Before you start a blog determine what you want your subject matter to be. Obviously as a nonprofit your topics will probably orbit around your cause and mission statement, so keep that in mind when you write. Avoid random political opinions, anything that might isolate your supporters or any negativity that would turn someone off. This is a great platform to share your heart and readers will keep coming back if they know that they’ll find something thought-provoking and informative.

2)      Keep it Real and Relaxed – Unlike reports, news articles, and board minutes, blogs are meant to be conversational. Keep it relatable and avoid sounding like a textbook. If your readers are primarily donors, share stories of how your charity is making a difference or honestly share a difficulty that your organization is facing. You may also want to discuss a measure coming up on a ballot that directly affects your cause (without sounding too controversial or preachy). This is a great way to build relationships with your donors because they can truly see the reality of your cause on a regular basis.

3)      Finding Content – Sometimes it can be tough to write on the same topic day after day but you just need to know where to look. I love Google Alerts; you can type in keywords that are the core of your topic and everyday Google will send you e-mails with lists of articles pertaining to your subject matter. Also try typing in keywords into any search engine; it’s amazing how many newsletters and websites are devoted to specific topics of interest. As a nonprofit, the Chronicle of Philanthropy and Mashable have great updates on the philanthropic world.

4)      Creating a Blog – I’ve used WordPress for almost a year and a half and they have a great site if you want to create a blog. It’s free, easy to use and I’ve never come into a problem with it. It also shows you stats on how many people are reading your blogs, which posts are the most popular and it helps to sort out real comments from spam. If you’re considering starting a blog, this is the perfect launching pad.

Blogs are a great way to connect to donors and supporters by sharing updates, special needs, client success stories and plans of action. Through this form of social media you can expand on thoughts that would be limited on Facebook and Twitter or costly via direct mail. Blogs also are a great strategy to tie your donors in to future fundraising campaigns; instead of making the occasional ask you’re inviting them into your organization’s world one blog at a time.

In this series:

Happy Social Media Week – http://bit.ly/yKlkNr

Woman Uses Fundly and Facebook to Help Fulfill Stranger’s Last Wish –http://bit.ly/wluGiv

Twitter vs. Facebook: To Tweet or Not to Tweet – http://bit.ly/ADdqwn

Implementing an Online Fundraising Plan for Beginners – http://bit.ly/x5BymH

Starting Your Own Blog – http://bit.ly/yxR2kG

In this fourth blog pertaining to Social Media Week, let’s start at the very beginning of how to actually use social media for those who are either new to the nonprofit world or unfamiliar with the basics of social media. This week we’ve discussed the purpose and differences of Twitter and Facebook, but here are some practical ways to slowly incorporate them into your development department’s strategy for fundraising.

1)      Get your website up and running – Facebook and Twitter are great ways to contact donors but if you have nowhere to lead them, it almost defeats the purpose. There are great website templates that you can find on the internet that average about $20 per month for a basic account, or you can set up a donation page onFundly. Last night I created a Fundly page for my brother-in-law’s charity event and it literally took me about 25 minutes. You can share your mission, contact information and collect donations in a matter of minutes.

2)      Set up Facebook and Twitter accounts – You can’t contact donors via these internet applications if you don’t have an account. Fill in the required information and spend about half an hour playing around with the different fields and features. Also, check out YouTube for video tutorials on how to use these online tools. If millions of people can do it, you can too! It just takes some time and basic computer skills to figure out the online social scene.

3)      Set up a calendar – I live by my calendar and a to-do list. If I don’t organize my life on paper, I feel frazzled and overwhelmed. Once you get your online accounts set up, set aside a time and schedule or assign this task to someone on your team to keep up with creating updates and posts for your online donor list. Maybe every Wednesday you can create a post on Facebook to let your supporters know what project you are working on. Possibly send out an e-newsletter on the first Monday of the month with a success story or urgent need. On Twitter you can report on a great article you read pertaining to your cause or state how much money you raised at a fundraiser. Create a plan and then stick with it!

4)      Reply to your donors – Social media is a two way street; you can post all you want, but donors will comment and ask questions. Be sure someone in your organization replies. Of course you don’t have to comment on everyone’s message, but filter through your account and reply when necessary.

5)      Expanding your online presence – Once you have Facebook, Twitter and e-mail mastered, you may want to check out LinkedIn to connect with other professionals. There are a bunch of great groups focused on nonprofits and the forums are perfect if you have questions or need ideas.

So those are some of the basics to using social media resources. Tune in tomorrow for our final installment of Social Media Week posts: Starting Your Own Blog.

In this series:

Happy Social Media Week – http://bit.ly/yKlkNr

Woman Uses Fundly and Facebook to Help Fulfill Stranger’s Last Wish –http://bit.ly/wluGiv

Twitter vs. Facebook: To Tweet or Not to Tweet – http://bit.ly/ADdqwn

Implementing an Online Fundraising Plan for Beginners – http://bit.ly/x5BymH

Starting Your Own Blog – http://bit.ly/yxR2kG

To Tweet or not to Tweet? Is that really the question? With this week being Social Media Week, the answer is definitely “to tweet!”

If you’re new to the social media scene, you may be wondering what the differences are between Twitter and Facebook. You also may think that using Twitter is just another thing to do on your long task list. Most importantly, will using this site really benefit your nonprofit?

Here is a simple breakdown of the differences between Facebook and Twitter: first of all, I think that depth of communication is one of the main qualities that separate these two applications. If Facebook and Twitter went on a date then Facebook would be the woman sharing family photos, what she did that day and using a ton of words to communicate her thoughts. Twitter as they guy would respond in shorthand-type statements, stick to bare facts and hang out with guys with similar interests.

Secondly, Facebook has “friends” that follow you via invitation; you must approve them or they won’t be able to see your posts, pictures or make comments. Twitter allows anyone to join your group of followers and lets them comment on your Tweets unless you specifically block that individual.

Finally, Facebook is a more personal approach with its unlimited word count verses Twitter’s 140 character limit. However, Twitter’s advantage is that you don’t have to sort through extensive paragraphs to find the point of the message. Facebook is great for building relationships and Twitter is perfect for business goals such as gathering concise opinions or commenting on conferences or events.

Which one is right for your nonprofit? I’d have to say both. Different methods attract different donors, so it would be an asset to implement both social media sites into your development strategies. Facebook allows supporters to really get a sense of your organization through pictures, updates and links. Twitter could be used as a reminder when you have a new blog post, if there is a website you want to share or to give updates on a campaign.

The most important strategy for fundraising is to build relationships and meet your donors where they’re at. Twitter has over 300 million users and 1.6 billion search queries each day. Facebook boasts of having more than 845 million users and more than half of those people log on each day. Since these applications are free, it would be a shame to miss out on connecting with all of these current or potential supporters!

To continue the theme of Social Media Week, tomorrow’s topic will help give you practical tips on how to incorporate social media into your fundraising strategy.

In this series:

Happy Social Media Week – http://bit.ly/yKlkNr

Woman Uses Fundly and Facebook to Help Fulfill Stranger’s Last Wish –http://bit.ly/wluGiv

Twitter vs. Facebook: To Tweet or Not to Tweet – http://bit.ly/ADdqwn

Implementing an Online Fundraising Plan for Beginners – http://bit.ly/x5BymH

Starting Your Own Blog – http://bit.ly/yxR2kG

Did you even know that it’s Social Media Week? Well, it is and I am excited to celebrate this monumental advancement in technology. From keeping in touch with old friends to finding out what my favorite organizations are doing, I honestly can’t remember my life before Facebook.

So what exactly is Social Media Week? Quite simply, it is a conference that takes place in 21 of the largest cities in the world to celebrate and share the global impact that social media is having cultural, economic, political and social change in developed and emerging markets. This event has more than 60,000 worldwide attendees with another half million who join either online or through other mobile connections.

This week of cyber-talk is particularly important for nonprofits for one simple reason: most of your donors are connected to the internet and the best way to reach donors is to meet them where they’re at. Just look at some of these statistics from JeffBullas.com:

1)      Each Facebook user spends on average 15 hours and 33 minutes a month on the site

2)      More than 250 million people access Facebook through their mobile devices

3)      More than 2.5 million websites have integrated with Facebook

4)      30 billion pieces of content is shared on Facebook each month

5)      YouTube has 490 million unique users who visit every month (as of February 2011)

6)      190 million average Tweets per day occur on Twitter (May 2011)

7)      Twitter is handling 1.6 billion queries per day

8)      Twitter is adding nearly 500,000 users a day

9)      Google+ has more than 25 million users

10)   Google+ was the fastest social network to reach 10 million users at 16 days (Twitter took 780 days and Facebook 852 days)

Just imagine how much time and money it would cost in a direct mail campaign or cold call list to contact even 1,000 of these people! With social media you can type in a message, hit send ,and instantly hundreds of your donors can be contacted and the amount of re-posts or re-tweets are immeasurable.

Furthermore, this conference has some of the most brilliant minds in business who have combined marketing skills with technological advancements to create profits worldwide. I can’t even begin to grasp what knowledge and experience they have that can be applied to nonprofit fundraising.

So raise up your mug of lukewarm coffee and take a bite of a sugary pastry to welcome Social Media Week. It may not be Mardi Gras, but for the guy in the cubicle next to you it may just be the next best thing.

Tune in tomorrow to learn how Facebook can impact your online fundraising numbers…

In this series:

Happy Social Media Week – http://bit.ly/yKlkNr

Woman Uses Fundly and Facebook to Help Fulfill Stranger’s Last Wish –http://bit.ly/wluGiv

Twitter vs. Facebook: To Tweet or Not to Tweet – http://bit.ly/ADdqwn

Implementing an Online Fundraising Plan for Beginners – http://bit.ly/x5BymH

Starting Your Own Blog – http://bit.ly/yxR2kG

Social media fundraising is becoming more popular as a valued resource for nonprofits organizations. Whether this shift is because of the success that peers are sharing in the field or because of the attention it is getting for political fundraising pertaining to the upcoming presidential election is anyone’s guess. However, the fact remains unchanged that more charities are turning to online fundraising and the numbers of participants and fundraising dollars are higher than ever before.

Charity Dynamics, an online marketing and consultation firm, conducted the 2012 Digital Marketing Survey which involved 70 of their clients. They found that, “73 percent of respondents indicated that their organizations plan to address social media strategies in 2012. This is up significantly from the previous year when 51 percent felt social media was a top priority. Additionally, 62 percent of those surveyed indicated that converting one-time donors into repeat donors is a key priority for 2012. This also is up significantly from the previous year when only 36 percent indicated repeat donor conversions was a key area of focus.”

Furthermore nearly 98% of the organizations surveyed replied that they are using social media and 90% said that they are actively seeking out resources to use this technology better in order to reach their nonprofit’s goals.

In addition to the expected forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and e-mailing, the survey found that, “the mobile channel is expected to grow sharply in 2012, with 51 percent of non-mobile users indicating that they plan to implement a mobile strategy in the coming year. Nearly 40 percent of those surveyed indicated that their organizations used mobile technology in 2011 to support their fundraising and marketing activities–up from 27 percent last year.”

There are many different ways that nonprofits can implement social media into their fundraising strategies. From weekly updates on Facebook to e-newsletters to a link to receive donations on their website, there are countless ways to open the line of communication with donors. The most important goal with using online resources is to build a strong relationship with your supporters.

From television celebrity news shows to charities to consumer products, I’ve heard companies say a ton of times “Like us on Facebook.” I may be one of the ignorant masses, but I can’t help but wonder what good that could do. Of course it shows advertisers their popularity and social presence to get more money and approval ratings, but if I “like” you once and move on, what’s the point? How do you move supporters who “like” our non-profit organization into partners who are dedicated to participating in your online fundraising efforts?

I must admit that 90 percent of the time when I browse the posts on Facebook it’s rarely to search out a cause or person in need. I like to see what my friends are doing, where they’re at and pictures of their kids. I am connected to several non-profits and I do enjoy their one or two sentences about the projects they are working on and I like to see pictures of their progress. Rarely do I link to their site to donate. I have I feeling that most people are casual Facebook followers like I am.

On the Guarian.co/uk, Tom Latchford writes an article for non-profits to attract Facebook users like me to get actively involved in their charitable organization online. Latchford writes that organizations need to support the donor journey while communicating with the masses. There are definite steps to a charity-donor relationship: 1) Attracting people so they sign up for your e-mails and posts, 2) Prompting them to become supporters, and 3) Getting people to partner with you as advocates.

So how to you initiate attracting people for step 1? Latchford suggests that, “There are people talking about topics related to your charity all over the web, all the time. These are warm prospective supporters, already actively engaged in the topics your charity cares about. Topics on Twitter are found using the hashtag (#), so your charity should be finding the hashtags for the relevant topics and engaging with the people contributing to these conversations. You need to tap into these conversations and cultivate their interest in your cause. The true power of Twitter is tapping into pre-existing communities in this way.”

The next step is to invite your potential donors to check out your website which should be interactive, engaging and meaningful. “The website should be the transactional hub, managing the relationships with people as they contribute in various ways. Whether it is through appeals, an online shop, raffle tickets, volunteering or attending events, the site is a vehicle for accelerating towards or accomplishing your charity’s vision, with your community of committed contributors acting as a driving force,” explains Latchford.

Finally, non-profits need to cultivate donors into partners by having them actively connect to their online relations to promote your cause. Latchford proposes that, “The key is to understand that most people have more impact through their influence than a direct donation alone. These social media approaches challenge the institutional fundraising models. My theory is that we should seek out the right people, trust them and aim to move those supporters to a level where they are as effective as a paid member of staff. When you do this, you get results.”

That may all sound wonderful, but you may be wondering how to even establish an online presence for your charity. To establish this online social presence, using a social fundraising platform such as Fundly is key. Social fundraising tools can keep your donors engaged to create a community of doers who will also bring along their friends and contacts with a similar passion for your cause.

When I was working at a homeless shelter a local news station came by to highlight the work that was being done at the Rescue Mission. They captured vivid imagery of where one man would spend the cold winter nights huddled under a building awning, the long lines he would stand in at generous churches for a meager meal and the closing shot was an amazing silhouette of him walking alone down a filthy, abandoned road.

The next segment featured the same man, Jeff, as he ventured to the mission and the amazing transformation that had come over his life. He lived in an apartment, held a decent job, and looked like a completely different person; where his eyes spoke of grief and hopelessness, they now glowed with pride and life. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much is a video worth?

It’s been six years since I saw that presentation and yet those pictures are embedded in my mind. There is something so impactful about the emotions that images convey that words can’t express. Whenever I see a homeless person asking for food or sleeping near an abandoned building, I always think of Jeff. Imagine the donor base you could create with one heartfelt video that is shared through social media fundraising. The National Council for Non-Profits has five video making tips:

1)      Purpose – What is the purpose of your video? What do you want your donor or potential donor to do, feel and learn as they watch the screen? But be careful: it’s easy to want to jam pack too – much information into what should be a 7-9 minute video for banquets, meetings, etc. or a 30 second – 3 minute video on your website. The video I mentioned above focused on one man’s journey. They could have listed statistics, shown pictures of crowded shelters and had the president do a monologue of their future goals but that would only have diluted the message.

2)      Who is your audience? – Are you targeting current donors, potential donors, guests at an event or web viewers? Your audience will determine your message.

3)      What story do you want to tell? – Non-profits leaders have a ton of great, heartwarming stories to tell about the success and struggles of their organization. List them out and discuss which ones are most relatable, impactful and if the individual would be willing to share the story on camera. Three examples are about the max you can share without being redundant and losing your audience.

4)      Be genuine – Don’t worry about hiring a fancy production company if it’s not in your budget. Being heartfelt and honest is way more endearing and believable. Just get started!

5)      Share the word – Put the video on your website, on Facebook, YouTube and anywhere else that it can get traffic. Promote it like you would any other campaign. Darian Heyman Rodriguez, Co-Producer of Social Media for Non-Profits, recently said in a recent Fundly webinar that videos have a better chance at going viral if you use the following equation: Compelling + Concise + Credible = Contagious

The National Council for Non-Profits declares 2012 to be the year of the video, so don’t be left behind! Once people see your mission and the passion of your organization, who knows the impact that it could have on your online fundraising numbers?

Rarely can so much information be packed into one short hour as it was during a webinar that Fundly was excited to present on Thursday, January 12, 2012. With three expert panelists discussing how to accelerate fundraising in this upcoming year, invaluable information was shared that will definitely impact the giving numbers of your non-profit. If you were unable to attend, fear not! This three part blog series will make sure that you can have the tools you need to jumpstart your 2012 fundraising efforts. You can also check out SlideShare to view our presentation slides and GoToMeeting to watch the recorded webinar.

Since we had three experts discuss their expansive knowledge on major fundraising factors in the charity world, I’m going to break down each topic for the next few days. The basic catalyst for this webinar was based on the facts that $300 billion dollars is given each year in the United States by private individuals (so this number does not include grant monies, corporate giving, etc.) Furthermore, 13% of this giving was online with a 35 – 55 % increase over the past year. If all that money is transferring bank accounts, how do you get some of these funds into your organizations!?!

With this thought Darian Rodriguez Heyman, Co-Producer of Social Media for Non-Profits and former Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation, addressed the question “What role does content play in engaging and mobilizing a supporter base?” Basically, you need to know your audience and be skilled enough in your social media skills to properly address your donors. Here are some applicable examples that Heyman gives to maximize your donor interaction: when you post your comments on a social media network, there are specific times of day that you will get the most traffic and responses.

Try from 8:30 am – 9:30 am when people check their media accounts first thing in the morning, from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm during their lunch breaks, 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm when they check their accounts before they head home from the office and 9:00 pm – 11:00 pm after they’ve put the kids to bed. Another easy strategy is to post a question rather than a statement. Usually this brings in ten times more responses.

Heyman also addresses the issue that many charities have about going viral on the internet. How can I make my videos, pictures and posts spread like wildfire and cause my donors to want to share our information?

There are three factors to consider:

1) It’s not about the what but the so what – why should people care about this and what would motivate them to pass it on?

2) How do you expect me to pass the word on if it’s too complicated?

3) Be credible. Compelling + Concise + Credible = Contagious

Finally, Heyman suggests that non-profits avoid the “Empty Store Effect.” Plan before you leap to keep a consistent presence on the web. Consistency is key to grabbing donor attention. Heyman also recommends that you recognize and appreciate every $20 gift as if it were a $20,000 gift to completely nurture the donor relationship. When you know what drives your donors to give, you can establish a strong partnership.

This is only the first part of this exciting series, so please check in tomorrow to learn more about maximizing your giving for 2012. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at Fundly. We would love to partner with you to strengthen your social media presence and to develop a successful online giving program for your future non-profit fundraising campaigns.