Online donations are becoming the medium of choice to collect for different fund-a-thons. More and more schools are participating in different causes, such as AIDS walk, Relay for Life, etc. With how much of a headache storing money, collecting money, and keeping a record of those you still have to collect from, having an online system is definitely a God-sent.

Groups can now have their own customized page, and studies have shown that members are able to collect 400-500% more online, than if they were to campaign in-person. And best of all, receive one consolidated check for your group at the end of the fundraising donation drive.

Last week’s post on Fundraising on Facebook from Ethan Austin has attracted some attention.  It was listed in the Top 10 Technology and Social Media Resources for Nonprofits from Connecting Up Australia.  Check out the other 9 resources included on that list.

Here’s a roundup of other recent articles focused on the latest online fundraising trends:

NonProfit Email Marketing: Is Your Organization Ready for an Email Monthly Giving Campaign? from Pamela Grow. This post includes an interview with the director of monthly giving for Best Friends Animal Society.

Social Media & Grantmaking VI: A Member’s Perspective On Twitter from Northern California Grantmakers blog. How the Quixote Foundation is using Twitter.

Social Media Case Study: Facebook plus integrated marketing helps raise $950,000 from Marketing Experiments

Join the Online Fundraising Technology Conversation by Philip King, Fundraising Success Magazine

The Keys to Fundraising on foursquare by Allyson Kapin, posted on Network for Good. This latest social media site focuses on location. Maybe this will get your attention: “I recently did an advocacy, awareness and fundraising campaign called #100X100 using foursquare that raised $25,000 in 24 hours and prompted more than 800 supporters to call their Congressmen,” said Rosenberg.

Case study: Online tools help increase offline (and online) giving by Andy Robinson, from Mal Warwick’s July Newsletter.  Connecting online and offline is important!

3 Surefire Ways to Use Twitter To Promote Your Organization by Julie Stofer, another great article on Network for Good.

Finally, here’s a good reminder from John Haydon to connect with supporters via social media on their terms not yours.

When a friend or loved one gets sick and is facing huge medical bills, the quickest and easiest way to raise money for them is through an online fundraising website.

Sites like GiveForward, Fundbunch and GoFundMe allow individuals to create customized pages where friends and family from across the world can contribute to help a loved one pay for their medical bills and out-of-pocket expenses associated with getting sick.

When combined with the viral power of social media tools like Facebook, these types of fundraising pages can raise upwards of $10,000, $20,000, or even $80,000 in a matter of weeks. Before getting started, however with any of these websites, it’s critically important to come up with an organized fundraising plan.

Through my work at GiveForward, I’ve seen many people raise funds online and have gathered some ideas about what works and what doesn’t. Since many people raising money for their loved one’s medical expenses are fundraising for the first time, I’ve outlined a step-by-step plan that will make it super-easy for you to reach your goal. If you are about to start a fundraising page for a friend or loved one, please take the next 20 minutes to read through the plan — I promise, it will make a HUGE difference in the overall success of your fundraiser.

Step 1: Build a Fundraising Team to Help Spread the Word

If you are thinking of raising money for a loved one, before you get started ask a few of your mutual friends if they would be want to help in the efforts to spread the word. With the assistance of a few friends all sending emails and Facebook messages out to their different networks your team will be able to reach out to 4-5 times as many potential donors as you could by yourself.

As the team leader or team captain, you will, of course, still be responsible for drafting the emails and coordinating the efforts, but your team members will be able to help you in spreading the word to a wider group of people.

Note — If you cannot get a group of friends to help with the efforts, don’t worry about it. Creating a team of friends is definitely helpful, but is not absolutely necessary to be successful.

Step 2: Kick Off Your Online Fundraiser With a Donation From Yourself

If you can afford to do so, the first thing you are going to want to do is set the tone for your fundraiser by donating yourself. Donate as much as you can afford, as this will show people how important this effort is to you and will set the tone for the rest of the fundraiser — if you set the bar high by donating a large amount, others will do the same.

Step 3: Get the Ball Rolling With Big Donations From Your Inner Circle.

After you donate yourself, the next step is to notify a handful of your closest friends and family (your inner circle) and ask them to make large donations (e.g. $100-$500 each) to get the ball rolling. Getting off to a good start is the single greatest thing you can do to make sure you reach your goal.

The reason this is important is because of the law of monkey see, monkey do. (Yes, we know, it’s a very scientific name). Simply stated, when people visit your fundraising page, the first things they do after reading the description is check out the donor list to see who has given and what the average donation size is. Then, they donate a similar amount. If they see that their friends or colleagues are donating between $100 and $500 then they will likely donate between $100 and $500 as well.

On the other hand, if they check out your donor list and see that most people are donating between $10-$20, then they’ll probably donate between $10-$20 too. Seeding your fundraiser page with large donations from friends and family at the outset is probably the most important thing you can do to ensure a successful fundraiser, so we really want to stress how important this step is.

Once your friends and family in your innermost circle have donated, rinse and repeat by reaching out to your next closest group of friends (e.g. 5-10 college friends or high school friends). Do this until a large number of your close friends and family have donated. Then, and only then should you move on to step 4.

The fundraising team for Nicole Hobson, who needed funds for medical costs related to breast cancer treatment, got big donations from their inner circle first. By the time extended friends and family saw the fundraiser, the family had already raised close to $3000. This made the newcomers who were seeing it for the first time much more inclined to donate, as they could see that the fundraiser already had a lot of momentum. In total, the family raised over $25,000 in just one week.

Step 4. Reach out on Facebook

Almost all online fundraisers that raise $10,000+ do so because of Facebook. This is probably the second most important tip we can give you. Facebook is an amazing tool and just helps spread the word more quickly.

To spread the word on Facebook, you will want to set up a group for your friend or loved one. Invite all your friends to join the group and be sure to ask them to ask their friends to join the group as well. Ask some of your close friends to become administrators of the group and have them invite everyone they know to join the group and donate as well

Once you have the group set up you can use it to send people updates about your friend or loved one’s health status or simply include news about what is going on in their life. You can use these updates as an opportunity to ask for contributions by including a link to your online fundraising page in of all the messages.

Here is an example of Facebook group that worked really well for a fundraisier raising money for a child with Leukemia: The Miss Madison Facebook Fan Club

Step 5: Be Persistent

Once you have built a large enough Facebook group (and/or email list), continue to ask people to donate. The key is to be persistent! Not everyone will donate the first time you ask, but if you keep asking, most people will eventually come around.

Also, it’s important to remember that sending requests for donations is a two-way street. You want people to be eager to receive your email or Facebook message, not to delete it or dump it in the trash right when they get it.

A great way to keep your donor base engaged is to start your emails or Facebook messages with a “thank you” and then give updates about your friend’s health, progress, etc. whenever you are asking for donations. Another way to keep people engaged is to start off your emails with updates about the progress of the fundraiser (e.g. “WooHoo! We just hit 20% of our fundraising goal today! Thanks so much!!! You guys rock!!)

Step 6. Finish Your Fundraiser with a Bang.

To help maximize the amount of money you raise for your cause, you’ll want to make sure you reach out to all your procrastinating amigos and family members in the final days before your fundraiser ends. Here’s what we suggest you do to finish your fundraiser with a surge of donations:

(1) Three to four days before your fundraiser ends, send a mass email or a Facebook message to all your contacts, encouraging them to make one last push before the deadline.

(2) To spice it up a bit, if your fundraiser is ending on January 13, ask them to donate $13 on that day or if it is ending on February 5th, ask for $5 on the 5th. People will usually give more than the amount you ask for, so don’t worry if your fundraiser ends on the 2nd or 3rd of the month. If you want, however, you can ask for $20 instead of $2 or $30 instead of $3, or alternatively ask for donations ending in the number (e.g. $2, $12, $22, $52, $102)

(3) Lastly, make sure to send a friendly reminder email on the morning of the last day to remind them to donate.

Final thoughts

Okay, that’s it! One last note, before you get started – typically, the very first thing most people want to do after they create their online fundraising page is send out a mass email to all their friends and family. I know this seems like it would make the most sense, but it is actually the last thing you want to do.

Avoid the temptation to use this “shotgun” approach! Instead, stick to this step-by-step plan and I promise that you will raise WAY more money.

Also see Raising Money for Individuals with Health Conditions for offline fundraising ideas.

Today’s link roundup includes advice regarding a variety of internet strategies for nonprofits:

Integrating Your Web Site and Database for Greater Donor Engagement by Robin Fisk, FundraisingSuccess

Are you new to blogging? Read this simple primer. by Sandra Sims, Cause Blogger

Online Outreach on a Budget – the January Nonprofit Blog Carnival, issueLab’s Footnotes

15 Nonprofit Social Media Stocking Stuffers and Resolutions by Pamela Grow, Pamela’s Grantwriting Blog

Posterous.com: Email Blogging for NonProfits by Rebecca, Wild Apricot Blog

Ensuring Your E-Newsletters are Read – Not Dead – On Arrival by Kivi Leroux Miller, Network for Good

Extreme Website Makeover: From Ick to Slick! by Katya, Non-Profit Marketing Blog

Several weeks ago I decided to feature a local nonprofit organization I worked with years ago for Twitter’s #CharityTuesday, thinking that I might be able to drive a few extra dollars their way.

So I paid a visit to their website to make a donation and copy the url.

I searched and searched for a way to give.  I knew that they had the capability because yours truly had set it up all those years ago.

After searching through several pages, I finally came across this paragraph at the bottom of one page:

If you would like to donate via the internet please go to www.JustGive.org or www.guidestar.org. Once on one of those sites you can just search for ORGANIZATION’S NAME. You will then be lead to our donation page.

Folks I couldn’t make this stuff up.

Aaugh!

One of the first rules of thumb is to make it EASY TO GIVE.

If you’ve been in the field of nonprofit fundraising as long as I have – particularly if you’ve been working with smaller organizations – you may well recall the time when boards argued endlessly about whether or not their organization should even have a website.

Ahem.

According to the 2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, while 2008 certainly wasn’t a red-letter year for fundraising in general, even in today’s tight economic times, nonprofit organizations showed a 43% increase in online gifts.  In fact, the total amount of money raised online increased 26% from 2007 to 2008.  Further, studies show that about half of those who receive your appeal for funds in the mail will go first to your website (the same holds true for that program officer reviewing your grant proposal, by the way).

It goes without saying that your organization should be collecting email addresses (my newsletter, The Grow Report, recently featured  simple, step-by-step instructions for setting up your web-site’s email opt-in box and systematizing your email newsletters).

Now, optimize your website for online giving by following these two simple rules:

1. Make giving an online donation as easy as possible.  Include a conspicuous “Donate” button on every page of your site.  Yes, conspicuous.  Yes, every page.
2. Include a hyperlink “Donate” button on every email sent out by every staff member within the signature line (and what’s to say you can’t request that your board do the same?).

Yes, I know you’re swamped.  Yes, I know your resources are limited.  Yes, I know that there’s more to online giving than these two steps.  Confucius say:  “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

There are many companies eager to help you with the task of online donations, from standard credit card processors to those specializing in nonprofits.  So how do you decide which provider is right for you? Here are seven factors for you to consider when choosing an online donation service provider:

1. Features

When evaluating service providers first decide on your goals and needs. For example, do you simply need a way to accept one time donations, or are there other options that you require such as:

• Designated fund giving
• Monthly giving (automated)
• Pledging (with a time limit, not open ended recurring)
• Memberships
• Event registration
• Sponsorship payment
• Memorials and honorariums
• Individual fundraising pages (for programs such as walk-a-thons)
• Team based fundraisers

Are these modules that you’ll need right away or are you anticipating adding these options in the future?  Depending on your short and long range plans you may start out with a very basic provider, or go ahead and choose a full featured system in preparation for future development.

2. Donation Volume

Next consider your anticipated volume of transactions, both the number of individual transactions and the total funds raised. If you are currently using another donations processor you’ll have some data to work with.  Otherwise, you’ll just have create some projections based on your goals.

Your anticipated online donations will influence the type of pricing model that will be best for your needs.  For example, if you are using a “micro-donations” strategy of $5-10 from thousands of donors, a pricing system that charges per transaction fees might be a bad idea.  On the other hand, if you anticipate a large total amount of donations, a flat fee rather than a percentage fee might be best.

3. Pricing

As mentioned above each provider has a different pricing structure.  Based on your own circumstances, such as the anticipated donation levels and the features you need, consider which pricing model is best for your group.

Some of the fees you may encounter include:

1. Flat fee per month or year
2. Credit card processing fees
3. Percentage fee taken from each donation (in addition to credit card processing; sometimes these two are combined)
4. Per transaction fees
5. One time set up fee

Also note that some providers handle all the financial transactions for you, while others run transactions through a third party merchant account which you set up separately.  Sometimes as an alternative to a merchant account you can use PayPal instead.

4. Security

Security is always important, so verify that the provider has all of the correct online security features in place.  Personal information used for transaction should be encrypted and protected with SSL.

You may look for security seals and information such as Verisign, SSL, Better Business Bureau accredication and privacy policies. Testimonials and case studies from satisfied clients can also bolster your confidence in the security and trustworthiness of the company.

5. Ease of use

Determine if the provider has easy to use software modules based on your particular needs.  If the company offers an online demo and/or telephone led demo with a consultant, that will give you a hands on experience. That way you can test out the system for yourself to see how user friendly it is both for administrators and how it will work for your supporters.

6. Customer service

Does the company provide customer service by telephone and email?  Is it easy to find their contact information and mailing address? Call the customer support line before  signing up for the service to see what kind of experience you have.  You’ll have a reason to contact support at some point, so you want to make sure ahead of time that they will be there for you when needed.

7. Organizational commitment

Last but certainly not least, take a long hard look at how online giving figures into your organization’s overall donations strategy.  There’s a lot more to internet donations than just added a “donate now” button!  If you invest a lot of money upfront and yet have no specific strategy for driving online donations, you could lose money and be quite disappointed.

Create a strategic plan for your group to impliment online giving including short and long term marketing.  Then use this plan to decide which third party service best suits your needs.

Donation providers to consider:

PayPal is the absolute most basic form of accepting donations online.  It lets you accept donations made with credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal.  There’s no monthly, set-up, or cancellation fees and low transaction fees.  Supporters don’t even need a PayPal account to make their donations. Of course with this simple option there are no built in donor tracking systems, email follow-up or other resources.

Earlier this year I wrote a comparison of three online service providers: Network for Good, Firstgiving, and Click and Pledge.  They each provide different features and one may be a good fit depending on your online fundraising needs.

Step by Step Fundraising is now directly affiliated with two online service providers:

DoJiggy may have a funny name, but this company offers some serious online fundraising services.  In addition to online donations, there are other separate modules for online auctions, pledge based events like walk-a-thons and golf registrations.  Each module has a separate annual fee.

With Qgiv all the features are included in one annual fee: online donations, recurring or monthly giving, event registration, special campaigns and honorariums.  During the online demo with one of their consultants, I found that the system was very easy to use.

Looking for more options?  Here’s a big list of online donation service providers. Read, click and research until you find the one that’s right for you!

A lot of non-profits have online donation pages but complain that they still receive very few donations.  Why?  There are several reasons that could explain the lack of online giving ranging from low traffic to a poorly designed website.

In essence, to be effective your entire online communication strategy must be built around increasing donations, which has implications regarding how your website is designed and what information you offer.

Below are five keys to online fundraising success.  While some of them sound intuitive, a recent study of non-profit websites found that a surprising number of them do not meet these criteria.  Potential donors were left feeling frustrated and discouraged from donating.

To keep that from happening to your potential donors, take another look at your site:

1.  Does your website clearly outline who you are, what your mission is, and who you serve?

The key here is that the answers to these three questions must be readily available.  You shouldn’t have to dig for them, they should be apparent on the front page of the website.  Site visitors often stay just 1-2 minutes, and want quick answers.

Less than half of all non-profit sites studied in a Non-Profit Donation Usability Survey clearly answered these questions on their homepages, and difficulty navigating a site and finding information was the number one reported “donation killer”.  If you need to tweak your site, try to keep your text short and succinct, and use photos to help communicate who your target audience is.  Make your impact tangible so visitors can connect immediately with what you do.

2.  Does your site appeal to visitors on an emotional level?

Studies have demonstrated that statistics and rational arguments don’t drive online donations– stories of real people do.  Visitors need to be able to connect with real people on an emotional level, through a story that highlights their shared values.  Donors like to see faces and profiles of the people they will be helping, and they need to know that their donation (no matter how small) will really make a difference.  If you’re not sure what the emotional connection is that drives your cause, talk to some of your current donors.  Then communicate that “selling point” through stories of the real people you serve.

3.  Does your site explain how you will use donated money?

The Donation Usability Survey of non-profit websites found that only 1 of 23 sites surveyed actually explained what they would do with donations on their home page.  And many non-profits don’t even explain what they will do with donations on or leading to their donation page.  The more transparent and specific you can be about where donations go, the more confidence you will inspire in your donors.

For example if you can cost out your services (”for every $20 donation we receive, one child in X country will receive a year’s worth of school supplies”) you make your impact tangible and your donor knows that they’re making a real difference in someone’s life.  That is both compelling and rewarding.

4.  Make online giving quick, easy, and secure.

The more time it takes to make a donation, the more discouraged potential donors can become.  Make sure your online giving process is quick (don’t add in unnecessary survey questions for example), and consider adding security features (like McAfee or VeriSign) so donors can feel safe giving out their personal information.

5.  Reach out.

You can follow all of the previous steps impeccably, but if your site traffic is low then your pool of potential donors will be insignificant.  So how to attract new visitors and donors?

You can increase your traffic through online marketing and communication strategies such as e-newsletters with links back to your site, viral campaigns, social networking, directories, strategic online partnerships, online press releases, using well-indexed content management systems, or even paid advertising.  And just reworking your site to make sure it is fully search engine optimized can substantially increase your traffic.

There’s a variety of software programs that many nonprofits, just like commercial businesses, need in order to be successful.  For charitable groups managing donor information, communicating with supporters online and accepting internet based donations are of particular concern.

eTapestry offers a whole suite of tools to simplify this process for you. There’s a web-based donor management system, an online giving system, specialized email tools and even event registration just to name a few. Since everything is connected you save time by not having to enter duplicate information or use multiple systems.

Here’s a great case study…

Gleaners Food Bank in central Indiana uses eTapestry’s tools to make their donor data management less time consuming. They are able to track donation information effectively so they can continue to follow up with supporters and solicit additional funds.

eTapestry was instrumental in helping them recover from a major disaster – vandals who damaged the refrigeration system over a weekend left $170,000 worth of food destroyed.

The community response was overwhelming. They went to the food bank website and donated instantly, using the online donation system enabled by eTapestry. Imagine how much longer it would have taken to get the needed donations in without online giving already enabled.

Watch the Video for the full story

The software is user friendly and you’ll get top notch training and support. It can be made available to your entire team so that information related to your fundraising efforts that they need to succeed are right there (from anywhere since it’s a web based system).

Plus the eTapestry team manages all of the techie stuff – all upgrades, maintenance, backups, and data security are managed and monitored for you. A big plus for so many organizations that don’t have a technology department (or even one tech guy or gal)!

The bottom line is that using software like eTapestry helps you focus more on your mission, build better relationships with supporters and makes fundraising easier.

Here’s a great overview of eTapestry that you can print out or just go to eTapestry.com for more information.

More people than ever are making donations to charitable organizations via the internet. They already shop, work and play online, why not give? If your group is not yet taking donations online, now is the perfect time to start. The tools that make online giving possible are becoming much more user friendly for both the charity and the donor. Plus the technology is more affordable than ever.

Now, to be sure there are many companies eager to help you with this task, from standard credit card processors to those specializing in nonprofits. After all, they make a percentage each time a transaction is made. But don’t let this commercial aspect or the cost deter you from taking online donations. The benefits can far exceed the small hurdles of setting up the donation capacity and paying the fees.

There’s a more extensive list of companies on the online fundraising directory page.  But today I’m going to focus on my three favorite providers, Network for Good, Firstgiving and Click and Pledge. Why did I pick these three? They offer lots of features and benefits for you, are low cost, and are great for nonprofits who are just starting out in the online donation world.

Network for Good provides customized donation pages that will match your current website. It allows you to collect both one time and recurring donations. They also have an optional email newsletter tool to help you keep in touch with supporters. There’s a one time set up fee, monthly service charge and 3% per transaction. However, there are no long term contracts.

Network for Good also offers free training, advice and resources through their website Fundraising123.org. There’s a free newsletter and other tools that are available there, whether you sign up for their services or not.

Firstgiving has unique benefits for nonprofits raising funds online. Two of their claims to fame are the personal fundraising pages and team fundraising pages. Why is this important? Friends asking friends to donate is a powerful way to raise funds! It’s the concept behind walk-a-thon participants who solicit pledges, marathon runners who raise thousands of dollars and other organized programs. This is one of the fastest growing areas of fundraising.

In fact, the drive for online donations doesn’t even have to start with the charity. Anyone who supports your cause can create their own personal fundraising page, send it to friends and family and bring in donations for you. There are two types of accounts, basic and premium with varying benefits and costs. There’s no monthly fee with Firstgiving.

Click & Pledge is my newest favorite online donation system. I was impressed with its features and benefits when I saw a demonstration at the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) conference.  Besides online donation capacity, you can sell event tickets and merchandise through this platform.  It also offers volunteer and event management functions.

Their system is called Trio, since besides online donations, there are two additional modules for donor management and website management. Each module is priced separately so you only pay for what you need. For the online donations, there are two flexible payment plans, one has a monthly fee with lower per transaction costs, while the basic account has no monthly fee.

Comparisons

The great thing about these three providers is that they each offer quite different unique features.  Do you have 5K’s where your runners raise funds?  Then Firstgiving is the way to go.  With individual and team pages they are a perfect match.  Does your group have special events and sell branded merchandise?  Then consider Click & Pledge.  Of course all three take straight online donations!

	Network for Good	Firstgiving Basic	Firstgiving Premium	Click & Pledge Standard	Click & Pledge Premium
Secure Online Donation Processing	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Automatic email receipts to donors	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Recurring donations	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Sell products	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Person-to-person online fundraising pages	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Team Pages	No	No	Yes	No	No
Event registration	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Email Newsletters	Yes *	No	No	No	No
Volunteer Management	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Website Management	No	No	No	No	Yes *
Setup Fee	$199	$0	$0	$50	$150
Monthly Fee	$29.95	$0	$0	$0	$25
Processing Fee	3%	7.5%	7.5%	4.5%	3.95%
Per Transaction	$0	$0	$0	35	.35
Annual Fee	$0	$0	$300	$0	$0
* Extra charge applies

Last Thursday, February 12th, 2009, people in over 200 cities around the world hosted events to raise money for charity: water.  This non profit organization brings clean, safe drinking water to people in developing countries.

Many of the events were small networking parties, bringing together people who normally only correspond via the web, specifically the social network/microblogging site Twitter.

(Not familiar with Twitter? Marc Pitman has a great introduction, Twitter for Nonprofits and Fundraising.  If you’re a member, or become one, follow me: @sandrasims)

It was called the Twestival and so far over $250,000 has been raised. In fact donations are still being accepted.  Many of the donations were small amounts, less than $100 often just $5 at a time, submitted via the web application TipJoy.  Events themselves sold tickets or had a cover charge at the door of the event.  Some held live auctions and others did eBay to raise funds.

An important aspect for nonprofits to understand about Twestival – the idea, planning and execution was exclusively done by volunteers, that is the people who use Twitter.   They choose the nonprofit that would benefit, not the other way around.  Charity:water supported the effort by placing information about it on their website, including the online donation services of TipJoy.

Twestival Raises Over $250K and Counting Amanda Rose (@Amanda), the global organizer of Twestival, discusses the results of the fundraiser and next steps.

Toronto Twestival had a rocky start planning, but on event night there were over 450 attendees and raised over $10,000 for charity: water.

L.A.’s Twestival bring hipsters, websters and Tay Zonday Los Angeles Times reports on that city’s event (@twestival_LA)

Twestival-goers meet face-to-face BBC Scotland reports on Edinburgh’s Twestival (@EdTwestival) which attracted about 250 people for live music and socializing, raising over $3500.

London Twestival: Wigs, beer and hotpants at a very real world meet-up the Guardian (@guardiannews) reports on London event

More: View entries tagged twestival via Tweetag or search for Twestival pages on Twitter.