A Two Step Online Fundraising Strategy for Schools and Nonprofits

Posted on August 17, 2009 by Will Marlow

Here is a solid online fundraising strategy that will work for many non-profits and schools:
1. Become an excellent storyteller.
2. Adopt a proactive "spread the word" strategy that enables your donors and volunteers to begin carrying your flag and making requests for people to donate.

Of course, I would never suggest that an organization stop asking for money. I am suggesting, rather, that you start asking people to join you in making even more solicitations, which enables you to begin sending out more THANK YOU notes than requests for money.

It used to be that you had to do everything. You had to produce the content and deliver it. Now, you can get help with the second part of that, using tools like Facebook, Twitter and AlumniFidelity to ensure deliverability of your message. And this allows you to focus more of your own resources on the content part of the equation.

Inside your institution, you should cultivate your strength for storytelling so that whenever someone visits your Web site, they are hit hard by the compelling stories about how you impact the community and accomplish your mission: videos that discuss your impact on homelessness; interviews with your CEO talking about how many children you taught to read; a transcript of your school’s President talking about how excellent this year’s incoming freshman class is; stories about people you help and stories about how those people go on to help their communities. Whatever your institution’s mission, focus your resources on telling that story, and telling it well online.

And if you get the content right, your donors and volunteers will want to tell their friends and family about you; all you need to do is ask them to spread the word, and tell them exactly how you want them to do so (Facebook, Twitter, AlumniFidelity). It doesn’t need to be intrusive, but your message to your donors and volunteers should be: "Help Carry Our Message". Tell your friends and family. If you’re on Facebook, update your status message to tell people about your support. If you’re on Twitter, tweet on our behalf and include a link to your homepage. And for some supporters, ask them to create a personal fundraising page using a service like AlumniFidelity, or a product from Blackbaud or Convio, that let’s them do something like asking for donations to your charity or school instead of birthday presents. Let them be as creative as you like.

The bottom line is, you can tell your story better than anyone. And that story is the real asset you own. Create inspiring content that will make your donors feel good about giving you their money, and feel good about telling their friends. Your donors and volunteers are in the best position to deliver your message to their friends and family on your behalf. Let them do it.

Will Marlow is an online fundraising consultant. Learn more about fundraising from Will Marlow’s blog at http://willmarlow.wordpress.com/