Hi class,
Has anyone ever heard of The Urgency Network? I just ran across their web site. See it, here. It’s a media/PR/art house/good karma inducing service who’s mission is to create ‘an online platform connecting nonprofits, musicians, celebrities, fans and brands in a single online community to create positive impact on a global scale.’
Did I mention that they also offer INSANE rewards for people who raise the most money for a campaign. Check it out! Grand Prizes.
I see the future of fundraising evolving from telethons and direct mailings into an online medium, thus putting fundraising/crowdsourcing into a digital culture realm of possibilities by using digital storytelling and social media sites. How many online fundraising sites are currently around? Is the market becoming saturated? Who will be left standing? Will campaigns have to keep pushing the envelop to stay on the radar?
Just curious if anyone else has an interest in fundraising and technology.
Indeed… a subject too near (and not too dear) to my heart. We did an early (2010!) nervewracking Kickstarter campaign for Lunch Love Community and raised $9000 through 100 donors. It really was “friend-raising,” and gathering our community.
As you can imagine, there are all sorts of specific tricks to game the system of online fundraising. But basically it all boils down to the same old kind of fundraising: you start with loyal friends and allies (your “hype” network) who believe in your cause. You build relationships with them. They help by reaching out to their networks. You work the phones…You keep it focussed. And use the technology as a support system for communicating your worth as the word spreads. Tip: Choose the online donor site very carefully — they all use and have different “terms of service.” But yes, I think, for better or worse, this is the future of fundraising/investing — so we all need to get used to it, especially creators, journalists, and anyone who is a maker.
Do you (Jamie or Helen) also think this is the future of securing major gifts? I am thinking like $10K plus as a major gift. Maybe $5k plus. Perhaps it is, but I am doubtful it would happen earlier than 20-40 years from now, as more digital natives and millennials and what not have the money to donate. But even then, securing a major gift is so relationship based that I see the digital part as an important component of the communication potentially but not of the gift giving. But digital storytelling and video etc can definitely be used much more in getting major donors excited about projects.
I have a hard time getting my head out of the “lots of little gifts aren’t as useful as a few big gifts” mentality. But if you can spread it widely enough, maybe they can be, or can contribute more than they do now.
Thanks Helen and Natalie for reading and responding to my post with your opinions.
Natalie – You are right on about what audience would be willing to donate a significant $dollar$ amount via an online fundraising platform, unless Generations X, Y (perhaps), and Baby Boomers have faith in this new media channel. Like Phil Knight, Melinda Gates, Richard Bronson, etc.
Helen – Thank you for sharing your experience what the basics of fundraising is like from the ground up. Just out of curiosity, why was your Kickstarter campaign nervewracking? Did it have something to do with Kickstarter’s “terms of service” you mentioned in your post?
Well…it was nervewracking because of the Kickstarter time component: you have a total of 90 days to reach your goal. In those early days (2010) we used the 90 day limit. Now I would only give it 30 days total. We had to beat the bushes hourly, write emails, bug people every day, and then there was a slump in the middle before the 11th hour heavy push to meet the goal…
And then there was the 5% that Kickstarter took, and the Amazon fees, and then, of course, the fulfillment of the Rewards.
On the other hand, if you have a new “product” and a community that loves your hand-built products you can raise thousands in a weekend by pre-selling your product on Kickstarter. I know a guy who hand-crafted a pen using Mont Blanc cartridges, who was looking for $16,000 for a machine to craft the pens. In two days, over a weekend, he raised over $100,000. Remember, though, he already had built a fan base for other hand-made products that he was selling.
I think the idea of authenticity is really interesting in these online fundraising campaigns. There has been backlash against celebrities using Kickstarter to fund projects, which is a platform that was initially envisioned to help people who didn’t have the resources to create their projects do so. Most everybody would perceive that celebrities have adequate funds and resources to create the projects they want funded on their own. There’s a really interesting article from Wired that takes on the debate: http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/04/zach-braff-kickstarter/.
On the Kiva website, I also found it interesting how some Americans were trying to get a loan for their business needs. It seemed a little weird to me, but I am probably a bit naive to the world of finance. It seems understandable that people in the underdeveloped parts of the world have a need for this website. I guess Kiva.org cannot discriminate, the borrowers have the choice to fund whatever projects they choose to.
http://www.kiva.org/