Tips for Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

It’s an understatement to say that social networks are booming. Facebook has 750 million active users. Twitter has 175 million users. LinkedIn has 100 million users. So many potential new donors, so little time…

Nonprofits use peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising tools and techniques to take advantage of the enormous fundraising potential of social networks. Peer-to-peer fundraising takes place when social network members promote a cause within their network, soliciting donations and other support for that cause from other members of that network. Nonprofits can leverage their donors’ social networking activities by providing tools that allow donors to raise mission awareness and funds leveraging their social networks.

While most nonprofits have heard of peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising, what’s surprising to the fundraising experts at Greater Giving is how few organizations have actually implemented a P2P campaign, or included P2P fundraising as a standard component of fundraising strategy, despite the enormous revenue potential in a P2P campaign. To help the nonprofit community get started with P2P fundraising, Greater Giving has these tips:

1. A-thon not necessary.
You don’t have to run an a-thon to execute a successful P2P campaign. A P2P campaign can be built around a nonprofit standby, the fund-a-need.

2. Define a specific, compelling need, and personalize.
The need or cause around which you build a campaign should be compelling and specific. In order to engage potential new donors that know nothing about your organization or cause, you need to create empathy. The best way to do this is to personalize the need with a constituent case study. Specificity also helps your campaign participants to more easily solicit donations.

3. Leverage sponsors. As you are planning a P2P campaign, include a sponsorship component. Talk to your existing sponsors and ask them how they want to participate. They’ll give you some great ideas. And, remember, if you engage sponsors, you’ll be able to take advantage of their social media investment.

4. Set realistic timelines and goals.
The more money you intend to raise, the longer your pre-execution timeline should be. The Greater Giving clients running the most successful P2P campaigns started with one or two small “test” campaigns to help them understand how long it actually took to plan and execute.

5. Set firm deadlines and stick to them. Campaign participants and supporters work better with deadlines. Make sure that you clearly communicate deadlines even for a test campaign.

6. Provide training and resources.
Train participants on how to use your P2P fundraising software and provide them with fundraising resources to help ensure their success.

7. Encourage competition among participants.
Whether you choose a team or individual participant fundraising model, encourage competition to raise more money. Post results, hold participant motivational meetings, and communicate fundraising standings to participants.

8. Promote, promote, promote.
Use social media, email, sponsors, your website, the press, every opportunity you have to promote your P2P campaign.

To learn more about P2P fundraising, including more detail on the tips listed here, join Greater Giving at the Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Strategies seminar scheduled for Wednesday, August 10, at the Center for Nonprofit Management (2902 Floyd Street, Dallas).

For more details and to register, click here.

Patricia Borders

Greater Giving

‘Tis (Almost) The Season

With Get Up & Give!, North Texas Giving Day fast approaching on September 15 and nonprofit gala season just around the corner (will the fall hurry up and get here already?? I’m DONE with 100F weather!), it may be worth spending some time strategizing about how you’ll use social media to promote your organization’s special event.

Frogloop recently posted this great blog entry to give you some starting points that can also easily be applied to Twitter or Facebook:

20 Creative Ways to Blog About Your Upcoming Events

1.  Share a special moment from last year's event to clue me in to what's in store and what's special about being there.
   
   
2. Ask people to share their favorite moment from last year's event in an open forum post.
   
   
3. What can you tell me about the event that I'm not going to want to miss?
   
   
4. Who's going to be at the event? Highlight and thank your Event Steering Committee. I may know some of them and decide to come because of that alone. Plus if you have awesome people involved in planning the event your supporters will be confident that it will be great.
   
   
5. Raffle off a free event ticket to anyone who posts a comment on your blog post sharing why they are excited to attend the event.
   
   
6. Is there a theme for the event? Tell me about it!
   
   
7. Do you need volunteers? Create some meaningful opportunities for me to get involved and then ask for my help in a blog post.
   
   
8. Tell us about the event honorees. Who are they, why are they key to your organization, or what have they done that's incredible in your field?
   
   
9. Even better - do a sneak peak mini-interview with the honorees or speakers. You can record this over Skype as a little "can't wait to see you" teaser.
   
   
10. Share an update on tickets sold. Are there only 30 spots left? Is this the fastest the tickets have ever gone? Remind people it's coming up.
    

11. Your event is competing with something happening at the same time. I guarantee it. Find out else is happening at the same time and tell me10 reasons why your event is better than...
    
    
• the Superbowl
• the season finale of Gray's Anatomy
• Monday Night Football
• Helping my kids get ready for school Sunday night
• Eating dinner with my mother-in-law
• Holiday sales at the mall
• Opening Night for the 8th (or 18th) Harry Potter Movie (one can only dream)

Click here to read the full post.

Katy Spicer

Associate Director of Marketing

Your Facebook Fans May Not Be Seeing Your Nonprofit's Posts

Facebook has changed the default setting on the news feed to limit the posts people see to only show those they interact with most. That means if your nonprofit has a fan page, the posts may not be seen by people that you have not interacted with recently through comments or likes. In other words, you may be posting about your upcoming golf tournament, but very few people may be seeing it.

This setting can be changed through your news feed by clicking on "Most Recent", and then "Edit Options". Select "All Your Friends and Pages", and then "Save".

So how do you get people to change their settings if they aren't seeing your posts?

1. Post this information to your personal profile page and ask people to repost it so their friends see it.

2. Include the message on your Twitter feed

3. Send out an email making sure everyone has seen your page and knows about the change

4. Ask your loyal fans on Facebook to post to their profile as well.

5. Send a message through Facebook to all of your fans about the change and how they can fix it.

E-mail me if you have any questions about this change at greg@changedfw.com.

Greg Allbright
CEO - Change For A Dollar
http://changedfw.com/

How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar

Book Review –
How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar: 50 Ways to Accelerate Your Career
By Rosetta Thurman and Trista Harris

Who wouldn’t want to become a rockstar? The top of your field! I first became acquainted with Rosetta Thurman through another nonprofit blogger, Beth Kanter. Beth would frequently reference Rosetta in her writings and as we all know – when someone you trust recommends someone else, frequently you will “become a customer”. So, I started reading Rosetta’s blog and following her on Twitter and Facebook. I was impressed with what she had to say. When she mentioned she had co-written a book How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar, I had to read those 50 tips offered in the book. 

I can truthfully say this is going to be one of those books that 1) changes my life and 2) I re-read over and over. That is how good the content is. I won’t take up valuable blog space sharing Rosetta’s and Trista’s stories. You can read that information by clicking on their names. Even though the book was written predominantly with younger nonprofit professionals in mind, we “seasoned veterans” can also benefit from their wisdom. 

Each chapter focuses on developing the skills necessary to become an outstanding leader in the nonprofit world: Developing expertise, building a strong network, developing your personal brand, practicing authentic leadership, finding balance (one lesson we ALL need) and moving up. Within each chapter are tips to help you develop that skill set. You can either read the book cover to cover or focus on an individual chapter for a particular refresher course. As the book says “think of this as a cookbook for your career and try out the recipes that sound good to you.”

Ok, so convince me you say – why should I invest the time in reading this book? For one – it is an easy read. I read mine in the space of a couple of afternoons. Two – let’s look at a few nuggets:

Chapter 2: Develop Expertise
The authors address the importance of finding a job in the nonprofit sector that you love and are good at. Do your research. Notice the culture of the organization. Know yourself. If you don’t want to work nights and weekends at events, then you might want to rethink working in development. Pay attention to the size of the organization. Some people are more comfortable with a large staff; some prefer a smaller staff where you do a bit of everything. 

Chapter 3: Build a Strong Network
Make networking a priority. Go to nonprofit conferences – even if you have to pay your own way. Take courses related to your job (the Center for Nonprofit Management can probably help you out with that one!) Join professional associations. Talk with people – get out in the community. 

Chapter 5:  Practice Authentic Leadership
Do your job and do it well. Know your boss’ priorities and make them yours. Under promise and over deliver. Join the Board of Directors of another nonprofit. Learn about a board and how it works. Polish your public speaking skills. Mentor someone else. 

These are just a few of the tips Rosetta and Trista share with you. Make How to Become a Nonprofit Rockstar part of your professional library by ordering it from http://www.nonprofitrockstar.com/. You won’t be sorry! 

Leslie Clay

Chief Development Officer

Hope Cottage, Inc.

Staff Spot Light

Meet Shana Risinger - Education Coordinator & Receptionist here at the Center for Nonprofit Management. If you’ve ever called the main line, attended a class or visited the Center’s offices, chances are Shana was the first person you talked to.

Shana would describe her entrance in to nonprofit as an accident. Her previous job required her to stand on her feet all day but when she broke her ankle, it became necessary for her line of work to change. “I actually fell into this job by accident and I haven’t looked back since.”

An important aspect of working in nonprofit is enjoying your work, but also enjoying the people you work with. Shana believes the best part about her job is the people she works with. She also enjoys meeting the Center’s various clients. “When people come through the door they are so sweet and eager to tell you about their nonprofit's mission and the great work they're doing in the community.”

Amber Collins
Marketing and Social Media Intern

Groundwork 2012 Fires Up the Nonprofit Community

We all know what it’s like to work at a nonprofit. Our days are full with simply trying to keep up under the piles of critical tasks that must be accomplished before day’s end. We become engrossed in “today’s emergency” and often don’t have time to worry about what’s happening outside our doors. But what happens when what’s happening outside our doors becomes critically important to what’s happening inside our world?

At last week’s Groundwork 2012: Legislative Impact on Nonprofits Town Hall, more than 250 people heard from an expert panel on what’s happening down in Austin at the Texas State legislature and how important it is for us to get involved.

Giving us their insights were representatives from a wide spectrum of industries concerned about the nonprofit sector:

• The Legislature - Texas Senator Royce West
• The Philanthropic Community - Brent Christopher, President, Communities Foundation of Texas
• The Business Community - Debbie Taylor, SW Regional Dir & TX State Dir for Citi Community Development, Citi
• The Nonprofit Perspective - Jason Sabo, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, United Way Texas
• The People – Rev. Gerald Britt, V.P. of Public Policy & Community Program Development , CitySquare

The panelists had much to say about the past and the present. Senator West spoke of the discussions that are happening in Austin and the bills and issues that are related to nonprofit issues. During this time of incredible budget cuts, we spoke about the concept of “collective impact” and how the nonprofit community must come together with corporations, government and other sectors to collectively create social change.

To see the Stanford Social Innovation Review article referenced by Debbie Taylor, click here.

As funding is fading away, Brent Christopher and Debbie Taylor both reinforced the issue that the corporate and philanthropic communities are also under increased stress and will not be able to fill the hole created by decreased funding from government and that we must think creatively in how we do our work. 

Brent Christopher recommended the Kania and Kramer book “Do More Than Give: The Six Practices of Donors Who Change the World” for a new perspective on philanthropy and how high-impact nonprofits apply to donors to advance social causes.

Another key take away from the session included the importance of having a voice and not sitting on the sidelines of politics and legislation. Jason Sabo spoke of his role in nonprofit lobbying and how all nonprofits should be engaged in advocacy for their issues.  As Rev. Britt said, “Money is politics and politics is money” and we can’t miss the opportunity to be engaged in creating change on behalf of our clients.

What comes next? The Center for Nonprofit Management will host the Groundwork 2012 Conference on August 9. The day-long conference with break-out sessions will be dedicated to actively engaging organizations in how to strategize for the upcoming budget cuts, more on collective impact and how to get involved in advocacy with our legislators.  Look for more information and how to register coming soon!

Katie Edwards
Vice President of Marketing