It’s not easy to scrape up $900 to buy your students four top-of-the-line therapy drums. And Lauren Miller, a music teacher in Homewood, Ill., was having trouble getting the money together. After exhausting traditional fundraising means, she turned to the Internet for help. Miller organized a fundraiser on DonorsChoose.org, a “crowd-funding” website where teachers can pitch their projects to a community of potential donors. “I found it useful because you can publicize it really easily. The website is a way to connect to people, so they can see what I’m doing,” Miller says. “People believe in music education and helping kids, and they are willing to donate.”
Miller wants to start a drum circle for students with behavioral problems and developmental disabilities. “Once they get into the grooves, it can be a relaxing outlet for them to get out negative feelings,” Miller says. “The drum circle is really just a way for them to express themselves. It can start with basic rhythms, echoing things, and giving the kids a chance to make up their own rhythms.”
Miller has joined a growing market of people who harness the power of online communities to fundraise. DonorsChoose.org says more than 176,213 educators have funded a project using the site, which has generated $2.2 million as of January.
Crowd-funding is just the latest advancement tipping the scales of fundraising culture. Everyone from international charities to inspired teachers is tapping into social media, and using digital portals to spread their message and raise money for their cause.
The digital bridge
When Hurricane Sandy ripped through the East Coast in October 2012, it killed 72 people and caused more than $65 billion worth of damage in 24 states. Just days later, celebrities and musicians appeared in a one-hour commercial-free concert on NBC to raise money for the American Red Cross. Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together raised $23 million through phone, text, and online donations for the emergency services charity, which responds to about 200 disasters worldwide annually.
Organizations such as the Red Cross that use phone, text and online donation portals are spearheading much of the change in fundraising. Jennifer Elwood is consumer marketing and fundraising vice president for the American Red Cross. She says the money raised for Hurricane Sandy relief is a testament to how convenience influences a person’s ability to donate, and what can be accomplished with just the tap of a button. “We try to be where donors are,” Elwood says. “For our consumer fundraising, we focus on mass marketing challenges. That includes email, direct mail, text, search, anywhere we can reach our donors and share our story, and help to get them engaged.”
Elwood estimates about half of the Red Cross’ core donations—anywhere from $1 to $200—are made through text messages, the organization’s website and its mobile application. Using technology to donate makes it easier and faster, giving donors an instant gratification they just can’t get from writing a check. “We are seeing a huge swing in the number of people donating online through digital channels,” Elwood says. “It’s something you can do quickly, especially in times of disaster. You feel you’re making a real-time impact.”
Digital efforts of the Lexington, Ky., chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure are gaining similar momentum. Executive director Jennifer Bricking says about 75% of the money raised in conjunction with the annual Lexington Komen Race for the Cure 5K comes from online donations. The chapter raises about $500,000 annually for the event. Bricking says fundraising through the race is essential for offseting the $850,000 race budget. Their website encourages entrants to create a profile and share their stories, and gives them a platform that makes it easy to track donations and progress. “Everyone who signs up to fundraise gets a fundraising website free of charge,” Bricking says. “They can send out emails, and they can track it all online. From the time they sign up until 30 days after the race, they can raise as much money as they want, and earn prizes.” Teams and individuals who raise the most money are recognized in a scrolling “honor roll” on the site. When it comes to fundraising, Bricking calls the website “the best thing that ever happened to us.”
“Donors want everything at the click of the button,” Bricking says. “We are in a technology zone where people want it right away, and this gives it to them.”
Sharing a personal message
For many fundraising organizations, social media means much more than finding old friends and sharing fun photos. Research shows more charities are using social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to spread brand awareness and connect to potential new donors. They often aren’t pressing direct appeals via social media, but using it as an avenue to tell engaging personal stories that bring donors into the fold. Our information-hungry society wants to know specifically how their money is making a difference, and social media can tell the story in a portal donors use in their daily life.
St. Xavier University in Chicago uses social media to show donations in action, says Steven Murphy, the school’s executive director of development. The university uses Facebook and Twitter to build relationships, and showcase students who rely on scholarships. “We tell the stories about how the dollars help the students, how they change lives, and how nothing really changes lives like education does,” Murphy says. “We want to tell a story, and we want to have people respond to that story.”
Bricking says the Susan G. Komen Lexington chapter uses social media almost daily to promote events, interact with supporters, announce weather-related closures, link to healthy recipes, and post photos that encourage women to get mammograms. “Facebook has been great,” she says. “It seems to be what we tend to use the most.”
The American Red Cross connects to donors through 10 different social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. Elwood says the social networking is less about fundraising, and more about building a community of interested, like-minded people. “We really focus on allowing them to tell the story, and let them own the mission of the Red Cross,” she says.
Social media is also another way to thank people for their contributions. Murphy says it’s important for any organization, especially a university, to recognize its donors. “It strengthens the relationship between the donor and the university, and it acknowledges a gift is made,” he says. “The worst thing that happens is if you write a $25 check, hear nothing back, and get $100 worth of solicitations for the next five years. What we are trying to do is build a relationship.”
The American Red Cross allows donors to instantly tell their Facebook friends and Twitter followers about the donations they made, which might encourage those friends to make a donation, too. “Social media is about sharing what is happening in your life and things that are important to you—whether it’s in the form of a friend request or a financial donation to a charity,” Elwood says. “There is something to be said for feeling good and feeling like you made a difference, and you want to share that good news with people.”
