It’s prime time for nonprofits! The Holiday Season is the single most important time for nonprofits to collect individual donations so it stands to reason that you should also capitalize on this opportunity the best way you can. While it’s already Dec. 19 there’s still a few days left to catch some stragglers who haven’t donated yet - and according to Network for Good 50% of online donations in December comes in the last 6 days of the month! So why not make some extra efforts to rake in some extra dollars?

The Internet is a great way to supplement your other more traditional channels of fundraising, and there’s still time to do something now or think about implementing some right after the Holidays to increase your donations next year. In this post I will list a few simple methods of reaching out to existing and potential donors utilizing the Internet.

Online Donation is a Must

If you don’t have a way yet for people to donate through the Internet to your organization then you are missing out a great deal of money. The Internet is the most convenient way to give - not only because it’s quick and easy but people can use a credit card deferring payment and therefore more inclined to give then giving hard cash. Therefore first and foremost you should make sure that you have an online donation capability. If you don’t have it yet then you don’t have much options in this Holiday Season but you can still go with the easy and convenient PayPal - you can set it up in half an hour and easily copy the code to your website.

When you are planning for the long term I would advise first looking at the volume of expected donations to decide whether you want a simple service without a monthly fee or can afford a more advanced one that charges you (usually between $30-40/month). Then I recommend checking these services:

• PayPal - easy, convenient, basic service has no monthly fees (no out-of-pocket for you) but take the fee from a donation made.
• Network for Good Basic Donate Now - my preferred option for no monthly fee service; it’s made for nonprofits and their brand generates more trust that can translate to more donations.
• Network for Good Custom Donate Now - you pay a $29.95/month fee for customized service with more features; it’s great if you have a larger volume of donations and need better donation tracking and processing. Purely mathematically speaking it becomes more cost effective than a free service over a $1714 monthly donation volume - of course its custom features save you time and generates even more confidence so considering those factors this might become more beneficial over a $1000/month volume.
• Have Your Own Merchant Account - this is the ultimate online donation choice with its flexibility and customization. There are many merchant account and connected gateway (needed for online processing) choices and the best solution depends on your particular situation. Generally I would suggest considering this over a $2000 monthly donation volume and if you need a customized form and donation process.

There are several other services geared toward nonprofits but I’ve found Network for Good as one of the best choices for smaller nonprofits.

Send an Email

Now that people can donate to you through your website, instead of sitting around and waiting for them to appear why don’t you contact them and tell them about this great and convenient way of supporting you? And what better way to let them know then sending a nicely formatted email or even e-newsletter? This is one more reason you should collect donor’s email addresses: when they are reading your email they are already online and can easily just click on a link and make a donation on your website. So if you already have an email list then go ahead and email them one more reminder - and if you don’t have a list yet then it’s the best time to start creating one.

And of course email is easily forwarded so don’t forget to ask the recipients to send your email to their family and friends - you can exponentially increase your donation by just simply asking this!

Social Network Sites

Have you heard of social network sites? Do you know about them but you don’t see how they could benefit your organization? They definitely can: you just have to find the right audience! Of course there are the big ones like Facebook or MySpace but there are many focused specifically on positive social actions like Idealist or “vertical” sites focused on one specific type of cause. If you do a Google search on your topic + network then you will find some very useful sites where you can engage the conversation and find supporters. I would also recommend using Facebook and creating a “Group” for your nonprofit where you can invite others to join in and be notified of your activities. You can just start with your family, friends and current supporters and if you ask them to reach out to their friends your network can quickly grow.

Social Networks are definitely here to stay and it’s beneficial for nonprofits to learn how they can utilize their potentials.

While there are many other ways to reach out to potential supporters these are probably the simplest. If you need any more ideas or help just shoot me an email.

Until next time,
Norbert