Reported this Christmas for the first time over 10% of people online were visiting social networking websites in the week ending 27th December.
The largest of these, Facebook, accounted for 1 out of every 22 visitors on the web during Christmas week.
And given that Facebook have announced that their membership rose 50m to 150m in just 4 months (that's 150m active users, almost half of which visit the website every day), why aren't more charities using these websites? Even small charities who don't have their own website can use social networking sites to promote themselves; in fact they should be more active than those who do have their own sites.
Research released by Johnathon Waddington states that only 5% of charities think they are doing as much as they can to fundraise online. 48% of charities say they do not have an online fundraising plan at all.
Everyclick provides a fundraising widget and a 'donate now' button for users and charities to download and add to their pages on these sites - have a look (examples):
Widget
Donate now button
Twitter is the latest networking tool - it's very simple to use, and very much the 'in' thing. So get tweeting if you want to be seen.
Forums are also useful, as long as they have plenty of members. Post to forums on the subject of your charity eg. pet forums for animal charities, mum's forums for children's charities, local forums for charities which work in the local community etc. to find people who have a keen interest in the things you are trying to help.
For a small charity with no website, you can use your charity information page on Everyclick to tell fundraisers more about your charity, upload more details, add an image to the homepage so that all your fundraisers will see, add regular news items to your charity's page and even sell eGifts through the website. Everyclick allows fundraisers to set up fundraising pages in support of your charity and to make donations (including the ability to Gift Aid it) through the site. Over 200,000 charities are already on the site; if your charity is registered in the UK and not already there when you search, you can add it.
Another useful blog post: Beth's Blog
Source: givinginadigitalworld
givinginadigitalworld
Monday 12 January 2009
CAF to hold online fundraising workshop
Does the charity you work for have a website that is maximising its online fundraising potential?
If you're not sure then it might be best to attend two Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) workshops on February 17th and March 5th which promise to address the topic of online fundraising.
The organisers of the workshop guarantee to help you identify whether your website is "earning its keep" and, of course, help you raise money online for worthwhile causes in what is an often-competitive market.
Fundraising websites such as Everyclick can help you collect the money kindly given to you by online donors with its secure payment collection system.
But first you have to publicise your campaign and attract donors.
Sarah Hartley of the Manchester Evening News has just written a list of ten tips for online fundraisers on the community pages of the newspaper's website.
She suggests using modern networking media to draw attention to your campaign's website. Facebook is used by politicians, musicians and people from all generations and walks of life, so why not have a presence on it? Such sites are excellent for issuing bulletins on the progress of your fundraising events.
Blog sites such as Twitter can also make donors feel involved and up-to-date with your charity's activities. If it's good enough for Stephen Fry, it should be good enough for your charity.
A video presence can emphasise the message that your charity is trying to put across and YouTube is ideal for this.
Photographs can also have their use in generating traffic for your website. Upload photos relating to your cause on systems such as Flickr to find a new audience of potential donors.
Of course, traditional mediums such as press releases also still have their place in publicity campaigns.
As with all websites, content is vital. At the beginning of December the Nonprofit Times (nptimes.com) published its own list of online fundraising tips (seven this time instead of ten).
It urged online fundraisers to make their website's pitches "compelling" and to "consider providing stories or images of specific people you've helped, or examples of past projects that were successful".
It is worth putting yourself in potential donors' shoes? Why should you give to one cause and not another? How will your donation make a difference?
Drawing up a list of existing supporters' email addresses is often a good way to get the online fundraising ball rolling. Send them an email with a link to your website and remember nptimes' advice that "if you send an email to 1,000 people, expect about ten of them to donate".
If that doesn't sound like very good odds, console yourself with the thought that online donations tend to be more generous than offline ones.
All your valiant efforts will be in vain unless you are set up to receive online donations. Donors want a straightforward, secure payment method to be offered to them, which provides speedy acknowledgement of their donation.
Organisations such as Everyclick can make this a pain-free process for website organisers, leaving you more time for the other administrative tasks associated with website maintenance.
If you're not sure then it might be best to attend two Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) workshops on February 17th and March 5th which promise to address the topic of online fundraising.
The organisers of the workshop guarantee to help you identify whether your website is "earning its keep" and, of course, help you raise money online for worthwhile causes in what is an often-competitive market.
Fundraising websites such as Everyclick can help you collect the money kindly given to you by online donors with its secure payment collection system.
But first you have to publicise your campaign and attract donors.
Sarah Hartley of the Manchester Evening News has just written a list of ten tips for online fundraisers on the community pages of the newspaper's website.
She suggests using modern networking media to draw attention to your campaign's website. Facebook is used by politicians, musicians and people from all generations and walks of life, so why not have a presence on it? Such sites are excellent for issuing bulletins on the progress of your fundraising events.
Blog sites such as Twitter can also make donors feel involved and up-to-date with your charity's activities. If it's good enough for Stephen Fry, it should be good enough for your charity.
A video presence can emphasise the message that your charity is trying to put across and YouTube is ideal for this.
Photographs can also have their use in generating traffic for your website. Upload photos relating to your cause on systems such as Flickr to find a new audience of potential donors.
Of course, traditional mediums such as press releases also still have their place in publicity campaigns.
As with all websites, content is vital. At the beginning of December the Nonprofit Times (nptimes.com) published its own list of online fundraising tips (seven this time instead of ten).
It urged online fundraisers to make their website's pitches "compelling" and to "consider providing stories or images of specific people you've helped, or examples of past projects that were successful".
It is worth putting yourself in potential donors' shoes? Why should you give to one cause and not another? How will your donation make a difference?
Drawing up a list of existing supporters' email addresses is often a good way to get the online fundraising ball rolling. Send them an email with a link to your website and remember nptimes' advice that "if you send an email to 1,000 people, expect about ten of them to donate".
If that doesn't sound like very good odds, console yourself with the thought that online donations tend to be more generous than offline ones.
All your valiant efforts will be in vain unless you are set up to receive online donations. Donors want a straightforward, secure payment method to be offered to them, which provides speedy acknowledgement of their donation.
Organisations such as Everyclick can make this a pain-free process for website organisers, leaving you more time for the other administrative tasks associated with website maintenance.
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