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.

Online corporate social responsibility and its benefits

In this new-age world where advanced technologies are all the rage with the internet at the forefront, most companies are focused on maintaining a significant online profile.

Keeping their website fresh and updated, providing the best information, showing off the snazziest homepage designs and maintaining a user-friendly interface are the order of the day.

However, one of the less-known ways in which companies can make use of the internet is through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes.

Although firms are still active through their community-based projects, the ease of access and widespread scope of the internet make it a perfect tool for their work.

For starters, a company can clearly outline its CSR policies and activities on its website to make any charities potentially interested in a link-up aware of their approach to fundraising work.

This might include a listing of the charities it offers corporate support to or examples of individual voluntary work by the company's employees.

Other resources can be used internally, such as using a charity search engine like Everyclick as the company’s intranet homepage.

One organisation which champions the benefits of using online resources to implement CSR programmes is Business in the Community (BITC), which encourages firms to improve their positive impact on society.

It offers companies a tailored policy relating to the CSR opportunities in their local area, such as in schools, and helps them to action it through innovative online methods.

As John Heaslip, chief executive of the Northern Ireland branch of the organisation, explains: "They might send employees to spend an hour a week reading one-on-one with disadvantaged kids.

"And that might be the only time that that particular kid gets read to, and make a real difference to the child's life. But it can be immensely rewarding for the employee, too."

One such technology the BITC uses is MS Forms Server, which can be used to get feedback following charity-based events and to conduct online satisfaction surveys for anyone involved in them.

In conclusion, it would appear that the message is clear - using the medium of the internet has major benefits for both parties involved in CSR programmes, the companies and the charities.

And, perhaps most importantly, it improves the process of providing much-needed funds and support to those who are the subject of their work.

Online fundraising potential of social networking sites

A couple of years ago, the term 'social networking site' would have drawn blank looks from all but the technologically savviest of us. Now, websites such as Facebook and MySpace have a global currency to rival brands such as Coca-Cola and Nike.

Initially frequented by teenagers and university students, the sites are increasingly popular among people of all ages. Recently, the average age of users of Facebook was found to be 32.

The publicity potential is huge. Most celebrities have spotted an excellent avenue for self-promotion. According to a recent study by JupiterResearch, 33 per cent of European online advertisers plan to launch their own profiles on social networking sites in the next year.

And charities, quite rightly, want a piece of the pie.

Many have already got in on the act. There are countless unofficial groups dedicated to charities on Facebook but the organisations are now taking the initiative and creating their own online ventures.

Oxfam has a new online charity shop which hopes to raise £2m a year. Currently over 50,000 donated items are available, along with goods such as Fairtrade chocolate and coffee, jewellery and other gifts.

Everyclick provides an online fundraising platform where users can donate to or be sponsored for any UK charity. Everyclick is also a search engine which donates 50% of its advertising revenue to charities, chosen by the user as they search the web.

Charity blogging has also seen big growth. Oxfam has its own blog on MySpace, while visitors to Second Life, Actionaid's networking site, can tour WWF's virtual conservation island.

The Royal British Legion has taken advantage of the power of social networking and has created a virtual poppy for Facebook users. Although the poppy badge does not directly earn the charity any money, they hope it will spur people on to make a donation.

Google has also developed an application programming interface called Opensocial, which will enable the creation of Facebook-like applications, including charity badges, on any social networking site. Everyclick provides its users with a 'widget' which can be added to any website, through which people can search and donate directly to the charity chosen by the user.

Brand Control

But where there are benefits there are risks.

Networking sites can also be used to quickly spread misinformation and negative publicity, and there is always the chance people will bypass institutions altogether and locate beneficiaries themselves, recently noted in the Guardian.

Nate Elliott, senior analyst at JupiterResearch, issues the following words of warning: "As it stands, most European advertisers are jumping on the engagement marketing bandwagon without truly understanding which tactics represent the most appropriate and effective use of their marketing resources."

Will it work?

Research suggests a more personalised approach is effective at converting awareness to giving. A recent survey by Harris Interactive revealed that 61 per cent of people gave to charities because a personal connection asked them to make a contribution.

And there is an element too, however subconscious or subdued, of wanting to flaunt your goodness, as well as ask people to share in it, which should give charities hope.