As 2011 comes to an end, we’d like to thank you, our readers, for your continued support of FundraisingIP.com! Please keep sending your comments and suggestions so we can continue to post useful fundraising information and more new fundraising ideas in the coming year!
2011 donation statistics won’t be in for a while yet, but in the past it has been the small donations from individuals that have been keeping charities afloat: even though corporations are known to make large donations, donations from individuals are still making up the majority – up to about three quarters – of all donations! (For more 2010 statistics, visit Philantrophy.iupui.edu)
What does this mean for you? It’ll be important to keep focusing on diversifying your donor pool to capture potentially large one time grants while at the same time consistently going after small donations from individuals online and in person.
This also means to keep working on a strategy that specifically addresses potential donors from different generations, including the Millenials who grew up with the internet in their homes. You might say that you’ve been doing this all along, but what is now more important than ever is the ‘continued diversification‘ part, gaining supporters and collecting donations from different generations through different channels on and offline and with new technologies.
It is up to each group to figure out which demographic is easiest to reach through specific mediums or channels. Some groups will do great harnessing supporters through Facebook for example, while others will be much better in getting the word out through their website or through direct mail campaigns. And reaching potential donors is only the first step as you know; another challenge lies in understanding your donors and ‘connecting’ them with your beneficiaries which will ultimately result in donations.
The choices you offer to your donors when they’re willing and ready to make a donation is very important as well: if it’s too clumsy to make a donation through a smart phone for example, you’ll lose out because transactions may not be completed. But with online, mobile and in person payment technologies becoming more advanced and flexible, making payments through other channels beside a donation button on your website are getting easier.
Why worry about donations from smart phones when you can ask through your website you wonder? Because some sources have predicted that the mobile internet will overtake desktop internet access by 2013, while others have stated that mobile app use has already overtaken desktop web access! We’ll have more information on how to take advantage of this trend, including information on micro donations and mobile giving (including new digital wallets services) coming up soon!
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Our iPod Touch Giveaway!
Once again congratulations to Lisamaria Martinez, the winner of our iPod Touch Giveaway! She works for The Lighthouse in San Francisco, an organization for the blind and visually impaired. We asked her how she will use the iPod Touch and she sent the following:
“A little about iDevices in general …
iPods, or any iDevice for that matter, are wonderful for people who are blind or low vision. The best part is that they come with built-in-accessability, meaning, I do not have to purchase a device and then go shopping for software to install that usually costs a few hundred extra in order to make the device accessible.
The many apps available to all of us, sighted or blind, help keep our lives organized. For a blind person, being able to carry around an accessible weather app, calculator, address book, calendar, reminders, alarm clock, etc, etc all in one device has lightened our backpacks and purses.
If all of the aforementioned apps weren’t cool enough, the camera in the newest iDevices is extremely accessible to the blind. If VoiceOver is turned on – VoiceOver is the talking feature on Apple products that allow products to be used by the blind – the camera will recognize and announce whether you have one or two faces in the viewfinder. It’ll say something like, “One small face in center.” So as a new mom, I can take decent pictures of my son and know whether his face is even in the frame and if it is toward the top, bottom, left, right, or center.
The downside to all of the cool apps: App creators do not always take into consideration accessibility. It would be great if accessibility were mandatory. My blind friends and I could then play those crazy games we always hear about like Angry Birds. 🙂 “
It’s truly amazing how technology can make our lives easier. And we agree, it’s time to update Angry Birds for more accessibility!
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Following are our most popular posts this year:
– Keys to a Successful Wine Tasting Fundraising Event
– A Halloween Pumpkin Fundraiser
– Bowling for Dollars: A Bowling Fundraiser
– The Power of a Press Release
– Recognizing Fundraising Volunteers
Generally, our fundraising letters category has been very popular. Look for more samples and how-to info next year!
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As you may already know, most donations are made near the end of the year. So if you’d like to harness some of these funds, be sure to add one more post on your blog about the benefits of a donation to your group and about how to make last minute donations that can potentially be tax deductible.
We wish you a wonderful and exciting New Year 2012!
Your FundraisingIP.com Editorial Team