Fundraising entered an exciting new phase with the advent of the World Wide Web. Politicians like Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas were among the first to benefit from online campaigns with so-called “money bombs,” which resulted in the largest financial contributions ever received by a political candidate through one-day fundraising efforts.
The recent recession has hampered fundraising activities, however, as many Americans had to reduce their charitable contributions. As a result, professional fundraisers started targeting Internet users through viral campaigns and social networks…with great success!
Here are five of the most successful online fundraising campaigns.
1. $3.6 MILLION – TOYS-R-US – CHRISTMAS 2010
WHO BENEFITED: Millions of underprivileged children across the U.S.
SECRET INGREDIENT: Shaquille O’Neal
Raising all that money for underprivileged kids isn’t child’s play.
Toys-R-Us announced in early January 2011 that it raised $3.6 million and collected 325,000 toys during its seventh annual online and in-store campaign benefiting the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Four-time NBA Champion Shaquille O’Neal brought some star power to the campaign, which took place over six weeks leading up to Christmas Eve.
Customers at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us stores were encouraged to “Join Shaq, Give Back,” by bringing unwrapped new toys into the stores and by making in-store or online donations.
It’s never a bad idea to help kids.
As largest retail partner in the foundation’s 60-year history, Toys-R-Us has consistently run its six-week holiday fundraising campaign throughout the last seven years. They also just added a three-week-long summer promotion to keep Toys for Tots in the news year-round.
Naturally, viral marketing has been a powerful tool that has helped Toys-R-Us connect with many people via social networks such as Twitter and Facebook . The results speak for themselves, with a total of nearly $24 million in donations, and three million toys collected for the Foundation.
2. $650,000 – CHARITY: WATER – 2009
WHO BENEFITED: People in countries without safe drinking water
SECRET INGREDIENT: An inspired use of Twitter by a supporter
Clean drinking water is of fundamental importance to any nation.
Charity: Water made a huge splash in 2009 with a powerful online campaign to promote itself (branding), and raised funds totaling more than $8.5 million. Using social media like Twitter and Facebook, the group raised $650,000 in the same year through online campaigns, alone. More than a third of that ($250K to be precise), was raised in February 2009 via a so-called “Twestival” on Twitter, which was created by one of the charity’s supporters, Amanda Rose.
Bringing new meaning to the phrase “A little birdy told me”
The group now has more than a million followers on Twitter, some 45,000 fans on Facebook, and over 70,000 members on the Cause page. It is among the few groups that have raised in excess of $100,000 through Facebook Causes.
3. $10 MILLION – “GIVE TO THE MAX DAY” (GiveMN) – NOVEMBER 16, 2010
WHO BENEFITED: Residents of Minnesota via thousands of nonprofits
SECRET INGREDIENT: Bringing stakeholders together for a “critical mass”
Simple but effective.
GiveMN takes an innovative approach to fundraising with “e-philanthropy,” which establishes the group as a powerful online resource for charity. It also changed the way people in Minnesota give to the needy while strengthening the state’s nonprofit community.
GiveMN uses new tools and technologies to create connections between groups, causes, and people who want to give and those who are in need. Few other groups bring all the stakeholders of the charitable community together like GiveMN.
Land of 10,000 lakes – and even more “givers”.
On November 16, 2010, GiveMN raised just under $10 million during a 24-hour “Give to the Max Day” event, which brought in donations from 42,624 people. The funds raised supported 3,400 nonprofit groups in Minnesota. Beth Kanter, visiting scholar at the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, attributed the success to “critical mass [and] a good strategy.”
4. $10,000 – BREAST CANCER FUND (HEINZ CHALLENGE) – 2006
WHO BENEFITED: Victims of breast cancer and their loved ones
SECRET INGREDIENT: Effective emails and basic marketing smarts
About that email appeal: Build it right and the money will come.
The Breast Cancer Fund (BCF) has a mission of spreading the latest medical advice for preventing, treating, and living with breast cancer. With 22 employees and a $3.5 million annual budget, the BCF addresses an audience that is 95% women between 20 and 65 years old; women who have been touched in some way by breast cancer.
The world is less of a puzzle when you know your way around.
When BCF set a goal to raise $10,000 in ten days for the Heinz Challenge, it had only 7,000 email addresses on its e-subscriber list, which translated into only 7,000 prospective donors. As a result, BCF could expect to raise $1,750 to $3,500 with the campaign, based on the typical 0.5% to 1% conversion rate of online fundraising.
Against all odds, BCF achieved its $10,000 goal for the Heinz Challenge with a mere two email messages sent out, four days apart. Why did they work so well? According to experts, they got the basics right: An intriguing subject line, a succinct but passionate appeal and a simple, straightforward process.
5. $44,000 – REDDIT RELIGIOUS GROUPS – DECEMBER 2010
WHO BENEFITED: Deserving charities of different religious persuasions
SECRET INGREDIENT: A little holiday spirit
Reddit.com has a whole lot of the “money bomb” activity going on.
On the Reddit.com social networking site, users from various communities, including religious (reddit.com/r/Christianity) and atheist (reddit.com/r/atheism) groups. When a member of Reddit’s Christian group suggested in early December 2010 that they raise funds for the Christian relief organization, World Vision, a member of Reddit’s Atheism group vowed to raise ten times as much in a “battle for goodness in the world.”
A few days later, Reddit’s Islamic group got into the fray with a campaign for Islamic relief. Reddit has always been active in fundraising, and continually proves its good willed nature.
Raising money online should be so easy.
By December 16, 9,017 followers of the Christian group had donated $11,443 toward the $12,000 goal, while 105,587 members of the atheist group had raised $32,802 for the $42,000 goal. The 2,224 followers of the Islamic group contributed $360 toward its $5,000 goal.
In spite of some initial concerns about the possibly hostile outcome of the “charity race,” it resulted in a “friendly thing” among “communities that historically harbor animosity towards each other.” Inglip was especially proud of his followers, who raised money for all of the groups, regardless of religion.
BOTTOM LINE
The Internet provides new opportunities for effective fundraising. But making a money bomb campaign work requires a good idea and smart implementation. Anyone interested in online fundraising should study these five online campaigns as an introduction to what works. Remember, WePay makes it easy to collect donations online.
