The who, what, where, when and why of crowdfunding and giving days for nonprofits.
What is crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding is the collaborative effort to fund a specific initiative through many small donations by a large amount of people. These efforts are achieved through strong donor support to help spread the word of the fundraising event to their friends and family in order to gain the large amount of donations needed to achieve organization goals.
Who donates to crowdfunding events?
Donors to nonprofit crowdfunding events are usually college educated, affluent adults ages 45-64. Research conducted by our friends at Kimbia illustrates this donor demographic breakdown even more. However, when developing your campaign you will want to keep in mind the audience that normally connects with your organization’s goals. They will provide the support you need in the beginning of your campaign to spread the word and help fundraise within their networks for the crowdfunding efforts.
Where does crowdfunding usually take place?
Crowdfunding can take place on websites such as Kickstarter, Indiegogo and your organization’s personal donation pages. It is important to remember that these donors are active on multiple platforms – computers, smart phones and tablets – including their donation based activities. By making donation pages compatible with these various platforms you are more likely to secure donations by your audience, perhaps even multiple times. Crowdfunding events aren’t necessarily online only. They occur at in person events as well, which helps to further engage supporters.
When does this fundraising occur?
The timing of crowdfunding events can vary depending on the type of campaign. Some events are only a day long, these are sometimes called ‘Giving Days’ or ‘Single Day Crowdfunding Events,’ whereas others will go for weeks or until the organization’s goal is met. Many donation pages include a fundraising thermometer to visually display how close the organization is to reaching their goal. This is also helpful to include in reminder emails to donors in order to initiate a donation or to help spread the word to their friends, family members and colleagues.
Why should nonprofits consider crowdfunding?
Crowdfunding has taken off and continues to grow as part of a strong strategy. Supporters are able to share the story of their involvement with your organization and direct attention towards your cause. This helps to broaden your audience and to engage with more potential donors. It has proven to be a great way to get involved with the community.
Additional Considerations:
When beginning a crowdfunding campaign it is important to remember to make sure the event ties in to your overall branding, and that the event looks legitimate in the eyes of both your donors and colleagues. You will also want to include the story and purpose behind the fundraising event and your organization. This will allow your voice to shine through and hit deeper chords with donors.
Learn more:
To find out more about the world of peer-to-peer fundraising and crowdfunding efforts sign up for our Crowdfunding Workshops, hosted along with Kimbia, on April 14th, 2015 in Washington D.C. and April 16th, 2015 in Atlanta. These workshops will include information on facilitating peer-to-peer and crowdfunding events for your nonprofit and troubleshooting problems that may arise when hosting this type of event.
