Fundraising Online
Fundraising — is a process of collecting voluntary donations for non-profit purposes. Currently, fundraising also takes place in the Internet and is called "crowdfunding". The sources of raising funds are mainly companies, individuals and foundations. First, fundraising on the Internet is quite popular among the young and ambitious entrepreneurs, charity foundations, and non-profit organizations. Fundraising campaigns are very important for non-profit organizations, as they help these organizations to accomplish their missions (Whitaker, 2014).
With the advent of social media, non-profit organizations now have more opportunities for fundraising. However, a fundraising campaign’s success is impossible to predict in advance. There are certain strategies that increase the chance of successful fundraising. Almost every non-profit organization and charity foundation uses social media in some way. The best results in attracting clients and donors are usually achieved by the organizations, which use the abilities of social media with the maximum efficiency and originality.
Web-based fundraising campaigns techniques benefit non-profit organizations in different ways. For example, they have a very diverse membership. There exist many internet sources for finding donors, like social networks, blogs, or specific fundraising websites. This variety of social media attracts a great diversity of supporters. However, building trust of donors in online fundraising is quite hard. Many potential donors listen to the opinion of their friends, family, or even some people they do not know personally.
Social networks, such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have millions of users from all over the world. This makes them a good platform to raise funds for non-profit organizations (Social Media and Non-Profits, n.d.). The ability to share the information in social networks, for example, retweet a post, allows to distribute information faster and more effectively, raising funds with the help of fans and donors. It is also good for attracting new customers and to stay engaged with them. However, it is likely, that the results of such fundraising will not be immediate and instantaneous. The main strategies of fundraising in social networks include the use of pictures and videos in order to spread the information faster, thanking the donors for participation, and cultivating the community of sharing. Fundraising campaigns in social networks also develop a high awareness in their target markets. More than 90 percent of non-profit organizations have a Facebook profile in order to keep in touch with potential donors and subscribers. However, only 40 percent of top fundraising non-profits are actively using Twitter for this purpose.
Fundraising allows promising ideas and products of non-profit organizations to become popular. These organizations depend on fundraising, as this helps them remain in operation. Many projects have been implemented through the collection of donations in the Internet, allowing the world to become better and to help people in need to achieve their goals.
References
Social Media and Non-Profits: Fund-Raising and Friend-Raising. (n.d.). Retrieved April 09, 2016, from http://www.serviceleader.org/triad/resources/socialmedia
Whitaker, L. (2014). Nonprofit Organizations & Social Media Fundraising. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://www.martin.uky.edu/centers_research/Capstones_2014/Whitaker.pdf
