The prominence of services such as Kickstarter, Start Some Good, and CauseVox have been popular in tech news of late, with most focus falling on projects in the arts or technology space. But what these services provide can be incredibly valuable for nonprofit entities in helping to engage your audience.
One of the main features of sites such as these is the idea of funding specific projects, and giving ownership to the donor in the process. While not a unique approach to the nonprofit funding space by any means, thanks to online donation tools that have been used for years, this new area of more specific project based funding has been less explored.
What are the advantages to this approach, versus using a general fund strategy? It inherently has a communication story in place that can be captivating and motivating to your audience. Why is this project necessary, what are the costs associated, and what you can provide as a thank you are all pre-built into these platforms in ways that aren’t available in most traditional online fundraising tools. In addition, you are providing a new level of connection and input to your donors, which is an invaluable chance to increase engagement and involvement for future projects.
Another advantage is how socially networked these solutions are. Social media integration is vital to the virality of these fundraising campaigns as they feed directly into the very crowd needed to source donations.
And it doesn’t stop with donations – even volunteering is going viral. Sparked is a task distribution and collaboration platform, allowing online volunteers to help out nonprofits with quick projects. Need help in identifying new fundraising ideas? How about a name for a new project you’re starting? Answers are quickly available thanks to a dynamic community of do-gooders.
From start to finish, there is a story to be told that revolves around your services and the need for help. Luckily, there are a multitude of methods to help spread that story and get a new wave of support. Go beyond the traditional online fundraising methods and consider the benefit of tapping into these new communities – your crowd may be right around the corner.
Justin (he, him) is a Principal and Co-Founder of Social Change Consulting. He has over fifteen years of nonprofit experience, with expertise in online fundraising, digital communications, and data management. Justin helps organizations connect their communication strategy to their income development needs. When he’s not on the clock, Justin is exploring Berlin, running, listening to too many podcasts, and drinking too much coffee.