Schools and nonprofit organizations rely on fund raising to operate or pursue their missions. Different platforms present different issues, but using the Internet and Social Media can present new fund raising opportunities that combine the best aspects of the fundraisers of the past with the advantages that today's technology can provide.
Even in the best of economic times, fund raising has always been necessary for schools. From elementary through high school, children are asked to sell over-priced candy bars, get their parents to bake something for a bake sale, participate in a car wash, and various other activities. Kids have never really liked these activities, and parents begrudgingly do their part because they know it helps their child.
It gets a little bit easier when local businesses get involved. A restaurant can have a night when they feature a particular school or organization. On that night they donate a portion of their net sales to the school. This is great, but it is still up to the parents and kids to promote the event, and then they have to hope that the timing is convenient for those to participate. All of these fund raising methods work to some extent, but they are far from perfect. These methods either require that a supporter buys something they might not normally buy, pay more for something than they normally might pay, or do something that they otherwise wouldn't do. What if there were a way to seamlessly integrate fund raising into people's lives in a way that they didn't even have to think about it?
Now, there is such a way!
Daily Deal sites such as Groupon and Living Social have taken the Internet by storm. Here's how these sites work: Everyday customers receive a great offer of 50 to 90% off at a local business. This could be a restaurant, service, attraction, or just about anything else. There is no obligation to buy anything, but if the customer likes the offer, they purchase it through the website, print out a voucher, and redeem it with the participating business at a time when it is convenient to the consumer. The website keeps a portion of the revenue and pays the rest out to the merchant. Consumers love the great deals and merchants love the exposure with no upfront costs.
So what does this have to do with fund raising?
Recently several companies have developed these “Daily Deal” websites and structured them to provide a fund raising opportunity for nonprofit organizations. Depending on the site, an organization can sign up for little or no cost, and they are given either an affiliate link, or are added to a drop down menu. When one of that organization's supporters purchases a deal, a portion of the proceeds is donated back to that organization. The more the organization promotes the program, the more money they can earn.
This program combines a lot of the previously mentioned fund raising elements but also improves on them. Before kids were forced to sell over-priced items that parents and other people might not want to buy otherwise. Now these individuals will have a new opportunity every day to buy a deeply discounted deal. They never have to buy anything if they don't want to. Chances are these people are buying these deals anyway from other sites. Now they have the opportunity to buy these same deals, but to buy them to support the school or organization of their choice. They are getting something of value instead of buying something just to help a cause.
The businesses also benefit from this format. Instead of just running a fund raiser for one particular organization on a particular night, they now have the opportunity to reach supporters of multiple organizations at once with their offer. These supporters can purchase this deal and use it whenever they want. By purchasing it through the system, their school or organization receives their donation regardless of when the voucher is actually redeemed.
Another nice feature is the idea that the organization involved doesn't have to do any work or bookkeeping. Once the organization is set up in the program, the company running the website handles the rest. There is no need to go out to negotiate with businesses or promote multiple events. All they need to do is promote the website to their supporters through email, social media, or any other method they can think of. Once they are enrolled, they will receive an email everyday with a new deal. If they buy it great! Otherwise another deal will come the next day and they will have another chance. They will have a fresh opportunity to buy something of value to help their cause everyday as long as they remain enrolled. The school or organization literally doesn't have to do anything else except wait for their monthly check.
Standard fund raisers will always have their role, but programs available through the Internet and Social Media are growing in popularity and bolstering reserves for nonprofit organizations all over the world. This phenomenon will only grow, and the organizations that take advantage will grow too.
