JILLYN: Hi, I’m Jillyn, Founder and Executive Director of Technology Aloha, and I’m here today with our Content Manager, Kelli to talk about Fundraising for your Nonprofit Outside the Holiday Season. Our podcast today will be broken into four sections —
- Showcasing Your Mission
- Online Fundraising with Facebook and Amazon
- Reaching out Through Email
- Technology Aloha’s New Fundraising Thing
Let’s get started.
Building and Showcasing a Clear Mission
JILLYN: So Kelli, why should a nonprofit focus on articulating their mission?
KELLI: Because that’s what people need to see. As a nonprofit, you know that your mission is the driving force for your organization. That’s true online as well — If you focus on your mission and make it easy for people to find, then those people will want to support you.
People need to know what your nonprofit is all about. At the end of the day, people support your mission, not your organization, so don’t hide your mission. Make it the focus of everything you do, and the support and donations will follow.
Online Fundraising with Facebook and Amazon
KELLI: So Jillyn, online fundraising campaigns aren’t new, so why bring up fundraising through Facebook and Amazon?
JILLYN: Well Kelli, Facebook, and Amazon have great tools embedded into their platforms that allow nonprofits to accept donations directly through them. Facebook has a “Donate Now” button that you should definitely set up if your nonprofit is on Facebook. And your nonprofit really should be on Facebook!
Setting up the “Donate Now” Button is simple: All you need to do is go to your cover photo, click “Add a Button”, choose your call-to-action, enter your URL or web address of your nonprofit’s website, and click “Create.” This makes it easy for the 70% of US adults who regularly use Facebook to donate to your nonprofit.
KELLI: That’s really cool, and what about Amazon?
JILLYN: Amazon has a really neat program called Amazon Smile. I won’t go into too much detail because we have a couple of podcast episodes already recorded that explain what it is and how it works. Those are linked in the description of this podcast for anyone who missed them.
Please note that Amazon discontinued the Amazon Smile program on February 20, 2023.
Signing up for Amazon Smile is a great way for people to donate to your nonprofit simply by shopping on Amazon. Once you’re signed up, your supporters can designate your organization, and then a portion of every purchase they make on smile.amazon.com will be donated. It’s an easy way to let your supporters help you and a way to get money throughout the year.
KELLI: The Amazon Smile program is really great. And I highly suggest listening to the podcasts we put out about it. Especially if you like hearing my voice since I recorded them. Plus you can share links with your followers via social media and through email marketing. Which brings us to our next subject.
Reaching out Through Email
JILLYN: Yes it does. So Kelli, how does email marketing help a nonprofit get donations throughout the year?
KELLI: Email is a great way for nonprofit organizations to stay front of mind for donors. Aside from just saying “give us money” you can keep past, current, and future donors updated on what your organization is doing.
You can send information about current events and other fundraising activities.
Plus, if you segment emails properly you can send specific emails to more targeted groups of people. Segmenting your audience lets you pick and choose the right messages for the right people, to help you get more donations even in the non-holiday months.
For example, you could segment the people who donated during the holiday season. Then, you can reach out to them somewhere in the middle of the year to see if they’d be willing to donate more or invite them to a Summer Event, to keep those donors engaged year-round.
JILLYN: That’s a really great way to help nonprofits keep their supporters in the loop, Kelli! It’s also worth mentioning that email marketing is one of the most cost-effective marketing options for any organization.
Technology Aloha’s New Fundraising Thing
KELLI: I think that brings us to the new tool we’re launching to help nonprofits!
JILLYN: It does! Technology Aloha is very excited about a new product we’re launching especially for nonprofits to help replace some of the donations your organization usually raises during in-person events. We’re not quite ready to share all the details, but if your organization is interested in being one of the first to work with us in this new platform, Kelli has a link in the description so you’ll be the first to know when we start accepting applications.
Ending
KELLI: Well it looks like that’s all the time we have for today. We’ve included links in the description to several of our blog posts that cover the topic we discussed today. I’m Kelli —
JILLYN: and I’m Jillyn. (pause) If you have questions about Fundraising for your Nonprofit Outside the Holiday Season or have other topics you want to hear on our podcast, please reach out on social media or contact us at TechnologyAloha.com.
KELLI: Thank you for listening to Into the Inbound with Technology Aloha. We hope we’ve added a little Aloha into your day.
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Into the Inbound with Technology Aloha
