Jake Croman discusses his tips and tricks to fundraise successfully in the digital age

1. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
by Jake Croman

2. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
One of the most important
skills an aspiring social
entrepreneur can learn is
fundraising.
Thankfully, the digital age
has introduced a host of
new, innovative
technologies that have
flattened the world, and at
the same time, made
fundraising a much
simpler, more streamlined
process.

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Here are two key considerations that can help you
successfully raise funds for charity in our increasingly
interconnected, online world...

4. 1. Which demographic
should I target?

5. To figure out who to ask, look at the numbers.

6. Thankfully, one advantage of technology is that it often generates
reams upon reams of data, which can then be disaggregated (or
broken down) by various categories: demographics, medium,
amount, and so forth.

7. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
Qgiv, an online fundraising platform, conducted a
comprehensive survey, collecting a wide range of
figures on charitable donations, and drawing a
number of interesting conclusions.

8. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
First, the good news: the vast majority (69%) of
Americans give charitably, supporting about 4.5
charities on average. More importantly, most
donations are made by individuals (72%), and despite
what corporations and foundations would have you
believe, they account for only about 20% of total
charitable giving in the United States–so think twice
before you buy into their philanthropic mission
statement.

9. To maximize the return of your time and energy, let’s go a bit
deeper and determine your target demographic. Specifically,
Qgiv mentions that three of four young adults are willing to
fundraise on the behalf of charities; additionally, Millennials
(the generation born between 1982 and 2004) donate, on
average, $481 each year.

10. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
However, there’s a caveat: while Millennials give freely,
they prefer to focus on several categories of nonprofit:
animal welfare, youth development (the largest category
for Millennials), and health.

11. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
Older folks, such as Generation Xers, Baby Boomers,
and Matures have different tastes, preferring, by far,
to donate to houses of worship.

12. #2. Understand the strengths
and weaknesses of each channel

13. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
If there’s one defining characteristic of the digital age, it’s
variety. From email to social media to crowdfunding, trying to
choose several channels from the mass of choices can be a bit
daunting.

14. Your best bet then, is to do a deep dive: understand
the numbers and stats, yes, but also figure out what
method would best fit your limited time and
resources.

15. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
As an example, it may not be the best use of money and effort for
a small, rural church to open a Twitter account and an email
campaign, especially if the surrounding area sees a significant
net migration of the young.

16. Given that the young less likely to donate to religious
institutions, this rural church might be better off
focusing on fundraising events like dances or
barbecues, and other avenues that are more appealing
to their core demographic: the older and more religious.

17. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
Of the many means of
fundraising, email is, by far,
the channel with the
highest return on
investment. According to
Salsa Labs, a company that
produces management
systems for nonprofits,
email marketing nets a
staggering $40 for every $1
spent.

18. More importantly,
engagement wasn’t
only measured with
dollars; for every
1,000 email
subscribers on their
mailing list,
nonprofits could
count on almost 200
Facebook fans and
110 Twitter
followers–an
impressive rate of 11-
20%.

19. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
That’s not to say that effective email marketing campaigns are easy to
pull off. The average user gets around 147 emails a day, and deletes 71 of
them, a rate of nearly 48%.

20. Fundraise Successfully in the Digital Age
Many more are likely
sitting, unread, piled
up in your electronic
mailbox. Clearly, to
get the most out of
email, it’s important
to follow key best
practices, some of
which are
transferrable from
the private sector.

21. Whatever channel you choose, it’s important to remember that no
two organizations should take the same approach. Even if there
are surface-level similarities in means, methods, and customers
(in a manner of speaking), a truly successful approach has to take
your group’s unique circumstances, strengths, and message into
account.

22. Thanks for viewing!
For more tips, visit my website: JakeCroman.co
& connect with me on social media!