A taste of Maui
Feast at Lele luau in Maui
Can’t wait to go to Maui!
My message at Sonrise Church. ”Stuffitus”
This is my new Facebook Timeline. It can be found here.
Fundraising and Facebook
For the past several years I have had non-profit jobs which required me to raise money. Since I was also a social media early adopter I utilized many online tools for fundraising. I have field tested many different ideas and tools and failed miserably.
Now I find myself on the opposite side as I receive requests from many different people ranging from my kids are selling things for their sports team to I’m walking/running/golfing for cancer/heart disease/MS. People think that they can ask their friends on Facebook one time and instantly the money will appear. Raising money is hard work. Don’t be lazy!
This blog post is based on my observations and failures and I hope will help someone raise more money for their cause.
Facebook has made it easier to raise money by collecting our friends both past and present into one online location. With relative ease I can post to Facebook and ask 1000 friends for help. The problem is that very few will respond—which leads to frustration and perhaps hard feelings toward our friends.
Recent stats have shown that only 7% of your friends/fans see each post you make. Remember people consume Facebook posts in their news feed. You are competing for their attention against all of their other friends’ posts and the posts of all the pages they like. The time of day and the day of week matters when you post. Posting in the evening and on weekends will increase the odds that your friends will see your request for support.
Posting more than one time asking for funds is not spam unless you post in rapid succession over a period of hours. Making a post and asking for support on a Monday at 6:00 pm, then Tuesday at 8:00 am, then Wednesday at noon, and etc. is acceptable as long as you post other “normal” things in between.
When you are raising money for a project it is best to define the time-frame for the campaign. Start off slow and build momentum as the deadline nears. It depends on the project but posting 4-6 weeks out allows you to prepare people for the ask. These posts should be simple introductions to your mission and goal. Fight the temptation to make the ask as now is not the time. Instead post links to the non-profits Facebook page and website. You can also post informative links to articles about your cause.
Ideally the online campaign should be no longer than 2 weeks. Daily posts (at different times of the day) should lead to multiple posts a day increasing in intensity as the deadline nears. People need deadlines to motivate them to act.
Don’t just post: I’m raising money for XYZ charity please donate now. Very few people will give to a request like that—unless they gave last year, have been personally touched by the cause, or are your parents.
Don’t just post the same thing over and over. Vary your wording on your posts and include photos or videos. People are drawn to pictures in their news feed and it will help your request stand out on! Photos can also be “shared” on Facebook which can help spread the word to your friends’ friends.
Don’t say if my Facebook friends would just donate $1 each I would raise my goal. A majority of your friends will not give anything to your cause and those who do will give much more than $1.
Is your goal to get 25 people to donate $25? Are you trying to get 50 people to sponsor you per mile? Post a countdown: Only 10 more to go! Only two days left!
Thank everyone publicly on Facebook who gives (unless they request to be anonymous) by “tagging” them (@name).
The idea is that 4-6 weeks out we casually notice your cause and project. During the two weeks of the campaign we see your request a couple of times and then we see the deadline approaching and act.
Don’t be offended when some of your friends don’t give. Maybe they are on vacation and haven’t been online. Maybe they are having a tough time financially right now. Maybe they gave last week to another cause.
Don’t constantly be doing fundraising projects. My experience says that the more projects you do the less money you will raise. I would suggest no more than 3 projects per year.
While some of what I have suggested could be applied for raising ongoing financial support I am specifically talking about short-term charity projects. Also many large charities are developing applications to help in raising funds on Facebook. This post is for those who don’t have that option.
I wish you the best in your fundraising efforts! We are the richest nation in the world and I believe we have the responsibility to give a lot away!
Meetup.com and 9/11
I received this cool email from the founder of Meetup.com and thought that it should also be shared with those who don’t use Meetup.
Fellow Meetuppers,
I don’t write to our whole community often, but this week is
special because it’s the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and many
people don’t know that Meetup is a 9/11 baby.
Let me tell you the Meetup story. I was living a couple miles
from the Twin Towers, and I was the kind of person who thought
local community doesn’t matter much if we’ve got the internet
and tv. The only time I thought about my neighbors was when I
hoped they wouldn’t bother me.
When the towers fell, I found myself talking to more neighbors
in the days after 9/11 than ever before. People said hello to
neighbors (next-door and across the city) who they’d normally
ignore. People were looking after each other, helping each
other, and meeting up with each other. You know, being
neighborly.
A lot of people were thinking that maybe 9/11 could bring
people together in a lasting way. So the idea for Meetup was
born: Could we use the internet to get off the internet — and
grow local communities?
We didn’t know if it would work. Most people thought it was a
crazy idea — especially because terrorism is designed to make
people distrust one another.
A small team came together, and we launched Meetup 9 months
after 9/11.
Today, almost 10 years and 10 million Meetuppers later, it’s
working. Every day, thousands of Meetups happen. Moms Meetups,
Small Business Meetups, Fitness Meetups… a wild variety of
100,000 Meetup Groups with not much in common — except one
thing.
Every Meetup starts with people simply saying hello to
neighbors. And what often happens next is still amazing to me.
They grow businesses and bands together, they teach and
motivate each other, they babysit each other’s kids and find
other ways to work together. They have fun and find solace
together. They make friends and form powerful community. It’s
powerful stuff.
It’s a wonderful revolution in local community, and it’s thanks
to everyone who shows up.
Meetups aren’t about 9/11, but they may not be happening if it
weren’t for 9/11.
9/11 didn’t make us too scared to go outside or talk to
strangers. 9/11 didn’t rip us apart. No, we’re building new
community together!!!!
The towers fell, but we rise up. And we’re just getting started
with these Meetups.
Scott Heiferman (on behalf of 80 people at Meetup HQ)
Co-Founder & CEO, Meetup
New York City
September 2011
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I just had to share!
When opportunity strikes it is not the lucky who fall into it but the prepared who step up.
