endless wedding daydream.

Besides inspiring DIY fantasies, what can Pinterest do for your nonprofit? Well, a lot. It can help connect you, your voice, and your organization with hundreds, if not thousands, of content-hungry users. Pinterest is not to be ignored. While many other social media tools skew toward the college-age male, the Pinterest audience is, well, me: female, age 25 to 44, with an appetite for gorgeous imagery and on-trend advice.  You know what else this audience does? They give.

Simply by looking at GlobalGiving’s Facebook Insights, we were able to determine that 60% of our fans already fall within Pinterest’s base. Facebook’s constantly changing interface seems to have made it more and more difficult to reach our fans, so we’re experimenting with Pinterest’s curated audience of our target demographic.

So what does this mean for nonprofits? We already know that users on Pinterest might be inclined to give to your cause, but how do you make them do it?  Well that’s just it. We’d like to suggest that you might set Pinning objectives to include many types of engagement; not just donations. Before giving, your audience wants to engage and see, quite literally, who you are: Kate Spade’s VP/Ecommerce, Johanna Murphy (while no, not a nonprofit) explains:
“We think that if you look at every social media channel and your ultimate goal is to drive immediate commerce out of it, you don’t get it. Again, it’s kind of the fuel for the overall fire to the brand that will then ultimately drive sales.”

Pinterest, through their heavily visual interface, is a great way to show your audience who you are, but  that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all about showing what your cause is. For example, one of the great things about our office is our “must love food” attitude, so we’re cultivating a list of recipes our staff has tried and adored (if you’re interested, my slow-cooker macaroni and cheese recipe won an office wide contest). We’re also curating Pinboards based on our motto of “a million little earth-changing ideas,” which translates to “earth-changing people,” “earth-changing style,” and “earth-changing words,” as well as a board called “earth-changing projects.” It’s only in this last board where we actually get into the work we do, but we do it in a way that’s easily digestible and friendly. No one there is necessarily asking you to do anything, but instead they’re saying “hey, look at this project where you can help save a baby cheetah.” Believe me, after six months of Pinning, I can honestly tell you that people love a baby cheetah.

We also added a “Pin it” button to all of your project pages to let our users add to their boards, and we’ve seen its use grow exponentially since we launched it. Our brand fits with Pinterest’s audience, feel, and market, and it’s an exciting way of introducing GlobalGiving to a new group of people who is already inclined to like us.

This doesn’t mean that all nonprofits are suited to put their brand on Pinterest. First, if you’re just barely trying to get your Facebook or Twitter presence organized, then we recommend you work on those and try to do them well. Second, make sure that the person who’s taking on Pinterest for your nonprofit ‘gets it;’ make sure that they’re a user first!  Pinterest users are already worried that a heavy brand presence on Pinterest will “pollute it,” so if you feel inauthentic, you’ll have done more harm than good anyway.  Finally, commit to at least trying it out with a few good experiments from which you can learn.

The secret of Pinterest success isn’t just creating another flood of mini press releases: it’s about figuring out who you really are, and allowing your supporters to find the many ways that your work connects, inspires, and engages them. This also means that you have to venture outside of your organization’s content (although I’m sure it’s wonderful) and find additional pins that can tie back to your larger story and vision. Repin your followers and the people you admire. You’ll be surprised how much users will want to engage with you if you do.

For example, if you’re an environmentally-focused nonprofit, you could start a board that pins natural and organic products for the home. If you’re an animal-focused nonprofit, create a board that shares adorable photos of pets.

So you want to get started? We recommend that before jumping in and addictively pinning, first think about how you’d define and measure success on Pinterest. It only makes sense to use Pinterest (or any new medium) if it’s going to help you meet your organization’s goals.

Think through these steps from Katie Paine’s Measure What Matters to develop a few key metrics, so you can experiment:

• Use Your Mission to Define Your Objectives: Is Pinterest going to help you meet your organization’s goals? That depends! One of your objectives may actually involve reaching new audiences by demonstrating your brand’s personality. In that case, Pinterest might be a great fit.  If your objectives are solely to drive people to act or donate on your site, then you’ll need to make sure you know how to measure whether it’s working (so ultimately you can decide whether it’s worth the time).
• Establish a Benchmark and Pick your Metrics: If your objectives are to engage new people, then Pinterest’s handy weekly emails might give you some good metrics on engagement: repins, new followers, likes, comments, and pins you’ve added.  If your objectives are more conversion-oriented, then you’ll need to identify what exactly you want people to do when they see your pins.
• Pick a Measurement Tool: Pinterest’s weekly activity update might give you information you’ll need to measure engagement.  If you add a “Pin it” button to your own site, you’ll want to use Google Analytics to track how many people are adding your pins to their boards without you even knowing. (These people are your new favorite people.) If you have more robust conversion goals then you’ll need to use Google Analytics to measure the donations driven by Pinterest users.
• Analyze Results and Make Changes: One of our core values is Listen.Act.Learn.Repeat. We encourage you to watch your metrics and make changes based on what you learn! If no one is repinning even your most helpful DIY tip,  sit back and look at why that might not be working.  Whatever changes you make, keep returning to your objectives.

As someone who has watched Pinterest grow wildly in the last six months, I am thrilled to see it take off. The content is getting richer, and more and more interesting people are adding to its wealth. Women have proved that we’re more than capable of dominating a social media platform, and I’m glad to see that this is the direction it’s taking. We are driving cause marketing in a stronger way than ever, and I’m proud we are a part of it.

LEAVE A COMMENT: Are you using Pinterest for your own organization? Do you have any tips? Who do you think is using Pinterest well?  

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to find a recipe for this week’s chili cook-off. Got recommendations? Tag “@GlobalGiving Foundation” in your pin and the chili recipe I choose to make will get a $25 GlobalGiving gift card. It better be good, my crock pot mac and cheese is a tough act to follow.

Every year, GlobalGiving receives emails and phone calls from our partners around the world who are acting as informal ambassadors—hosting workshops to teach other organizations in their community about the value of online fundraising and the tools available through GlobalGiving; providing one-on-one support to organizations that need help uploading due diligence documents or submitting a project report; and organizing informal meet-ups and opportunities for networking and collaboration.

At the same time, everywhere we go, we’re asked “when are you setting up a GlobalGiving office here?” And although we wish we could be on the ground in every country we work in to meet with our partners and to provide in-person support, we don’t have the resources or manpower to make that possible. So, we rely primarily on highly trained fellows and volunteers to visit our partners overseas and to host workshops for organizations interested in joining GlobalGiving. (In fact, we have a brand new GlobalGiving representative headed to Southeast Asia next week!) And it’s working! We’ve received fantastic feedback from organizations about the value of these face-to-face interactions with a member of the GlobalGiving team.

But wouldn’t it be great if we could provide a long-term, consistent presence in one country?

So this year, for the first time, we are excited to be formally supporting our partners who are already acting as informal GlobalGiving ambassadors in their countries, while expanding GlobalGiving’s in-the-field support through the Ambassador Program.

This new program will identify and train one to two Ambassadors to represent GlobalGiving in their country for one year. Selected individuals will have the opportunity to participate in a one-week training in Washington, DC in April or May 2012, where they will learn everything they need to answer frequently asked questions about GlobalGiving’s project entry system, campaigns, corporate partnerships, and more.

What are the Program requirements?

Selected individuals will:

• Commit to act as GlobalGiving’s Ambassador in their country for one year. We will provide regular check-ins and support to our Ambassadors throughout the year.
• Be available to come to DC for a week of training in April or May. GlobalGiving will reimburse flight, lodging, and food expenses for this one week stay.
• Visit GlobalGiving’s partners organizations in the country to verify the projects and reports posted on the site and to offer support to current partners. GlobalGiving will provide a small monthly travel and communications stipend to make these visits and relevant communications possible.
• Host at least six workshops throughout the country about the value and principles of online fundraising and to support organizations interested in learning more about GlobalGiving.  GlobalGiving will provide a workshop budget. Ambassadors will be eligible for reimbursement for costs directly associated with the workshops.
• Provide feedback about organizations from the same country that are applying to GlobalGiving for the first. GlobalGiving uses a rigorous due diligence process to vet organizations that are new to the site. On occasion, questions arise about specific organizations. We will seek Ambassadors’ advice when relevant.
• Help GlobalGiving understand the local non-profit sector in your country as well as any regulations or restrictions that might inhibit organizations from applying to join GlobalGiving.

Who is eligible to apply for the Ambassador Program?

To be eligible for the Ambassador Program, you must:

• Live and work in a country other than the United States. The main objective of this program is to extend GlobalGiving’s representation outside of the U.S, where GlobalGiving’s office is based.
• Work for an organization that has been successfully using GlobalGiving’s site for AT LEAST one year.

Preference will be given to individuals who have been active and engaged on GlobalGiving and who have experience working with non-profit networks in their country.

What are the benefits for being an Ambassador Program?

GlobalGiving Ambassadors will benefit from:

• An all-expense paid trip to GlobalGiving’s office in Washington, DC to meet GlobalGiving’s team and take part in a one-week training.
• In depth training about online fundraising and GlobalGiving. During the one-week training, we will go over the principles of online fundraising—calling on experts in the office and from the DC area to share their suggestions for utilizing online tools to raise money for non-profit organizations. We will also offer an in depth training in fundraising on GlobalGiving—including how to use the project entry system, attract new donors, benefit from corporate partnerships, and more.
• Networking opportunities while in the United States. GlobalGiving will organize meetings with strategic partners and potential collaborative organizations during the one-week stay.
• A modest travel and communications stipend for in-country visits to other GlobalGiving partners.
• Funding to host workshops for other organizations in your country. The Ambassador Program gives organizations the chance to contribute to the growth of local non-profit networks by providing networking opportunities at workshops and offering information and support for online fundraising.
• The opportunity to build relationships with and learn best practices from other GlobalGiving partners through site visits and meetings.

Interested? Please apply online here by Friday, March 9^th.  We will review your application and get back to you by March 16^th to let you know if you have been selected for a second round of applications. Applicants accepted to submit a second application will be asked to provide a letter of recommendation from another organization from the same country.

GlobalGiving is committed to evolving and shaping our online platform, tools, campaigns, and trainings to better meet the needs of our partner organizations. We know that the best way to do this is to seek and act on feedback from you. That is why, over the years, we have invited each of our partners to complete an annual project leader survey. We have encouraged candid dialogue at our workshops throughout the world and requested comments and suggestions via our Project Leader Facebook group.

Our newest initiative, the Leadership Council, is just one more way for us to execute one of four values: Listen. Act. Learn. Repeat. Read about our four values here.

What is the Leadership Council?

The Leadership Council will be a committee of representatives from our non-profit partners around the world. We are looking to identify representatives from a range of organizations: long-time GlobalGiving partners, who have seen how GlobalGiving has changed over the years, as well as some of GlobalGiving’s newest community members, who can bring fresh ideas and new perspectives to the group. Ideally, the Council will be made up of representatives from organizations around the globe—representing GlobalGiving’s diverse base of non-profit partners in the U.S. and over 100 other countries—who have varying access to the internet, experience with online fundraising, etc.

The Council will meet via skype or conference call once every three months (kicking off in April 2012) to discuss important issues related to GlobalGiving—campaigns, pricing, new experiments, project ranking, and more. Council meetings will generally last about two hours. GlobalGiving staff will share new features on the site, ideas for future campaigns, etc. and invite Council members to share feedback and offer suggestions.

The Council will also act as an ad hoc advisory committee, providing occasional feedback on new ideas and features via email and responding to specific questions from the GlobalGiving team that are relevant to your country or background. For example, you may receive infrequent requests for feedback on other organizations in your country or identifying potential guest hosts for monthly trainings. Council members may also be intermittently asked to act as a reference for other GlobalGiving partners in your country or sector who have questions or require some assistance with their GlobalGiving account.

What are the responsibilities of Leadership Council members?

Leadership Council members will be expected to:

• Participate in four 2 hour conference calls via skype or phone throughout the year. Because the Council will be made up of representatives from all over the world, Council members are expected to be flexible with timing (calls may be at night or early in the morning in your country) and accommodating when possible.
• Come to each conference call prepared, having reviewed any material sent out by GlobalGiving staff in preparation for the call. Participants should be prepared to speak knowledgeably about the topic and to share ideas and new suggestions.
• Provide advice on new GlobalGiving applicants based in your country and/or on rules and regulations specific to charitable organizations in your country.
• Test out and offer feedback about new features and campaigns.

What are the benefits of being a Leadership Council member?

As a Council member, you will receive sneak peeks of our newest features and the opportunity to make suggestions on upcoming campaigns, trainings, and more. This is a great way to have a larger say in GlobalGiving’s programming and to help make GlobalGiving an even more valuable and effective tool for organizations like yours around the world!

Interested? Please apply online here by Thursday, February 16^th.  We will review your application and get back to you by March 1^st to let you know if you have been selected for the Leadership Council!

First, learn what makes a compelling video! We are hosting a webinar on February 2, 2012 about how to create a phenomenal video for your donors.

Here’s how to join the online training:

Date and Time: Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 9am EST (what time is that where I live?)
OR
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 3pm EST (what time is that where I live?)
Link: www.anymeeting.com/globalgiving1

To get some quick tips now, check out this blog post by Katya from Network for Good. She links to an e-guide for creating videos sent to her by experts at YouTube.

Keep in mind the eligibility requirements when making your video. Only eligible videos will be judged for the contest!

Video Contest Eligibility Requirements:

• Participating organizations must be current partners, leaders, or superstars on GlobalGiving.org.  Please note that projects that are only featured on GlobalGiving UK or a partner site including Nike and Action Atlas are not eligible.
• Eligible videos must be between 00:30 and 3:00 minutes long. Videos that are longer than 3:00 minutes will be disqualified.
• The submitted video must focus on the content described in the project.
• Videos must be high quality, creative, and about the project.
• Videos may not contain any copyrighted element. Be sure that you have obtained all necessary legal rights for the content of your video.
• All video participants must give informed consent of their participation.
• Videos may not contain vulgar language or inappropriate content. GlobalGiving reserves the right to determine inappropriate content and disqualify a video.

Looking for some music to add to your video without having to deal with the copyright issues? Check at the Vimeo Music Store where they sell songs for commercial use and even provide some great songs for free!

Once you have your awesome video, you are ready to enter the contest! Remember, the deadline is February 15^th at 11:59pm EST (what time is that where I live?).

How to submit your video:

• Upload your video to YouTube.
• Embed your YouTube video into your project page by entering the direct YouTube link to your video under the “Project Video” section of the “Photos & Documents” tab in the project editor in the project entry system.
• Submit the web address for your project page and video in this entry form.

How does the contest work?

• Videos must be uploaded to the project and approved by February 15, 2012 at 11:59pm EST to be eligible. Keep in mind, project approvals can take between 1-3 business days. All participants must also complete the entry form ahead of the February 15^th deadline at 11:59pm EST.
• Eligible videos will be judged by Laura Knudson at Green Living Project. Judging will be based on creativity, relevance to the organization’s project, and overall quality.
• Five videos will be selected as winners of the contest by the independent judge. Winners will be announced on February 29, 2012.

We are excited to have Laura Knudson from Green Living Project be the judge for the video contest. Green Living Project is the leading film production company that documents and promotes global stories of sustainability.  Green Living Project has documented over 65 stories covering topics such as wildlife conservation, education, community development, sustainable tourism, and sustainable food.  These stories are promoted across North America through events, television and online distribution.

Laura Knudson, the Education Program Manager at Green Living Project, has created a successful Education Program built around Green Living Project’s short films, including the K-12 curriculum, “Students Connecting to Global Sustainability,” and the “Student Film Project” competition.  Laura is passionate about sustainability education and using storytelling as an educational tool.

Prize for the Winners:

• The five winning videos will each be shared once through GlobalGiving’s Facebook page and once on GlobalGiving’s Twitter feed.  GlobalGiving will coordinate with the winning organizations to select the date for the Facebook share and tweet.
• Winning videos and organizations will also be highlighted in a blog post written by GlobalGiving that will be posted in March 2012 and featured on the GlobalGiving blog
• The Green Living Project will also sharing each winning video once through Facebook and once through Twitter. Green Living Project will coordinate with GlobalGiving and the winning organizations for a date to share and tweet the video.

Any questions regarding the video contest can be sent to Sonja Lehner at slehner@globalgiving.org

On Wednesday, January 11^th, GlobalGiving hosted a training to go over this calendar and to help you develop a fundraising strategy for your project(s) on GlobalGiving in 2012. Listen to the recording here. Take a look at the presentation slides here. We’ve provided a brief summary of the training below.

Create Your GlobalGiving Strategy

Over the years, we’ve found that organizations are most successful on GlobalGiving when they take the time to set goals, create benchmarks, and make a plan for fundraising success. To help you get started, we’ve put together a strategy worksheet. When developing your strategy, make sure to:

• Include your GlobalGiving strategy in your overall fundraising strategy.
• Set ambitious, but realistic goals.
• Plan a calendar. Take advantage of Bonus Days, fundraising campaigns, and contests on GlobalGiving to spur giving throughout the year.
• Create quarterly benchmarks to help you evaluate your success.
• Incorporate GlobalGiving’s Partner Rewards Program into your strategy. Understand what your organization needs to do to achieve Superstar status and integrate this into your strategy for the year.

When creating your GlobalGiving strategy for the year, consider whether your organization is making the most of GlobalGiving. There are three things you can do to optimize your fundraising on the site:

Attract New Donors

In 2011, 2.55 million individuals visited GlobalGiving. Over 102,000 donors gave to projects on the site. What can you do to attract GlobalGiving donors to your project(s)?

• Write a compelling and easy to understand project description! Donors usually spend 30 seconds on a project page before deciding to give. So, grab donors’ attention right away with close-up, high resolution photos, a specific, action-oriented title, an easy to understand, jargon-free project summary, and tangible and realistic donation options. See a great example. Read additional tips for your project description here.
  
• Improve your project ranking(s). GlobalGiving ranks projects on the site based on frequency of reporting, the number of donors, and the overall donation volume. This ranking is used to determine the order in which projects appear under each theme and country on the site, as well as the projects that are featured on the homepage. Learn more. You can find your project(s) ranking on the dashboard of the project entry system.
  

Engage Existing Donors

Attracting donors to your project(s) is only the first step in developing a long-term, valuable relationship with donors. In order to retain donors, it is important to recognize their donation and to continue to engage them through project reports, fundraising campaigns, and donor tools.

• 46% of donors stop giving because they feel like their donations are not recognized or appreciated. (Read more.) Make sure to send a personal thank you to donors within a week of a donation being made. Read tips for sending a thank you email from the donation manager here. Use thank you notes to notify donors about upcoming campaigns and opportunities to get involved.
• Campaigns are designed to help you keep your donors engaged! The deadlines and added financial incentives create a sense of urgency to give now. Campaigns also give your donors a reason to reach out to family and friends about supporting your cause. Use the calendar to identify campaigns to keep your supporters engaged throughout the year.
• Build donation tools—recurring donations, donation as a gift, fundraiser pages—into your regular interactions with your supporters. Are they looking to support your organization around a holiday? Ask them to consider making a donation as a gift. Are they interested in supporting your organization long-term? Recurring donations make it easy!
• Share success stories and opportunities to get involved through project reports. Don’t forget: project reports are emailed directly to your donors. Use reports as a tool to keep donors engaged and interested in supporting your work. Read more about great project reports here.

Become a Superstar!

We use the Partner Rewards Program to identify organizations to recommend to our corporate partners and to feature in our donor outreach. Superstar and Leader organizations are more likely to be recommended than Partner organizations. You can find your organization’s Partner Rewards Level on the dashboard in the project entry system. Learn how you can become a Superstar by clicking on your Rewards Level.

As always, we’re happy to work with you to develop your organization’s fundraising strategy. Set up a call with a GlobalGiving team member here.

Your amazing work in the field—offering microfinance in Mexico, training midwives in Ethiopia, rescuing elephants in Thailand, and so much more—inspired 102,000 donors to give this past year. Your quarterly reports, openness, and transparency gave our corporate partners the confidence to invest $10.8 million in your work. And your feedback and suggestions helped us to dramatically improve GlobalGiving’s website. So, from all of us at GlobalGiving, we would like to say a big thank you for making this our best year yet! Check out the GlobalGiving staff thank you video here.

The Numbers

2011 was GlobalGiving’s most successful year ever! Here’s why:

• In 2011, $20.4 million was donated to projects through GlobalGiving, an increase of 89% from 2010!
• Traffic doubled on the site, from 1.3 million visitors in 2010 to 2.55 million in 2011;
• 102,000 individuals made donations through GlobalGiving in 2011, a 62% increase from 2010;
• $967,382 in GlobalGiving gift cards were purchased;
• The number of recurring donations made through GlobalGiving’s site increased 112% (We currently process $65,338 in recurring donations each month and that number climbs each day thanks to experiments and matching campaigns);
• 1,718 organizations received donations on GlobalGiving in 2011, 424 more than in 2010; and
• 47% of donors chose to pay GlobalGiving’s fee separately, increasing the percentage of the donation reaching your projects on the ground!

Incredible, right? The growth that we experienced in 2011 was no coincidence. The team at GlobalGiving worked hard to attract new donors through media outreach, develop and manage valuable corporate partnerships, and provide you with a better user experience and more opportunities to reach out to your own networks. Here are some highlights:

• In 2011, GlobalGiving worked with 56 corporate partners including Nike, Neutrogena, ABC, Dell, LivingSocial, and Ford resulting in almost $10.8 million in donation volume for partner organizations. One exciting new partnership in 2011 was with Eli Lilly & Company, which gave all 37,000 employees a $50 gift card to GlobalGiving.  Lilly employees donated $850,000 through their new employee giving portal to health, hunger, education, and environment projects on GlobalGiving.
• On the tech side, we made some huge improvements to the dashboard in the project entry system, making it possible to view your organization’s Partner Rewards Level and project rankings in real time and see when your next project reports are due. Now you can manage your organization’s disbursement information and project leader roles online and we made it possible for you to embed video in your project page! We’ve also built organization pages, where you can send donors to see all of your organizations’ projects on GlobalGiving. This year, we also improved the donor experience on the site, adding tabs for monthly recurring donations and gift donations to the project page, in addition to changing the appearance of project reports and thank you emails, among other things. (Thanks Tech Team!)
• We continued to expand and improve the services we offer to our partner organizations, including monthly trainings by experts, local workshops in 33 countries (and 6 American cities), one-on-one fundraising consultations, volunteer listings, and numerous fundraising campaigns.
• In 2011, partner organizations like yours raised over $1 million in GlobalGiving fundraising campaigns, such as Bonus Days, and GlobalGiving gave away over $230,000 in matching funds and bonus grants.

So, what can you expect in 2012?

We expect 2012 to be another record-setting year. We have already announced our 2012 fundraising calendar with the dates for upcoming matching and fundraising campaigns (including some campaigns and promotions that we’ll be launching for the first time this year). Don’t miss out on the opportunity to take advantage of the growing momentum on GlobalGiving!

1.  Share a direct link to the “gift or in-honor-of” tab on your project page. Donors give when it’s easy. Include the direct link in all of your emails, project reports, and social media messages. Here’s how to create the direct link to the “gift” option:

[Project URL] + ?show=gift

See an example of the direct link here: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/rebuild-flooded-burma-refugee-camp-recovery-centre/?show=gift.

2. Market this campaign as a “last minute gift idea!” Christmas is only 10 days away. Hanukkah starts in just 5 short days! Now is the time of the month when your supporters are scrambling for gift ideas. Remind your supporters that GlobalGiving offers e-cards and print-at-home cards, making a donation to your project the perfect last-minute holiday gift! Remember, donors can choose to receive a card customized with your project’s primary photo.

The e-card and print-at-home options are available on the “gift” tab on your project page (see below).

3. Remind your donors about the added value of making a donation during this campaign—up to $2,500 in bonus awards for your organization! Tell your supporters exactly what you could accomplish if you qualify as one of the 15 winners of this campaign. Could you put another child through school? Could you save another acre of rainforest? Whatever it is, let your donors know!

4. Encourage your supporters to ASK for a donation to your project as a gift on their wish list this year! Ok, so your supporters have already made donations to your project as gifts. But, have they asked their family and friends for a donation as a gift this holiday season? This is an easy way for your supporters to help you spread the word and mobilize more donors for this campaign!

As always, use project reports, email newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media to publicize this campaign! With all the chaos of the holiday season, it’s easy for your donors to forget to make a donation. It’s okay to send reminder emails and reports (just be careful not to come across as annoying or overbearing).

The following blog posts provide an excellent summary of the information covered in the training:

• Planning for Success this Holiday Season
• GlobalGiving Holiday Promotions

Tribute Card Campaign – $10,000 in bonus awards!

Did you know that donors can make donations to your project as gifts to friends and family? GlobalGiving will send the gift recipient an email, print-at-home, or physical tribute card. See an example of an email card here. It’s the third giving option under the orange “donate” button on every project page.

This holiday season, we’re giving away $10,000 in bonus awards to the top 15 projects with the most donors who make donations as gifts. This campaign gives your donors an extra incentive to give to your organization during the holiday season. The campaign launches at 12:01 am EST Wednesday, November 23^rd and lasts through 11:59 pm EST December 31^st.

Terms and Conditions:

• $10,000 will be awarded in a total of 17 prizes
  • $1,500 will be awarded to the project will the most tribute card dollars
  • $500 will be awarded to 15 projects with the most unique donors giving tribute cards
  • An additional $1,000 will be awarded to the project with the most unique donors giving tribute cards
• A project must have at least 10 unique tribute card donors to be eligible for bonus awards.
• The campaign will begin on Wednesday, Nov 23 at 12:01 am EST and will end on Saturday,  Dec 31,  2011 at 11:59 pm EST (GMT-4);
• Paper cards, print-at-home cards, and e-cards are all eligible to be included in the campaign;
• Donations made on www.globalgiving.co.uk or any GlobalGiving corporate sites (including Nike, Global Action Atlas, etc) are NOT eligible for this campaign.
• Only permanent GlobalGiving partners (not those participating in an Open Challenge) are eligible for this campaign.
• Projects must be live on the GlobalGiving site by 5 pm EST on Tuesday, Nov. 22 to be included in this campaign.

PSST…As part of this exciting campaign, GlobalGiving will be launching e-cards that are branded for your project. Donors will be able to choose an email tribute card customized with your project’s main photo to send to family and friends.

Gifts for Good

Attract new donors to your project through our Gifts for Good campaign! Give away a gift—jewelry, scarves, and more—in exchange for donations of a certain amount ($25, $50, $75). Your gift will be visible in GlobalGiving’s Gifts for Good “store,” which will be featured in our holiday outreach. Use this opportunity to get your project in front of GlobalGiving’s 100,000 newsletter subscribers, 30,000 Twitter followers, and 28,000 Facebook fans.

Participating organizations are responsible for the gift fulfillment (including shipping and handling) of the gifts. GlobalGiving will provide you with the mailing addresses of participating donors. In exchange, you are required to mail (at your organization’s expense) the gifts to the donors. Only organizations based in the U.S or with volunteers in the U.S are eligible to participate.

Submit the Gifts for Good form by November 10^th to participate. Email Alexis Nadin at anadin@globalgiving.org for more information.

Mobile Giving

Are you planning a holiday fundraising event? Use GlobalGiving’s text-to-give option to raise money for your GlobalGiving projects at the event! Your projects has its own specific keyword that people can text to donate $10 to your project. The $10-per-text donation is charged to the donor’s phone bill and the donation shows up immediately in our project entry system where you manage your donations.

Your text-to-give call-to action is: “Text GIVE <space> [PROJ. ID] to 80088 to give $10 to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving.” Wherever you include this call-to-action—brochures, slide show presentation, etc.—you MUST include the carrier compliance disclaimer verbatim visibly on the same page (see examples below).

Remember that text donations aren’t disbursed for about 3 months after they are made. You also do not receive names or contact information for your text-to-give donors. So think carefully about when mobile giving is the best donation option. Read more about mobile giving.

For messaging in print:
$10.00 donation to [PROJECT NAME] on GlobalGiving. Charges will appear on your wireless bill, or be deducted from your prepaid balance. All purchases must be authorized by account holder. Message and Data Rates May Apply. Text STOP to 80088 to STOP. Text HELP to 80088 for HELP. Full Terms: mGive.org/T. Privacy policy: goto.gg/privacy

• This disclaimer must be in at least 12 pt font and not blend in with the background. IT must be viewable on the same page without scrolling.
• “Help” and “Stop” language must be in bold
• The Privacy policy and mGive.org/T hyperlinks must be active for web promotions

For announcements at events:
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Want help developing your holiday fundraising strategy?

Join us on Tuesday, November 8^th for our Holiday Fundraising Training or sign up for a one-on-one call with GlobalGiving to help plan your holiday fundraising strategy.

Date: Tuesday, November 8th
Times: 9 am EST (This time in your city) and 3 pm EST (This time in your city)
Webinar link: anymeeting.com/globalgiving1 *
*Audio will be available via the webinar link.
Sign up for a reminder.

Why the flurry of online giving?

In the U.S., all tax deductible donations to non-profits must be made before the end of the year (Dec. 31^st) to be eligible for deduction from that year’s taxes. December is also the month of popular American holidays, such as Christmas and Hanukkah. Last year, US retail e-commerce spending for the entire November – December 2010 holiday season reached a record $32.6 billion.

In the U.S, year-end fundraising traditionally begins the Monday after Thanksgiving (Nov. 28), otherwise known as Cyber Monday (which was the largest online spending day of 2010!) but it starts to ramp up for several weeks before. The fundraising seasons lasts until the end of the day on December 31^st.

What should you do to get ready?

Make a strategy! Fundraising doesn’t just happen. You have to plan for it. Here are some basic tips for creating a holiday fundraising plan:

1) Set goals. Take a look at your holiday fundraising volume from last year. How much did you raise? How much do you need to raise this year? How much would you like to raise this year? How much do you think you can raise online? In checks? Via text-to-give? Give yourself a specific monetary and donor goal. You may even consider sharing your goals with your donors in your messaging.

2) Mobilize through a campaign. You won’t be the only organization fundraising this holiday season. You will be competing with other organizations for donations from your donors. Use a campaign to galvanize support. Looking for ideas? GlobalGiving has great holiday promotions going on this year. Read more here.

3) Create a communications calendar. Determine how you are going to communicate with your donors—email, Facebook, Twitter, etc.—and when. Think strategically about important dates in November and December:

• November 25^th (Black Friday),
• November 28^th (Cyber Monday),
• December 20-28  (Hanukkah),
• December 25^th (Christmas), and
• December 31^st (New Year’s Eve and the last giving day of the year!).

Remember that you want to be present in your donors’ minds as they’re making giving decisions throughout the holiday season but without being annoying!

4) Develop your messaging. What are you going to say to stand out this holiday season? What photos are you going to show to introduce your donors to the people that they’re helping? What stories are you going to tell to help your donors understand the impact of your organization’s work?

Remember to keep your emails, project reports, and Facebook posts short and sweet. Make your messages about your beneficiaries—what they need and how your donors can help—not about you and your organization. Include a clear call to action and a link to your project page in each of your messages.

5) Evaluate your progress and prepare to be flexible. Why do you set goals? So that you can set benchmarks and evaluate your success. Set some time aside each week during the holiday season to evaluate your fundraising progress. Determine if you’re on track towards meeting your goals and, if not, what you need to do to meet your fundraising goals. Be prepared to be creative and to make last minute changes to your plan.

Want help developing your holiday fundraising strategy?

Join us on Tuesday, November 8^th for our Holiday Fundraising Training or sign up for a one-on-one call with GlobalGiving to help plan your holiday fundraising strategy.

Date: Tuesday, November 8th
Times: 9 am EST (This time in your city) and 3 pm EST (This time in your city)
Webinar link: anymeeting.com/globalgiving1 *
*Audio will be available via the webinar link.
Sign up for a reminder.

Additional resources:

• It may be fundraising season, but we don’t have to name it that – Katya Anderson’s Blog
• 25 Steps to Fall & Holiday Fundraising Guide – Network for Good