5 Tips for Raising Funds Through Social Mobilization
The troubled economic times that our nation now faces are forcing many to curb their level of charitable donations — donations that nonprofits and cause-driven organizations rely on to survive. Typically, nonprofits rely on more traditional methods of growing support — volunteer word-of-mouth, mass mailings or telephone outreach. While effective, these methods are time-consuming and cost-prohibitive.
As a result, nonprofits increasingly are deploying new technologies like social mobilization to optimize fundraising efforts. Social mobilization is an online technology that operates in much the same manner as social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook. However, instead of acting merely as an entertainment portal for posting messages or sharing pictures, social-mobilization technology rallies donors around a cause — mobilizing them to give money while spreading the word, performing actions and recruiting other donors into the online community. The following tips can help organizations get the most out of their social-mobilization platforms.
Use a reliable platform
It’s no surprise that many organizations prefer to do things in-house as an attempt to save money. However, a number of organizations have launched proprietary, homegrown technologies only to find that they spend just as much on development and maintenance; and they often experience costly system crashes that postpone efforts until the platforms are running again — sometimes days later.
Developing a social-mobilization platform is best left to the experts because technology vendors hire engineers and specialists to design and test-fire systems before they’re officially launched — helping to ensure that platforms are “bug free.” They also provide user-support services to assist with any problems should they arise. Using a reliable platform not only prevents headaches associated with a homegrown system, but it also provides users with the support necessary to make sure that operations run as smoothly as possible.
Integrate pre-existing lists
Although social-mobilization technology will exponentially build organizations’ lists of supporters, it is important that existing contact lists are integrated into the system once a platform is installed. This is useful not only because it solves the problem of having to start a list from scratch, but it also saves lots of time by allowing organizations to quickly upload existing supporter data into the system — rather than manually re-entering information. And existing supporter lists are important because they contain individuals that already are familiar with the organization and can begin recruiting their friends and family. Because donors are more inclined to give when the request is made by a trusted friend, it is especially important for organizations to make sure they integrate pre-existing lists into their newly installed systems.
Offer incentives
One of the unique aspects of social-mobilization technology is that it allows supporters to view each others’ actions. This often creates a sense of friendly competition among supporters who keep track of one another — similar to other social-networking sites. This is valuable because it ultimately creates a sense of community within supporter bases and instills a sense of pride and camaraderie. It’s important that organizations use this opportunity to provide incentives to their supporters whose actions stand out. Not only does this make volunteering and donating fun, it recognizes individuals for their support while perpetuating competition amongst the group — driving others to donate more time and money.
Utilize system features
When using a social-mobilization platform, it is important not to rely solely on the system or the supporters to do all the work. This type of technology is usually equipped with a number of tracking and analytical tools that enable organizations to monitor where supporters are being recruited, the growth of supporter bases over time, actions that supporters are completing, and results of actions both online and offline — all in real time. Organizations can utilize customizable templates for newsletters that can be sent to supporters and also can see who is actually reading them. In order to effectively manage fundraising initiatives and activities, organizations must use all of the features that come with their social-mobilization platform.
Know how to process and use information
Although social-mobilization technology presents a variety of practical information that enables organizations to continually build and manage supporter bases, it is ultimately up to the organization that uses the platform to effectively process and leverage the information provided by the system.
For example, by focusing volunteer opportunities toward those who have a track record of donating their time, organizations increase their odds of filling all volunteer slots. Or by soliciting donations among those whose actions show that they have contributed significant sums of money, organizations are more likely to receive monetary donations in lieu of volunteer time. Likewise, choosing to host events in cities that are shown to contain the most supporters most likely will yield a healthy turnout as opposed to choosing a site that is less populated.
Although social-mobilization technology provides many intrinsic advantages over more traditional methodologies, it is ultimately up to the user to process and use the information provided by the system to efficiently conduct and manage a campaign.
As news of social-mobilization technology spreads amongst cause-driven organizations, increasing numbers of organizations are choosing to leverage platforms that enable them to reach supporters quickly, virally and on a massive scale.
Caleb Clark is the CEO of Atlanta-based social-mobilization software provider WeTheCitizens.