Fundraising and Sponsorship More Similar Than You Might Think

When it comes to growing your non-profit, sponsorship just may be the answer. Of course, sponsorship is not to be confused with fundraising which is a way of raising cash for your non-profit’s needs. Sponsorship may well be about the cash in the long term but like fundraising, marketing and relationships still play a major part.

At the outset they seem very different – fundraising is about cash – a transaction, whereas a sponsorship is a development of a long term relationship. However from the non-profit’s perspective seeking either, the approach needs to remain the same.

When it comes to finding sponsors or those willing to hand over their hard earned funds to support your organisation, a quality partnership must be established; one built on trust and understanding. What is it they want from you and you from them? Think about why someone would want to sponsor you or why they would give you cash in the first place.

But it goes further than that. You need to look after and respect your partners and funders, thanking them at each opportunity. From your perspective, regardless of how much you need the cash financing or support, it is all about them. And of course, both transactions whether fundraising or sponsorship based will need to be accountable at some point.

Unlike a donation which is money given non-specifically, fundraising or sponsorship offers you the opportunity to tell your side of things, to present yourself and your cause in a good light. This is your story and your opportunity to spread it as wide and as loudly as possibly. Attracting those who listen is important particularly those who respond positively to what you have to say. They are the ones who will speak the loudest about your organisation telling others of a great opportunity should they be interested.

More similar than you might think initially, right? Do you have a preference for your non-profit when it comes to fundraising?

Volunteering in an Emergency

Have you ever noticed how the worst and most miserable situations motivate people to instantly lend a helping hand? In cases of floods and fires, earthquakes and hurricanes, even in an emergency like this one, people forget about their differences, limited time and their own everyday problems and join together to form an astounding force driven by good and changing fates.

The recent Sampson Flat bushfire near Adelaide brought similar thoughts to Bev Langley, volunteer and operator of the Minton Farm Animal Rescue Centre. Seeing the hundreds of volunteers arriving to the area of the disaster from every corner of Australia, Bev commented, 'I think it has brought the best out in a lot of people.'

And here is an interesting question for every NFP organisation to think about – how can you use this particular knowledge to your advantage? Well, it is obvious that emergencies and urgent situations motivate people to volunteer. Of course, we don’t encourage you to set a school on fire and ask for help to save the children, but emergency may have many faces and forms. If you manage to convince people that your organisation needs urgent help in terms of volunteer force and donations, you will solve your problems for a long time to come.

One way to do this is, obviously, to have a very creative marketing campaign. Do not lie and do not distort the truth – just tell the facts in a really expressive, convincing and touching way. Remember why you started helping people, why you decided to help these particular people – and then tell the others why they should help. Do not show people that you will be fine without their help – instead 'We will be grateful for your help', say 'We need your help!' and instead 'As a volunteer you can make a difference' – 'You WILL make a difference!'. Using strong language will urge people to help and will make them think that you need them as soon as possible – and this is exactly the effect you want to achieve.

The most important thing you need to remember is that people need a reason to volunteer. You will get far weaker response if you tell them that you are recruiting just in case, or because it is good to volunteer in the first place. On the other hand, if you have an action that needs more people to organise, if the current levels of volunteering are really low and that may bring the end of your NFP, or if there is any other situation which requires urgent actions, you can be sure that people will respond.

To cut a long story short, you may need an emergency to recruit new volunteers and attract donors. The good news is that everything can be presented as an emergency. Actually, if you think about it, your organisation helps people, animals or the nature, and the fact that someone or something needs help is urgent enough to make people want to participate. You will just need to present it in the right way. Good luck!

Is Social Influence Important?

Once upon a time fundraising was all about knocking on doors, making hundreds of lamingtons or selling raffle tickets. These days with the rise in popularity of social media comes a new way to raise money; through online social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, blogs or LinkedIn. Not only are these methods free to use, the potential audience reach can mean a very successful campaign for a non-profit organisation.

Facebook

Aside from creating a page for your campaign and starting a fundraiser via a Facebook page, one of the most well-known social fundraising tools is called Facebook Causes.

Twitter

Also has a special platform called Twitplay. Twitplay works especially well because of the viral nature of Twitter – donations are created based on re-tweets which means more visibility and in turn, more donations.

Blog

Create a blog post, or series of blog posts on your fundraising campaign, your organisation, personal testimonials or stories using photos, videos and guest bloggers. This will create a more personal side to your non-profit organisation instead of just being seen as a large organisation.

You can also add a PayPal button at the end of the post (or posts) which will encourage and motivate people to donate.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn gets far less attention than other social networking sites but if used cleverly, it can really generate big business for non-profits by building on connections. LinkedIn also has search tools which will enable you to locate and find excellent prospects. You can target your search geographically, by industry or by keywords.

If you want to know more about LinkedIn and the first steps you should take, there is an excellent blog post entitled Getting to know LinkedIn written by Gayle Roberts.

So, back to the question – is social influence important? Without a doubt, yes. It is an essential way to raise money and awareness of a campaign in modern times and without it your non-profit organisation is not only missing out on potential sources for raising funds, but also awareness for your cause.