How To Get More Online Donations: Tips for Charities & You!

We’re in an economic schhhlummp, remember?! That means you need to work your heiny extra hard if you want to promote yourself or your charitable cause. Donors are more selective these days and they’re not going to give away their frugal dollar to just any old needy Joe (there’s lots and lots of those around)!

Here are 4 tips to help you gain exposure and raise more online donations:

1. Use the Power of Technology: Technology is a Recipient’s and Charity’s best friend when it comes to online donations.  It’s one of the most effective ways to fundraise in the field of micro charity.  Think about the infinite ways that you can use internet fundraising to promote yourself, non-profit, or charity all from the seat of your computer! Here are a few online fundraising ideas:
   • Use Social Networking Sites: Social networking sites like Myspace, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are a few fantastic platforms to promote your cause by reaching a large global audience. Get your name out there! Promote your fundraiser by directing traffic to your MicroGiving profile.
   • Start a Blog: Talk about MicroGiving and your online fundraising in a blog (or online journal).  Actively seek out other people who are blogging about similar interests and leave thoughtful comments on their page. Other people will see your comment which will promote more traffic to your fundraising profile page.
   • Step It Up A Notch: Another way to increase traffic to the MicroGiving site and increase your profile visibility is through our own blog. If you like this post, share it! Simply click on the ‘Add This’ link at the bottom of this post and share it on Delicious, Digg, Technorati, and StumbleUpon. Other people will find us and you! You’ll be doing yourself and MicroGiving a BIG favor!
   • Use Social News & Bookmarking Sites: Digg, Delicious, and StumbleUpon are great resources to target the kind of people who will help you raise micro donations. Search for popular articles relevant to micro charity, online micro donations, and online fundraising—and identify the audiences bookmarking them. This will allow you to find the right network of people. Plus you might gather some great fundraising ideas that you never thought about!
   • REMEMBER! Technology is a tool, and like all tools, they need to be ‘used’ in order to be effective. So get out there and take advantage of the world wide web!
2. Be Active: The biggest mistake that “fundraisers” make is not dedicating enough time to cultivating organic relationships with potential Donors. Fundraising takes time and generating online donations rarely happens over night! Be patient, and be active. Participate in the forums, engage other members of the community, encourage others, and show the world that you’re serious about your cause by caring enough to participate and be active.Too often, Recipients and Charities create a profile and do nothing with it! Don’t let your fundraising page rot away in profile purgatory…get out there and do something!
3. Be Vocal: Promote your profile or charity fundraiser by word of mouth. Tell your friends, family, neighbors, cats, and dogs.  Share links to your fundraising page through email, SMS, social networks, twitter, etc  and spread the word around like a wild-fire. The only way you’ll ever raise online micro donations is to communicate and tell people about your fundraising cause.
4. Use MicroGiving! MicroGiving is a great resource to raise online micro donations because our platform doesn’t cost a nickel to use!  Nor do we take a percentage of the donation money. Recipients and Charities can be assured they receive 100% of the micro donations that they raise. However, the internet offers a number of other great similar resources like YourCause.com and FirstGiving.com (check them out)!

What are some of your fundraising tips? Have you experienced more online donations by doing any of these suggestions? Leave your feedback!

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