What is grassroots fundraising?

Grassroots fundraising is a fundraising method used by nonprofits, political candidates, and other types of organizations to raise funds. It’s a fundraising method that involves gathering lots of one-time donations from individual contributors, supporters, or donors, rather than large corporate donors.

While this type of fundraising is most commonly used by political candidates, many organizations in the nonprofit sector practice grassroots fundraising. Often the terms grassroots fundraising and peer-to-peer fundraising are used interchangeably, despite them having some key differences.

What's included in this guide

• Grassroots fundraising defined
• Why grassroots fundraising is important
• How to start a fundraiser 
• Potential issues
• How RoundUp App helps grassroots fundraising

What is the purpose of grassroots fundraising?

In general, the purpose of grassroots fundraising is to raise funds from many individuals rather than a few big-name donors. There are lots of reasons an organization or political candidate might seek out grassroots fundraising.

In the political sphere, politicians use grassroots fundraising to indicate strong popular support for their policies and ideas. By raising money from lots of individuals in their communities, they can claim stronger ties to the communities they represent. Grassroots fundraising also allows political candidates to be less reliant on the individual political opinions of the few big-name donors that finance their campaigns.

In the nonprofit world, nonprofits might use a grassroots approach to fundraising to better serve the communities they represent. A popular wave in fundraising is community-centric fundraising, which places the community at the center of all of a nonprofit’s efforts, rather than the big donors that support them. 

How do you start a grassroots fundraiser?

Grassroots fundraisers often look the same as any other type of fundraiser a nonprofit might host. The key difference is who the fundraising event targets, not how it’s put on.

When starting a grassroots fundraiser, a nonprofit will usually place special emphasis on obtaining as many one-time donations from individuals. They might create email campaigns targeting volunteers or recent supporters, social media posts asking for monthly donations, or host community events.

We suggest that rather than focusing on one-time donations, nonprofits should instead focus on recurring RoundUp donations to support their fundraising push. These types of donations are embedded directly in the daily lives of donors, making your donors more connected to the causes you support.

What are potential issues with grassroots fundraising?

While grassroots fundraising can be a great source of reliable income, it can have some potential negative effects. When nonprofits receive large one-time donations from wealthy donors or corporations, they can allocate funds immediately. Additionally, nonprofit organizations can immediately know what funds they have coming in and what additional funds they need to raise to continue operations.

However, recurring donations like RoundUp donations or monthly donations can be a difficult source of income to track. Because donors can cancel their donation at any time, it’s possible that the number of funds a nonprofit has access to month-to-month could drastically increase if donors lose interest. 

That’s why it’s important for nonprofits to invest in recurring donors that have higher retention rates. Donors who give through apps like RoundUp App using the RoundUp method of donating have an 80%+ retention rate.

Events and fundraisers

Another key way that corporations and nonprofits work together is through in-person or branded online events and fundraisers. These types of campaigns might run long-term and usually involve a series of strategic events and fundraisers throughout a year where corporations partner with nonprofit organizations to bring awareness to causes. In this type of cause-related marketing nonprofits and companies work together to align their business goals and plan events and fundraisers that mutually benefit each other.

Build engaging grass-roots campaigns with RoundUp App

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Apps and tools that help nonprofits raise funds through grassroots fundraising

There are plenty of apps and tools out there designed to help your nonprofit raise funds effortlessly.  Apps like RoundUp App and Ribbon build tools specifically for nonprofits to improve their fundraising efforts.

Access to RoundUp donations

RoundUp App is the nation’s number one RoundUp donation app. With our platform, donors are able to give regularly to nonprofits by rounding up their purchases and donating the extra. This type of grassroots fundraising keeps donors active and engaged in the day-to-day success of the nonprofits they support.

To use RoundUp App donors simply sign up for our app via our Web, iOS, or Android apps, link their credit/debit cards and bank account, and select the nonprofit they want to donate to. After that, we’ll automatically round up every purchase they make and donate the extra change from each purchase every month to the nonprofit donors selected.

Donors who give through the RoundUp method of donating are more engaged and generally give for longer amounts of time than donors who don’t.

CASE STUDY

How Lane of Roses does a lot with a little

Read success story

Tools to increase donor acquisition

Grassroots fundraisers rely on donor acquisition. Nonprofits who struggle to acquire donors often will lack the funding necessary to run successful grassroots fundraisers. Features like those found in RoundUp App or Ribbon make it easier for nonprofits to find and convert new donors.

Both offer customizable and embeddable donation forms nonprofits can add to their website to immediately acquire donations and donors. Our downloadable donor app also allows potential donors to search for nonprofits by category, location, and name. This searchability allows your nonprofit to be seen by more donors.

Additionally, nonprofits that use RoundUp App get access to our complete marketing library. In our marketing library, we offer ready-to-use templates for social media, email marketing, text marketing, and more.

Differences between grassroots and peer-to-peer fundraising

While some nonprofits might use the terms grassroots fundraising and peer-to-peer fundraising interchangeably, there are some key distinctions between the two terms.

Think of grassroots fundraising as an overall fundraising structure for a nonprofit. Peer-to-peer fundraising is one way those funds are raised for a nonprofit.

When nonprofits use peer-to-peer fundraising strategies they ask their donors to raise funds for them. In this method of fundraising, donors hold mini-campaigns or donation drives for the nonprofits they support. By talking and sharing these campaigns with their friends, social media networks, and local community donors raise funds for nonprofits.

Funds obtained from peer-to-peer fundraising strategies can be considered as coming from the grassroots too. However not all funds obtained through peer-to-peer fundraising are “grassroots” donations. For example, peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns could result in dozens of one-time, large donations. Those types of funds might be raised from peers but don’t really fit all criteria for grassroots fundraising.

Putting it all together

Ultimately, grassroots fundraising is a strategy that focuses on achieving regular, small-to-medium donations from everyday donors. When a nonprofit uses this model of fundraising they’re placing an emphasis on their local community’s support, rather than the large-dollar donations from a handful of wealthy donors.

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What is donor acquisition?

Donor acquisition is the method, workflow, or process by which nonprofits bring in new or potential donors to their organization. It’s often a process that involves a dual partnership between marketing and networking.

What's included this guide

• Donor acquisition defined
• Why acquisition is important
• The difference between donor acquisition and retention
• Tools to help donor acquisition
• Strategies for donor acquisition 
• Putting it all together

Why donor acquisition is important

Nonprofits rely on the donations they receive to keep their organization fully funded and functioning. Most organizations have sustaining donors that provide funding throughout the year. However, studies suggest that donors, on average, give for around 18 – 24 months before canceling or discontinuing their donation.

This means that for nonprofits to stay viable, they must always seek new donors to contribute. That’s where donor acquisition comes into play. A strong donor acquisition strategy allows nonprofits to add new donors and maintain their existing funding structures as donors leave.

What’s the difference between donor acquisition and donor retention?

Donor retention is how nonprofits or other organizations keep donors engaged and giving while donor acquisition is how they acquire new donors.

Both of these strategies are needed for a nonprofit to be successful. Organizations with great donor retention strategies might need less investment in donor acquisition. Conversely, organizations with great donor acquisition strategies might spend less time retaining donors.

Generally speaking, donor retention involves engaging, updating, and reporting on the successes of your organization. When trying to retain a donor, organizations should focus on highlighting the current affect an individual’s donation has on the nonprofit. For example, nonprofits might send out quarterly or annual reports highlighting how donations were used and major accomplishments of the year. 

When acquiring donors, nonprofits generally focus on the mission and story of the organization. Rather than citing specific donation amounts, they might highlight why their organization relies on donations, who they’re able to help, or how their organization works overall.

Tools to help donor acquisition

Platforms like RoundUp App and Ribbon make it easier for nonprofits to acquire new donors. Both platforms give donors unique features for acquiring and converting donors like a marketing library, campaigns, invite features, and donation embed forms.

Tools making donor acquisition easier.

The number one way to improve donor acquisition is to make it as easy as possible for donors to give to your organization. Both RoundUp App and Ribbon provide customizable donation forms that you can embed on your website. With these forms, donors can immediately make donations to your organization, start a new RoundUp donation, or signup for monthly giving.

We want to help you to stretch your donor acquisition campaigns further, so we provide social-media templates your organization can use to explain how RoundUp donations work or invite others to join. Additionally, we provide custom invite features allowing you to invite current donors or lists of potential donors directly to your account.

Create compelling cause-related marketing campaigns with RoundUp at Checkout

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Strategies for donor acquisition

Social media strategies for donor acquisition

Social media is a great source of new donors. Social media platforms are open and widely used, so they are one of your best sources to find new donors! Here are a few social media strategies you can try to increase your donor acquisition:

Running Paid Ads

If you have a marketing budget, you can pay to run ads about your nonprofit on social media sites. This type of paid promotion can help you find donors who currently don’t follow your account.

Participating in conversations

Social media platforms work best when your organization actively engages in conversations happening throughout the country. Use trending topics or hashtags to weigh in on popular topics or conversations. You can also ask your audience questions or engage with experts in your field!

Promotions for popular giving days or holidays

A great way to build content for social media is to craft posts celebrating giving days throughout the year or holidays.

Share the story of your organization.

Use social media to explain how your organization helps the community or supports your cause. Share pictures from events, people helped, or explain how donations helped you make a difference in the world. This is the perfect spot to brag about your successes!

Email marketing strategies for donor acquisition

Email marketing is a key strategy nonprofits use to acquire new donors. To build a strong email marketing strategy, you’ll need a few things: an email marketing platform, a way for potential donors to signup, and engaging content.

If you haven’t already picked one, we recommend finding an email marketing platform that works for you. These types of programs make it easier for organizations to track donors, create eye-catching email campaigns, and schedule email messages. We’ve written before about the email marketing platforms we like too.

Once you’ve chosen an email marketing platform, the next step is signing up potential donors. You’ll want to include a signup form on your website. A good place to start is in your website’s footer, or in a custom section. You can also get signups in person by asking for email addresses at your volunteer nights or other events.

After you’ve cultivated a list, you’ll want to start crafting email campaigns. Keep in mind that a good rule of thumb for email marketing is the 80/20 rule. 

This rule states that 80% of your email campaigns should be informational and engaging while 20% of them should be directly promotional. This helps ensure that the donors you do acquire don’t immediately opt-out of your marketing. 

Consider writing content that explains what your organization does, wraps up monthly or quarterly success stories, and generally inspires your audience to join you. It’s okay to directly ask for donations too, you just don’t want to make every single email you send to be a call for donations!

Networking strategies for donor acquisition

One crucial way organizations raise money and acquire new donations is through networking events. These events might be hosted by your organization or you might be attending someone else’s event. The important thing to do is to find your community and become an active part of it.

Your organization might want to put on their own networking event for your community. This could be a physical fundraising drive, a community gathering, an in-person raffle, or simply a night for others connected to your organization to get together and share stories. 

Another great way to raise money through networking is by attending events related to your cause. You might join a conference, a professional meet-up, or sponsor another event happening in your area.

By increasing your networking events you’ll be able to find new donors from the communities you participate in. 

Putting it all together

Having a strong donor acquisition strategy will ensure that your nonprofit is successful. The best way to improve your chances of success is to remove friction from your donation process and make it as easy as possible for donors to give to your organization. Partner with apps like RoundUp App to make donating easier and integrate giving into the daily lives of all of your donors.Having a strong donor acquisition strategy will ensure that your nonprofit is successful. The best way to improve your chances of success is to remove friction from your donation process and make it as easy as possible for donors to give to your organization. Partner with apps like RoundUp App or Ribbon to make donating easier and integrate giving into the daily lives of all of your donors.

 

The post Donor Acquisition: what it is and why it’s important to your nonprofit. appeared first on Roundup App.

The term cause-related marketing is generally used to refer to mutually beneficial partnerships between corporations and nonprofits. In these types of marketing campaigns, corporations partner with nonprofit organizations to boost their sales while having a positive impact on a nonprofit and the cause they support.

To practice cause-related marketing, it’s important that nonprofits have the tools they need to integrate their nonprofit with a corporation’s product. At RoundUp App we provide seamless integration for Ecommerce corporations looking to practice cause marketing with thousands of nonprofits across the country.

What's included this guide

• Cause-related marketing defined
• Cause-related marketing VS traditional marketing
• Cause-related marketing strategies
• Cons of cause-related marketing
• How to use RoundUp at Checkout for cause-related marketing

What is cause-related marketing?

The term cause-related marketing is generally used to refer to mutually beneficial partnerships between corporations and nonprofits. In these types of marketing campaigns, corporations partner with nonprofit organizations to boost their sales while having a positive impact on a nonprofit and cause they support.

To practice cause-related marketing, it’s important that nonprofits have the tools they need to integrate their nonprofit with a corporation’s product. At RoundUp App we provide seamless integration for Ecommerce corporations looking to practice cause marketing with thousands of nonprofits across the country.

Cause-related marketing VS traditional marketing

Cause-related marketing might differ from the traditional forms of marketing practiced by nonprofits because it is driven primarily by a corporation rather than a nonprofit. 

In a traditional fundraising marketing campaign, the nonprofit selects the message and attempts to compel potential donors to donate through various forms of paid and organic advertising. However, in these campaigns, corporations generally reach out to nonprofits aligned to their strategic business goals first. 

An incredibly common form of cause-related marketing takes the form of rounding up or providing additional donations after a customer purchases something in a physical store or online. Ecommerce companies take advantage of plugins like RoundUp At Checkout to compel their customers to donate to a given nonprofit at checkout as opposed to donating directly to the nonprofit through fundraising emails, ads, or events

Effective cause-related marketing strategies

Cause-related marketing works best when the product or company working with a nonprofit aligns closely with the cause of a nonprofit. But there are multiple types of campaigns corporations can use to effectively drive sales and increase donations.

Individual product sales

Companies practice this type of cause-related marketing frequently by connecting individual products they sell to nonprofits. Think of big campaigns like the (Red) campaign in which products are branded to increase awareness of HIV prevention globally.

Other examples of this type of strategy involve specially branded products that consumers buy knowing that a portion of sales made from that product is donated directly to a nonprofit.

Events and fundraisers

Another key way that corporations and nonprofits work together is through in-person or branded online events and fundraisers. These types of campaigns might run long-term and usually involve a series of strategic events and fundraisers throughout a year where corporations partner with nonprofit organizations to bring awareness to causes.

In this type of campaign nonprofits and companies work together to align their business goals and plan events and fundraisers that mutually benefit each other.

Rounding up at checkout campaigns

Companies use this type of cause-related marketing to entice customers to donate at the time of purchase. This can take two forms. The first is donations added to purchases at physical stores like grocery or clothing stores.

The second type takes place online when eCommerce brands and companies use plugins like RoundUp at Checkout to add additional donations to customers’ carts before checking out.

Create compelling cause-related marketing campaigns with RoundUp at Checkout

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Supporting nonprofits during crucial events

One of the crucial ways merchants and nonprofits can collaborate on cause-related marketing comes from events that have a direct impact on local communities. In the cases of natural disasters or sudden drastic events in a community, both customers and donors are more likely to give when they know that their donations are directly supporting their community.

Corporations can improve their brand identity while increasing sales by connecting their customers to nonprofit organizations combating a recent natural disaster or event. 

Integrating corporations into the community

Another great way corporations can take advantage of cause-related marketing is to support a long or short-term project happening in their local communities. 

When nonprofit organizations partner with local online retailers they can increase donations and awareness of their community cause. Since eCommerce businesses often have a dedicated local fanbase as well as a more global audience, they can increase the awareness of  local organization. This results in more opportunities to fundraise beyond the local level while also integrating that corporation into the bedrock of the community.

The Cons of Cause-Related Marketing

While there are many benefits to corporations partnering with nonprofits, cause-related marketing can fail when not done correctly. The single biggest indicator of a potentially harmful partnership comes when corporations and nonprofits have a mismatch in strategic vision and identity.

For example, an environmentally conscious nonprofit might avoid partnerships with corporations that have a negative impact on the environment. Instead, they might choose to partner with local farms, organic and sustainable restaurants, or community plant shops that better suit their brand. 

The key to deciding if a corporate partnership is right for your nonprofit is asking yourself a few critical questions. Does this improve or weaken our potential donors’ trust in us? Does your organization support the product being sold? Could this be misinterpreted by our audience?

Just the same, corporations want to do their due diligence to vet the nonprofits they partner with. When finding a nonprofit partnership, they want to first evaluate that nonprofit. A company might consider the size of a nonprofit, the scope of the work they do, and the overall effectiveness of its organization. They might look at things like past accomplishments, how donations are spent, or just overall donor satisfaction before moving forward with any cause-related marketing campaigns.

The Pros and Cons of cause-related marketing

PROS

Can increase a nonprofit’s reach.

Can increase a company’s sales.

Great way for companys to connect with consumers.

Great way for nonprofits to raise funds.

CONS

Mis-matched partnerships can feel inauthentic. 

Can lead to less sales if customers don’t approve of nonprofit.

Can be harder to execute a campaign when multiple stakeholders are involved.

How RoundUp at Checkout helps cause-related marketing

While there are many benefits to corporations partnering with nonprofits, cause-related marketing can fail when not done correctly. The single biggest indicator of a potentially harmful partnership comes when corporations and nonprofits have a mismatch in strategic vision and identity.

For example, an environmentally conscious nonprofit might avoid partnerships with corporations that have a negative impact on the environment. Instead, they might choose to partner with local farms, organic and sustainable restaurants, or community plant shops that better suit their brand. 

The key to deciding if a corporate partnership is right for your nonprofit is asking yourself a few critical questions. Does this improve or weaken our potential donors’ trust in us? Does your organization support the product being sold? Could this be misinterpreted by our audience?

Just the same, corporations want to do their due diligence to vet the nonprofits they partner with. When finding a nonprofit partnership, they want to first evaluate that nonprofit. A company might consider the size of a nonprofit, the scope of the work they do, and the overall effectiveness of its organization. They might look at things like past accomplishments, how donations are spent, or just overall donor satisfaction before moving forward with any cause-related marketing campaigns.

CASE STUDY

How Bestop used RoundUp at Checkout for Cause-Related Marketing

Read success story

Putting it all together

Another great way corporations can take advantage of cause-related marketing is to support a long or short-term project happening in their local communities. 

When nonprofit organizations partner with local online retailers they can increase donations and awareness of their community cause. Since eCommerce businesses often have a dedicated local fanbase as well as a more global audience, they can increase the audience size a local organization has access to. This results in more opportunities to fundraise beyond the local level while also integrating that corporation into the bedrock of the community.

The post Cause-Related Marketing: A Guide to Corporate and Nonprofit Partnerships appeared first on Roundup App.

Fundraising tools come in all shapes and sizes. For your nonprofit to be successful you’ll need to use a wide range of tools all designed to help you raise and manage funds effectively.

Nonprofits rely on the funds they raise to ensure the overall success of their organization and the causes they support. When looking for fundraising tools you’ll want to consider a few types of tools:

• Tools that make it easy to receive funds
• Tools that make it easy to manage donors and donations
• Tools that make marketing easier

What's included this article

• Fundraising tools that make receiving donations easy
• Fundraising tools that make managing donors and donations easier
• Tools for creating engaging marketing campaigns

Fundraising tools that make receiving donations easy

Embeddable donation forms

The most critical fundraising tool your organization is going to need is a high-quality and customizable donation form! Donation forms are the main way you’ll be receiving donations to your nonprofit so you have to go with the best.

When searching for the right donation form you need one that fits all of these criteria:

• It’s embeddable across the web
• It’s customizable for your brand
• It’s easy to use for all types of donors
• It allows multiple ways of giving

Our embeddable donation forms meet all of these criteria. We know that nonprofits might have small budgets or limited expertise with online donation forms. That’s why we made ours easy to embed on various websites. By copying the code and pasting it into an embed section, you can instantly gain access to donations.

Customization is a big feature that nonprofits need. You’ll want your donors to instantly recognize who they’re giving to. So look for donation forms that allow the changing of colors, logos, and cover photos.

You’ll also want something that accepts multiple methods of donating and is easy to use for all types of donors. This means finding a form that tech-savvy people can use just as easily as those with limited experience with online giving.

Mobile-first platform for your donors

Mobile giving is a growing trend. In 2021 more than 25% of donations were made using a mobile device. When looking for fundraising tools that help your nonprofit succeed, you’ll want to focus on platforms and tools that take a mobile-first approach to giving.

Apps like RoundUp App offer all nonprofits a mobile-first donor platform available for Google and Apple devices. The donor app lets donors make new RoundUp, monthly, and one-time donations while also giving them control over their donations. 

When considering tools for your fundraising efforts, make sure to test them on your mobile device. Ensure that mobile donors can access campaign pages, signup forms, donation forms, or all other tools on mobile devices.

Ecommerce and merchant connections

Nonprofits understand how valuable it is to partner with local merchants or eCommerce stores. Giving donors a way to give back as they spend normally is a huge win. While in-person connections are a great source of extra income, eCommerce connections can have a huge impact on your donation streams.

RoundUp App integrates with popular Ecommerce platforms WooCommerce, BigCommmerce, and offers its own API for additional connections. Our platform makes it super easy for online stores to find your organization and add it to their checkout process. When an online store adds your organization to their checkout process they’ll give donors the ability to RoundUp their purchase and donate it directly to your organization 

MARKETING RESOURCES

Improve your fundraising with templates for social media. email, texting, and more.

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Fundraising tools that make managing donors and donations easier

Platforms for Donor research

To better understand your audience you’ll want to invest in platforms that can help you learn more about your donors. Donor platforms like DonorSearch or Candid can provide you with detailed breakdowns of where donors give and how much they give to various organizations. 

Another great source of information on donors or donation trends is the publicly available data from The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Election Commission. This type of public information can be useful for gleaning more data about certain businesses or providing strong historical data on giving trends by companies or donors.

Tools for tracking donor data

When planning any new fundraising effort your organization is going to need solid tools for tracking donor data. By tracking donor data you’ll be able to better understand the needs of your donors as well as the successes of your organization.

With Ribbon and RoundUp App we give all organizations a comprehensive way to track donors and donations. When looking for tools to track donor data, be mindful of how much data they allow you to collect on your donors. Also consider whether or not that can be integrated effectively into other platforms you’re already using.

Consider tools, like Ribbon and RoundUp App, that give you access to date-based reporting on donations as well as tools that make accessing and updating donor information super easy.

CRM platforms for nonprofits

A customer relationship manager, also known as a CRM, is a vital tool for nonprofits. While not directly tied to asking for or receiving funds from your donors, CRMs help your organization better manage your contacts and keep track of all the information you send out.

There are plenty of CRMs to choose from, each with their own features, pros, and cons. In general, look for a platform that lets you track donor data and donors. You’ll also want one that integrates with marketing platforms you already use. 

Tools for creating engaging marketing campaigns

Every good fundraising push is going to require some marketing. That’s why you’ll want to invest in tools that help you easily create new and engaging marketing campaigns.

Social media marketing tools

One of the tools we recommend is Canva. Canva makes it super easy for anyone to create new social media posts or other marketing assets. We offer dozens of pre-made social media templates you can instantly edit with your Canva account.

You’ll also likely want to invest in a social media scheduling tool that makes it easy to share posts across channels. Platforms like Sprout Social, Sprinklr and Hootsuite help you schedule and manage social media messages across channels. Using one of these platforms will make it even easier for you to create engaging marketing campaigns.  

Email marketing tools

Email marketing continues to be one of the highest-performing marketing channels across industries. When looking for new fundraising tools for your nonprofit, focus on finding an email marketing platform that’s reliable and easy to use. 

Here’s a list of popular email marketing platforms:

• Mailchimp – A popular choice for organizations of all sizes. Mailchimp also offer a 15% discount to nonprofits and charities they verify
• Campaign monitor – Offers a 15% discount to nonprofits, with access to all tools to create email templates.
• Hubspot – Hubspot as a great email editor and integrates with lots of other common pieces of software.
• Litmus – An all-in-one email marketing platform that’s used by plenty of organizations.
• Klaviyo – An email and SMS marketing platform used by nonprofits.
• Drip – Lacks a drag and drop template builder but does have custom HTML plain text templates available. 
• Get Response – gives nonprofits a 50% off option with access to hundreds of templates. 
• Active Campaign – A platform with options for personalized and automated email marketing.
• Constant Contact – Designed for small businesses and packed as an all-in-one digital marketing platform.

If you already have a reliable email marketing platform, check out other email marketing resources like ReallyGoodEmails and BeePro which give you email inspiration and a robust email builder respectively

The post Fundraising tools for your nonprofit appeared first on Roundup App.

A Russian invasion of Ukraine has begun and many around the country want to know how they can support the Ukrainian people. More than 3 million Ukrainians have fled their country for safety. Those that do remain are faced with an incalculable loss as cities and residencies continue to be bombed or destroyed. Ukrainians will need international support as they continue to struggle with the fallout from war.

There are lots of great ways you can help the Ukrainian people with donations or acts of service. We’ve rounded up a few ways you can support Ukraine during these difficult times.

Supporting through our Support Ukraine cause fund.

We’ve currently put together a cause fund that’s dedicated to supporting the Ukrainian people. By donating to our cause fund you’re contributing directly to four organizations working hard to improve outcomes internationally and help with the refugee crisis. 

Our Cause Fund sends your donations directly to Amnesty International, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nation International Refugee Humanitarian Organization, and The Human Rights Watch. All are big names in international support and relief and were chosen specifically for their ability to strategically and effectively deploy resources, aide, and support during a crisis. 

Donations made through our Support Ukraine will not be subject to any fees with all money going directly to the causes listed.

We thought it would also be helpful to “round up” and summarize corporate giving and other helpful lists we’ve seen shared:

McKinsey & Co.

McKinsey & Co. announced to their alumni network that they have donated over $2 million in a week to Ukraine. Their Global Social Responsibility team has suggested seven organizations that are supporting peace and humanitarian aid for Ukraine:

1. Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund via the Global Giving Foundation
2. Ukraine 2022 Emergency Appeal via the International Committee of the Red Cross
3. Nova Ukraine
4. UNICEF’s response in Ukraine via UNICEF USA
5. Mercy Corps
6. United Ukrainian American Relief Committee
7. United Help Ukraine

The Canva Foundation

Canva’s philanthropic arm, The Canva Foundation is working with a number of nonprofits including UNHCR, Save the Children Ukraine, Tabletochki, UNICEF, and World Vision who are all providing on-the-ground support to Ukrainians. 

Boston College has created a long list of other efforts by corporations to support Ukraine that they pledge to keep up-to-date. If you’d like to share an effort you’re company is engaged in, you can share it with them via this form.

Organizations providing medical support

The University of Texas at Austin’s Center for Russian and Eastern European studies department put together a list of organizations that we’d also like to share:

The Help Ukraine Center is a Polish-German initiative powered by the Ernst Prost Foundation. Medicines and other essential humanitarian products will be delivered to regions that need it the most, in cooperation with our partners: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, ROZETKA, Fozzy Group, TIS, Dragon Capital, Spunbond fund, Ukrposhta.

Razom is helping with tactical medical training. Help qualified war medics teach civilians first aid and provide them with medical supplies. Now sourcing funding for a cargo plane shipment of medical aid.

The United Ukrainian American Relief Committee is providing vital medical supplies to victims, care for the injured and refugees, as well as shelter and food to those affected.

Lifeline Ukraine is offering psychosocial support for Ukrainians dealing with war. Ukraine’s first suicide prevention hotline mobilized in response to alarming rates of veteran suicide.

Veterans and internally displaced persons

Future Kyiv Charitable Foundation is a collection of charitable contributions for the purchase of humanitarian aid to Kyiv residents, organized by the Kyiv Municipal Government.

Ukrainian People With Disabilities in Crisis helps Ukrainians with disabilities, especially those who want but cannot evacuate, protect themselves in case of emergency.

British-Ukraine Aid offers assistance to vulnerable individuals who have been physically, mentally or socially disadvantaged, including the injured and wounded, orphaned children, the elderly, internally displaced persons and families who have lost their main earners. More information here.

People in Need: SOS Ukraine provides food and sanitation packages, emergency shelter, psychosocial support, and more in Donetsk and Luhansk, both in territory under the control of the Ukrainian government and in territory not currently under government control.

UN Crisis Relief: Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund all contributions are collected into a single, unearmarked fund and managed locally under UN leadership. As crises evolve, funds are made directly and immediately available to a wide range of partner organizations at the front lines of response. This way, funding reaches the people most in need when they need it.

Support Religious and ethnic minorities

JDC: Emergency in Ukraine provides a lifeline for an estimated 40,000 Jewish elderly and 2,500 poor Jewish children and their families through its network of care services, Jewish community programs, and Jewish leaders in more than 1,000 locations across Ukraine.

Rabbi Bleich’s Help Kyiv is helping to set up a Refugee Camp for the Kyiv Jewish Community, organized by Ukraine’s Chief Rabbi.

United Jewish Appeal supports urgent and mounting humanitarian needs including food, shelter, transport, and emergency medical units.

Roma Women Fund advocates for Roma women’s rights in Ukraine and collaborates with Roma communities on the regional level.

Support LGBTQIA+ Ukrainians 

Insight NGO is A Ukrainian human rights public organization that brings together lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people.

Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights Association supports LGBT military in their fight on the frontline and for equality of all citizens at home.

Support Ukrainian Children

Help Us Help all donations will be used to fund evacuation and relocation, humanitarian aid delivery, and medical assistance.

Save the Children – Ukraine is distributing essential humanitarian aid to children and families. Includes hygiene kits, winter kits, cash grants to families for food, rent, and medicine. Also are providing access to safe, inclusive, quality education and working to help children overcome the mental and psychological impacts of conflict.

Toy Drive for the Children of Fallen Heroes is providing assistance for displaced people, orphans, and families of Ukrainian military who died or were hurt in action. Volunteers also learn about needs on the ground and pass on information to the organization.

Education

Ukrainian Leadership Academy is an educational program that aims to develop a generation of young leaders for Ukraine and the world. Over the course of a gap year, young adults learn to work in a team, set goals, develop projects, take responsibility for their lives and the country’s fate, and choose their future profession more consciously.

Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation invests in the lives of young and talented future leaders of Ukraine and the diaspora.

Veteranius helps teach and employ veterans, volunteers, and internally displaced persons in the IT sector and involves them in socially important projects.

The post How to support Ukraine appeared first on Roundup App.

What are micro-donations?

According to experts, micro-donations are any small donation, generally in amounts between $0.25 and $10. 

When many nonprofits and donors think about donations, they don’t think about small, consistent donations. Instead they imagine big checks for one-time payments, or large monthly donations.

However, that’s not the reality for the majority of nonprofits. What type of donations do the majority of nonprofits receive? Usually small monthly or one-time gifts! Donors are also more likely to give smaller dollar amounts as gifts, rather than big lump sums.

A growing trend in the world of donating takes this a step further: micro-donations. Donors are increasingly working giving into their daily life by using the concept of micro-donations to fund the nonprofits and charities they support.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These donations are simple to start but have a big impact on a cause or a nonprofit’s overall success. As a bonus, when donors use the RoundUp or micro-donation approach to charitable giving, they often find they’re able to contribute more per–month to their favorite nonprofit or charity! 

What is Microphilanthropy?

Microphilanthropy is a growing trend in the world of fundraising and donating where donors give small amounts regularly to nonprofits. These donations are called micro-donations!

Donors who practice microphilanthropy are often more engaged with a nonprofit’s mission and values. They’re also more likely to keep giving, long after more traditional donors have stopped giving.

What's included this guide

• Micro-donations defined
• Why should nonprofits care about micro-donations
• How nonprofits can partner with merchants
• Wrapping it all up

Why should nonprofits care about micro donations?

The short answer is: micro donations are another easy way to diversify your funding structure. The longer answer is that micro donations are on the rise, especially among audience types that historically are less likely to donate to a nonprofit or charity.

There are four main reasons we think you should invest in micro donations:

1. Micro Donations are a passive source of monthly donations for nonprofits
2. They go hand in hand with mobile and social giving
3. Micro donations target younger generations
4. It’s an easier ask 

Micro donations as a passive source of monthly donations

Nonprofits already know how dependent they are on recurring donations to keep them operational and help them accomplish their goals. Many nonprofits allow their donors to give in many different ways already, but the best type of donations are those that occur monthly, with minimal action from nonprofits (changing this later it sounds clunk).

When a donor signs up for apps like RoundUp App and starts a new round up donation the rounding up and donating process happens automatically. Donors simply live their life as normal and, each month, the combined sum of their RoundUp donations and donate it directly to their nonprofit. The RoundUp method of donating increase donor retention rates to around 18 months while also increasing the overall contributions donors make to their nonprofit of choice.

Micro donations work with mobile and social giving

Did you know that nearly 20% of all giving is done through a mobile device? Or that people are more likely to donate when they know someone else close to them is also donating? Micro donations align with both of these facts! Since micro donations are often done automatically through apps like RoundUp App, they capitalize on the growing trend for mobile giving by connecting donors effortlessly where they’re most likely to give: from their phone!

Micro donations also capitalize on social giving by encouraging donors to think of donating less as a monthly goal and more as a daily action for good. In apps that use micro-donation or the roundup approach to donating, donors can track each individual micro donation they make and highlight that to their friends, family, and coworkers! They’re also able to share with their social media followers that they just made new one-time or monthly gifts!

They target younger generations

Everyone and their mother is trying to reach the future leaders: Gen Z (as of 2020, they comprise 26% of the U.S. population!). But Gen Z isn’t pulling out their checkbooks to donate. In fact, they probably don’t even have checkbooks! If nonprofits want to be accessible to a younger generation they’ll have to partner with technology and software, like RoundUp App, that takes a mobile-first approach to donating.

Additionally, micro donations target Gen Z at the life stage they’re currently at: new to the workforce and less likely to have the structure and stability needed to make big one-time gifts. Micro donations like those made through RoundUp App work with the flexible budgets of Gen Z. Donors are able to set maximums on the amount of money they’d like to donate a month, track their spending daily, and pause and restart donations at any time.

Giving Gen Z these types of mobile-first and flexible options to donate meets them where they’re at. It also shows this younger audience that your nonprofit respects both their time and their budget. 

They’re are an easier ask

Let’s be honest: asking for a small donation is always easier than asking for a big donation. Micro donations work wonderfully because they adjust to the budget of the donor. Micro donations usually happen based on daily transactions, rather than fixed monthly amounts.

This means their micro donation is uniquely tailored to their lifestyle and their budget! For donors that spend a lot during the month, their monthly donation will look bigger. For donors that spend less per month, their donation will be smaller. Rather than asking donors to fit a set amount of money into their budgets each month, micro donations adjust automatically with the donor. 

In addition, spending $50 a month might seem shocking. But spending $1.50 a day for a month? That’s absolutely doable for most donors!

How nonprofits can partner with merchants to create micro-donations

Nonprofits know how valuable it is to partner with local businesses or online merchants. These types of partnerships can provide strong and reliable fundraising streams that benefit both parties.

One way that nonprofits can leverage this type of partnership is through micro-donations, usually in the form of rounding up purchases at checkout. Nonprofits can partner with local stores to ask customers to round up their purchase at checkout or donate an additional amount at checkout.

Nonprofits can also use plugins like RoundUp at Checkout to partner with online merchants or e-commerce stores. With RoundUp at Checkout, merchants can select nonprofits to donate to and ask each of their customers to donate additional dollars as they complete their online checkout. 

These types of donations are meant to be small, one-time donations. However, partnering with online or physical stores gives nonprofits access to a wider range of potential donors than they might normally see.

Wrapping it all up

The micro donation trend is on the rise and will only continue to grow in the coming years. The best way to capitalize on this trend is to partner with micro donation apps like RoundUp App. By offering your potential and current donors a flexible way to donate, you’ll get higher retention rates, an easy-to-use mobile platform and of course, an effortless way to donate to your nonprofit!

Utilizing micro donations will maintain or boost your donor retention rates. We can help you boost your nonprofit’s visibility and make it easy to fundraise. Remember: micro donations might be small change, but small change can make a big impact.

The post Micro donations: what they are and how they help your nonprofit appeared first on Roundup App.

Why you should link your RoundUp App profile on your website

Organizations get better results when they actively promote their RoundUp App partnership to their audience. Plus, we’ve found that for our top-performing nonprofits, 50%+ of the daily traffic to their RoundUp App profile comes from direct links they include on their website!

Your audience likely already uses your website as their first point of contact when they want to donate to you. By linking your RoundUp App profile you’re making it easier for them to start giving. 

How other nonprofits feature RoundUp App program

Nonprofits rely on the continued support of both current and new donors. So when it comes to highlighting ways to donor, they’re experts! We’ve collected some examples of how nonprofits currently using RoundUp App promote and feature us on their website. There are three ways we recommend featuring us on your website:

1. Including us in your navigation or your header
2. Including RoundUp App in featured sections on your homepage
3. Including RoundUp App in your “ways to donate” or “donate now” pages.

Through custom embeddable donation forms

Nonprofits that use RoundUp App have access to custom embeddable donation forms. These forms link donors directly to a nonprofit’s page in RoundUp App, allowing them to easily make donations. Our forms can be customized with brand colors and custom donation amounts, so you can let your brand identity shine!

Nonprofits that use RoundUp App have access to custom embeddable donation forms. These forms link donors directly to a nonprofit’s page in RoundUp App, allowing them to easily make donations. Our forms can be customized with brand colors and custom donation amounts, so you can let your brand identity shine!

 

Through links in their navigation and header 

Want to know the best place to include info about RoundUp App on your website? It’s in the header! Headers and navigation menus on websites are the most visited and clicked places. This is because they’re crucial to helping new audience members navigate your site.

There are many different ways you can include links to your RoundUp App profile in your header. You can include a direct link like “RoundUp for change,” a custom donate button, or include us in the drop-down options of your menu!

Here are some examples of how other nonprofits have included RoundUp App in their header:

USTA Flordia includes RoundUp App in their header and as a featured section in their hero slider.

Use one of our custom donate with RoundUp App image buttons

Make it easy for potential donors to find your RoundUp App profile by using one of our premade “Donate with RoundUp App” buttons.

 

You can embed one of these buttons as an image anywhere on your site and link them directly to your RoundUp App profile. These work great on pages listing how to donate, in footers, or in blog posts, articles, or even email campaigns!

Download a set of these image buttons to use here.

Through featured sections

If you’re using a website builder or a custom theme on popular content management systems like WordPress, you likely have the option of adding in featured sections.

These types of sections are a great way to connect your audience to crucial pieces of information or to direct them immediately to your RoundUp App profile. One way to highlight RoundUp App is to create a new featured section dedicated solely to the RoundUp method of donating.

In this section, you can briefly explain how RoundUp donations work, why they’re important, and provide a direct link to your RoundUp App profile. Here are some creative ways nonprofits working with RoundUp App have done just that.

Through ways to donate pages

Most nonprofits offer their donors multiple ways to donate to their organization. Whether it’s through monthly donations, one-time gifts, donating in honor or memory of someone special, or through RoundUp purchases, all donations are important.

To help donors keep track of the multiple ways they can contribute to an organization, most nonprofits create a “ways to donate” or “donate now” page. These pages are a great place to embed or link to your RoundUp App profile.

When linking us in pages like these, you can emphasize the RoundUp method of donating plus how RoundUp App allows donors to easily make one-time gifts, monthly gives, and gifts in honor or memory of someone special!

Here are some examples of how nonprofits working with RoundUp App have featured us:

The Be Kind Project links directly to their RoundUp App profile on their “Donate” page!

 

Do you have your own creative way of highlighting your RoundUp App profile? Share your examples in our community slack channel!

The post Creative Ways to Feature RoundUp App on your Website appeared first on Roundup App.

What are the basics of community-centric fundraising?

Community-centric fundraising is grounded in equity and in social justice. The site communitycentricfundraising.org, a primary leader in this movement, describes it as a movement that “prioritize[s] the entire community over individual organizations.” 

Think of a typical fundraising structure you might find at any nonprofit organization. Chances are it relies heavily on a few “major” donors writing big checks. These types of donations, while great, often come with strings attached. In these types of fundraising structures big-dollar donors, whether intentionally or not, end up having an outsized impact on the type of work an organization does. 

Since nonprofits rely on external donors for funding, they often have to please big donors to make sure they are happy and will keep donating. Additionally, nonprofits often lack the number of donors necessary to be funded completely through small-dollar donations, so big-dollar donations have more impact.

Community-centric fundraising places the causes and communities they work with at the center of the organization, not the donors. While organizations that practice community-centric fundraising still respect and value their donors, their voices aren’t at the center of the work. 

How does this lead back to social justice and equity?

As Communitycentricfundraising.org puts it, “conversations around fundraising must move beyond diversifying donors and tapping into marginalized communities to give. It must move toward sometimes uncomfortable discussions regarding race and wealth disparities, and more.“

All too often nonprofits take advantage of this disparity in their funding structures without acknowledging it directly to their donors. On their site, community-centric fundraising acknowledges ways nonprofits can ground their fundraising efforts in race, equity, and social justice. They mention training staff in social justice areas like anti-racism, systematic oppression, and intersectionality. 

Nonprofits often, unfortunately, fight for donations too. Because there are so many nonprofits in the United States, each covering varying types of causes and missions, many nonprofits intersect. When nonprofits compete for resources, they can facilitate a “tragedy of the commons” effect in which some organizations benefit while others fail.

Instead of competition, community-centric fundraising asks for coalition building. It stresses that the communities nonprofits support are most important and that nonprofits are simply a part of that community. There are a lot of things you can do to prevent this resource hoarding:

• Be purposeful and mindful about the grants you apply for.
• Continually check to see if your community is still aligned with your goals.
• Adjust, merge, or even shut down organizations if you’re negatively impacting a community.
• Include community members in your organizational structure and decision-making.
• Work together, not separately to achieve your goals.

How nonprofits can work together to support communities

Another key principle of the community-centric fundraising model relies on nonprofits working together, not apart. This means supporting each other and working together as partners, allies, and supporters rather than direct competitors.

One way to work together is through the use of cause funds or mutual aid. At RoundUp App we practice a cause-fund approach to donating. Cause funds are created with a set goal or mission in mind. They wrap together organizations that are similar or complementary to each other to spread a donor’s donation further and make a larger impact on the community. When using cause funds, we ask donors to think about more than the organization they support. Instead, we ask them to think about how they can best help their community or cause 

Cause-funds might lump in organizations that, at first glance, don’t seem directly related to the cause. For example, a cause fund on environmental action might also include black-run community improvement organizations. At first glance, this could seem confusing or counter-intuitive. However, by digging deeper and understanding the needs of the community you can see how they fit together. Drastic climate change will have an outsized impact on communities of color, so it’s important that movements to end climate change center and support those voices too.

How nonprofits can work with donors, not for donors

In a community-centric model to fundraising, donors are just one part of a larger community. When trying to practice a community model of fundraising, nonprofits need to have open and honest conversations with their donors.

During these conversations, you might find that your donors and your organization have fundamental disagreements about key issues. Your donors might think it’s appropriate to spend money one way, while your nonprofit knows that type of funding is ineffective or actively harmful to the community you serve. While your first instinct might be to avoid these disagreements and appease donors, remember that it’s okay to have disagreements! 

Instead of avoiding potential disagreements, be conscious about the conversations you have. Create webinars or listening sessions with donors to help them understand key differences. Use data collected along with your expertise in the field to respectfully explain to donors how certain actions could harm the community you’re serving. Above all else, be transparent about what you’re working with, who you’re working for, and why you’re doing the work you’re doing.

How nonprofits can learn more about community-centric fundraising

The best resource to learn more about community-centric fundraising is through the website communitycentricfundraising.org. They provide resources and direct ways to get involved. 

Nonprofits can also get involved immediately by having more conversations with their donors and their communities, including difficult conversations around race and racism, including structural and institutional racism that may be ingrained in your organization’s history or current practices. This includes analyzing past fundraisers, donor communications, and even funding structures for any inherent or structural bias. 

By doing this work now, you’ll center your organization as a part of the community, increasing the impact you have and making real-world connections and change.

The post Community centric fundraising: what it is and how it works appeared first on Roundup App.

A donation drive is when individuals and groups can donate items or monetary amounts to nonprofits in need. Everyone wants to help so by creating a donation drive you direct that support. When most people think of donation drives they think of a time-based campaign, generally focused on donating physical items. However many donation drives are simply focused on hitting a specific or time-sensitive monetary goal. At RoundUp App our platform helps nonprofits manage their recurring monetary donors and gain new recurring or one-time donations.

Nonprofits might be looking to quickly raise enough money to buy winter coats for individuals without homes during the winter. You might be working to improve a set part of your community quickly, or just simply attempting to get in as many donations as possible before the end of the year.

Whether you’re hosting on behalf of a nonprofit or a nonprofit hosting one yourself: here is how to get started with your donation drive:

Create a Goal for your donation drive

By starting your donation drive with a goal in mind you can optimize the success of your campaign. This part is easy, look at your organization and identify the biggest need. Is your goal to raise a monetary amount for the nonprofit or do they need more physical items? 

There are two groups you want to keep in mind as you create your goal: the impacted and the donor. The “impacted” is the who or what your nonprofit seeks to help or change. What are their needs? When you find their need, think about the involvement of the donor. Not everyone is comfortable doing the physical aspect of the donation. Make sure your ask is achievable!

Nonprofits using RoundUp App have two ways of setting goals for their nonprofits. They can set a donor goal to attempt to signup a set amount of donors within a time period, or use our campaign function to track donations to a specific cause or time-based donation effort.

Marketing your donation drive

Now it’s time to get the word out. Share! Share! Share! Meet your donors where they are at. Create a social media campaign to share relevant updates, facts, or statistics from your donation drive! This could be a chance to get people to share with a branded hashtag. Make sure you utilize an email campaign to nurture people who’ve given in the past. 

By creating campaigns with easy calls to action you can get your donor working. It’s important in all marketing to make your goal and timeline understandable. The easier it is for your donors, the better.

At RoundUp App we provide nonprofits with a free marketing library they can use to increase the success of their donation drives. Our library has resources for getting donors onboarded to RoundUp App, engaging current donors, and growing your audience of donors through email, text, and social campaigns.

Hosting your donation drive

Once your donation drive is scheduled, it’s important to have volunteers and employees on the same page. Start off your donation drive with a group meeting explaining your goal and processes. By starting on common ground, there is going to be less confusion. 

Now is the time to share time-sensitive materials and communicate the urgency of your drive. If your donation drive is happening over a day or a week, make sure to post updates on your social media to give your following an idea of how successful the drive is. Push your goal and share how it will impact your nonprofit. Hopefully, with the right messaging, your donation drive will be thriving! 

If you’re hosting a donor drive primarily asking for physical donations you can also double your impact by running a connecting digital campaign. With RoundUp App you can create separate campaigns and connect your donors directly to your new campaign. By creating a connecting digital campaign you’re helping double the efforts of your donation drive. While many donors will have physical items to donate to your organization, plenty of others will still want to give, but lack the necessary items. Ask these donors for one-time gifts or recurring monthly or RoundUp donations. You can easily make these through RoundUp App by linking donors to your embedded brand profile!

After your donation drive

After you’ve hosted your successful donation drive, hit your goal, or received as many donations as you can handle, you’ll want to follow up with your audience. Your two primary goals are: saying thank you and sharing your success!

Thank Yous

After you hit your goal or receive donations, you want to make sure you thank everyone for their time, effort and donations. By sending out a thank you email you have an opportunity to nurture the relationship between your nonprofit and the donor, creating lasting benefactors.

Sharing Your Success

Now that you’ve wrapped up a successful donation drive, make sure to share on social media and to your email list. Donors love seeing the impact their donations made, so it’s a great way to engage your audience!

Use your social media accounts to share the story of your donation drive. You can include videos of your volunteers collecting donations, share pictures of the types of donations you received, or post eye-popping graphics and statistics to let your donors know what impact they made!

Finally, you’ll also want to include any success metrics from your corresponding digital campaigns. At RoundUp App we provide all nonprofits with a donor dashboard that lets them track the total donations made from their donors. You can also use features like our donor goal and campaign tracker to track the success of your digital donation drives.

The post Donation Drives: What They are and How to Start Your Own appeared first on Roundup App.