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

Learn more

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.

The post What is Grassroots Fundraising? 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.

As online giving increases in popularity each year, there are a lot of options out there for a nonprofit looking to diversify their revenue streams. So, why choose RoundUp App?

The Ease of Use for Nonprofits

We strive to make our platform as easy as possible to use. Nonprofits who register with us receive guides and tips for getting started, as well as full access to a marketing library plus regular updates from our team of experts. The marketing library includes downloadable images and text that is pre-populated with each nonprofit’s name and mission statement for use across all social media platforms, plus email and SMS.

Our engineering team is also constantly releasing product updates that make it easier for nonprofits to set up their accounts and offer more analytics and reporting features in the admin dashboard.

The Ease of Use for Donors

The RoundUp App team cares deeply about the donor experience. That’s one of the reasons why our platform has an 80% donor retention rate.

We allow donors to have complete control over their charitable giving – from setting monthly minimum & maximum donation amounts to having the ability to pause and un-pause their donations. This control gives users the confidence they need to feel secure.

The home screen of the app even displays a running tally of a user’s RoundUps, so their donation amount at the end of the month is never a surprise. Plus, their donation history is right there in the app, so it’s easy for users to see how much they’ve donated each year.

Variety of Donation Options

While RoundUp App’s main selling point is “spare change” donations, people can also use the platform to give in other ways. By setting a monthly maximum donation, users can become monthly donors without even using the RoundUp feature. This setting is perfect for people who want to donate a set amount each month.

Additionally, there is a one-time donation option, which is particularly useful if your nonprofit is having an event or celebrating a milestone and your supporters want to give an extra gift. Nonprofits can even create Campaigns in the admin portal, allowing donors to give to a particular project or initiative.

No matter what your organization’s fundraising goals are, RoundUp App is a no-brainer solution to augment your online giving program. Its ease of use for both nonprofits and donors, plus the variety of donation options make it an effortless and nimble donation platform.

Read “Why Choose RoundUp App for Your Fundraising Efforts” part 1.

Register your organization with RoundUp App.

The post Why Choose RoundUp App for Your Fundraising Efforts? (Part 2) appeared first on Roundup App.

On RoundUp App we give space for all nonprofits to include their impact statement. It’s one of the most important parts about a nonprofit’s RoundUp App brand profile! Why? If a potential donor is unsure of whether or not they will support your nonprofit through RoundUp App, the impact statement can be the deciding factor!

We’ve actually crunched the numbers and nonprofits that use impact statements on their profile perform better than those without them! Want to know how to write a compelling impact statement? We’ll show you in just a few steps:

1. Make them short, simple, and to the point
2. Be specific
3. Avoid Jargon or specialized language

Making your impact statement short, simple, and to the point

On RoundUp App, all of our impact statements start the same: “Donating the spare change from your credit or debit card purchases allows us to…” Nonprofits fill in the blanks with a 70-character statement that completes the sentence.

We enforce the 70 character limit because we know that the shorter and simpler a statement is, the better results it has!

Making those 70 characters count

Keeping an impact statement down to 70 characters forces you to be mindful about what you are writing. Often when we’re writing for work there are phrases we use again and again without even thinking about it. When was the last time you really thought about how you phrase your case for support?

Be intentional about each word you choose for your impact statement.

Be Specific

Find a balance between keeping your impact statement simple and being specific about the projects or initiatives that donors, like those on RoundUp App, will have on your nonprofit.

While it can be tempting to write about everything your nonprofit is working on, you don’t want to overwhelm potential donors by trying to squeeze too much into your case for support. But don’t swing too far in the other direction by making too general of a statement. Your nonprofit is unique and you want potential donors to know what sets you apart from similar organizations.

Avoid Jargon or Specialized Language

Another writing trap we all fall into, but can be especially relevant for nonprofits, is using jargon that might be unfamiliar to the average person. Internally there are words we’re accustomed to using to describe what we do, but without context, certain keywords or phrases might cause confusion.

The most successful and persuasive statements often use “plain language” writing. The easier your mission is to understand, the better time your audiences will have connecting with your mission and feeling inspired to support it.

Examples of effective and compelling impact statements

Want to see how other nonprofits using RoundUp App create their impact statements? We’ve got some examples from you. Below are examples from some of the top nonprofits on RoundUp App right now and their in-app impact statements!

Your donation allows us to procure and distribute food and essentials to the hungry.

Houston Food Bank

Your donation allows us to put the power of kindness to work.

Be Kind Project

Your donation allows us to provide legal services/advocate for those most vulnerable in society.

Urban Justice Center

Your donation allows us to inspire respect for nature through an appreciation of birds.

National Aviary

Your donation allows us to ensure that all women and families are thriving.

YWCA Metropolitan Chicago

Your donation allows us to continue to support people who are blind with lifelong skills.

Leader Dogs for the Blind

Putting it all Together

With all of those lessons in mind, here’s a sample impact statement for a food bank, before using our three tips:

While that sample impact statement falls within the 70 character limit, it’s quite wordy and not everyone may be familiar with phrases like “food insecurity.” Instead, a food bank might say something like this instead:

Use these tips in all of your writing to help create a clear case for support that donors will understand and that will inspire them to take action.

To learn more about RoundUp App and register your nonprofit, visit our nonprofit page.

The post How to Write a Compelling Impact Statement appeared first on Roundup App.

The Numbers

Let’s start with the numbers. Nonprofit reports over the past few years have consistently shown that the popularity of online and mobile giving is continuously on the rise. According to Blackbaud’s 2017 Charitable Giving Report, online charitable giving increased by an impressive 12.1% and online giving now accounts for 7.6% of overall fundraising. And of those online donations, more than 21% are made with a mobile device.

Plus, RoundUps are reported as the most common way of giving to a charity. Over a 2 year period, 50% of Americans donated by rounding up during checkout.

The Donor Experience

Offering donors the opportunity to “just donate their spare change” is a smaller perceived ask than asking for a monthly donation (even though the end result is the same).

Plus, the signup process really is easy! After setup is complete, donors use their cards in-store and online as usual. They do NOT have to open or use the app during checkout. It works seamlessly in the background to calculate the RoundUp amount for each transaction.

Donors also have complete control over their giving. They can add and remove cards, set a minimum and maximum donation amount, pause donations at any time and cancel their account right in the app. This means that your nonprofit doesn’t have to worry about any customer service or account maintenance.

The final piece of the donor experience – security – is something that we take very seriously at RoundUp App. That’s why we partner with Stripe and Plaid to process transactions. Only Stripe has access to donor’s credit or debit card numbers and Plaid’s API establishes the connection between the app and the donor’s credit or debit card accounts. In short, no card information or bank credentials are ever stored on the app or our servers.

The RoundUp App Impact

The average RoundUp App user gives $15-$20 each month. So even with just 25 RoundUp App donors, you could raise an extra $6,000 a year for your nonprofit. The best part is that these donations are predictable and allow you to spend less time focused on fundraising, and more time focused on your mission.

Plus, we offer the tools and resources you need to be successful with RoundUp App without feeling overwhelmed and alone. Registered nonprofits receive access to a library of marketing templates plus donor reporting in an easy-to-use format. You also have access to an administrative dashboard with all of your donor information and more.

It’s also completely free to sign up and start using! So why not register your nonprofit for RoundUp App today and add an extra source of reliable, monthly donations to your revenue stream.

The post Why Choose RoundUp App for Your Fundraising Efforts? appeared first on Roundup App.