Committed vs Interested – A fundraising dilemma
Many groups across Canada run successful and profitable FundScrip gift card fundraisers every year. In fact, FundScrip group campaigns earned a total of over $2 Million dollars in 2012 alone.
While most Administrators have no problems convincing supporters to buy gift cards to support their cause on a regular basis, some are not so lucky.
So, what can you do to ensure that your supporters purchase gift cards on a regular and consistent basis in support of your fundraising goal?
The answer to this question is not entirely clear-cut because many factors may be at play. However, one of the most crucial elements of any successful FundScrip program is an enthusiastic Group Administrator. If an administrator is keen about the program [committed to the fundraiser] then that keenness will be most certainly passed on to their supporters by extension. If your heart isn’t in it, then that will show. Basically, if you don’t really care – why should your Supporters?
So, you are “all in”, eh? Great! FundScrip makes the next steps easy by providing its Group Administrators with many tools through its Program Manager System and Ordering website.
Here are a few of them:
- Recurring Orders (initiated by Supporter from their Profile)
Some supporters who, despite their best intentions, forget to order with any regularity can benefit from this handy “set it and forget it” feature. - Administrator Library (available to the Group Administrator in the Program Manager)
The Library is loaded with useful documents which provide advice and strategies to help you manage our gift card fundraiser. - Fundrazr Group Administrator Blog (you are here!) Our blog is filled with interviews, tips, strategies and more – go ahead, explore and see for yourself!
- Monthly Promotions (available to the Group Administrator from the Library in the Program Manager)
Three participating retailers are featured every month with increased earnings, which can help motivate your Supporters to purchase on an on-going basis. - Group Broadcast (available to Group Administrator running an Online or Combo Program from the Program Manager)
This feature is an excellent way to send your Supporters news about your campaign which helps create a better sense of community and achievement as the goal gets closer.
Another fundamental element to success is communication. Expecting that your supporters will just “get what your doing” with little or no interaction with you isn’t realistic.
Successful communication of your FundScrip campaign can be accomplished through:
- Email campaigns
- Newsletters
- Posters
- Presence at events
- Paper Order Forms
- Website page
- Blog posts
- Social media groups
It’s truly a team effort! Fuel the relationship with your supporters with commitment and they will fuel you with participation. There is no room for half-hearted fundraising efforts on either side – it’s all the way or none of the way.
Where do you stand? Truly committed or merely interested in your group’s fundraiser?
Visualizing your FundScrip fundraising campaign
There’s an interesting trend afoot among both nonprofits and the wider internet social media crowd, and that’s the use of infographics as a marketing tool. Infographics allow nonprofits to create data visualisations that are easy to comprehend. This trend of “going visual” is a perfect opportunity for FundScrip Group Administrators to tell (and for that matter – sell) the story of their campaign to potential supporters through the use of visuals.
“Research at 3M Corporation concluded that we process visuals 60,000 times faster than text.”
“In 1986, a 3M-sponsored study at the University of Minnesota School of Management found that presenters who use visual aids are 43% more effective in persuading audience members to take a desired course of action than presenters who don’t use visuals.”
This undoubtedly explains the popularity of websites like Pinterest, SlideShare, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr and; of course, Facebook. It also explains the rise in usage of info graphics over the last 18 months. It’s no wonder that visual communication continues its strong hold into 2013.
From Fast Company on this subject: The Rise Of Visual Social Media
“As more people engage with social media via smartphones, they’re discovering that taking a picture “on the go” using a high-resolution phone is much less tedious than typing out a status update on a two-inch keyboard.”
What exactly should you include in your infographic?
All you need to remember is that you should tell your group’s story; it really is the best way to proceed. You can place emphasis on any or all these ideas:
- Educating others about your group or cause
- What has your group achieved with fundraising dollars in the past
- Your group’s goal
- Your intention for the money raised
- Stats, figures and important numbers that would add meaning to your fundraising cause
- How your FundScrip campaign will work
- Your version of how FundScrip works
Reality Check Time: This all sounds great, but I’m not a graphic designer!
Have no fear, we’ve gone out and found some of the best tools on the web that can make it easy to design your own infographic.
- Pictochart – Free to try
- Visual.ly – Free
- Infogram – Free
Although some of these tools are not free, there are some with free trials.You can check out even more tools here.
Now, what do you do with your awesome infographic?
Now that you have produced a professional looking info graphic, you will want to share it with your audience (or your potential supporters). Begin by posting the graphic on your group’s website, then you can start sharing on your Social Media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin, Instagram, etc) and get people on board with your fundraising program.
Now go forth and create your own awesome infographic!
We know it can be difficult to get back into the swing of things after taking a break from fundraising over the holidays.
As a FundScrip Group Administrator, you probably know that January can seem to be more of an uphill climb in terms of motivating your fundraising supporters, especially if you compare it to the seemingly effortless earnings of November and December.
However, January is an outstanding month for FundScrip Group Administrators to promote two of the most publicized and hyped events of the year – superbowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day.
Here are some gift card suggestions you should promote to your Supporters for superbowl Sunday:
- FundScrip participating retailers related to party foods like M&M or Subway or even grocery stores like Metro, Loblaws or Safeway
- FundScrip participating retailers related to party favors and decorations such as Giant Tiger, Zellers, or Shoppers Drug Mart.
- FundScrip participating retailers related to restaurants likely to have game night events such as, Earls, Boston Pizza, The Keg or Jack Astor’s.
Here are some gift card suggestions you should promote to your Supporters for Valentine’s Day:
- FundScrip participating retailers related to chocolate like Laura Secord and Shopper Drug Mart.
- FundScrip particpating retailers related to specialty gifts such as WaySpa, Fruits & Passion, The Body Shop and La Senza or la Vie en Rose.
- FundScrip participating retailers related to travel like Marriott, Best Western or Fairmont Hotels as well as Sears Travel.
- FundScrip participating retailers related to restaurants such as, Joey Restaurants, Moxie’s or Milestones.
The possibilities are quite endless – it’s up to you to assess your supporters and see which of these fundraising ideas could work best for your group.
Let the planning begin!
Who is your cause champion?
Happy Holiday’s From FundScrip!
It’s the most wonderful time of the year – to fundraise!
Even more proof that the holiday season is the absolute best time of the year to fundraise.
Creative gift card wrapping
By now, we all agree that gift cards make great gifts especially during the holiday season. We might also agree that the un-crafty among us need a little spark of inspiration when it comes to wrapping the gift card and making it a bit more “special” for the person receiving it.
Among the crafty community, this is an easy task. For the rest of us, this can be a real dilemma.
Pinterest to the rescue!
Whenever imagination is lacking make it a habit to login to Pinterest. Turns out there are loads of crafty people out there with great ideas to help you snap you out of your creative lull.
Gift card holder ideas are abound on this site and here are just a couple we found in our search:
For more inspiration, take a look at FundScrip’s Creative Gift Card Wrapping board. Many of the ideas include simple step-by-step instructions too.
Many of the ideas centre around a few great concepts:
- wallets
- boxes
- pockets / pouches
- bags
- tree ornaments
What creative ways have you wrapped your gift card?
