Meaningful Friendship[$]

Friends are nice, but for nonprofit organizations, friends can be a potential financial advantage! Nonprofit organizations need to recognize that by making friends and turning them into successful, trustworthy relationships, they can gain much needed funds for their cause. Networked nonprofits have the potential to turn friends into funders by practicing the following rules:

• Transparency: everything should be out in the open, available to the public
• Simplicity: allowing a simple message to be easily communicated
• Engagement and listening: allow followers to volunteer in their own ways, conversation encouraged

Even by following these classic rules though, nonprofits must realize that new approaches to funding must be established to be effective in their endeavors. Many nonprofits have become set in their ways and produce little change in how they approach fundraising, but with the quick rise of social media, this is not efficient. By utilizing and combining social media with fundraising methods, more people will become aware of the importance of the cause. Since social media has become popular more and more with the younger audience, nonprofits have the ability to connect with them, which hopefully leads to more giving in their lifetime. Even though building a trusted online community may take several months, the end product is quite exceptional.
Raising money online may be the right path for your organization! Additional components you need to remember include:

• Social media is part of a multichannel strategy: use multiple mediums, such as email, Web site, Google, face-to-face events, Facebook, etc., don't just focus on one strategy
• Partners are not ATM machines: let people know that they are important partners in your work
• Storytelling for personalization: issues become real and urgent, brings a human face on ideas, they strengthen connections between people creating empathy and changed perspectives
• Thankfulness: needs to happen often so people feel truly connected, be sincere and personal
• Click for dollars: on Facebook or Web site, particularly engaging for the younger audience
• Online fundraising contests: started by America's Giving Challenge, sponsored by The Case Foundation, in 2007

So, you want to know how to successfully complete online fundraising? Of course you do, and I don't blame you! The benefits are striking for nonprofit organizations! To be successful though, fundraising efforts need the following characteristics:

• Credibility: establish trust, make appeals meaningful
• Compelling messages: short and easily understood
• Urgency: clear and short deadlines, don't set expectations too high, adds momentum 
• Spread out giving: use multichannel strategies, reach people of all ages
• Recognition to donors: highlighting influencers and encouraging others, creates momentum
• Storytelling: people remember personal stories, builds relationship and credibility

Being an animal lover, I found this great organization that utilizes just about everything I have mentioned above.Wildlife Direct, which encourages people to save endangered species, is a great example of a nonprofit organization becoming part of the social network and creating unique fundraising efforts through the help of their audience. Wildlife direct realized that the best opportunity for saving these endangered species came from the use of social media and building relationships online. Their main use of social media is through blogs, which allow people from all over the world to become active in their cause. All bloggers writing on behalf of the organization  are allowed and encouraged to link their blogs to fundraising sites. Also, on their website, Wildlife Direct has a link allowing people to donate of they wish. This organization has turned their friendships and connections into something highly valuable that will only continue to grow and prosper as time continues.