Of course, as an organization you need more than just friendship. You desperately need money! Now more than ever. But wouldn’t you rather have friends to your organization than just donors? Gail Perry explains in her blog why friendraising works better than fundraising. Asking the question; ‘If you had a bunch of passionate friends for your organization, what would they do for your cause?’
And when the going gets tough, your friends will be right there with you, doing whatever they can do to help you. And of course they’ll give money if they can.
In short:
– Friendraising creates passionate supporters
– It’s kinder, more fun and more effective than fundraising
– It’s more sustainable; it puts the emphasis on the individual person
– It treats donors like real people – not like wallets!
– You’ll get their help, participation, involvement and their good ideas – and then money will come
– Involvement leads to investment
– You can turn your current donors into friends: they’ll stick with you and renew their gift
– Friends give more and stick with you longer
Friendmaking is simply a more successful way to do fundraising (as you can see!)
Many organizations worry that online fundraising is hitting people up for money or asking strangers for money. But we know that fundraising is not about asking for money – it’s about changing the world. And good fundraising is emphatically never about money. It’s about asking someone to join an organization to make their community better, to solve problems and to change or save lives.
So take the fear away from fundraising! Ask your volunteers to embrace the idea of just piling everybody they know to join your organizations. Volunteers can embrace a fight for the cause. A fight for what they believe in. A fight for what they know is right.
Now that’s the way to put some energy behind your organizations friendmaking efforts.
