The Case Foundation, Facebook Causes and PARADE Publications just launched the 2009 America’s Giving Challenge, a competition designed to raise both awareness and funds for charitable causes. From now through November 6, they’ll be giving away a total of $170,00 in prize money to participating U.S.-based 501(c)(3) charities who raise the most donations through the Causes application on Facebook, with daily and overall awards ranging from $500 to $50,000. What I find most interesting is that the Challenge…(read more)

We know that it’s key for non-profits to connect online activities with real-world actions , but the reverse is also true, as a door-to-door fundraising campaign reminded me last week. People need to be able to take action for your cause in a way that is comfortable and convenient for them. Limit their choices — lock your prospects in to a yes-or-no proposition — and you may miss out, not only on a one-time donation but on the chance to build an enduring donor relationship. Here’s the story: Two…(read more)

We’ve talked before about some of the most popular online payment processors suited to smaller non-profits who want to accept donations or sell fundraising products on their websites. Now there’s another payment option you might want to look at: Amazon Payments….(read more)

Originally, I thought I’d write this post in order to summarize the comments to this post on Twitip, which posed the question of how to fundraise on Twitter and requested help from readers in the comments. But I actually found a lot more ideas after a…

Great new presentations on social media are coming out almost daily, and many are directed specifically to the needs of non-profits. But it can be time-consuming to search out those that are up-to-date, actionable, and appropriate to nonprofits. Here’s a hand-picked selection of slideshow presentations to get you started. …(read more)

I’ve just been listening to a podcast of Lee Weinstein’s conversation with public relations consultant Donna Gibbs on how non-profits are successfully using social media right now, where Gibbs shines a light on the social media marketing activities — on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter — of two charities she’s involved with personally. The power of the Internet means that even smaller amounts by individuals can make a big difference because of (a) the sheer volume of givers and (b) tools that are readily…(read more)

In 2008, non-profits and charities collected about 10% of their donations online, according to a survey by Target Analytics, but usability expert Jakob Nielsen says the amount of money collected online could be much higher — with improved website design and content that answers the donors’ real questions. To discover how non-profit websites could encourage more donations, Nielsen looked at user behavior on 23 websites of large and small non-profit groups representing a wide range of causes from animal…(read more)