In the age of ever advancing technologies a multitude of people have developed an on-the-go mentality. This mindset used to be reserved to simply getting places faster, discovering new cultural trends, and achieving optimal efficiency in our busy society; however, the term can now be applied to the once personal task of fundraising. Whether it is for charity or for a business related cost, fundraising must now combat with an on-the-go generation that is glued to mobile devices. Fortunately for fundraising aficionados there are a few tricks to the trade that will result in successfully meeting your monetary goal.
Appeal to your in-house crowd
One of the greatest mobile device fundraising success stories is the Robin Hood Foundation. Founded in 1988 by Paul Tudor Jones II, the Robin Hood Foundation is Wall Street’s biggest party – taking place each year in early May and consistently raising millions of dollars in a single night. This year, the Robin Hood Foundation raised over $80 million during its May 13th Gala Event. How you ask? By using mobile devices.
Text donations were sent on-site to the Robin Hood Foundation. The monetary sum from each text was then calculated. As the night increased more and more donors were caught up in the fervor of giving that was made significantly easier by the close proximity of their mobile devices. Stock traders and hedge fund managers no longer felt rude for trying to not so subtly pull out their archaic Blackberries or personal iPhones; instead they could “blame” giving to charity for their feverish tapping on the keyboard. And why not? Texting a donation was Robin Hood’s brilliant way of making mobile fundraising fun and easy.
Appeal to the on-the-go mentality
More often than not young donors are turning to their mobile devices to give money to fundraisers. In a fast paced lifestyle it is the easiest way to accomplish your mental checklist of “give to charity this month.” However, woe be unto the fundraising site that is not mobile device friendly. A recent survey for The Chronicle of Philanthropy showed that the biggest frustration for 75% of young donors occurred when charity websites were not designed to be used with a smartphone or tablet. Young donors want an ease of access design for giving; this means, easy to spot donate buttons, automatic email confirmation, and easy to use forms for filling out PayPal or credit card information.
For print campaigns, this means adding an easy to scan QR code that will take users directly to the mobile friendly site. If donors are willing to give and all they ask in return is a mobile friendly platform, then fundraisers would do best to give them what they want – the monetary reward will be well-worth the website update.
We have entered into an age where not only is business conducted on a mobile device, but so is the once in-person act of fundraising. To keep up with the current social trends fundraisers are consistently using texts, apps, and mobile friendly websites to attract a greater number of donors. If you are at all skeptical of this trend, answer this question, are you currently reading this article on your phone?
If your looking for more ideas and tips on launching a fundraising event visit the fundraising ideas page by LogoMagnet!
