From the course: Nonprofit Fundraising: A Beginner’s Guide

A new era of fundraising

From the course: Nonprofit Fundraising: A Beginner’s Guide

Start my 1-month free trial Buy for my team

A new era of fundraising

“

- Think about your favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant. Before the internet, a lot of their business might have come from word of mouth or diners dropping in based on curiosity. But now that same restaurant's presence is determined by online recommendations, social media pages, a corporate website, and other sites like Yelp. Much like your go-to spot for tacos, your nonprofit organization has an explosion of information online. With this shift, interactions between fundraisers and donors are changing. Understanding this landscape and its impact on the nonprofit world is incredibly important and can give you an advantage. As a fundraiser, you need to identify the information your donor wants and needs to contribute to your cause. With so many nonprofit organizations in the world, the level of information can be overwhelming, especially for donors. As billionaire philanthropist, Bill Gates once said, giving away money effectively is almost as hard as earning it. Let's say you have $50 to donate. How do you figure out which nonprofit deserves your hard earned money? Donors often feel this way. They want to ensure their donation has an impact and isn't just getting pocketed. Even with 24/7 access to data, they most likely don't have a ton of time to devote to research. So in an attempt to figure out which nonprofit will put their donation to the best use, they rely on donor watchdog organizations. Organizations like CharityWatch, Give.org and Charity Navigator, help donors use both their heart and head to make decisions around which nonprofits to support. These sites provide information on an organization's effectiveness and educate donors about operations and standard practices in the nonprofit world. For a fundraiser, transparency is the building block of trust and can endear you to donors who are trusting you to use their hard earned dollars to change the world. So take the time to visit a watchdog charity site and see how your nonprofit is measuring up.

Contents