{"id":4291,"date":"2015-09-09T08:00:42","date_gmt":"2015-09-09T13:00:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/5bd4f92546.nxcli.net\/?p=4291"},"modified":"2025-04-17T11:20:05","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T16:20:05","slug":"how-can-crowdfunding-supercharge-your-nonprofit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/articles\/charity-fundraising\/how-can-crowdfunding-supercharge-your-nonprofit\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can Crowdfunding Supercharge Your Nonprofit?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4292\" src=\"https:\/\/5bd4f92546.nxcli.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/people-850097_640.jpg\" alt=\"people-850097_640\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/people-850097_640.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/people-850097_640-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/shop\/custom-t-shirts\">custom t-shirts<\/a> and gear for your volunteers? Take a look at our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/products\">product list<\/a> and print your own logos, slogans, and designs onto your products.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A few years ago, a fellow by the name of Zach \u2018Danger\u201d Brown started what may well have been one of the strangest Kickstarter campaigns ever launched &#8211; he wanted to make some potato salad. By the time the campaign reached its end, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/zackdangerbrown\/potato-salad\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6,911 people pledged a total of $55,492<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He made his potato salad &#8211; and taught us a great deal about Kickstarter in the process. <\/span><!--more--><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cNo matter how you look at it, the potato salad campaign is a success,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kevinharrington\/2014\/07\/17\/what-potato-salad-teaches-us-about-crowdfunding-a-thriving-kickstarter-for-potato-salad-holds-2-big-lessons-for-business-owners\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">writes Forbes contributor Kevin Harrington<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201c[And] when it comes to your business, there are two big things to take away from this potato salad extravaganza. First, people are willing to give to something they believe in. And with the propagation \u00a0of easily-accessible, widely-visible crowdfunding platforms, it\u2019s really easy to get your project in front of people who believe in it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAnd second,\u201d he continues, \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">how <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">you present your offer is more important than ever.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brown ended up <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2014\/09\/29\/tech\/innovation\/kickstarter-potato-salad\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">turning his innocent joke into a massive charity concert,<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> refusing to personally pocket even a cent of the money. Although Kickstarter at the time prevented campaigners from handing their money directly over to charities, he used the campaign proceeds to run an event called PotatoStock, with proceeds going to nonprofits dedicated to the fight against hunger. Admirable, right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Brown demonstrated another truth with his potato salad fundraiser, one which Harrington didn\u2019t really touch on: the fact that crowdfunding is one of the most powerful tools in a modern charity\u2019s arsenal. If you know where to look and how to market a campaign once you\u2019ve set it up, it can pull in more money from your cause than any fundraising drive or benefit show. And if you don\u2019t, well&#8230;at least you\u2019ll only be out a bit of time and effort.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we get down to brass tacks, let\u2019s start with a bit of a disclaimer. See, in order to understand how crowdfunding can help your charity, you first need to understand exactly what it is. You need to know what it can &#8211; and cannot do for your organization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cMany non-profits that find out about crowd-funding websites get very excited and make the mistake of thinking that these sites are magical cures for all of their revenue woes,\u201d <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefundraisingauthority.com\/internet-fundraising\/crowd-funding-your-non-profit\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">explains Joe Garecht of The Fundraising Authority.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cCrowd-funding sites can be a huge help, but they are not a fundraising panacea.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most important thing here, says Garecht, is understanding that your crowdfunding campaign isn\u2019t going to run itself. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cDon\u2019t expect to slap up a fundraising campaign, go away for three weeks, then come back to find you\u2019ve raised $1 million,\u201d he continues. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t work that way, You need to get the word out first, get some traction from your own supporters, and then you may get some unexpected help.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Beyond that, it\u2019s really just a matter of treating your crowdfunding campaign like your other marketing efforts. You need a pleasing page with compelling copy, a great narrative you can share with potential donors, and a network through which you can disperse news of your campaign. You need to constantly look for new opportunities to spread the word, as well; whether through social media, local news, or online advertisements. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If this is all starting to sound familiar &#8211; like crowdfunding is just like any other fundraising drive &#8211; that\u2019s because in a lot of ways, it is. The main difference is that, because you\u2019re hosting online, you\u2019ve the potential to attract a larger audience than you would with an offline drive. Consequently, that means you\u2019ve the potential for a larger audience &#8211; and more revenue -as a result. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">That said, it\u2019s not going to save an idea for which there\u2019s no support. It\u2019s not going to bring in donations if a campaign has no traction. And it\u2019s not going to succeed if you just kick back and do nothing. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Crowdfunding can be a powerful revenue generation tool for any nonprofit that knows how to tap into it, but it\u2019s by no means the be-all- and end-all of charity work. It\u2019s just one more avenue through which you might raise money for a good cause. And it\u2019s one that\u2019s worth considering, no matter what field you work in.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Need <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/shop\/custom-t-shirts\">custom t-shirts<\/a> and gear for your volunteers? Take a look at our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bluecotton.com\/products\">product list<\/a> and print your own logos, slogans, and designs onto your products.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Need custom t-shirts and gear for your volunteers? Take a look at our product list and print your own logos, slogans, and designs onto your products. A few years ago, a fellow by the name of Zach \u2018Danger\u201d Brown started what may well have been one of the strangest Kickstarter campaigns ever launched &#8211; he&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[654],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-charity-fundraising"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How Can Crowdfunding Supercharge Your Nonprofit?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It\u2019s no secret that crowdfunding sites have changed how we look at product launches. 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