Friending to Funding and Governing Through Networks

In chapter 10 the first topic that we tackle is how to turn your friends into funding. I found this to be very helpful to information because through this class and our work with Safe Harbor we have shown first hand that friends can become donor for your organization. We used Facebook to turn our friends into donors for Safe Harbor, our class created an event page for Safe Harbors Chic-Fil-A night. Through our event page we invited tons of friends that we had in the Clemson community by doing this we were able to communicate a mass amount of people informing them about the event. In return we were able do produce one of the best events in fundraising that the Chic-Fil-A has ever had in Clemson. This is just a small example of how an organization can use friends to turn them into fundraising. Now lets look at some of the information that our book gives to us on how to accomplish gaining friends and turning them into donors.

Now lets look at some tips that show strategic steps to get your friends to donate money the best way to do this is by following these rules:

• Being Transparent- the organization has to work in the open, this means all audit reports, financial statements, and annual reports on their website for their friends to see how their money is being spent. This is a great idea because if your friends are seeing how their money is being spent they will be more likely to continue giving.

• Being simple- this is keeping your message simple, tell what you are doing to the donors, let them know what your organization is about but keep it short. You don’t want them to become bored with reading the message so keep it to the point and you will have better results.

• Listening, engaging, and building relationships- here we want people constantly talking about our issue and keeping them engaged. You have to make sure to listen to what friends are saying about your organization put their ideas into play. By doing this we are able to show our friends that we care about what they think. Here we are building relationships and through these relationships we will possibly be gaining new friends by our current friends telling their friends about your organization. But most of all you have to make sure to listen to your friends and follow through with their ideas.

Although with new friends can come funding you don’t want to think of them as just a money source, we have to let them know we care about their input. To do this you have to get them involved in the organization, through letting them know you care and being open and letting them know where their money is going and how it is helping others. As long as you follow these steps the funding will continue to come.

The next step that I thought was a good idea is to make sure that your organization is not stuck in its was with making new friends, this happens way to often with nonprofits. To turn your online friends into funders takes the following steps:

Social media are part of a multichannel strategy- this is using fundamental fundraising techniques such as email, website presence, Google ads, face-to-face events, and reaching out to the mainstream media.  

People are partners, not ATM machines- This is what we talked about above people are willing to fund your organization if they feel involved with your projects. So to continue the funding you want to get your friends in the field involved with the issues. 

Storytelling makes fundraising personal- by telling personal stories you will be bringing alive the activities of an organization and makes their issues real and urgent for current and potential supporters. I saw this first hand with our classes’ information speaker from Safe Harbor that was held on Clemson University campus. Our speakers from Safe Harbor told stories that hit home they were all stories that happened around South Carolina. By telling these stories people are better likely to pay attention and want to help the cause.

Thankfulness makes donors want to give more- This is a process that needs to happen often you need to tell donors that you are thankful for their support by sending letters, calling, or meeting them face to face. By doing this your relationship with them will grow and you will become closer.

Clicking to Leverage donation dollars- this is using social networks such as Facebook or Twitter to support a cause and when friends click to support your clause their friends my see that they support the cause and choose to do the same and maybe even become a donor.

Conducting online fundraising contest- this is when your organization has a contest where the participants can win something this will attract lots of friends because everyone likes winning free thinks.

If you follow these steps it will allow you to increase that amount of friends that your organization has as well as turning them into donors.  

In chapter 11 we looked at Governing Through Networks, here the section that caught my eye was Governing As A Network: A Beginning. Here the book tells how governing boards can begin to work in networked ways without any changes to their board structure. They tell that these are some ways that a governing board can act more like a social network:

• Create a private social network- this is organizations should practice sharing information online and having conversations directly with one another. 

• Join a public online social network- this is simply creating a Facebook page for your organization.

• Post draft agendas online- this is opening your agendas to the public and asking for their input.

• Train board members in social media and network weaving- you board members should be knowledgeable in social media so that they can become involved with people online regarding their issues they have with the organization.

• Meet somewhere new- this is your board members should pick a new place to meet outside of the office.

• Share information and data- this is just what it say make sure you are putting as much information about your organization and its projects how you are spending money to the public.

All of these tips in chapters 10 and 11 are very helpful for nonprofit organizations, and if followed and put into practice they will defiantly bring more friends to the organization, which could bring more funding.