Sports and Recreation Tools: 8 Tips to Boost Team Spirit

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What’s the best way to teach teamwork and cooperation? How can you blow off steam, make new friends, and stay active? By playing sports, of course! Engaging in sports teams and other recreational activities is a great way to keep healthy and happy. Yet, there are many variables to manage when it comes to coordinating a group of young athletes.

From fundraising endeavors to team management and event planning, there is a lot to balance to provide an effective and organized experience for the team members involved. Whether you’re in charge of a kids’ soccer team or a seniors’ bowling league, here are a few key tips to bring your team’s spirit to the next level.

With the right sports and recreation software solutions, you can:

  1. Boost team fundraising.
  2. Streamline registration.
  3. Simplify management processes.
  4. Optimize for mobile.
  5. Design team uniforms.
  6. Seek out sponsorships.
  7. Plan out schedules.
  8. Strengthen communication.

Ready to get started? Let’s jump in.

Sports and recreation tools can help you boost team fundraising.

1. Boost team fundraising.

From jerseys and equipment costs to tournament and travel expenses, you’ll need a bit of funding to get started with your new sports team or league. You know you don’t want to spend all your time soliciting donations, but you may need to host a fundraiser or two to reach your funding goals. Here are a few tips for creating an effective fundraising strategy:

  • Utilize fundraising software. One of the essential tools you’ll need to increase your fundraising revenue is an online donation page or dedicated crowdfunding page. This way, you’ll have a solid infrastructure in place to promote your fundraisers to the community and collect donations in mere minutes.
  • Host a unique fundraising campaign. Running the same fundraisers year after year can get quite boring and end up leading to donor burnout. How can you boost donations and get the local community involved with your team? Switch things up with some fresh new campaigns, like these unique fundraising ideas from Funds2Orgs.
  • Personalize your fundraiser. Try to relate your fundraisers to your specific sport for a more personalized approach. For example, a running club could collect gently worn, used and new running shoes in a shoe drive fundraiser, while a basketball team could host a shoot-a-thon pledge fundraiser. Check out these other sports-related fundraisers for new ideas!
  • Make it a team bonding experience. Fundraising is often treated as a chore, but it doesn’t have to be that way. When you position your fundraisers as an exciting way to get to know fellow players, you can strengthen teammate relationships while also earning money! If you throw in a challenge, you can bring out the competitive side of players and turn your fundraising into a game in and of itself.

Fundraising can actually be a fun experience with the right tools in your pocket. Check out these fundraising success stories for a bit of inspiration!

The right sports and recreation tools will help you streamline registration.

2. Streamline registration.

When you improve the registration process and make it quick and easy for participants to sign up for your teams, you increase the likelihood of sign-ups and boost the participation rate. This way, you’ll have more and fuller teams! On the other hand, if registration is too complicated or inflexible, you run the risk of losing out on potentially interested players.

Don’t make players take time from their already-busy schedules to come in and sign some forms. You’ll boost involvement if you offer online registration right on your website. When you allow your registration to be easily accessible for all, you may exponentially increase the number of participants who get involved—after all, the more, the merrier!

Sports and recreation tools help simplify management processes.

3. Simplify management processes.

Picture this: it’s the first day of basketball practice for your new team. By the time your players have arrived, signed liability waivers, and completed all of the other pregame tasks, you look at your watch and—oh no—practice is over.

You don’t want to spend your valuable (and limited!) playing time dealing with mundane management processes, and neither do your players. According to CommunityPass, with the right recreation management software, you can get a lot of those logistic details out of the way ahead of time.

Encourage participants to complete these processes beforehand:

  • Signing waivers: With the implementation of digital liability waivers, you can have all the legal paperwork completed beforehand and prepare for a safe and secure season.
  • Processing payments: Online payment processors are great, because they increase the type of payments you’re able to accept—including cash, check, credit, debit, Apple Pay, and more.
  • Ordering uniforms: Right along with the initial registration process, be sure to ask players for their t-shirt or jersey size, so you’ll be able to order the right sizes and number of uniforms. Take all the potential complications out of that process as well!

By allowing for (and encouraging!) these processes to be completed online before even arriving to practice, you can maximize the time spent actually practicing for your first big game.

Ensure your sports and recreation tools are optimized for mobile devices.

4. Optimize for mobile.

Not only should you ensure that these necessary, albeit mundane, processes can be completed online, but make sure to keep things mobile-friendly as well. This way, you’ll be able to meet busy players and parents right where they are—on their phones.

Individuals should be able to register, pay, and sign forms right from their cell phones at their own convenience, whether that is during their daily commute, waiting in a pickup line, or out at dinner. You don’t want them to say they’ll sign later when they have access to a computer, or they might forget. Life today is always on-the-go, so you’ll have to keep up!

Design your team uniforms with the right sports and recreation tools.

5. Design team uniforms.

A uniform is a great way to garner team spirit and boost morale. When the whole team is dressed in a similar uniform, the visual similarities lead to a strengthened connection between players. A team t-shirt or jersey is typical, but some teams choose to match their bottoms and/or shoes as well.

Uniforms offer the following benefits to your team:

  • Solidarity
  • Recognition
  • Unity
  • Simplicity

You can choose a team color, and allow each player to choose their number as well! Consider ordering custom-designed uniforms with each player’s name inscribed for extra personalization.

Using your sports and recreation tools, seek sponsorships from local businesses.

6. Seek out sponsorships.

In addition to generous donations from families and individual community members, it’s a good idea to seek out partnerships with local businesses. Sponsorships are great opportunities both for your sports team in the form of funding and the business partner in the form of advertising and boosted PR.

Consider reaching out to:

  • Professional sports teams
  • Local businesses
  • Chain restaurants
  • Retailers
  • Agencies and firms

When you do so, be sure to emphasize the benefits you can offer them. For example, you could have the business logo printed on your custom uniforms or a banner hanging in the stadium or sports facility. As you reach out to potential partners in your community, consider using these sponsorship letter templates to ease your correspondence.

Plan out your team's schedules to make the most of your time with dedicated sports and recreation tools.

7. Plan out schedules.

Managing schedules is another key element of running a successful sports team. While it tends to be simplest to keep schedules consistent, sometimes that is just not possible. Try to hold practices on the same evening each week to allow team members to plan ahead of time.

You have to balance the availability of many key factors, including:

  • The facility
  • Team members
  • Opponents
  • Coaches
  • Staff
  • Referees

Once you have established a working schedule, find an efficient way to share it with your team (with reminders, too!), so your players don’t miss out on essential games and practices.

Strengthen your communication with the help of sports and recreation tools.

8. Strengthen communication.

Communication is crucial among coaches, team members, and league management. As a result, finding a tool with automated messaging capabilities is a must-have for sports and recreation software.

Try to keep an open line of communication between management and players through digital tools. This way, you’ll be able to transmit necessary information easily, and no one will miss out on critical details! For example, you’ll be able to update your team if a game gets rained out, practice is rescheduled, or you need to add an extra meeting.

Additionally, you’ll want to allow for two-way communication so that players can send messages to you as well. It can come in handy when a team member needs to give you a heads up that they will be late to practice or missing a game. You don’t want to be caught off guard by not knowing where your players are!

When you implement these 8 top tips into the management and administration of your sports team, you’ll soon notice critical differences (and improvements!) in the way your team is run. You can adjust each strategy to fit your respective team and its players to create a personalized approach—and boost team spirit for all!

Author Bio

Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO of Funds2Orgs, contributed this guest post on sports and recreation tools.

This guest post was contributed by Funds2Orgs.

Wayne Elsey is the founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises (EE) and a member of the Forbes Business Development Council. Among his various independent brands, he is also the founder and CEO of Funds2Orgs, which is a social enterprise that helps schools, churches, nonprofits, individuals and other organizations raise funds while helping to support micro-enterprise (small business) opportunities in developing nations.

Sports and Recreation Software: 7 Must-Have Features

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People of all ages benefit from community recreation programs. From the children excitedly heading to their little league practice to the adults blowing off steam at an after-work basketball game, recreational activities are fun for everyone.

But, with all of the activities that your community supports, you will need sports and recreation software to sort out all the details. After all, why worry about things you don’t need to?

With the right software, you can support a whole host of community activities without the hassle of manual registration, payment, team formation, or facility scheduling. The best software will have:

  1. Online registration tools.
  2. Memberships and passes.
  3. Secure online payment processing.
  4. Facility management and scheduling.
  5. Effective league management.
  6. Targeted marketing and messaging capabilities.
  7. Prompted donation requests.

Of course, there are a lot of considerations to be made as you make your software selection but if you keep these 7 key features in mind, your sports and recreation community should be well on its way to running perfectly.

Let’s dive into the first must-have feature: online registration tools!

1. Online registration tools.

The beginning of any great team is reliant on the simple act of registration. Every team needs members, but it can be difficult to juggle the paper forms for every single activity you host.

An online registration tool will allow community members to register for a class or activity, purchase tickets to events, or register to volunteer with an uncomplicated, online process.  

The software should automatically verify an individual’s eligibility for activities during the registration process so you don’t have to!

Customizable registration tools like the online forms in CommunityPass’ recreation software ensure you have all the information you need. This could include:

  • Medical information and allergy alerts
  • Waivers
  • Permission slips

This will let your staff keep its eye on the bigger picture while the software takes care of the tedious, administrative items on your checklist.

2. Memberships and passes.

People come to your center for a variety of reasons, so you should have a wide range of memberships and passes to accommodate their needs. Some people may only need a guest pass to accompany a friend to a single activity, while others may want to pack their schedule full with a variety of new, exciting programs and need a rolling membership.

Your software should incorporate a variety of passes and membership plans like:

  • Rolling or recurring memberships
  • Seasonal, day, guest, and free passes
  • Fixed duration passes
  • Family and multi-sibling discounts
  • Exclusive membership discounts and packages

These plans should allow for either auto or manual renewal, as well as expiration date reminders.

A clear, easy-to-use membership plan will encourage greater community involvement and increase participation in your center’s activities.

To see a comprehensive application of membership management to a community pool, click here.

3. Secure online payment processing.

In the world of digital payment scams, some people are skeptical of putting their payment information into a new system.

But people are too busy today to have the time to come down to the rec center or rec administrative office every time they want to make a transaction. It is possible that a community member would decide not to book an activity or program if they deemed the payment process too complicated or unsafe.

Your recreation management software should assure its users that its payment methods are absolutely secure while also providing a wide range of services.

Your software should come equipped with online payment processing that can:

  1. Handle single- and multi- tender transactions.
  2. Keep credit card information on file for ease of use.
  3. Offer the option to automatically bill membership charges.
  4. Provide the option to pay online by credit card, debit card or e-Check.

As community members check out or donate to community fundraising events, they should feel confident that their information is secure. The software you use must be PCI compliant, ensuring the transaction data meets the security standard.

A safe and straightforward payment system will cut down drastically on missed or overdue payments and enable more people an easier way to sign up and pay for your membership programs.

4. Facility management and scheduling.

Sports and recreation software does not only provide community members easier access to programs and activities, but it makes management of recreational facilities so much easier.

People use your sports and recreation centers and fields for so many programs throughout the entire year. As school gets out for the summer, you are probably flooded with programs to entertain the kids all day. After all, as more children register for summer camps, the more challenging it can be to accommodate all of your program needs.  

Don’t get lost in the paperwork!

Instead of manually scheduling your programs in countless facilities, the software will allow you to have all of the data you need in one place. With a simple swipe of your finger, you should be able to switch between buildings, rooms, and fields to see availability and potential reasons for closures that will affect your community’s program schedule.

This information will allow you to facilitate online rental requests with ease but don’t forget to make sure your software has customizable permits for different types of rentals.

5. Effective league management.

Sports teams take a lot of planning and fundraising to execute without a hitch. Coaches put so much work into making sure their team lineup is just perfect and that they have practiced every potential scenario. So, why not make sure they have an efficient way to stay connected and manage their team?

League management software will allow your coaches to build and manage teams while also maintaining communication through a built-in, easy-to-use messaging system.

Once someone registers for a specific activity, the coaches will be able to get to work for the season with a centralized database with the team’s information.

6. Targeted marketing and messaging capabilities

When was the last time you opened up your email to see a mass email chain about something that has nothing to do with you? Arbitrary mass messaging happens all the time, but it doesn’t need to.

Of course, you need to be able to communicate with the people in your community about upcoming programs or building closures, or cancellations, but there has to be a more effective way than a mass email blast.

The best software will allow you to create and send targeted messages, and completely erase the need for sending a message to every person participating in your database.

Your software’s messaging should feature:

  • Eligibility and interest verification: The software will filter out users who are not eligible for programs you are marketing based on whatever criteria you set (e.g. program, age, grade, gender).
  • Open tracking: You can compile data regarding who opens your messages so you can more effectively target a specific audience.

Don’t underestimate the importance of quick, efficient, and effective communication for the success of your community’s recreation programs.

7. Prompted Donation Requests.

It’s impossible to get around the question of money when you think about how to run a community rec center. To host any number of programs, you need capital to make things happen.

There are so many ways you raise money for your community centers and as always, your software should handle this so you can worry less and plan more fun activities for your community.

The best software will incorporate online donation tools into the registration process so every member will be presented with the opportunity to give while they already have their wallets out.  

While everyone has the opportunity to donate when registering for a program, this is not the only way your software can help you meet your fundraising goals. It should support stand-alone fundraising programs that people can access to regularly donate and encourage fundraising ideas that suit your community’s needs.

If you want even more ideas for raising money for your organization, check out Bonfire’s sports team fundraising ideas.

Sports and recreation software is made with this simple goal in mind: to make organizing, managing, and participating in community programs easier, faster, and better.

Now you know everything you need to know to choose which recreation management software is best for your community, so why wait? Get on your way to managing an efficient community recreation program!

Author Bio

Joseph Oriente is the President and Founder of Capturepoint, creator of CommunityPass. Joe established Capturepoint in 1999 and launched CommunityPass in 2003, which  was initially created to provide online registration and payment for a local town sports council that was overwhelmed with an increasing number of paper registrations. Since then Joe has been responsible for expanding CommunityPass nationally to become one of America’s most well respected and complete online management solutions with registration, membership and facilities software serving the recreation and school markets.

 

Marketing Your Summer Camp: 5 Successful Strategies

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This guide walks through strategies to drive donation through your website.

7 Tips for Driving More Donations Through Your Website

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First impressions are important! And your website is the first point of contact many people will have with your nonprofit organization.

This is where people will turn to learn more about your organization’s mission, to contact you about their potential interest, and to give donations.

Therefore, when it comes to driving donations for your cause, your website is becoming an increasingly important resource. That’s why it is crucial to maximize this fundraising channel as much as you can.

Implement these seven effective tips to make sure you are getting the most out of your website’s fundraising potential:

  1. Make sure your website is well-designed.
  2. Host a variety of online fundraisers.
  3. Market matching gifts.
  4. Sell merchandise through your website.
  5. Recognize your lead donors.
  6. Direct people to your website.
  7. Optimize your website for accessibility.

Let’s jump into the first strategy!

1. Make sure your website is well designed.

Nowadays, you don’t have to be a web developer to create a high-end donation website. There are so many tools that you can use to create your site in-house and still make it professional looking.

The first step to creating an effective website is to find the tool you will use to create it: your content management system (CMS). Different CMS platforms offer different features, so make a list of the features you’ll need access to.

Consider these tips when choosing your nonprofit’s ideal CMS:

  • Make sure your website is customizable. Be sure you can include your organization’s brand colors, logos, etc. directly on your website to make your site familiar to your supporters.
  • Ensure you are prepared to grow. If you choose a theme that is too limiting, it can be difficult to expand your website to grow with your organization.
  • Choose a CMS that is not too technical. CMS platforms like Morweb offer diverse themes that are easy to implement and configure for your nonprofit’s website.

Woman working on laptop with white screen in modern office.

Customizing your nonprofit website to maximize its functionality and appearance will make a great first impression on donors, make it easy to find the donation page on your site, and ultimately boost your online donations.

What to learn more about smart web design strategies? Check out Morweb’s top nonprofit website design tips.

2. Host a variety of online fundraisers.

When you offer a variety of online fundraising channels, you improve the likelihood that someone will be able to give to at least one fundraiser, and then visit your website afterward!

For instance, crowdfunding campaigns appeal to a population of people who want to give back, but only can only afford a small donation. However, in the future they may want to give more substantial donations directly to your cause.

Once someone has given to your crowdfunding campaign, peer-to-peer fundraiser, or other fundraiser, they should feel compelled to also visit your website for more information on your organization (and to give future donations!).

To drive more people to your website after donating to your cause off-site, use your campaign page to its fullest potential. Try Donately’s favorite campaign page best practices to make sure your page is up-to-par. Some details to include are:

  • Your brand colors. When someone decides to visit your campaign page from your website, you want the transition from one page to another to feel as cohesive as possible. This is done by using the same brand colors, logos, and graphics between both your site and fundraising pages.
  • Your mission statement. Include this statement directly on your fundraising page so people know the overarching cause to which they are contributing. Be sure to link to your website for a more extensive explanation of your goals.
  • A thought-provoking image. This image gives life to your mission. Include an image of your beneficiaries or your staff so your donor can associate a face with your nonprofit organization’s mission.
  • A call-to-action. Include a button or a link to make it easy for donors to visit your website after their donation to your fundraiser. Write a short statement such as “visit our site for more information” on your CTA button.

Bonus tip: Place a donation button onto your website permanently to drive regular donors and visitors to your ongoing fundraisers or to allow donations to occur online whenever they feel the impulse to give. Using a simple, online solution makes it easier to add a donation button to your page no matter the CMS your site is built on.

The decorative image shows an example donation page displayed on a tablet computer.

Offering supporters a variety of ways to give to your cause off-site is a great way to entice a wide range of donors to give to your cause. It’s also a great way to get people to visit your website for future donations.

3. Market matching gifts.

Matching gifts are an easy way to increase your donors’ impact without asking them to reach back into their wallets. Through this corporate philanthropy program, many businesses will contribute to the same nonprofits their employees do at a matching dollar-per-dollar rate. 

However many people don’t know their donations have the potential to be doubled! In fact, just 8% of donors know whether their employer offers a matching gift program, if they’re eligible, and how to complete a matching gift request.  

Expand that 8% to start earning more free revenue by marketing matching gifts. A few ways you can inform supporters about this giving opportunity include: 

  1. Add a matching gift database on your website. This software allows donors to search for their employer to see if they are eligible for a matched gift. Matching gift search tools can even connect supporters with their employer’s matching gift request form, and some businesses even leverage matching gift auto-submission technology that instantly completes employees’ match applications for them. 
  2. Market matching gifts on social media. Post about matching gifts on social media, your blog, or any other communication channels you regularly use to spread awareness. Take a multi-channel approach so donors who miss a post on one platform have a chance to find your message on another.
  3. Create a matching gifts page on your website. This page will act as a one-stop information center about matching gifts. Include a link to your donation page and matching gifts database, or embed a matching gift search tool directly into the page so supporters can determine their eligibility then and there.

The image shows an example of a giving opportunities page that highlights matching gifts.

Because matching gifts come from companies instead of individual donors, all you need to do is market them effectively.

Your website is the perfect place to conduct these marketing strategies because it is where people go to look for donation information anyway.

4. Sell merchandise through your website.

Selling merchandise on your website allows you to advertise custom products and process payments in one place. Online nonprofit storefronts provide another source of revenue in addition to donations.

Customized merchandise excites donors because they receive a tangible product in return for their donation. For example, you might choose to sell:

  • Custom t-shirts
  • Water bottles
  • Keychains
  • Mugs
  • Bumper stickers
  • Hats 
  • Pet clothes
  • Fridge magnets 
  • Sweaters and hoodies

The image shows an example nonprofit online merchandise store.

When customizing these items, add your logo and brand colors. Merchandise with a consistent design theme will make your online store look professional and cohesive. Plus, when a supporter wears a t-shirt or hat branded to your nonprofit out in public, everyone will see a little advertisement for your organization. 

Choose a CMS provider that offers online storefronts to make it easy to sell these branded items from your website. Or, choose a website theme that offers e-commerce capabilities along with the standard essentials.

5. Recognize your lead donors.

People tend to enjoy being recognized for the good deeds they do, and for the donations they make to incredible organizations like yours. Don’t forget to celebrate your supporters on your nonprofit’s website!

To recognize these amazing people, consider some of the following strategies:

  • Feature a “donor of the week” on your website. You can feature the name of the donor and a photo if they are willing to provide it. As an added bonus, share the “donor of the week” on social media with a link back to your website!
  • Include a virtual donor recognition wall for your organization. This “wall” allows you to display the names of your major donors on your website for everyone to see. Prospective donors and website visitors will be inspired looking through the records of past donors.
  • Email the featured donors with a link to the recognition page. Send a personal email to the donor you choose to feature to show them your appreciation and give them some personal attention. Link them back to the page on which they are featured so they can share it with their family and friends.

The image depicts a website paged dedicated to showcasing anecdotes from people involved with the nonprofit.

One major reason to recognize your donors is simply to show your appreciation. Together, donors are a life source for your organization. When they give, they show that they believe in your cause. Show your appreciation for their gifts and support by recognizing their efforts.

Another reason to recognize your donors is to add incentive to give for both the featured donor and for others. Major donors who see their name recognized tend to give again to organizations. Plus, other donors who see a recognition wall will be more motivated to give and be featured.

6. Direct people to your website.

Directing more people to your website and to your giving page is a great way to increase online donations and overall online traffic. You can do this by connecting your online platforms to one another.

Try including links to your website or donation page directly from your:

  • Emails. No matter the content of your email, you should always have it link back to your website. Make it easy for people to find more information about your nonprofit organization. When you ask for donations, link directly to your donation page or fundraising page from the email.
  • Texts. Text-to-give services make it easy to drive donations through your website from mobile devices. For example, at your next fundraising event, ask people to text their donation to your assigned number. When they send the text, they will receive a link to your website’s donation page where they can send an online donation right from their phone!
  • Social media. Many of your supporters rely on social media to see the everyday activities of your organization. This means they check the social media pages more often than your website itself. When you link from social media to your website, you will begin to see more traffic through both channels.

The image depicts example messages delivered via email and text message.

Once people have followed links from different sources to your website or to your donation page, you are already halfway closer to a donation!

7. Optimize your website for accessibility. 

Can all of your donors use your website? Some supporters may have challenges navigating your site for various reasons, and you should ensure your website layout is no obstacle when it comes to providing them with the information and tools they need to continue their donor journeys. 

Improve your website’s accessibility by following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), which include four main principles:

  • Perceivable. All visitors should be able to perceive your content. This means supporters with visual impairments who use screenreader technology should be able to perceive images through the use of alt text and videos through captions and transcripts. 
  • Operable. Can users easily interact with elements on your website? Try navigating your website entirely with just a keyboard to ensure it’s accessible to anyone not using a computer mouse. 
  • Understandable. Ensure your content is legible and consistently formatted to avoid confusion. Use readable fonts and background and text colors with sufficient contrast. Avoid jargon and define technical terms that are necessary for getting your point across. 
  • Robust. Your content should be accessible regardless of what internet browser or device supporters use. In particular, make sure your website works with screenreaders and other assistive technologies.

To determine if your website is fully accessible, the World Wide Web Consortium has compiled a collection of online accessibility checking tools organizations can use to evaluate the state of their websites.

Your website is an important place for you to interact with your donors. The growth of the internet has made it an important place to collect donations. These seven tips are easy and effective ways to drive more online traffic and grow your donations through your website.

Author Bio

Murad Bushnaq, Founder and CEO of Morad Media and Morweb, is a man of many hats. Since its inception in 2004, Murad has acted as Creative Director, Technologist and creative problem solver. He is dedicated to helping nonprofits and associations to grow their online presence with Morweb, a robust website platform and content management system.

8 Ways Mobile Fundraising And Crowdfunding Go Hand-In-Hand

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Guest post compliments of @Pay. 

The boombox. What a revolution, right? All of a sudden, music became portable in a way that it never had before and shareable in a whole new dimension.

We all remember the swell of emotions that flooded our hearts when John Cusack’s character lifted that iconic boombox above his head in Say Anything.

But the impact of that gesture might not have been as grand had he lifted, say, a tiny mp3 player over his shoulders.

Regardless, technology has marched on, and yesterday’s boomboxes (grand gestures and all) have given way to sleeker, more portable devices.

These new devices allow users not only to have access to everything their hearts could ever desire but also to be able to share that content with anyone at the speed of light.

BONUS: Run a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign by Using Our FREE Ultimate Guide to Crowdfunding!  You'll love the tips and recommendations!

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How can mobile fundraising revolutionize crowdfunding the way mp3’s changed the way we share music?

Below we have four of the top ways that mobile fundraising has changed crowdfunding for the better:

  1. By helping the on-the-go donor give
  2. By reaching out to a younger audience
  3. By meeting people where they give
  4. By giving the option to update whenever, wherever

And here are the four ways that crowdfunding has enhanced mobile fundraising:

  1. By extending the social networks of nonprofits
  2. By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives
  3. By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable
  4. By offering unique benefits to contributors

Read on to discover how to give your fundraising ideas a little boost with mobile.

#1. By helping the on-the-go donor give

In the few-and-far-between quiet moments we have to ourselves, most people fill their time by browsing the internet on their phones. If you look around, you’ll see 90% of people looking at their tiny screens:

  • On the train, subway, or bus
  • At lunch or dinner
  • During meetings
  • At any given grocery store, gas station, or doctor’s office
  • Really anywhere you would have previously had downtime or alone time

It’s hard to argue that there would be a better use of that on-the-go browsing than donating to charity.

 

Why not make your crowdfunding campaign that much more accessible for the on-the-go giver?

When you’re planning your mobile crowdfunding campaign, make sure you keep in mind the keys for asking for donations of any kind.

And definitely make sure that your mobile donation page is as responsive on a phone as it is on a laptop. This means that:

  • Your buttons should be larger.
  • There should be less text and more pictures.
  • Your crowdfunding videos should be short and to the point.

These points are by no means the only factors to consider. Mobile-responsive and mobile-friendly websites come in all shapes and sizes.

The one thing they have in common: they all work on-the-go.

Takeaway: Crowdfunding campaigns can reach significantly more donors by being mobile-friendly.

#2. By reaching out to a younger audience

We all know that millennials are practically glued to their phones. And the generation coming up underneath them will never have known a time without smartphones.

Don’t miss out on a key demographic because your crowdfunding campaign doesn’t have a shareable component.

Instead, give younger donors mobile-ready urls to share on their various social media platforms:

    • Twitter. Remember to keep it short but sweet. Tweets are 140 characters or less.
    • Facebook. Pictures and brief videos work best. Long posts are not shared as often.
    • Instagram. Make sure you provide links to your crowdfunding page in your description.
    • Tumblr. You can post longer, more in-depth content. Deeply engaging, thoughtful content gets picked up readily here.

Giving mobile donors the option to share their donation experience on social media not only leads to repeat donors; it also spreads the word about your campaign to more people.

Visual components of crowdfunding campaigns are essential to grabbing the attention of today’s teens and young adults.

According to studies done on Facebook post interactions, photos get 53% more likes, 104% more comments and 84% more click-throughs on links than text-based posts.

Luckily, the top mobile fundraising platforms that host crowdfunding sites automatically give the option to include a picture, video, or other visual component to your campaign’s shareable link.

Takeaway: Strategize smarter by being platform-specific. Images are worth a thousand words on most websites today.  

#3. By meeting people where they give

One of the most crucial pieces of information you need to gather about your donors is giving preference.

Some people, you’ll find, will prefer to use desktop computers or laptops to donate, some will still write checks and mail them in.

Increasingly, though, people are choosing to donate on their mobile phones. The more engaging, accessible, and mobile-responsive your crowdfunding campaign is, the more likely you are to reach your goal…and quickly!

It’s been shown that if a crowdfunding campaign reaches 30% of its goal within the first week, it’s far more likely to be successful in the end.

What faster way is there to connect than through instantaneous social media sharing, texting, and mobile-friendly emailing?  

Within mobile fundraising, there are so many different giving avenues.

You can strengthen your crowdfunding campaign’s reach by incorporating:

  • Text-to-give
  • QR code promotions
  • Email donation buttons
  • Mobile-responsive donation pages
  • And so much more!

mobile fundraising and crowdfunding

When you diversify your approaches with mobile giving, you end up reaching people exactly where they are.

Takeaway: Incorporate all different types of mobile fundraising to help your crowdfunding campaign reach more donors where they are.

#4. By giving the option to update whenever, wherever

When planning to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign, you don’t want to go the full John Hughes right at the outset. You need to build to that point.

The best way to engage an audience without overwhelming them is to:

  • Share carefully-timed mobile-ready emails
  • Push periodic updates across several platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
  • Remember that people want to read personable stories
  • Keep in mind that everyone likes to feel like they’re a part of something greater–and even better, something somewhat exclusive. Make your donors feel like they’re a part of the coolest club in town!

Mobile fundraising technology can now help your crowdfunding campaign reach donors wherever, whenever. You can update everyone in a matter of moments.

It’s one of the touchstone features of mobile giving campaigns and a huge reason why text-to-give initially took off. Mobile giving first became well-known during the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake in 2010.

As part of the fundraising effort following the devastating disaster, a text-to-give campaign was born.

Those wanting to help, no matter the time of day or how far from Haiti they were, could text a specific keyword to a defined number. Then, the donor’s cell phone bill would be charged $5 or $10, and the money from those charges went to help Haiti.

That “give from wherever, whenever” mentality is part of the DNA of mobile giving.

And now, your crowdfunding donors can also update from wherever and whenever they’d like.

If it’s 3 AM, and they’re on the train home, they can whip out their phone, view your crowdfunding page and instantly give $10 to your cause.

If it’s the middle of the day on a Monday, and they’re taking a break by the watercooler, they can take a moment to read about all the good work you’re doing. And they can give $25 on the spot!  

Takeaway: With mobile fundraising, you can update all of your donors everywhere at a moment’s notice, and they can give back just as quickly.

Now that you’ve explored the different ways that mobile fundraising has improved crowdfunding, it’s time to look into the ways that crowdfunding has boosted mobile fundraising efforts.

In this section, we’ll take a peek at these 4 ways:

  1. By extending the social networks of nonprofits
  2. By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives
  3. By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable
  4. By offering unique benefits to contributors

Let’s get started!

#5. By extending the social networks of nonprofits

Crowdfunding, also sometimes known as peer-to-peer fundraising is an incredible tool for reaching out to larger networks of people.

Acquiring new donors is a major challenge common to all nonprofits, large and small. In fact, most nonprofits spend considerably more on acquiring donors than they do on retaining existing donors.

There’s one simple way to gain new followers, increase your donor pool, and make a greater impact: launch a mobile crowdfunding campaign.

Peer-to-peer fundraising involves leveraging your existing donor base to do a lot of the heavy lifting for your organization.

How does that work? Well, it’s actually really easy. Your nonprofit hands over the necessary tools to crowdfund; they solicit their social networks, families, and friends. Presto! You’ve just reached dozens more donors without putting in any extra effort.

Thanks to social media, what used to be door-to-door appeals made by your existing donors are now “share” buttons, “like” buttons, and “retweet” buttons.

It’s never been easier to get the word out and thereby increase your own social network.

#6. By creating easy-to-understand visual incentives

Crowdfunding thermometers are perhaps the most useful (and psychologically effective) means of raising money.

mobile fundraising and crowdfunding

Thermometers are fantastic visual representations of:

  • How much money you’ve already raised
  • How much money you’re aiming to raise
  • How much time is left in a campaign
  • How many donors have contributed
  • And more!

They’re psychologically effective, as we’ve said before, because they inherently entice people to donate.

Think about it. If you see that 15 people have already donated an average of $34 to a campaign, and the thermometer is a little less than halfway full, you’ll most likely feel the pull to donate and fill up that thermometer a little bit more.

How satisfying is it to see a concrete representation of your contribution?

That’s precisely how your mobile donors will feel when you incorporate a mobile-responsive thermometer into your crowdfunding page!

#7. By making nonprofit videos more trendy and shareable

When you’re planning your mobile crowdfunding campaign, it’s important to keep in mind that donors aren’t the only people you’re trying to reach. You also want to be sure that you keep potential volunteers in mind.

One fabulous way to reach both potential volunteers and potential donors engaged is through video.

Powerful videos don’t have to be long and involved. Actually, it’s better if they’re not. Short videos that get the point across in just a couple of minutes (or even 30 seconds, if you’re really creative) are the best.

Your mobile crowdfunding campaign has a much better chance of becoming viral (and therefore quickly funded) if you include a solid, shareable video along with your crowdfunding page.

Here are some traits that successful crowdfunding videos have in common:

  • They’re under 3 minutes long.
  • They load well on a mobile device.
  • They’re well-shot and beautifully thought-out.
  • They include actionable steps for the viewer to take.
  • They have a central message that’s consistent with the nonprofit’s mission.

If your nonprofit adheres to these standards, you’re guaranteed to have a greater chance at a successful mobile crowdfunding campaign.

#8. By offering unique benefits to contributors

Whether you’re hosting a raffle or throwing a themed festival, you’re probably offering some kind of prize, right?

If raffles had no physical incentives, who would participate? If carnival games didn’t offer teddy bears, you can bet that fewer teens would spend their hard-earned summer job money on ring tosses.

It’s also common practice in a crowdfunding campaign to trade unique benefits commensurate with the level of each gift.

Say, for instance, that you’re raising money for your local animal shelter. If you’re using a mobile-responsive crowdfunding page, you can:

  • Offer 1 hour of puppy playing time in exchange for a $25 donation.
  • Trade personalized, handmade leashes in exchange for a $50 donation.
  • Give away organic, gluten-free dog treats in exchange for a $75 donation.
  • Make up your own incentives! Whatever works for your nonprofit!

The better the benefits, the more likely people will be to donate. Of course, not every benefit has to cost money for your organization (and shouldn’t). Get creative with the goods and services you offer, and you’re sure to see your donations spike!

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Thanks for tuning in and sticking with us through these 8 points. We hope you learned a thing or two about crowdfunding and/or mobile fundraising!

How has mobile fundraising improved your crowdfunding efforts? Have you noticed an increase in donations when you’ve made your donation pages socially shareable?

Likewise, have you incorporated crowdfunding into your mobile fundraising efforts? How has it worked for your nonprofit? We’d love to hear from you! Comment below to respond.