Posts tagged nonprofit event planning

P2P fundraising empowers others to ask on your behalf!

April 3, 2015 Leave a Comment Written by Deborah Spector
The peer-to-peer family tree breaks down the different kinds of P2P fundraising and shows how big the P2P family is becoming.

The P2P family tree breaks down the different kinds of P2P fundraising and shows how big the P2P family is becoming.

P2P fundraising empowers others to ask on your behalf! Also known as Peer-to-peer fundraising, P2P uses the power of your constituents to engage their friends and family.

It’s one of the major driving forces in successful nonprofit fundraising. The peer-to-peer family tree breaks down the different kinds of P2P fundraising and shows how big the P2P family is becoming.

So imagine my delight when Tate Handy at Digital Third Coast  asked if I would be interested in sharing the P2P family tree developed with Plenty Consulting.

Then Tate offered an introduction by Plenty Consulting CEO Jeff Shuck. I was thrilled!

I’ve been a big fan of Jeff Shuck since 2007 when I first learned of his new paradigm incorporating special events to the classic development pyramid. For me it was a gateway to P2P fundraising and empowering others to ask on your behalf!

Jeff Shuck introduction to the P2P family tree:

  • Did you buy Girl Scout cookies this year?
  • Did you participate in a Tough Mudder as a fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project?
  • Did you attend Penn State’s annual Dance Marathon, or purchase lemonade from one of Alex’s Lemonade Stand?

If you did any one of these things, I’ve got news for you- you were participating in an act of peer-to-peer fundraising, whether or not you knew it at the time.

Peer-to-peer fundraising, also known as P2P, is one of the most thrilling nonprofit fundraising channels being used today, and it’s growing at a fast pace. Yet despite its growing fan base, many people aren’t quite sure how to explain P2P to others. Here’s what you need to know.

First of all, in traditional fundraising, organizations reach out to their network to donate. In P2P, meanwhile, organizations ask their constituents to reach out to people connected to them on behalf of your cause. Instead of only having access to their donors, organizations can connect with their constituents plus their constituents’ networks, creating an unending collection of potential new donors. Your audience expands exponentially, and with it, so does your ability to do more to fulfill your mission.

Abundance is out there and peer-to-peer fundraising helps you unlock that abundance to be distributed to those who need it. What can your network do for your cause?

Deborah’s Comments –

P2P fundraising empowers others to ask on your behalf! P2P engages your network in a number of ways:

  1. Ensures successful events
  2. Integral part of cause marketing initiatives
  3. Fuels the engine for digital campaigns

We’d love to hear examples of how your nonprofit engages and empowers your network by involving constituents in P2P initiatives.

Nonprofit Fundraising
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AJFF 2012 soars above the ‘social media noise’

January 17, 2012 Leave a Comment Written by admin

Let’s face it – the more important  social media becomes to marketing special events, the more difficult it is to be heard above the ‘social media noise.’

The AJFF 2012 is scheduled to start for February 8th. Incredible that more than 21,000 tickets sold in the first two weeks of sales!

How is the film festival getting above the noise? A focused year-round marketing plan topped with strong social media is key.

AJFF communication strategies consist of a blend of online buzz with compelling content for social media websites and consistent outreach to secure coverage in the news.

To ensure that the AJFF team reached its communications objectives to cultivate diverse audiences, increase awareness and enhance coverage, the marketing committee held brainstorming sessions and developed a social media content calendar.

AJFF 2012 Facebook page is visually compelling. I’m one of the more than 1500 people who have liked the page. Each day I get engaging posts with tickler descriptions of different films including video-clip trailers and reminders to purchase tickets.

AJFF website is geared to provide information on films, location of theatres and ticket sales. The online media center contains press releases and press kits – everything bloggers, reporters and twitter influentials need. Contact information is visible. Email queries and phone calls are answered promptly.

In an earlier post Promoting a Film Festival in 3 weeks! I describe marketing tools to use to increase the buzz and ticket sales for a film festival.

If you would like a copy of my film festival PR template, please contact me at deborah@creative-si.com.

Special thanks to Brad Pilcher and Shayne Walsey, AJFF communication co-chairs and Kendel White from Weber Shandwick for their hard work to make AJFF 2012 a communications success.

Now, if you will excuse me I need to finish ordering my tickets for the festival before they’re sold out!

Social Media
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In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

January 15, 2010 Leave a Comment Written by admin
Calvin Alexander Ramsey - Photo credit AJC

Calvin Alexander Ramsey – Photo credit AJC

     Calvin Alexander Ramsey had a dream. Inspired by Martin Luther King, Jr., he decided to follow his muse and become a voice in the struggle for social justice.
     Ramsey became a playwright. His first work, The Green Book, is a play about the difficulties African-Americans faced while traveling during the Jim Crow era and presents a dramatic intersection in the lives of a Holocaust survivor and an African-American salesman. It is based on his research on The Negro Motorist Green Book, a manual directing Blacks to “safe” restaurants, hotels and gas stations.
The Negro Motorist Green-Book, 1940. The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The Negro Motorist Green-Book, 1940. The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

     Published from 1936 to 1963, this now obscure guide was once widely used to shield Black from segregated facilities in the South and throughout the country. Interviews with scores of elderly African-Americans recalled emotions of peril and fear while traveling. Ramsey captured these emotions in his play.
     I recently learned that the first reading of The Green Book took place at the Old Decatur Courtroom in Decatur, Georgia. This is where Martin Luther King, Jr. was sentenced in 1960 to four months in a state work camp after being arrested for a sit-in at Rich’s department store. National outrage coupled with help from then presidential candidate John F. Kennedy led to his release.
     How fitting that the next reading of the play is happening as part of an MLK, Jr. celebration at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale. The presentation is co-sponsored by the Slifka Center, the Fortunoff Video Archives for Holocaust Testimonies, Yale Theater Studies Department and the Afro-American Cultural Center.
The Green Book Flier for Yale Concert Reading

The Green Book Flier for Yale Concert Reading

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Nonprofit Consulting
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