Amanda Mulder, the Development Director at 20 Liters, has a lot on her plate. After all, she’s the sole staff fundraiser for an organization that makes dirty water clean for vulnerable families in Rwanda, particularly children, the elderly, and those suffering from HIV/AIDS.
Families throughout rural Rwanda rely on the education and tools offered by 20 Liters to produce clean, sanitary water. Since opening their doors in 2010, the organization has helped 98,000+ people achieve clean water with water filtration systems, rainwater collection methods, and hygiene training.
You could say that her responsibilities aren’t just vast, they’re a matter of life or death.
This year, members of the 20 Liters leadership team decided to try CauseVox to fuel their fundraising campaign. Amanda explained it was a natural choice for them because community-driven fundraising has always been their primary development technique.
But, after struggling with the burdens of a campaign, combined with the limitations of a 1-person development staff in years past, 20 Liters found CauseVox to be both an easy and efficient way to raise money and reach their target audience.
20 Liters hit their stride fast and finished their campaign strong. Here are some highlights from the campaign:
- 31 Personal fundraisers mobilized
- $19,280 raised over the course of 6 weeks
- They relied on strategic partnerships and impact-related stories
Amanda provided us some fabulous insight into the 20 Liters campaign, along with some takeaways your nonprofit or charity may benefit from.
“20 Liters hit their stride fast and finished their campaign strong. Here are some highlights from the campaign.“ tweet this
Storytelling Fuels Impact
“In our experience, when people hear that 663 million people around the world don’t have access to clean water – they want to do something about it,” Amanda explained.
The key is to get that message across in order to promote action.
Of course, crafting and then sharing a story is more difficult than it sounds. You need the right platform and layout to evoke emotion through easily-shared stories. That’s one of the reasons Amanda appreciated CauseVox. “Being able to have the tools to tell our story to fundraisers and then give our fundraisers the tools to easily take action and share that story with their friends and families makes all of the difference,” she told us.
Their stories obviously worked! 20 Liters recruited an impressive 31 personal fundraisers to participate in the campaign!
You can create sentiment through your campaign’s story, but it’s the call to action that produces a result. For this campaign, 20 Liters used a strong, clear message at the end of their stories, whether geared toward personal fundraisers or individual donors:
With $100, 20 Liters can make dirty water clean for a family in Rwanda for 10+ years
Combined, the influence of a strong, shareable story and a direct call to action helped elevate 20 Liter’s campaign because it was this story that mobilized personal fundraisers AND donors.
A Takeaway For Your Cause: Utilize all the storytelling features on CauseVox to inspire your fundraisers and donors. Utilize features such as the blog and media section to connect donors to your story. Then, end your story with a call-to-action. Don’t forget to customize the “Donate” button to reflect your call to action!
Peer-to-Peer Features
“When we started looking for new tools, we had several priorities and when we found CauseVox, we were really impressed to find that we could fulfill all of our needs for a price within the budget of a small non-profit.”
Since the first charity walk to benefit 20 Liters happened 11 years ago, dozens of supporters have used their time and efforts in peer-to-peer fundraising efforts to raise money and bring water to Rwanda. Unfortunately, the efforts haven’t always been easy.
“We had previously struggled with the administrative burden of fundraisers collecting cash and checks from donors in-person or asking fundraisers to use online peer-to-peer fundraising systems that were difficult to use,” Amanda confided.
During the search for a new tool or platform to help streamline the process, CauseVox stood out from a feature and budget standpoint. Here are a few reasons why 20 Liters chose to use CauseVox:
“The fundraiser experience is simple and streamlined.”
Amanda told us that setting up an account only took her fundraisers a few minutes. As a bonus, Amanda appreciated that fundraisers could use template/default messages on their own pages.
“The campaign and fundraiser pages are beautifully laid out and perfectly match our brand.”
Brand coherence is important for many nonprofits or charities. After all, a donor could get confused if the online fundraising website doesn’t match their own branding. 20 Liters felt comfortable using CauseVox because donors and fundraisers could navigate between the fundraising site built with CauseVox and the 20 Liters website without confusion.
“Social sharing is simple and works across a wide range of platforms.”
Today, social sharing fuels most peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns. Amanda and her fundraisers used the social sharing features on CauseVox to share template messages. She happily reported, “We can pick an image and a message so that when our fundraisers click the button, it just works!”
“The administrative functions, including setting up a campaign, are simple to use.”
We get it. Using a new system always takes some prep time. There are tutorials to watch and, chances are, you’ll have a slew of questions for the help desk by the end of your learning period. As we perfect CauseVox, we keep these common issues and hurdles in mind. After all, you don’t just need, you DESERVE simplicity and efficiency.
Thankfully, Amanda experienced the ease of using CauseVox. “I was able to feel confident using the system after walking through the set-up steps of my first campaign. And when I did have to send a couple of emails to their help-desk – I received prompt assistance. I can’t say how much this means to a one-person development department.”
A Takeaway For Your Cause: Simply follow the prompts to set up your peer-to-peer fundraising website. If you have questions or issues along the way, head to the support page or reach out to the helpdesk. CauseVox support is available whenever you need it.
Strategic Partnerships Help Stoke The Fire
“The partnership with Paseo del Rey Church was the single most important factor in reaching our campaign goals.”
It’s no surprise that the strategic partnerships your nonprofit or charity creates to enhance your campaign help broaden your audience of potential donors, fueling participating and results.
According to Amanda, one of the biggest boosts to their 20 Liters campaign was a strategic partnership with the Paseo del Rey Church in Chula Vista, California. “As the host of the Walk for Water, the Paseo del Rey Church took ownership of recruiting and encouraging fundraisers,” she explained.
At weekly services, members of the congregation were encouraged to attend the walk, set a personal fundraising goal, and create a fundraising page.
A Takeaway For Your Cause: Make partnerships! Focus on similar nonprofits in your community or businesses looking to participate in corporate social engagement opportunities. For more information on strategic partnerships, check out our guide: Working with Partners & Brands.
Looking To The Future
The future is bright for 20 Liters. They rallied supporters, exceeded their goal, and are well on their way to improving the lives of those living with dirty, unsanitary water in Rwanda.
And, the most amazing thing about it all is that they did it all with a 1-person-strong development team!
“This campaign greatly exceeded our expectations. It reaffirmed our practice of planning campaigns in coordination with passionate partner. In the future, we are excited to use even more of the storytelling tools available through CauseVox – including the blog posts to help keep the energy of fundraisers high throughout the campaign,” said Amanda.
Sounds great to us!
If you’re interested in results like 20 Liters had during their peer-to-peer fundraiser, schedule a free 1-on-1 demo with CauseVox.
To learn more about peer-to-peer fundraising, check out these resources:
