Fundraising Tip: Crafting a Compelling Story

I remember growing up and listening to the stories my grandparents would tell me about the China Civil War. They would talk about fighting in the war, taking care of the wounded, and eventually escaping to Taiwan. Their stories would capture my attention completely. Stories are narratives that help us understand events, culture, and morals. […]

Bruce Barton’s 100% Fundraising Letter Response Rate

Let’s talk about one of the first documented instances of supporter-driven fundraising. Bruce is the founder of BBDO, a global ad agency, and is often referred to as the one of the first to do supporter-driven fundraising. In 1925, there was a college in Kentucky called Berea that educated the local towns. The students were […]

Fundraising Page Tip: Interview with Yoko Nakano

I met Yoko Nakano at SXSW during our panel discussion about SXSWcares. After things settled down at bit in the campaign, I asked Yoko to share her thoughts on fundraising for SXSWcares. Check out some of her scientifically-ground tips on how to get your friends, family, and coworkers to give. Tell us a little about […]

10 Principles of Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

We presented at Non-Profit Technology Conference in Washington DC last week about peer-to-peer fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising is basically a method of fundraising that gets your supporters to fundraise through their personal networks. It’s the non-profit version of crowd-funding and a part of what we offer here at CauseVox. Check out the presentation. You can download […]

How we started SXSWcares and raised over $100,000 in one week

On the morning of the first day of SXSW, I saw the jaw-dropping photos and videos from the Japan tsunami disaster. The news agencies were reporting that hundreds of people have died and tens-of-thousands were missing. In addition, earthquakes and potential nuclear reactor meltdowns posed serious threats to an already disaster-torn country. Without hesitation, we launched […]

Fundraising Page Tip: Interview with Taro Radke

Yesterday we launched SXSW4Japan (SXSWcares) to rally the interactive community here to raise support for the Japan Tsunami Disaster. It’s amazing to see the Tweets, the posts, and the chatter all around this event. One of the fundraisers, Taro Radke, has blown away this fundraising effort. So far, he has raised over $1000 for disaster […]

Tips From A Website Guru

We presented on non-profit web and tech with Jenni Schwartz at NYU a while back. She brings a wealth of experience in website design and best practices. We often get questions about enhancing non-profit websites, so we asked her to share a few tips with you. Jenni is the owner of Jenni Schwartz Design LLC, […]

Distinct and Impressionable

Organizations are formed because of an idea — fight poverty, feed the hungry, advocate for human rights, or many other ideas. The visual design of your brand represents the idea behind your organization. It’s how your audience understands your organization. Generally, there are two elements that are important to visual branding – it has to […]

Why Donation Tiers Are Needed

Fundraising online lets you reach a broad audience in a cost effective manner, but it can become impersonal. Many times, effective fundraising is driven by relationships and personal ownership. One way we make online fundraising personal is through donation tiers. Why are these tiers needed? A couple of reasons: 1. It communicates the impact of […]

Your Brand Is More Than A Logo

A logo is just one part of your brand. At a general level, your brand is how your audience perceives and identifies you. Your brand is holistic; the mission, audience, and personality of your organization drive it. This foundation sets the course of your messaging platform (copywriting/storytelling) and visual identity. The visual identity includes the […]