This morning, we left you with a cup of coffee and some thoughts about the true cost of your time.  We arrived at the conclusion that it sometimes makes your life easier (and less costly) to pay for a service rather than doing something on your own.

Now, let’s extend the analogy.  You are an NPO with a lot of things to think about, one of the most important of which is probably fundraising.  You have people within your organization who focus a significant amount of their time on fundraising and donor relations.    

You also have a network of donors who give because they believe in and support the work that you do.  Some of them probably believe in your work so strongly that they would ask their friends to support your work, too.  Let’s call these people your fans.

It is unlikely that your fans are sending out regular emails to their friends asking them to donate to your NPO.  But suppose one of your fans is a marathon runner and wants to raise money for your NPO while they race. 

Or, suppose your NPO is hosting an event and recruiting fans to fundraise for you (i.e., ask for sponsors).  Your fans have the potential to reach additonal donors (their friends) whom you might not be able to reach at all, or whom it would be costly for you to reach through advertising, awareness-raising, or networking.  Firstgiving.com provides an easy access point to connect these potential donors to your NPO through your fans, ultimately bringing in more donations to your organization.

Let’s look at some hypothetical numbers:

Suppose your fundraising campaign for an event costs your NPO an average of $30 per hour.  This includes the cost of employee time to coordinate registrations and email alerts to your fans, printed mailings, etc.  It will take about 30 hours of work to prepare for your event and 10 hours of follow-up, with a total cost of $1200.  You plan to raise $10,000, however, so your NPO ends up $8800 in the black. 

Now, suppose your fans instead create their own Firstgiving fundraising pages for the event. 

Their friends hear about the event through an email, go to these pages, and donate with their credit cards.  It’s a quick, easy and secure way to make a donation and personally support their friends (your fans).  Firstgiving subtracts a small transaction fee and sends the donations raised by your fans directly to your NPO.  (If you want Firstgiving to take care of the registration process, we can do that, too and make your life even easier!). 

Since Firstgiving provides an efficient way for your fans to fundraise through their social networks, you end up raising $15,000 for your NPO instead of $10,000.  The Firstgiving transaction fee works out to be $1125, so your NPO receives $13,875 when all is said and done.  Plus you’ve cut down on administrative costs, simplified and automated several aspects of the fundraising process.

Voila!  Your life is easier, and you raised more money for your NPO.  That’s a small price to pay for service.

Conclusion:  Firstgiving.com can help you make your life easier, reach more people, and raise more money.  Use Firstgiving in conjunction with your other fundraising efforts to multiply the impact of your fundraising campaigns.  Empower your fans to fundraise for you!