[CRNMC] Butte County and Fundraising example

Wed Jun 25 12:29:17 PDT 2014

Agreed Lanny, Hi Mendocino friends,

I have cc¹d our membership director here for additional advice.

Several things I¹d do differently than what the Butte folks did for their
Indiegogo site. I believe the budget $40K was too high for the group they
had to mail to, it discourages folks who want to give money to feel that
even if THEY give, the campaign  can¹t make their goal, or that their $25 is
such a drop in the bucket.
This appeal was way before their lawsuit, it was just for their campaign,
and didn¹t specify well how the money would be used. I think if they did
another one specifically for their legal expenses, it would work better
because it also seems URGENT to give to that, so  here¹s what I would
suggest in terms of what CRNMC could do differently.
Crowd-funding sites work best for funding specific projects or campaigns,
and do not work well for general fundraising, people need to see the
urgency, feel connected.

What is crowdraising? It¹s when you invite your friends and supporters to
reach out to their contacts and spread the message, raising money on your
behalf. - See more at:
http://www.npengage.com/peer-to-peer-fundraising/crowdsource-fundraising-tip
s/#sthash.sSXOT4Uw.dpuf   Many of these sites will also allow individuals to
set up fundraising pages on behalf of charities they want to support, and
others will allow your non-profit to set up a master page for your campaign
and then allow your supporters to set up tangential pages that they can use
to get their friends and colleagues to donate a portion of the goal of your
master campaign.

Which one should we use?  IŒm suggesting Idiegogo.  IT can be used for
non-nonprofits, its easy, popular well trafficked and rates highly. You can
chose another. 

Some information to get started?
First, set a realistic goal, knowing that most folks are going to give
smaller donations, and don¹t want to feel like a drop in the bucket. Folks
need to know what they are giving to specifically.  If you have a $5,000
goal, you want to say what specifically you will use it for (We need $5,000
for X,Y,Z) its important to be clear so folks aren;t just dumping money ³to
support the general cause².  What will $100 buy...25 lawn signs?  That¹s an
awesome way to get folks to visualize what their dollars will buy.

Make it personal. Also, some prizes for donation amounts can be helpful and
inspire new gifts. They did do this on the Butte County page, but I think
again, something in the smaller range, as clearly they didn¹;t have
$100-$5,000 donors to give those rewards to. I¹d rather get Aunt Betty¹s
prize winning carmels, or a harvest basket from Jamie¹s farm, then an
overnight or something for a $500 gift, if you have ideas about that. ALWAYS
thank folks for their donations, and if possible, announce it on their FB
pages, in a way that lets THEIR friends know they did this great thing, and
to get others to do it to.

Then craft the message I can help with this.

Below are some tips from the experts:

Email Signatures 
<http://www.npengage.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/img4.jpg> Email
signatures allow your fundraisers to tell their story every time they send
an email.  If you notice, at the bottom of my email there is information
that happens automatically (or when I want it to).  Adding this to your
emails can be a huge help.

Badges:  created by our partners Charity Dynamics
<http://www.charitydynamics.com>  and Zuri Group <http://www.zurigroup.com>
, display the participant¹s fundraising goal and the amount they have raised
to date, along with a prominent call to donate.This method helps any
crowdsource fundraiser display a high level of enthusiasm and dedication to
the cause. With more and more volunteer solicitors competing for donated
dollars, helping your fundraisers stand out serves them in meaningful ways.
 - See more at: 
http://www.npengage.com/peer-to-peer-fundraising/crowdsource-fundraising-tip
s/#sthash.sSXOT4Uw.dpuf

Tips for Making the Most from Your Crowd-Fundraising Campaign
http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com/internet-fundraising/crowd-funding-yo
ur-non-profit/
In order to maximize revenue from your crowd-funding campaign, be sure your
non-profit does the following three things:

#1  Create a Compelling Page

The best way to get new donors to support your cause through crowd-funding
sites is by creating an emotional, compelling fundraising page.  Use
pictures and videos where possible, tell an amazing story, and explain to
people exactly how much you need and what the money will be used for.

#2  Start With Your Own Network

It¹s imperative to launch your online fundraising effort by reaching out to
your own network.  Tell everyone you know about your campaign  including
your donors, supporters, staff, volunteers, board, etc.  Ask them to e-mail
out the campaign to everyone they know, and to ask their entire network to
donate to the cause.  You won¹t get donations from others on a crowd-funding
site until you have a good amount of traction from your own network showing
that you are serious.

#3  Publicize the Effort

You also want to publicize your crowd-funding campaign as much as possible. 
Put it on the front page of your website.  Link to it on your Facebook page,
through Twitter, etc.  Try to get your local media involved by suggesting
story angles.  Take every opportunity to spread the word and get people
talking about your project.

-- 
 Shannon Biggs
Director, Community Rights program
Global Exchange
415.575.5540

Welcome to Frackland:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/transformation/shannon-biggs/welcome-to-frackla
nd-does-river-have-right-not-to-be-polluted
Got Community Rights?
http://www.globalexchange.org/blogs/peopletopeople/2013/01/16/beyond-personh
ood-why-corporations-love-the-constitution-more-than-you-do/
Community Rights Network of Mendocino County protecting water:
http://www.globalexchange.org/blogs/peopletopeople/2014/05/20/community-righ
ts-fracking-ban-tour-hits-mendocino-county/
Twitter: ShannonKBiggs
Keep up to date by joining the Community Rights list serve:
http://www.globalexchange.org/getInvolved/lists.html

Help create radical change and real democracy. Become a Global Exchange
Monthly Sustainer (GEMS) today. http://bit.ly/1k1e8DU

On 6/24/14 11:02 PM, "Lanny Cotler" <lcotler at gmail.com> wrote:

> Shannon, and all...
> 
> I just checked out Butte County's crowdfunding campaign. While I thought it
> was great, it is falling far short of their goal. And they have only three
> days left in the campaign.
> 
> What could they have done better--to make the campaign more effective? Their
> video was wonderful!
> 
> Lanny
> 
> 
> On Jun 24, 2014, at 4:28 PM, Shannon Biggs <shannon at globalexchange.org> wrote:
> 
>> Butte County and Fundraising example
>> Hi Robin and all,
>> 
>> So I know many of you are aware of the Butte ban issue, but in case not, here
>> is information on their petition, which is currently kicked off the November
>> ballot, making Mendocino (fingers crossed) one of 3 counties on the ballot
>> for November. ;-)
>> I know that Robin is looking at how to do fundraisers, this is a great
>> example of a community using online fundraising via Indigogo.  Very easy to
>> do. Let me know if you need more help on this, happy to walk through it
>> together. 
>> 
>> Blessings, Shannon
>> 
>> 
>> ------ Forwarded Message
>> From: Sarah Craig <sarahcraig815 at gmail.com
>> <x-msg://398/sarahcraig815@gmail.com> >
>> Reply-To: <sarahcraig815 at gmail.com <x-msg://398/sarahcraig815@gmail.com> >
>> Date: Tue, 24 Jun 2014 16:09:54 -0700
>> To: "CAfrackattack at cafrack.org <x-msg://398/CAfrackattack@cafrack.org> "
>> <cafrackattack at cafrack.org <x-msg://398/cafrackattack@cafrack.org> >,
>> <CAF_Members at googlegroups.com <x-msg://398/CAF_Members@googlegroups.com> >
>> Subject: [CAF_Members] Frack Free Butte County fights dirty energy money
>> 
>> Dear Friends,
>> 
>>  
>> On June 1st the all-volunteer group, Frack-Free Butte County
>> <http://frackfreebuttecounty.org/> , successfully raised the 10,000
>> signatures needed to secure a citizen initiative to ban fracking on the
>> ballot this November.
>> 
>>  
>> Last week 
>> <http://www.chicoer.com/News/Local/ci_25998257/Antifracking-initative-hits-ro
>> adblock-with-challenge> , a law-firm hired by Californians for a Safe, Secure
>> Energy Future  a group funded by the oil & gas industry  challenged their
>> petition on the superficial grounds that certain sentences were not in
>> bold-font and the word "enacts" was used instead of "ordained" and their
>> initiative was rejected.
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> They have FOUR days left of their Indiegogo campaign
>> <https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/frack-free-butte-county> , so please
>> donate as soon as you can. Let¹s send a strong message that we will not let
>> the will of the people go unheard!
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> This is the classic example of the will of the people being crushed by the
>> money of the fossil-fuel industry, and they are determined to put their
>> initiative back on the ballot! However, this will cost thousands of dollars
>> to hire an attorney and counter the onslaught of oil industry money pouring
>> into Butte County and they need a strong coalition of people like you to
>> donate to their campaign.
>>  
>> Please visit their Indiegogo campaign here
>> <https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/frack-free-butte-county>  and donate to
>> their fight against Big Oil & Gas! And please forward this email to at least
>> 5-10 of your friends, family, and allies to spread the word.
>>  
>> Thanks so much,
>> 
>> The Frack-Free Butte County Campaign
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> P.S. Please spread this message far and wide across your social networks!
>> Here is a tweet to get started!
>>  
>> Dirty energy money blocks a fracking ban in Butte County: DONATE and SHARE if
>> you agree that the fossil-fuel industry has gone too far. igg.me/at/frackfree
>> <http://igg.me/at/frackfree>  <http://igg.me/at/frackfree> 

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