DonorDriven | The Official DonorDrive Blog

Run Walk Ride Scholarship for 2013

Posted on November 27, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

We picked #GivingTuesday to announce our giving of something a little different to help out a great cause.

Today is Giving Tuesday, a day of giving that follows Black Friday and CyberMonday shopping. We’ve chosen to give one cause a different kind of donation. Registration opens today for the DonorDrive Run Walk Ride Fundraising Scholarship that will be awarded to a deserving non-profit staffer to attend the 2013 Run Walk Ride Fundraising Conference. This event is North America’s premiere conference for causes that use ‘thon and endurance events to drive their fundraising. Every year this conference gets bigger and better with more presentations on the most up-to-date and practical advice for fundraising through athletic events.
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Posted in Events | Tagged #GivingTuesday, giving, peer-to-peer, Run Walk Ride, scholarship | Leave a comment

8 ways Google+ can power your non-profit.

Posted on November 15, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

For many non-profits, Google+ remains an enigma. People are treating it more like an icky ball of stuff that’s stuck to the ends of their fingers than the powerful social and business tool it is.
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Posted in Best Practices, Google+ | Leave a comment

How you can help Hurricane Sandy victims.

Posted on October 31, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

Our thoughts are with all suffering the effects of Hurricane Sandy. One of our staff and his family on Long Island are safe, but we received word today that they may be without power for two weeks. As the storms that spawned from Sandy hit not only the entire US East Coast, but also the Midwest and Canada, it’s obvious that much relief is not only needed now, but will be needed for weeks to come.

For those who would like to give and see that their dollars do the most good, here are some respected causes you can donate to:

The American Red Cross is providing shelter and supplies to thousands left homeless from the storm. You can also contact the Red Cross in your area to donate much-needed blood. UPDATE: The Red Cross is also accepting donations through the home page of your iTunes app.
The Salvation Army brings food, cleanup kits and emotional support to families in affected areas.
DonorDrive client Best Friends Animal Society has a relief team working with the local NYC chapter of Best Friends and other local shelters in the NYC area caring for displaced pets.

We urge you to give to reputable causes that have extensive disaster and relief experience so your money will do the most good.

Posted in Good Turns | Leave a comment

Why we use our own software.

Posted on October 25, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

One of the things that’s attracted so many of DonorDrive’s employees to work here is the philanthropic streak that runs through each of us. Some of us have been lifelong supporters of causes close to our hearts, while others have guided and run non-profits. We feel that this personal experience has been a real advantage in creating an effective fundraising software.

Project Manager Dave Klotz pitches in at the Angelman Foundation Walk | Product Manager Kasey Marcum runs in the Hyde Park Blast for The Cure Starts Now

Proj. Manager Dave Klotz pitches in at the Angelman Foundation Walk Prod. Manager Kasey Marcum runs for The Cure Starts Now

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Social Media for Nonprofits Conference comes to Chicago.

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

If your cause has struggled with creating a social media strategy that works, next week you’ll have an opportunity to hear and ask questions to some of the real innovators of social media in the non-profit space. The Social Media for Nonprofit Conference series comes to Chicago on September 19th. While big conferences may cover rudimentary social media how-tos, this is North America’s premiere non-profit conference that’s dedicated to social media. The series was designed for smaller audiences and held in more intimate settings, so the focus is on first-hand learning from the experts.
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How far does a celebrity tweet go?

Posted on September 7, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

The other morning we were pleasantly surprised to see a tweet from Paris Hilton on behalf of DonorDrive client, Cesar Millan’s Millan Foundation for animal welfare. When Paris tweeted her followers and asked them to support the cause, we saw it as a good opportunity to dissect the success of a celebrity tweet. Here’s what happened over the 24 hours we tracked it:
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Posted in Best Practices, Good Turns, Statistics and Research, Twitter | 2 Comments

Good summer reads from DonorDriven.

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

As many nonprofits are about to head into their fall fundraising season, it’s a good time to let out a deep breath, lie back and take in a little reading that’ll prepare you for the months ahead. This year, we’ve put up articles on the DonorDriven blog that we think you’ll find useful and thought-provoking. We’ve picked articles on the hottest topics in online fundraising to give you an easy reading list.
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Posted in Best Practices | Leave a comment

9 tips for non-profits to extend the life of your tweets.

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

The lifespan of a tweet or a Facebook update is surprisingly short. Bit.ly did some telling research on the most popular social media channels based on when readers clicked an included link after a message was posted. The results are really surprising: A tweet’s half-life is only 2.8 hours. So more than half of the total clicks a tweeted link gets happen in the first 3 hours. What’s more surprising is that the life of an update in other media in nearly as short. The half-life of a Facebook update is 3.2 hours. Even email has a half-life of only 3.4 hours. So almost all the clicks you’ll get from a link in social media happen not only on the first day, but within the first 6 hours.
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Posted in Best Practices, Twitter | 1 Comment

9 best practices to put LinkedIn to work for your non-profit.

Posted on July 24, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

The crucial platform that often gets overlooked in a non-profit’s social media mix is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is important not just because it’s the third largest social media site with 110 million users, it’s important for the type of user. Professionals who frequent LinkedIn might not play on Facebook and can be a higher caliber of donor than you’d find there. Typically they have more dollars to donate personally and can be the ones who control sponsorship dollars on behalf of their corporation. Though sometimes we don’t think this way—a non-profit is a corporation and really belongs on LinkedIn.
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15 key takeaways from “Can Social Fundraising Save Your Non-Profit?”

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Kevin Wolfe

The way we fundraise is changing dramatically. In the last few years we’ve seen a shift from analog methods (like phone and mail) to Social Fundraising with the capability of handling registration, donation and communication entirely online. As you can guess, this new method is a cost saver, but it’s also proving to be how a growing number of donors want to interact with their non-profits. Many executive directors find themselves working for a great cause, but feel severely hindered by an executive board or organization heirarchy with antiquated notions on fundraising. And that out-dated thinking is starting to have a negative effect on the bottom line.
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