Nonprofit Newswire | “Sending Out an SOS”—Social Media Fundraising in a Pinch

October 6, 2010; Source: Sacramento Bee | This is an interesting article about the use of online fundraising to supplement other fundraising, particularly when a funding gap looms immediate. It concentrates on a variety of nonprofits in Sacramento, CA and is well worth reading. One of the examples it uses is a domestic violence program which was recently faced with the need to raise a match to federal dollars or lose a grant that enabled the nonprofit to serve teens who had been sexually assaulted so it launched an online campaign by email, Twitter, and Facebook. The campaign raised nearly $25,000 in three weeks and saved the program. Amber Scott of Women Escaping a Violent Environment (WEAVE) said of the effort “We knew we could not do without this program, and we needed to find the money fast . . . It used to be enough to send a newsletter through the mail. That’s no longer the case.” WEAVE received pro-bono help on its campaign from a local technology firm, Activate Direct but the article also references other campaigns that are run in-house. Among other things that online fundraising is seen as being particularly well suited for is the attraction of new and often younger donors. “Savvy nonprofits now are able to instantly tap into longtime supporters while cultivating a whole new audience through forwarded messages and blogs, shared links and re-tweets” comments a representative of a local firm that designs such campaigns.– Ruth McCambridge