Apple CEO Steve Jobs didn’t invent the mp3 player, the portable tablet or the smartphone. He just envisioned these products differently and introduced us to the iPod, iPad, and iPhone.

Facebook wasn’t the first social media platform out the gate. Starbucks didn’t discover the coffee bean. Google didn’t invent search. Walmart didn’t create retail. And McDonald’s arguably does not make the best hamburgers.

Can you see your fundraising programs from another angle? Are you analyzing your donors, their passions and their giving habits, in different ways? How are you and your organization innovating?

A survey of over 100 EDs showed the number one resource EDs rely on is their peers. The second most popular was online resources. EDLink includes unique experiences like real-time virtual peer learning sessions, virtual mentoring, and a private discussion forum supported by expert contributors, as well as access to educational webinars, an article library and e-news created specifically for EDs.

Check it out!

“Crowdrise, a new web platform for nonprofit fundraising introduced last month, is aiming to do for philanthropy what Zappos did for shoe-shopping online.” ~ AdAge

Actor Ed Norton’s successful use of the Internet to raise $1.2 million for his participation in the Massai Marathon led to the creation of Crowdrise.  Users start fundraising projects, sponsor and donate to others, and collect points to work their way to becoming Crowdrise Royalty. There are also incentives and prizes to win for donating.

Crowdrise gives equal weight to projects big and small. You’ll come across celebrity fundraisers like Will Ferrell, Jonah Hill, Paul Rudd, and Kristen Bell as you peruse the projects on the site.

Add your fundraising campaign to the Crowdrise platform. You may find a tribe online that’s waiting to support your organization.

This summer, the Pew Research Centre released a study called Mobile Access 2010, highlighting the rapid growth in mobile usage. Here are some numbers that caught our eye:

• Eight in ten American adults (82%) currently own a cell phone.
• Young adults are heavily invested in the mobile web, although 30-49 year olds are gaining ground.
• 18-29 year old cell phone owners are significantly more likely than those in other age groups to engage in all of the mobile data applications asked about in the survey; 95% send or receive text messages; 81% send photos or videos to others; 65% access the internet on their mobile device.

What’s very clear is that more people are sharing a lot of information across cell phones, and the number is growing. Are you incorporating mobile in your fundraising strategies. Make it easier for someone to support your organization and give via cell phone. Here are some tips:

Mobile Text campaigns

• Keep your text messages to fewer than 140 characters.
• Ensure proper timing of SMS delivery. Don’t wake anyone up in the middle of the night.
• Don’t overdo it. Don’t text too often.

Mobile Website

• Create a mobile website. Simplicity is key here.
• Highlight the subscribe functions on your mobile website (text alerts, email correspondence, newsletters). Make it easy for people to keep connected with your organization.
• Ensure your DONATE function works on your mobile website.

Mobile Apps

• Cater to various age groups/donors and create a cool app. What about an information app or a related game? (see our write-up on social gaming)
• Promote your app in app stores and via online and direct mail.

Thus far, there’s one charity featured on the network: DonorsChoose.org allows customers to choose a local school project they wish to donate to.

Can you get your organization on the Starbucks network? There are over 11,000 stores in the US. That’s a lot of customers and a huge potential donor base.

And a partnership like this can percolate through to specific online sectors. If your organization provides shoes or clothing to those in need, why not approach popular online retailer Zappos.com for a collaboration. If you donate books to schools, what about getting on Amazon.com.

Drop us an email. We’d be glad to discuss (over coffee, if you’d like) opportunities for your organization.

“The more you download, the more we donate” –fairsharemusic.com

Across the pond, UK music website fairsharemusic donates 50% of profits from downloaded tracks to a charity of your choice. Songs are priced at rates similar to other downloading sites like iTunes and Amazon MP3. All you do is create an account, choose a charity, and download. We like the sound of that!

Can this idea be incorporated to benefit your organization? Could you run a campaign (short or long-term) with a music label to donate part earnings to your cause? What about partnering with a musician beyond the level of spokesperson and have proceeds, from an album or song, donated to your foundation?

And go beyond the music realm to collaborate with industries looking to differentiate themselves from their competitors.  Offering consumers ‘feel-good’ purchases is a formula where everyone wins.

(Source: National Post Business)

Is the fear of failing hampering your organization from innovating? Many organizations tend to become more rigid as they grow, minimizing risk to avoid making ‘mistakes’.

But remember:

There is no such thing as perfect. If a culture of perfection is prevalent within your organization, you are doing more harm than good. Innovative success seldom occurs without failure. Experiments in various fields have failure built into them so that all possible wrongs can be cancelled to achieve the desired right. And sometimes a surprise outcome may exceed your expectations. But none of this will happen if failure in the work-flow is discouraged. Don’t cling to the past because it’s how you’ve always done it. Try something new and if you fail, learn, modify, build, and grow.

There is no such thing as failure. Failing is perspective. Failures are just stepping stones toward getting it right. But if you don’t step out and take that risk, you will never move forward. So welcome it, build it into your culture, and encourage more risk taking.

“There is no failure. Only feedback.” ~ Robert Allen

Is email part of your strategy and how big a role does it play? Are your emails relevant? Does your audience find them engaging or are they losing interest and tuning out?

Here are four tips for your email campaigns:

Personalize your Hello:

Use the recipient’s name. Addressing a recipient personally is a simple touch that is more likely to get him/her to read and respond to your email.

Focus your Message:

Keep it short and keep it focused. A concise subject line increases the likelihood of your email being opened. If it’s an e-blast, have one clear message. If it’s an e-newsletter, keep your blurbs to the point. Include your focus in the first few lines of the email/blurbs with links to more information.

The recipient goes through a ton of emails in a day. A focused email makes it easier to grasp the message for those who skim-read.

Call to Action:

Make your call to action stand out. Make links and directions noticeable.

Monitor your Campaign Statistics:

Analyze stats provided by your email marketing service to assess your success and tweak your campaign accordingly.

Also, check your Sender Score, a measurement used by ISPs to determine whether your email makes it into an inbox, junk mail, or not at all. A ReturnPath study determined that 83% of the time sender reputation determines whether an email reaches an inbox. Find your Sender Score at www.SenderScore.org.

We came across the RockCorps movement on the Haft2Know blog and we’re singing its praises. 4 hours of volunteering in your community = 1 ticket to a concert. That’s music to our ears.

The RockCorps movement was founded in 2005, offering volunteers tickets to big-name gigs across the US. Then, in 2008, the organization partnered with Orange to bring their movement to the UK and has now spread to France and Israel. Orange directly funds the program and provides the communications campaigns.

Thus far, over 60,000 people have volunteered through RockCorps, with more than 450 charity and non-profits. Is your organization part of the movement?

What incentives do you offer your volunteers? We’d love to hear from you.