Fundraiser Websites:
Other Options & Additions

Although I highly recommend dedicated fundraiser websites for all nonprofits and fundraising causes, there are a few other free options that you could use instead of a website...

And that you should definitely be using in addition to your website (in most cases).

What's It All For?

Obviously a fundraising website is there to help you raise awareness for your cause, have readily available information for supporters, and to provide ways for you to fundraise!

Well these other options can do the same things - not as well as a website would - but still well enough for them to be worthwhile options.

Here are the best options and additions to a fundraising website.

My recommendation would be to setup a website and compliment it with these other additions!

So what are they...?

Facebook:

Facebook is the largest social network on the web, with millions of people using it to connect with their friends and contacts.

It also has the second highest volume of visitors to any site after Google, making it an ideal place to run a fundraising campaign.

Out of all the other options to having a fundraiser website I would say that Facebook is the best. The network buzz that you can create is excellent and it is a really easy way of keeping in contact with your supporters and updating them on your fundraisers!

Here are two great examples of nonprofit organizations that are having great success on Facebook...

You can also connect with Rewarding Fundraising Ideas on Facebook through the page below...

Learn How...

If you want to learn how to use Facebook successfully for your cause you will want to:

Read John Haydon's Facebook Marketing For Dummies.
An watch the excellent Nonprofit Webinars that he host through Charity How To - like How to Make an Awesome Facebook Page: A Step-by-Step Guide for Nonprofit Communicators.

Pinterest:

Pinterest is taking off life a Jet Aircraft and you definitely want to market your cause on this super cool Social Media site.

It is essentially an online Pin Board where you can pin website articles and pages, etc. onto your boards through one of the images from the website's page.

They describe it as...

Pinterest is a tool for collecting and organizing things you love.

But you can also follow other boards and have your boards followed.

So not only is it a great place to bookmark interesting stuff you find on the web but, it also provides a phenomenal tool to promote your cause.

A Search Engine...

Pinterest is also fast becoming a great way to search for top quality information.

So it's a great place to find ideas for your cause, but to also have your fundraising cause found by other.

You can follow Rewarding Fundraising Ideas on Pinterest here...

Twitter:

Twitter is quite simply explained as mini-blogging. It is a social network where you can only communicate in short 140 character messages.

It's an interesting concept that's working really well as a business tool for companies and nonprofits.

You can also combine Twitter and Facebook with your blog by using twitterfeed, which will use your RSS feed to post tweets and Facebook updates everytime you blog something!

Talk about an easy way of keeping all your different followers informed and updated!

I also know of a few nonprofits that promote their fundraiser websites Supporter Walls very effectively through Twitter.

You can follow Rewarding Fundraising Ideas on Twitter below...

Tweets by @Fundraise_Ideas

Fundrazr:

Fundrazr is a Crowdfunding platform where you can setup fundraising campaigns, and connect with other users and donors!

It's a fantastic website that's helping loads of people fundraise for different causes.

You'll need to read the Online Donations pages to make sure you use this excellent fundraising platform effectively!

Myspace:

This is another really big social network that some non-profits are finding success with.

Personally I would recommend Facebook over MySpace. This is due to the size of Facebook and that I find the usability of Facebook a lot better. But, you may be more comfortable with Myspace or you may want to try both of them.

It will also depend on where most of your supporters use. If they are mainly on Facebook then you need not look any further.

Ning:

Ning is another social website, of which I unfortunately do not know much about.

Loads of websites use it to gain followers and direst them to their main website. Let me quote an explanation from the SBI!'s (my webhost's) tips and techniques pages on Ning...

"Ning is a social platform that enables you to create and join Ning social networks that reflect your interests and passions.

With over 1.3 million social networks, and 30 million members, Ning is an excellent place to find people with similar interests to yours, build relationships with them, and send targeted traffic to your SBI! site." By Zac Hawkins (www.internet-work-marketing.com)

So like the other social network sites, Ning is another option you could use instead of a fundraiser websites or in addition to it.