The Annual Giving Exchange

Willie Sutton was an infamous American bank robber born at the turn of the century.  He stole millions of dollars and spent over half of his adult life in prison.  Urban legend has it that when Sutton was asked by a newspaper reporter why he robbed banks, he answered, “because that’s where the money is.”

Skeptics of social media should take note.  Today, social media websites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter have over 700 million unique visitors.  Over 60% of Americans say they have recently visited a social networking site.  If Facebook were a country, it would be the eighth most populated country in the world.

The biggest difference between traditional annual fundraising (direct mail, phonathons) and social media fundraising is that donors are more empowered.  Choosing which people and organizations are important to them, donors come to you using social media platforms.  It’s the same reason why annual funds are seeing restricted donations outgrow unrestricted gifts.

The goal of a fundraiser should be to create opportunities for donors to make gifts in ways that are convenient for them.  As the proliferation of social media continues across all age groups, we need to be exploring ways to use it to engage our donors.  Why?  Because that’s where they are.