What is Cyber Monday?
Black Friday and Cyber Monday are quite well known and was originally a trend started by retailers to encourage shopping, preferably to shop online. It is held on the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. With sales crossing the $1 billion mark on Cyber Monday each year the importance of this day has only been growing with time. Is it relevant for nonprofit fundraising? Let’s explore.
Philanthropic donors are more involved with a cause than casual shoppers. They are happy to contribure throughout the year, but of course when you have an event like Cyber Monday, it’s a special opportunity when people are really focused on their shopping, to somehow make an ask when they are focused on another task.
Why nonprofits should go online?
More people than ever before are using the internet for shopping. It is much easier, faster and efficient. These days, to not stay behind, more and more nonprofit organizations are using online solutions to make it easier for their supporters and donors. This is where web based donation platforms like GiveCentral pitch in and make life much simpler for nonprofits. The effort should go towards making donation processing, information finding and community seeking experiences just as good as retailers to stay relevant.
How to go about this Cyber Monday?
There are quite a few online retailers like The Nonprofit Shopping Mall, Recoup, etc which help to connect consumers with nonprofits through their shopping experience. Partnering with one of these retailers could help your nonprofit in a big way by giving you the visibility with the huge traffic that these retailers and other e-commerce platforms see on this day.
A user while shopping online could just see you logo, click on it and be taken to your online community. See all the good work done by and the people helped by you. How donating to you could really help them make a difference and make them a part of a great story through their contributions. Even if you don’t develop any partnership with any online retailer, you could still hop on the bandwagon on the euphoria created around the Cyber Monday. Be a part of this multi-million targeting event and even through your meagre marketing budget, make yourself visible to potential donors. Ask your volunteers and supporters to create campaigns for you and spread the word to donate to you on this Cyber Monday.
Cyber Monday should be big in the plans of your nonprofit fundraising. Even if you don’t raise millions on this day, you are still being exposed to a very wide range of audience who still aren’t associated with you. It is as much about getting donations on this day, as much about building your community. With some planning and the right strategy, you could make the most of this Cyber Monday!