What is Black Friday?
The day following Thanksgiving is regarded as Black Friday in United States. A shopping frenzy kicks in on this day and businesses capitalize on it by offering discounts and marketing their major sales around it. It marks the beginning of the Christmas shopping season in United States, since 1952.
Businesses make the most of this consumer driven day by strategizing around it in advance and there is no reason why nonprofit organizations should stay behind. Charities are branching out with technology in hopes of taking advantage of increased internet use on Black Friday. Innovative, for-profit campaigns by big brands like Facebook and Amazon are changing the way consumers are shopping. Lots of people welcome the opportunity to put their money into something selfless and donate for a cause.
Here are a few things that you should keep in mind for successful fundraising on this day:
Be prepared
Black Friday sees a lot of frenzy in the consumer space. If you are setting a major fundraising campaign on this day and marketing well around it, you should be prepared for a lot of traffic on this day. You should be prepared well in advance that your website does not crash on this day. If you have more than one giving option, like mobile giving, Facebook pages setup, be sure to test all the links and forms before you go live. And you have the systems in place to responding to each query or donations in an effective way.
A good team
Having a good team makes it really easy for any organization. Mostly on Black Fridays, stores make sure their most capable staff is out there on work. So should your nonprofit organization. Keep your most active and efficient volunteers and supporters ready for this day. So should your staff be guiding them well in advance, preparing for it. Things will get easier if you go through this all.
Market your cause
There is going to be a lot of hype for this day well in advance. You should make sure your organization’s efforts do not drown among all this noise. For this to happen you need to market your cause well.
Use Data
Use data and research about the people that you are trying to reach. After all the analysing target your marketing efforts where they will give the best results.
Share Stories
When you show people what impact their support is going to make, there is a greater probability of them responding in the positive. Share stories with them about the difference that you have created so far through your campaigns and what the one that you are hosting right now is going to make.
Teaming Up
A charity named The Salvation Army had tied up with a firm, JC Penney which had pledged to pay $25 to it, up to $100000 for every check-in on foursquare which was a location based social network for mobile services. The Salvation Army then asked its supporters to spread the message about the checking in apart from going about its usual asking for funds. Your non-profit organization could also partner with businesses so that a portion of their profits goes to charity.
A day which has been marked by consumerism could also be made use of by nonprofits by cashing in on the frenzy. You need to prepare well in advance and strategize for it. The above lessons could come in handy for a successful fundraising.
