September 2009

I admit it, most of my fundraising experience has been as a volunteer working on major gifts. It is a form of fishing also, with a pole, but you don't put the pole into the water until you know exactly where the fish hangs out, exactly what it likes to eat, and when it is likely to be hungry. And if it were a true analogy, it would also matter to the fish whether or not he knew the fisherman. In any case, you don't catch a 500 pound Halibut with a net!

Major gift fundraising has its place, but of course by itself, it is not a complete development strategy. Where are the prospects? Who are the smaller donors who are ready to move up the food chain? Any good strategy needs to include building a broad base of support, and social fundraising is an ideal mechanism.

Just as when fishing for a major gift, people are much more responsive when enticed to take the bait by someone they know and trust. By engaging your network of friends to in turn engage their friends in an ever widening net, it is amazing what can transpire. It used to be this was hard work - writing little personal notes, inviting people to join you at events, making phone calls, signing up sponsors for your 5K walk.

Now with the phenomenal popularity of social networking tools like Facebook and Twitter, people are more connected than ever before. Add to that fundraising tools like givezooks!, and you can be ready to take advantage of this new opportunity with very little effort.

Telosa is excited to announce a partnership with givezooks! to provide not only the tools to undertake social fundraising, but also the expertise to make it work for you. As part of this partnership, we have also included the ability to move names and gifts easily between the two systems, so that you can incorporate this new medium into your already existing strategies.

To learn more about the whole social fundraising phenomenon and how it might work for you, sign up for a givezooks! webinar.

Exceed! users can take advantage of our special Partner package pricing and get:

• 30-day FREE trial of givezooks!
• 1 Year subscription to givezooks!
  • Use of givezooks! for Campaigns, Wish Lists, and Grassroots Fundraisers
  • Promotion via email (with Vertical Response), widgets and social media (Facebook, Twitter)
  • Customer Support (web, live chat, email, phone)
• JumpStart Service Pack
  • givezooks! helps setup your profile and initial campaign/grassroots fundraiser
  • Accelerate the initial launch of your fundraisers and get good tips/best practices
    

Want to learn more about givezooks! and social fundraising?