Fundraising with Online Widgets and Badges
by Ashley High

Online fundraising can very time-consuming and tedious as an organization’s staff emails donors, updates their website, writes blogs, and posts on discussion boards. However, using a charity badge – a fundraising widget – can save much time and energy.

 

First of all, a charity badge is an icon with a brief description of the cause, a company logo or another picture, and a link to a page where the website visitor can donate money. The badge also lists the fundraising goal and how much money has already been donated. Finally, these badges also have a “copy” button that people can click on to automatically generate the badge’s HTML code. Then, the visitor can copy and paste the badge onto his website where a whole new audience can see the badge.

 

It does not take much technical skill to create a badge. Websites like ChipIn, Network for Good, and Firstgiving can create free charity badges once an account is created with them.

 

ChipIn (www.chipin.com)

ChipIn allows organizations to choose the size, color, and the name of their charity badge, set a time limit for the fundraiser, and specify their fundraising goal. Once the badge is created, the organization can choose where to publish their badge – whether it is a website, social networking site, or on a blog.

 

While donations can be collected via PayPal, ChipIn also allow organizations to receive checks and direct deposits for 3.9% of all the proceeds. PayPal will take 1.9% to 4.9% of the proceeds for their administrative fee.

 

Network for Good (www.networkforgood.org/npo/)

This service runs a charity badge program through periodic fundraising contests in partnership with businesses and public figures.

 

The money earned through the charity badge is put into the organization’s bank account once a month. A 4.75% tax-deductible fee is charged for credit card donations. Donors can either pay the fee themselves or have it taken from their donation.

 

This charity badge comes in one size and is either green or black. The badge has a brief description of the organization’s cause, a photo, and a video link if they so choose. There is also a button that allows others to put this badge on their own websites.

 

Firstgiving (www.firstgiving.com)

While this service does create free charity badges, the charity has to first create a fundraising page on the Firstgiving site. This page can be created for free, but then Firstgiving will deduct 7.3% from all donations before it transfers the money to the organization’s bank account.

 

These badges display the fundraiser’s name, a meter showing the campaign’s progress, and it allows the organization to set a fundraising goal and deadline. While the charity’s fundraising page can have text and images, the badges do not support customized color schemes, photos, or graphics. Firstgiving has four badge styles from which the organization can choose. These badges also do not have a button that quickly allows other people to copy the badge onto their own websites.

 

Charity badges can be very successful. In 2006, The Sharing Foundation, an organization that helps Cambodian orphans, raised nearly $100,000 in just three weeks with their charity badge. The Sharing Foundation posted its badge on its website and then asked other bloggers to repost the badge on their sites. Board members and volunteers sent emails to friends to tell them about the cause. Finally, staff members met with people to ask them to donate.

 

Beth Kanter, the board member of the Sharing Foundation who drove their charity badge campaign, says non-profit organizations should first have some experience with online fundraising before beginning to use charity badges. She also suggests that the organization start small: “As long as you have the basic strategy in place, start with a low-risk experiment with a smaller goal.”

 

Information taken from: Brian Satterfield. “Charity Badges: Turn Your Supporters into Fundraisers.” TechSoup. www.techsoup.org.

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