This is a slideshow of a presentation made for Fundraising Online 2014 organised by the Resource Alliance

1. How to leverage digital
technologies for fundraising
success
Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah

2. Who am I?
• The Communications
Specialist at the African
Women’s Development
Fund, and a lover of new
tech/social media.

3. Does the thought of fundraising
with these tools confuse you?

4. If yes…
Then you are in the right session ☺
You’re new to digital fundraising and wish
to develop online fundraising skills

5. Why bother?
1. Low in (financial) cost
2. All about the masses
3. Digital is fun!
4. Another income stream

6. So where should you start from?

7. The Basics are Essential
• Put together a core team
• Create a fundraising plan
- How much?
When?
Which methods?

8. Drivers
• Why should anyone fund your
fundraising campaign?

9. Stories
• Have a bank of compelling stories that
you can share during your campaign
period

10. Content (images, videos)

11. Incentives

12. Conversion (non-donor to donor)
• Make the Ask!

13. Offline work

14. Database of prospects
• Who is in your little black book?
• Who can help you build on to your
database?
• Who can introduce you to others?

15. Identify your Fav Online Campaigns
Before you launch your own campaign, some
key things to consider:

16. Check out other campaigns
• Which online campaigns have you supported?
• Which ones were the most inspiring?
• What tools were used for those campaigns?
• What lessons can you take away from these?

17. A Few of My Favs

18. The Art of Ama Ata Aidoo
Digital tools used:
- Indiegogo = a crowd-sourced platform that
allows you to keep all the money you raise even
when you do not reach your goal

19. Facebook

20. The Art of AAA website

21. Result
Raised US$45,350
Exceeded goal of $45k

22. What they did well…
• Offline work – reached out to women’s
funds, feminists, activists, film lovers, book
lovers
• Encouraged supporters to hold small
events to support the campaign

23. E.g. of what they did well

24. Game On
• After campaign launch, communicate
regularly!
• Too much = spam
Too little = no one remembers the appeal
• Tip: Have a communications plan

25. Diversify your Communications
• Determine your fundraising targets
• How you will reach them
• Key social media influencers to tag on
Twitter?

26. Consider the following:
• Which influential friends should you
make a specific ask to share
• Who should you meet face-to-face?

27. Spectra Speaks

28. What she did well:
• Used a variety of digital tools used inc.
IndieGogo, Twitter, Facebook
• Run a very personalised campaign

29. Spectra Speaks – the website

30. What else she did well…
• Gave updates and shout outs on
Twitter/FB
• Branded campaign, ‘Africa for Africans’
• Reached out to people offline for online
support

31. Result
• Exceeded target significantly.
• Raised US$10,340. Original goal was
US$7500

32. Updated people after campaign

33. Lessons from Spectra
1. People are willing to fund individuals they
trust!
1. Diversify the resources you seek – some of
the funding she received was in kind. People
supported her by picking her up at the
airport, providing accommodation etc.

34. Learn more about Spectra’s
fundraising
• She shared tips, ideas and strategies via
http://www.africanfeministforum.com/resource
-materials-from-webinar-on-feminist-cyborgs-
activism-fundraising-and-security-online/

35. KBFF’s Campaign

36. What Worked
• Disclaimer : Board member of KBFF ☺
• Tools used: IndieGogo, Facebook and Twitter
• 90% of Board Members gave online

37. What Worked
• Have a super star fundraiser on your
board
• Tagging people on FB and making direct
asks
• Giving options to pay – cash accepted

38. Some observations
• To the best of my knowledge none of
these campaigns paid for ads of any type
• Most of these campaigns were small, led
by 1 key person with a support team
• Websites were not key to campaign

39. So this is all gobbledygook to you…
Where do you start from?
1. Get familiar with a social media tool of your
choice. If your long term goal is fundraising pick
one with that potential
1. Research online fundraising tools. What are the
pros and cons of each one?

40. Ready, Set…
3. Decide what you are going to fundraise for. How
are you going to make your campaign exciting?
4. Build your campaign team
5. Ready? Go for it!

41. Contact me
@nas009
nana@awdf.org
Check out more free resources I have
shared online via ‘slideshare’. Account
name is ‘nas009’