Organizing an Effective Short-term Online Fundraising Frenzy
In a previous post, I suggested that one effective method for engaging young adult donors is to create what is known as a “money bomb.”This is a fairly recent political fundraising method that has the potential to revolutionize online fundraising for nonprofit organizations when organized correctly.
In the 21 months before the 2008 presidential election, then-candidate Barack Obama amazed the political world with his ability to mobilize young voters to raise half a billion dollars online through small dollar donations. It was a groundbreaking fundraising movement, and it laid the groundwork for the money bomb phenomenon.
At the end of 2007, presidential candidate Ron Paul stunned the media when his bare-bones campaign pulled in over $10 million through two innovative online fundraising events. The term money bomb was coined after Trevor Lyman, a supporter with no official connection to the campaign, was inspired to create a website and organize a one-day fundraising frenzy on November 5th, a day linked to British rebel Guy Fawkes. The event raised $4.3 million in just 24 hours.
Even more stunning was when the same supporter organized a money bomb on December 16th, on the anniversary of the original Boston Tea Party, and that event brought in $6 million. The money bomb has since become a popular method for political candidates with limited access to traditional fundraising infrastructure.
Follow these ten steps to plan, promote, and execute a successful money bomb:
The Planning Phase
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- Choose a specific project that will inspire an intense emotional reaction
- Choose a meaningful date, with some type of symbolism, as the deadline
- Create an event specific website or landing page that will serve as a countdown to the event, the collection channel for donations, and track funds raised in real time
- Set the fundraising goal with a specific low dollar amount per person, e.g., 10,000 people give $25 for a goal of $250,000 raised
- Keep the timeframe for collecting the money small, 24-48 hours, to increase the sense of urgency
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The Promotion Phase
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- Choose a popular, charismatic figure within the organization as the official spokesperson
- Assign staff members or volunteers who are social media savvy to post related content online multiple times per day, utilizing event specific hashtags where appropriate, to create buzz
- Build your email list by collecting pledges through the website
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The Detonation Phase
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- Send out reminders throughout the day via social networks and emails
- Give real time updates on the website and through social media channels to build a sense of excitement and urgency as donors and potential donors watch the money bomb “detonate”
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The beauty of the money bomb is its grassroots nature. It works best when appealing to a broad base of passionate supporters, asking them to give small dollar amounts in a limited amount of time to a specific project. Social networking allows the “bomb” to go viral, and potentially recruit thousands of new donors.
