QR Code Posters for Educational Fundraising and School Events

What do you know about QR codes?

You’ve probably seen these distinctive, randomly-checkered, black and white squares on advertisements in magazines and other print publicity. Anyone with a smart phone can scan them in an instant, and be transported to a sponsor’s web page for more information.

How does that help your raise more money for your school?

What if that QR code sent students, parents, and other potential donors to a website where they could instantly purchase tickets to an upcoming dance, theatrical performance, fundraising event. What if that site allowed them to make an instant online donation? What if you could do it all at an affordable price?

By combining the power of QR codes with the convenience of our TicketRiver online box office, we’ve created a reliable tool for your school. TicketRiver helps you collect money, whether you’re selling tickets or just asking for charitable donations to support the arts, athletics, the building fund, or any other program that requires cash.

It’s Elementary

We know you’re busy, and that’s why we’ve made the process as streamlined as possible. You can start with a call to our friendly customer support staff at 888.771.0809 and tell them you’d like some QR Code Posters. While you’re setting up your page on TicketRiver (totally free, really easy), they’ll help get your Posters started. You can send our designers any image you’d like to use, have a custom design created just for you, or even choose a combination, like a custom design that incorporates your school logo.

We won’t print or ship your posters until you’re satisfied with the proof, so there’s no risk. When you receive them, the unique QR code will feature prominently in the image, letting everyone know that they can instantly buy tickets or send money with their smart phones.

Time to Shine

Just hang your Posters around the school or wherever you suspect your supporters may lurk. Wherever you go, whatever you do, those QR codes keep working for you, so you can sell tickets or collect donations literally any time, utilizing zero human resources. No one has to sell tickets, collect money, count change, or answer questions. Your TicketRiver page does it all for you!

If you’re looking for a way to move your fundraising campaign into the twenty-first century, capitalize on your students’ love of technology, or raise more money while committing fewer resources to the cause, QR Code Posters are smart way to achieve your goals!

 

 

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            From print to radio, from television to the internet, the medium for selling event tickets seems to be ever evolving. While the internet appears to be the frontier of the future, the focus has shifted from traditional web advertising. Promoting your event tickets through a web site is still essential, yes, but now it’s a part of a larger movement, that of social media marketing.

            Aside from being fairly easy to implement, social media marketing is also extremely inexpensive.  No matter the cost, though, you want to get a return on your investment, be it money or time. Here are a few aspects to focus on when using social media marketing to sell your event tickets:

·      Frequency

·      Interaction

·      Quantity vs. Quality

·      Integration

These four items are key to being successful as you jump into the world of social media.

Like Clockwork

            Part of the appeal of using social media platforms for marketing is the frequency with which you can send out your message. Web users are constantly looking for new information, and sites like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter allow you to give them that information. You need to mention your event tickets as frequently as possible, so your promotion doesn’t get lost in the constant information stream.

            Remember, all news is important in the social media world.  If you’ve just designed your event tickets, mention it online. Even if you’ve just started considering what your event tickets should look like, bring that up. Frequent updates engage your audience and make the process more personal, no matter how tiny the detail might be.           

A Part of the Team

            The internet allows you to interact with your audience like no other medium and social media sites take this to the next level.  That germ of an idea for the design of your event tickets? See what your audience thinks. Invite them into the process. You don’t have to listen to their suggestions; you just have to ask for them. The simple act of listening to your audience will draw them in.

            Get them talking. Allow comments on your posts on sites like Blogger and WordPress. Create a posting board. Encourage discussion on every aspect of your event, from the aforementioned event tickets to reviews afterwards. Getting them to come back for updates is great, but getting them to come back because they want to interact is even better.

Playing the Odds

            When promoting your event tickets online, try to cast as wide of a net as possible. Networking can spread like wildfire, as one connections links you to another who links you to another and so on. Your target demographic for event tickets is simply your first audience, but they are certainly not your last. Once you connect with them, you can expect your message to spread.

            If you’re creating compelling content about your event tickets, your updates will get passed along from person to person, and suddenly a link to your site is popping up everywhere. This makes up your expanded audience, those who end up visiting your site and investigating your event tickets because they saw a link somewhere.

            It’s the grapevine of the 21^st century!

Headquarters

            It is absolutely essential that, while promoting your event tickets, you have all of your online interactions point back to your web site. Your latest status update may be interesting enough to gain you new fans, but unless they are following you back to your web site, it won’t translate into event ticket sales.

            The process works both ways. It easier than ever to imbed your social media updates into your web site. You want to make sure that anyone who comes to your site directly can also follow you through other sites. Once they add you as a friend or a follower, they indirectly become a part of your marketing team!

            Social media marketing is a cost effective, high traffic way of selling more of your event tickets. With just a little bit of time and effort, you can receive a big return on your small investment!

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If you’ve already read “The Smart Money: Online Fundraising for Schools Part One,” you know why the Internet is your best bet for expanding your donor list and your profits. You’ve read a few tips to get started, and you’re ready to learn the rest: ten more ways to boost your online fundraising dollars, make the most of donor communication, and promote your school’s online fundraiser, along with some basic guidelines for conducting online or offline fundraisers.

Communication and Promotion

 Use the Internet to keep your potential donors aware of your school and its needs. You’ll want ongoing communication to ensure everyone’s up to date on upcoming fundraising events and school needs, particularly those of student clubs, organizations, and teams. The more involved they are, the more they’ll give. Here’s how to keep everyone in the loop.

4. Start an email Campaign
Starting an e-mail or e-newsletter campaign is the most important step you can take to ensure the success of your online fundraiser. If people aren’t informed, they won’t help. Make your campaign a success with the following tops:

• Tailor Emails to Recipients’ Interests: Build detailed profiles for each potential donor. You can send an initial email asking about the recipient’s needs and demographic, or you can send more surveys and polls over a longer period of time. The second option is often best, as it allows for better relationship building as you gather information and develop continually more personalized emails.

• Do Not Solicit in Initial Mailings: Even the most generous among us usually don’t care to give money to organizations or individuals before we have established some relationship. The importance of not soliciting recipients with their first email cannot be emphasized enough. Initial emails should be used to gather information on the recipient’s needs and interests in order to provide more valuable content. There is a direct correlation between the relationships built with potential donors and the amount they will give.

• Purchase email Marketing Software: Email marketing software will save you time and money. This software allows you to automatically upload your donor database into an email marketing application and helps you tailor your emails to a recipient’s interests. Emaillabs.com offers great basic email marketing software. WildApricot, Convio, GetActive, and LocalVoice are designed specifically for online fundraising and offer a handful of specialized tools not offered by general email applications.

• Establish a Schedule for Writing and Distributing: The whole point of an email marketing program is to hold the recipients’ attention by keeping them continually informed. People should look forward to receiving your email. Establish a set frequency based on time constraints and your school’s ability to produce relevant news or content.

For more information on email marketing read "Stay Between the Lines! Your School Email Marketing Campaign".

5. Start School Blogs and Forums
Forums are especially great for school websites. They provide parents, students, community members, and faculty a place to share ideas and become involved. An active forum helps you understand the community’s concerns and communicate instantly. A blog is a great way to provide information on current school happenings.

6. Incorporate a Web Calendar
Integrating a web calendar into the school website is essential because it allows visitors to view upcoming fundraising events at a glance. There are many web calendar applications out there. Trumba event calendars (www.trumba.com) are easy to use and boast a number of features. Google and Yahoo both offer free event calendars.

7. Integrate an RSS Feed
RSS feeds automatically update subscribers on new website content or events; there’s no need for users to continually check your website. New blogs, email newsletter shipments, wiki page updates, and upcoming fundraising events should be placed on an RSS page. This will greatly increase fundraiser participation.  For more info on creating RSS feeds visit /www.wilsonweb.com.

8. Create Wiki Pages
A wiki page is a webpage that can be edited by website visitors. Wikipedia is the most commonly known wiki site: a visitor edited, free encyclopedia. Submit your school’s details and history to this site, as it often comes up first in search results. Wiki pages for every sports team and student organization can be of great benefit. Parents, students, and staff can contribute unique pictures and stories about each group, establishing a sense of community while keeping the entire community informed about student activities. Write about notable alumni, too. Giving staff the ability to quickly edit these pages will make them more valuable and interesting. Search engines consider frequently updated content more valuable, so wiki pages increase your website’s natural search results. JotSpot provides a fully integrated wiki application that makes creating wiki pages a breeze. While most wiki pages are text based, JotSpot allows you to create rich web-based spreadsheets, calendars, documents and photo galleries with ease. For additional information on general wiki page creation, visit www.intersci.ss.uci.edu.

9. Create and Distribute Charity Badges
A charity badge is a small widget, often including a picture, brief description of the organization, and link to where you can make a donation. Using charity badges is good practice for any fundraising campaign. Although they may or may not produce large donations, they are an effective way to promote a fundraiser. Placing yours in targeted locations can help you reach new demographic groups. These badges also allow users to share with one another by simply clicking on “get this badge” and copying the html code onto their website or blog, which helps you target individuals who may donate. They are inexpensive and easy to create. Simply follow step-by-step instructions though providers such as CareBadges or ChipIn.
To get your school’s charity badge started, choose a provider and create a badge.  Then, email those who would be most likely to make a contribution or share the badge with others. After this, donate to your charity badge yourself, and have co-workers and friends do the same. People are much more likely to donate if they feel they are part of something big. Finally, promote your badge though your school blog, social networking sites, email newsletter, or forums.

The Basics

Here are some basic tips to increase the effectiveness of any fundraiser.

10. Base Appeal on Benefits, Not Needs
Communicate how your school will be a better place for children, or the community will be better off as a whole, after receiving fundraising dollars.

11. Create a Sense of Urgency
Communicate the need for urgent action with clear deadlines and purposes. Catch people in the moment, with a sense of immediacy, and they are more likely to make a donation. 

12. Provide Convenience for Donors
Give donors the convenience of paying online, over the phone, or via mail.  Establishing several media for submitting donations or purchasing Raffle Tickets increases the likelihood of participation.

13. Following up with a Thank You
Don’t forget to send thank you notes to any direct donors, big Raffle Ticket customers, and purchasers of auction items.

14. Use Online Fundraising as a Supplement
Encourage online participation, but don’t let this be the only alternative. A lot of people do not want to become engaged with the online process. Make sure traditional fundraising activities are still in place. Online fundraisers are long arms, while traditional fundraising is the backbone of your fundraising efforts. Think integration. Allow your offline and online fundraising efforts to complement each other.

 

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You need extra-curricular activities, office supplies, and roof repairs. You need to make up for the budget cuts, expanding classes, and an increase in Internet bandwidth. In short, you need money. When the PTA is stretched thin and your kids refuse to sell another chocolate bar, it’s time to take matters into your own hands. Don’t worry if your hands are tied! You can earn more money for your school with online fundraising, and you never even need to leave your desk. In this two-part article, we’ll discuss the why and how of filling the coffers without overwhelming your calendar.

7 Reasons to Take Your School Fundraising Campaign to the Net

1. Online giving grows exponentially every year, from just over a half a billion dollars in 2000 to more than $4.5 billion in 2005. (www.groundspring.org)

2. One-click giving helps convert the philanthropic urge into fast action. Your supporters are much more likely to turn their impulse to help into actual donations, Raffle Ticket purchases, or auction bids, when they’re online. The instantaneous nature of the Internet promotes action by catching people in the moment. Being “close to the click” means being close to donors and dollars.

3. Online fundraising eliminates geographic borders. With the right incentive, you can attract a world of potential donors outside your region.

4. People are more generous online. An email campaign launched by North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics resulted in a 20% increase in the average donation. Their overall efforts resulted in a 150% ROI. (www.bronto.com)

5. Online fundraising attracts alternative demographics. cMarket conducted a study concluding that 71% of their online bidders are women. They found that women are turned off by the highly competitive, testosterone induced environment of the traditional auction. Internet bidding turned this demographic into major donors.

6. The Internet is quickly becoming donors’ medium of choice because it’s quick and easy.

7. Online Fundraising is a great option when your potential patrons are pressed for time. The typical auction lasts 1 to 3 hours; fewer people will be able to attend in that small window. Online auctions generally lasts 1 to 3 weeks, expanding the potential for more people to make more bids.

14 Ways to Boost Your School’s Online Fundraising Dollars

Think you know fundraising? Online fundraising is a different beast! If you’re ready to made the move from traditional fundraising to Internet fundraising, here are a couple of things to keep in mind.

1. Offer Big Incentives for Big Returns
Online fundraising works on a much larger scale than a PTA pancake brunch. You’re not limited to your usual group of donors; you’ll be tapping into an audience that is larger and more diverse. However, you’ll be competing for their attention, so they can be much harder to engage and coerce into action. You need the right incentives. The Mount Madonna School, located in San Jose, conducted a raffle with a $1.8 million, 2800-square-foot dream home as the prize. They set a benchmark of 26,000 tickets at $150 each before the house could be given away. Even though they fell short, selling only 19,137 tickets sold, they still gave $1 million to the top winner and $141,000 to the remaining 319 winners, and while managing to raise $1 million for themselves. Eliminating geographic limitations and providing the right incentive creates a massive audience, and your rewards grow exponentially.

2. Partner With Online Fundraising Providers
To greatly expand the audience for your auctions, consider selling on eBay Giving Works.  (www.givingworks.ebay.com/). eBay Giving Works is dedicated to nonprofit and charity listings. Start by signing up on MissionFish (www.missionfish.org/), a site that makes it safe and easy for nonprofits to sell on eBay. AuctionPay (www.auctionpay.com) is another resource that can help create bidding activity outside your school’s local geographic range.  St. Mark’s School instituted AuctionPay’s Online Auction Solution and managed to raise $25,000, more than one-fourth of the school’s total revenue of $97,000. A bidding war even erupted between two grandmothers, one in Florida and one in California, over lunch with a teacher, followed by a movie at a local cinema. The experience sold for $2,200 (www.nptimes.com).

3. Measure Everything
One of the great things about fundraising online is there are many useful ways to measure the effectiveness of your campaign. Normal metrics you should gather with your email campaign include email open rate, click-through rate, forward rate, opt-out rate, and email list growth rate. You can also track valid website metrics as well, including traffic growth, and the number of visitors who register. It’s also important to keep track of online versus offline funds raised, and the number of participants that are new donors.

Read Part 2 of The Smart Money: Online Fundraising for Schools for 11 more ways to improve your school's online fundraising efforts.

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Virtually Yours

Primary Objective:

You have passion for your cause, but passion alone is not enough. To create positive change you need resources: volunteers and donations. Traditional fundraising channels such as a banquet or raffles remain the most effective ways to create hype and generate donations. However, as the web continues to grow, it is becoming paramount to strike a balance between online and offline fundraising activities. Many businesses have already discovered that the web can be a powerful mechanism to reach new audiences.

With so many online tools available, nonprofits relying on limited time and resources may be overwhelmed by the options. This series will help you sift through online opportunities for nonprofits and provide a simplified, manageable view. Six distinct online channels have been identified and are discussed further in this guide. Each portion of the series will focus on a single topic and discuss how your nonprofit can leverage the Web to better your nonprofit organization. Topics to be discussed include:

1. Social Networking
2. Online Auctions
3. Email Campaigns
4. Wiki Pages and Event Calendars
5. Blogs
6. Online Raffles

1. Social Networking

Social networks allow those with similar interests to interact. Each social connection forms a vast network of users who can share information instantly. It’s word of mouth at high speed. The days of blindly blasting messages into the Web are over. Nonprofits that truly become involved and interact in social networks can share information about their cause to those who have expressed interest in it. Not only are you marketing your cause to those who care, but your contacts can also effortlessly market for you to their own network. Before we look at which social network(s) is right for your nonprofit, let’s discuss the basics of interacting with others on a network.

Create a Profile
To get started on a social network, you must create a profile for yourself and/or your company. For most nonprofit organizations, a profile for the organization will be the best choice, although an individual profile can be a good way to get to know the social network. Remember that members of social networks value openness and honesty, and do not take well to companies or organizations misrepresenting themselves. If you choose an individual profile it should represent you, not your organization masquerading as you!

Setting up a profile is not a one-time chore, but an ongoing process. Add interests and ideas as they come to you, and don’t be afraid to build and change your profile as your understanding of social networks expands. To create a truly viral campaign that spreads throughout the network, write a profile that is compelling, fresh, catchy, and ultimately makes others want to share. You want to make a good first impression, so think about what will be on your profile before you begin adding friends.

Connect with People
To make your profile relevant, establish a network of supporters who are willing to discuss and share details about your organization. The easiest way to begin finding online friends is to start with your close real-world supporters. Look for people who are already members of your organization or on your mailing list. Encourage them to connect with your profile and to invite others they feel would add to the network. Remember, people will value your online relationship more if you are active and respond often and in a timely manner.

Connect with Groups
Eventually, you will want to reach more people by becoming involved in online groups. Groups allow users to express and share their interests and passions with others within the online network. With millions of users, social networks have groups for almost any imaginable purpose. For instance, if you are looking for those who support fighting breast cancer you could choose from one of more than 177,000 groups found on MySpace alone. Groups are also a good way to stay up-to-date on the happenings relevant to your cause. Comment on their pages and respond to others’ comments. Become personally involved, interact, and establish your network.

Set up a Charity Badge
Charity badges allow you to create a tangible online link that connects your awareness campaign with your fundraising. After you have created a profile and established a network, you are ready to utilize a charity badge. Charity badges are online widgets, simple applications that produce attractive links, which can be easily copied and shared with others. Badges will often include a brief description, fundraising goal and progress, and a button to assist in a quick, easy donation, and these small pieces of code can be transferred effortlessly throughout your online network. The image shown to the left is an example of a charity badge powered by the Network for Good.

When using a charity badge remember the following tips:

1. Make your fundraising goal reasonable.
2. Begin with a small success in mind and work your way up.
3. Place your badge on your website, blog, social networking page, group pages, and anywhere else you possibly can!
4. Send thank you emails!

Selecting a Social Network
Wikipedia’s full list of social networks can be overwhelming. Consider your audience. The social network with the most users may not be the best choice; your message can get lost in the tide. Targeting individuals who share passion for your cause may prove easier on smaller, niche audience networks, where you can make a greater impression. This translates into a better return on the time invested.

Popular Non-Profit Social Networks

1. Change.org- Change.org is a social network dedicated solely to nonprofits and individuals with a specific cause. Unlike many social networks, where the primary purpose is basic interaction, Change.org is designed as a facilitator for users to connect, take action, and donate.
2. Care2- Approaching nearly 10 million strong, this is an incredible platform to create lasting relationships with people who share similar goals. This website allows users to start petitions or groups, post news stories, and create blogs all relating to a specific area of interest.
3. Squidoo- Squidoo allows each user to create his/her own “lens”: a single web page much like a profile. Creators use this one page to describe their passion or interest. Unlike other social networking sites, the purpose of Squidoo is to spark readers’ interest in a certain topic and then direct them via links and videos to information elsewhere on the web. Squidoo does not require those viewing your page to be members, and the site boasts an average 11 million viewers a month.

Popular Social Networks

1. Facebook- Facebook is one of the largest social networking sites and has a strong following with college aged students and the site claims that currently their fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older. While it may not be the appropriate platform for all nonprofit organizations, it can be an effective way to attract an audience of generally active young adults.
2. MySpace- MySpace users interact via pictures, video, blogs, forums and more and often create groups based on common interests. As of Fall 2008 there were 24,144 nonprofit and philanthropic groups. MySpace pages are also easily crawled by search engines, which can help you gain ranking in search engine results.
3. LinkedIn- While LinkedIn is not one of the top social network sites, it is a great resource for your business. LinkedIn is designed to facilitate professional relationships between business men and women. It’s also a great place to give and receive advice in regard to your organization’s operations.

As a final thought, be sure to build your social network before you need it. Asking for donations the moment you become someone’s friend is a good way to lose an online friend. Create rapport with your online community by consistently updating your pages with new content. If you can’t maintain the page yourself, designate someone to accept friend requests, post comments on groups and other people’s pages, and invite others to become friends on a regular basis. The more people feel you care about them, the more they will care about your cause.

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