Exchanges Cookbook

The Magic of Online Fundraising With Digital Download Products

Online fundraising is becoming increasingly prominent and accepted…and why not?  You don’t have to go door-to-door, or stand out in the cold, or by your own children’s candy just to satisfy the commitment.  With digital download products, you are not just asking for money.  You are delivering real products with real value.  It is not just looking for a hand-out (although that can be appropriate sometimes), it is giving a hand in exchange.

So what are digital downloads?  They can be eBooks.  They can be software.  They can be still images.  They can be videos.  They can be audios.  Anything that be downloaded directly from some Web Site is a digital download product.  They are dead simple to sell online…especially when it is for a worthy cause. 

Everyone understands selling cookies, or popcorn, or books, or candy to raise money.  You sell a box of cookies for Ten Dollars and your organization gets to keep Five Dollars for your cause.  You have to get the order.  Take the money.  Get the products.  Deliver the products.  You walked miles, or stood for hours, or physically humiliate your co-workers to get the orders.  It was all hard and not terribly efficient.

Now, imagine this…you find a digital product…maybe a piece of software, maybe an eBook, maybe something else.  Perhaps they already have program for fundraising, or perhaps you negotiate one (it is certainly easier if they already have a program).  They establish a way for you to get a direct, online link to a Shopping Cart that is specifically established for you (this may be a unique page, or it may just a program, coupon or reference number on their standard order page).  You let your potential buyers know about the link/product.  They go and buy the product using credit cards, perhaps Paypal.  The owner of the digital product supplies it directly to the buyer.  You get the money.

So how do you let your potential buyers know.  Here are just a few ways:

1)       Put a link and description on your organization’s  website or in their electronic or physical newsletter;

2)      Hand out cards or flyers, or just leave them lying around, with a brief story and a link;

3)      Here is the best-viral email; you send a personal email with a compelling description of the cause you are raising money for and ask people to go to a link a buy the product for your cause.  Tell them how much they will enjoy the product.  Now…here is the best part…send this email to ten of your friends…ask them to copy the main body, add their personal endorsement and send it to ten of their friends.  And repeat.  Sure, at some point the chain will run out…but look at the basic math…suppose 8 of your friends do what you asked…and then for each of them 4 of their friends…and for each of their friends 2 of their friends…and then for one more friend does it.  If you could make $10 per product (a minimum that you should expect here), you just made your organization over $10,000…and you never left the house, never handled money, never handled product.  LIFE IS GOOD!  (And if you want to make this better, just imagine that instead of just you starting this, imagine that your committee of 10 people each started this the same way…you just made $100,000).

There are literally hundreds of other ways to use digital download products for your fundraisers.  The common thread is this…it is easy, it is efficient, and it is effective.

Here is how to get started and what to look for in using digital download products for online fundraising:

1)      Find a digital product that will be interesting to the audience your organization touches.  Selling gambling software to a religious organization may not be a great idea (broadly).  If you are dealing with Moms, look for cookbooks, childcare books, and child protection tools.  Make sure your offering relates to your audience.

2)      Make sure your organization gets a fair return on the sale.  If you are not getting 50% of the Suggested Retail Value, walk away.  If you are not getting at least $10.00 per sale, walk away.

3)      Ensure that the product supplier can accept all reasonable forms of payment online.  At a minimum,  the supplier must accept Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express, JCB and PayPal.  Accepting online checks is a nice bonus.

4)      First use suppliers who have established online fundraising programs already established and who can provide tools like email templates, web pages, advertisement suggestions.  You should not have to do all the work yourself.

5)      Make sure you receive funds received at least twice a month and that there is no specific limit on how long the fundraising program can be continued.  At the same time, make sure that you can “pull” the program whenever you want.

6)      You be the boss.  This is your program, make sure it works for you and your organization.

That’s it.  That’s all there is to it.  It isn’t hard.  It isn’t internet mumbo-jumbo.  It is real.  It works.  Try it.  Make it work for your organization today.

Have fun!  Good luck!

About the Author

Myril Shaw is a principal in SauceAndMoreWithLove.com (http://www.sauceandmorewithlove.com/ )and is an Internet Marketing expert. He has helped pioneer the use of digital download products for online fundraising. Earlier in his career he led sales and marketing organizations for many leading internet and technology related organizations.

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