June 14, 2012

Put the FUN in FUNdraising

There’s nothing better than the feeling you get from helping others, and that alone should be a good reason to do it. However, if you have ever tried to rally people around a cause you know how hard it is. Sometimes there are barriers that prevent them from really connecting with the cause, maybe they just don’t see the benefit they get from helping... and let’s face it, for some, the warm and fuzzy feeling is just not enough.

This is where gamification comes in! If you are in the process of developing a fundraising campaign, here are 5 things you should know that will help you get closer to your goal.

1. Educate about the issue. But we don’t mean it in the boring way! Engage your audience; make them see the problem through different eyes so they become more aware and receptive. See here a great example by McKinney and Urban Ministries of Durham.

2. Reward user behavior. You can provide tangible or intangible rewards for EVERY contribution. Points  can be exchanged for discounts from your local partners or badges that provide a sense of accomplishment and encourage repeated behavior.

3. Build a community around your cause. Leaderboards motivate people to participate and help everyone keep the goal in mind. Engage users and create friendly competition to benefit the cause.

4. Leverage Social Media. Let people brag about it! Allowing users to share their contributions in social media will not only validate their participation, but it will also help drive incremental traffic to your cause and consequently, more support!

5. Make it FUN! Take a look at some of the examples we have provided through our blog. There is no doubt that even the most serious and not so serious activities can benefit from gamification.

We hope this helps you and good luck!

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