Inbound Marketing for Nonprofits Part 3: Empowering Donors to Choose

Author: Jono Smith on 10 September 2010 | 0 Comments

Tags: inbound marketing

DonorsChoose.org represents a highly unique form of inbound marketing that allows donors complete control as to where and how their donations are used.

Here is how it works:

• A teacher or educator posts a project request for their classroom.   The request is based on need, and they must explain the need as well as justify the cost.
• A member of the DonorsChoose team vets the project to ensure its validity.
• Project is posted on the DonorsChoose website where perspective donors can browse based on their own interests, geography or greatest need.  Any amount can be given, from a single dollar to the full amount of the project.
• Once the goal has been reached, DonorsChoose purchases the materials and notifies the principal of the school as to when they should arrive.

What differentiates the DonorsChoose platform is that they are able to make the experience highly personal for the donors.  They provide pictures of the actual classroom, a detailed accounting of the costs involved with the project, a description of the need and an explanation as to how the materials will be utilized.  The experience is highly personal and donors are able to control see exactly where and how their donation is used. 

It is also interesting to note that DonorsChoose relies completely on inbound marketing and word of mouth to spread their message.  Individual projects can be shared via Tweets, LinkedIn or Facebook, and the company operates a highly active blog that is updated constantly.  Each of these factors work in synergy to create a highly effective platform for giving that is unlike anything else out there today.

How effective?

As of August 21, 2010, DonorsChoose had raised $55,359,986 to help 3,383,799 individual students.  That is quite an impact!  And they don't plan on stopping there.  There are currently 15,870 active projects on the site and more are being added every single day.