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The days of cash carrying are over. Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last couple decades, you’ve noticed the societal shift toward electronic payments. What does this mean for you and your PTA? Let’s get schooled on payment methods. The reality is that ignoring this trend can seriously hurt the future growth of your local PTA. The benefits are enough to outweigh whatever costs are incurred – and we have proof. Check out these five payoffs of accepting electronic payments.  1. Grow your membership Studies indicate more than 70 percent of Americans have at least one credit card. Even more compelling is that 60 percent of consumers pay with credit cards instead of cash. This means that accepting credit card payments increases your ability to attract potential PTA members who find electronic payments more convenient. You can connect with a larger audience to recruit members, reach more donors for your campaigns, and increase ticket sales for your events. It’s simple math – when you broaden your reach, you also increase your chances of boosting membership. 2. Increase school and PTA revenue Research shows that people are willing to spend more on their credit cards than when making cash purchases. This has obvious benefits for fundraising campaigns, as it can lead to bigger donations from individuals. The New York Times sites several studies that demonstrate the increase in spending with credit versus cash of at least 5-10 percent. In one study, graduate students paid nearly double the price for a sporting event ticket when paying with a credit card!  3. Ease the burden of holding on to large sums of cash and checks PTA leaders don’t need to be carrying members’ cash and check payments with them. By accepting electronic payments, you make it more convenient for your members to pay by their own method of preference, and you’re likely to save yourself a trip to the bank. Direct deposit also removes the inconvenience of paying out of pocket. Accepting electronic payments increases cash flow by limiting the time it takes for money to appear in your account. Instead of waiting for PTA members or donors to mail a check, then depositing the check, and waiting for it to clear, funds are deposited directly into your account. 4. Simplify recurring payments and donations Local PTA members and donors can set up recurring membership payments and donations. memberplanet’s electronic payment feature is built in, easy to use, and features advanced encryption to ensure payments are securely processed and deposited directly into your designated account. Simplifying the payment process makes it easier to collect membership dues and retain current members, and is beneficial when collecting donations during fundraisers.  5. Build credibility with credit cards Accepting credit cards is particularly helpful because it adds credibility to a PTA’s operation. When your members and potential members see that you’re accepting credit cards it increases the legitimacy of your local PTA. Furthermore, limiting your PTA to cash transactions can seem unprofessional given the rise of electronic payment options.  Accepting electronic payments facilitates the exchange of money for you and anyone you collect payments from. This is beneficial and convenient for collecting membership fees, receiving donations, and selling event tickets or any other PTA product or service your offer. With an evident shift from cash to credit, it is essential to offer a variety of payment methods to retain members, grow your organization, and maximize PTA contributions. Ready to get started? Log in to memberplanet and set up your account to collect electronic payments. PTA Simplified is a series of tips for PTA and PTO leaders to get the most out of a powerful association management system – to manage, engage, and grow their membership all year long. Updated since original publication on 7/01/2017.
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The rise of online fundraising into our zeitgeist is unmistakable, from Kickstarter projects that have generated millions for otherwise market-less products to the thousands of people and charities GoFundMe has helped with a variety of needs; the frontier is rampant with raising money online. The question bears asking: If everyone else is reaping online fundraiser rewards, should my local PTA also? The answer is a resounding, all caps YES.  Convenience Time isn’t just a limited resource for leaders, but also for potential donors. They often aren’t carrying cash, or don’t have their checkbook handy. Online fundraising gives donors the ability to pay quickly and securely via credit card. One digital swipe and they’re one their way, while your PTA is one cha-ching closer to reaching your goal. Accounting It’s true – handling loads of cash and stacks of checks costs your leaders time. Beyond time, there’s accounting to worry about. Then there’s creating manual receipts, balancing spreadsheets, and all the other organizational work related to tracking donations. That wasted time adds up quickly. Online fundraisers allow PTA officers to record, track, and manage campaigns in a fraction of the time.  Expanded reach There was a time when printing flyers and designing donation posters was the only means of spreading the word for fundraisers. That’s no longer the case; one of the primary benefits of launching an online fundraising campaign is its potential to go viral. (Here are some examples of fundraisers that went viral.) This takes you out of the typical sphere of donors and opens you up to supporters you wouldn’t reach with traditional methods. This can help you reach your monetary goals faster and even surpass them. Increase PTA funds The benefits of online fundraising and digital payments starts with the money, which makes sense. Online fundraising increases overall money raised; that’s fact, not opinion. Some studies have shown that percentage to be anywhere from 30-100% more (Visa International). Sure, you’re thinking, that’s a nice bump in funds, but PTAs need every dollar they raise, so how much will we lose in processing fees? Fees can vary, and if your state already has a partnership with memberplanet, those fees are easily offset by the increased donations. For an example of how one school used online fundraising to increase membership funds by 75%, take a look at our case study. Ready to win at online fundraising? PTA Simplified is a series of tips for PTA and PTO leaders to get the most out of a powerful association management system – to manage, engage, and grow their membership all year long. Updated since original publication on 8/17/2017.
Ending childhood cancer. Finding cures. Saving children. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has a lofty mission for pediatric cancer, but one that Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. (ZPB) passionately supports. The sorority has partnered with St. Jude since 2013 to raise funds and awareness about pediatric cancers and diseases.
Kenya Washington, ZPB’s national director of the St. Jude initiative, recounts her personal experiences with St. Jude’s approach, having witnessed her godbrother receive treatment at the hospital. She remembers him being a little kid – 3 to 6 years old – at the time. “His mom wouldn’t have been able to afford to go to St. Jude, but parents don’t have to pay anything. Lodging, food, and treatment are all paid for. They don’t have to worry about bills on bills piling up – parents can just focus on the health of their child,” Washington said. Today, her godbrother is close to turning 30. “Now he’s living an adult life, and it’s all thanks to St. Jude.” An awe-inspiring place The hospital, located in Memphis, Tennessee, is one of the world’s premiere pediatric cancer research centers. “It’s an awesome place,” Washington insists. “You wouldn’t think that it’s a hospital because the children are moving around, doing their own thing, and acting just like children.” Washington encourages anybody visiting Memphis to visit St. Jude and let staff give a tour to see for themselves. Children get around in red wagons, a much more fun mode of transportation than wheel chairs. “They do everything they can to make it not feel like a hospital,” Washington said. Youth helping youth ZPB’s youth affiliates helped provide additional red wagon gifts in 2017. The year after, they gifted a surplus of medical teaching dolls. Doctors use the dolls to explain to patients the treatments or procedures they’ll be receiving. In 2019, youth donations will provide IV tubing sets, which are undoubtedly not as fun as the previous years’ gifts, but absolutely necessary, lifesaving equipment. The sorority’s ideals are heavily centered on community service as well as scholarship and sisterhood. Washington, who has been a member since 2007, says that mentoring programs, STEM projects (science, technology, engineering, and math), and ACT workshops are a few of the benefits that ZPB’s youth membership provides to girls ranging from ages under 9 through high school-aged young ladies. Proceeds for pediatric diseases In addition to the gifts, funds from ZPB’s campaign go directly toward sickle cell disease research. St. Jude has one of the largest pediatric sickle cell programs in the country, treating children with sickle cell disease from birth through age 18. (View St. Jude's sickle cell infographic for more info.) 1 out of 365 African-American children born in the U.S. has sickle cell disease.
More broadly, donations support pediatric cancer research, and treatments invented at St. Jude have helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% to more than 80% since it opened more than 50 years ago. Its goal is 100% survival, so there’s still more work to be done.
Surpassing the goal Washington says that every year since she’s been working with the St. Jude campaign, her desire has been to exceed the campaign goal. In 2017, they exceeded the goal by 50%, and in 2018, by 30%. ZPB’s members have raised more than $100,000 in online donations since 2017 alone. The goal for the 2019 campaign is to raise $50,000 by June 30. ZPB has strived to make it as easy as possible to promote the campaign and for donors to give through multiple payment options. Ways to give Donate online: Visit https://www.memberplanet.com/campaign/zphibhq/stjude2019 to give via credit card, bank payment, or other payment options. Text to Give: Text “donate” to (202) 846-2431 to receive a link to the Zeta-sponsored St. Jude donation campaign on any device. Cash: ZPB members who wish to donate cash can contact their local chapter to submit funds. Chapter leaders will record and report the donation to headquarters. Supporters can promote and help spread the word by creating their own personal donation site from the main donation page or sharing the campaign on social media with the hashtag #ZetasHope4StJude. Inclusiveness and Zeta’s ideals Another great thing about St. Jude is how they share their research, Washington says. “They don’t just hold the research in St. Jude. They share it all over the world so children in Africa, or Asia, or wherever they are, benefit from what they’re doing.” To understand the full scope of inclusiveness at St. Jude, Washington encourages people to delve into its history. She speaks enthusiastically about St. Jude’s founder, Danny Thomas, and how he opened the hospital in 1962. “At that time, racism was high. However, when Danny Thomas opened that hospital, he didn’t allow racism in there. Everybody got treated equally.” Washington said. “He was doing something at that time that wasn’t happening.” In the same way, Washington says ZPB doesn’t discriminate against race, color, creed, religion, or anything else. “Zeta is known as a community-conscious, action-oriented organization. We’re about sisterhood and finer womanhood. Our sorority is open to women – anybody who is interested in the ideals that our founders started this sorority with ninety-nine years ago.” Washington said. “I love Zeta… and what we do in our communities all over the world. We touch so many people with different community service projects that we do.”
Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. utilizes memberplanet to further its mission, fundraising initiatives, and collect payments electronically. For more information about Zeta Phi Beta, please visit http://zphib1920.org.
Sources: https://www.stjude.org http://zphib1920.org
Our recent tech update has done a lot of heavy lifting in helping organizations optimize their donation campaigns. Other useful features to simplify membership include an enhanced email history report and renewal confirmation email. Check out our new features and let us know what you think!
Text to give, RSVP, and more Take advantage of another channel to promote your donation campaign. Organizations that have a custom mobile number can now associate keywords with links to a donation campaign. When users SMS text a keyword associated with the campaign to your group’s custom mobile number, they will automatically receive a link to your associated donation campaign. Clicking the link will take a user directly to the mobile-friendly donation site, wherein they can donate online from any device. You can link multiple keywords in the instance that you’ve set up fundraiser or supporter pages. Anyone who misspells a keyword will still automatically receive a link to the main donation campaign. In addition to being used with a donation campaign, the text feature can also be associated with memberplanet’s event microsites, membership pages, payment forms and any other memberplanet URL. Users can text a keyword to your organization’s custom mobile number to receive an automated message with a link to the associated URL. This feature is currently available to those on Pro, Premium, or Enterprise plans and requires setup by our in-house support team. Customers can submit a request to the support team for more information. Display fundraisers who create a donation site in support of your campaign Now there’s a great way to visualize a donation campaign’s fundraisers and how much they’ve contributed. Fundraisers, or supporters who create a donation site in support of a donation campaign, can be displayed in a pie chart on the main page. For those campaigns that leverage the spirit of competition, this front-and-center statistical graphic indicates those who are leading in donations. Users can also hover over the pie chart to see the fundraiser associated with each slice. Learn more: How to Add the Fundraisers Pie Chart. Profile update email history includes date of profile update Admins can utilize the profile update request to email members to update their profiles – and members can make updates using a tokenized link in the email without having to log in. Admins can then check whether members updated their profile and further target or take action for those who did not. The email history includes how many people the profile update request was sent to, whether the email was delivered and opened, and whether the profile was updated from the link. If a member did update his or her profile, the date is included. Learn more about profile update requests. Membership card link included in member’s renewal confirmation email We’ve made the membership card available to access once a member renews membership. If your organization uses the membership card feature, once a member renews, the confirmation email will include a tokenized link to access the member card. Clicking the link will open a new page with the member card and another link to download as a PDF. Learn more about accessing membership cards. Schedule a chat with our team to learn more about how the memberplanet platform can help you manage, engage, and grow your organization.
So you didn't quite hit the mark on your donation site... First of all, chin up! Take a breath and refocus on your next donation goal. Whether you are fundraising, selling property, or negotiating a salary, you will get the best results by asking for a little more than you’d like to realistically get. "But I really need to hit my mark!" Ok! Don't sweat. You’ve got this! Unlike salaries and home-prices, donation campaigns have no finite ceiling. You've only "failed" to hit your mark when you give up trying new strategies. You can always change course and re-launch at any time. Here are 6 ways to revitalize your campaign for a re-launch 1. Try hosting an event or selling merchandise Hosting an event is a great way to boost revenue for your donation but also to spread the message of your campaign by engaging the community. When people feel connected and involved they are more likely to donate since the cause now has a relevance to their lives. Also, sell merchandise both at the event and throughout the campaign. T-shirts, car-washes, and dinners are simple things that will have a big appeal with donors. With memberplanet customers can use our mobile app to purchase tickets and merchandise on the go! Worried about the payment logistics? We have templates that are already set up for this! Check out our template gallery here. 2. Evaluate your campaign goal You want your goal to be realistic enough that your donors can already see the victory in sight. Set it too high and they will often get discouraged and put forth a lackluster effort. Also, when donors see you getting close to your goal they want to jump in and give more, don't miss out on that momentum! Stick with a reasonable (yet still ambitious!) goal. 3. Assess giving levels How much have donors been giving? You want to set giving levels that are both realistic and ambitious. If most of your donors are giving less than the lowest level, you should set your middle level a few dollars above that point. If most of your donors are giving more, set your levels higher. You want people to dig deep to give a few dollars more than their intended donation in order to hit the next level. *Also note, how do you create incentive for donors to reach levels? Promising shout-outs or recognition will make some donors excited to stand out! 4. Spruce up your page! You know that your cause is important, if your donors only knew how much their contribution would help they would be excited to give more! Including photo albums, videos and engaging and informative text that will give your donors the evidence they need to appreciate your cause. Leverage your donation site to sell your donors and appeal to their emotional side and establish a personal investment. Include photos of the people or animals being helped, tell donors exactly what their funds will be used for and how much each aspect will cost. Paint them a vivid picture of how their contribution will change someone's life. 5. Brand your payment form Keep your site branded, professional, and inspiring from beginning to end. When your donors choose to donate, they are directed to a payment form. If the form is bleak, they may lose their emotional momentum, resulting in a lower contribution or none at all. Include an inspiring and emotionally moving banner image on your form, as well as a gracious and personal thank-you message. 6. Share. Share. Share The most important thing you can do to ensure a successful donation site is share your page link. Email your site, post it to your social networks like Facebook & Twitter, add your cause information to your email signature - the opportunities for spreading news online are endless! Once you get your page out there, your friends, family, and supporters will help you spread the word. Already done this? Try incentivizing donors to share the page on their Facebook! (ex: for every share, you will recognize or reward them in some cost-effective way) Bonus tip: Ask for help! The support team at memberplanet is always here for you. We have seen many campaigns, and we can give you ideas that will work for you. Visit our Support Site to browse our support library or to chat with us directly. Ready to give it another shot? Updated from original posting on 6/6/16
 For nonprofits, getting donations shouldn’t be about asking for cash Asking people for money, whether they’re friends or strangers, can be incredibly daunting. It’s intimidating to ask people to hand over their hard earned dough for your cause. The less painful, more effective way to collect donations is by indirectly asking for contributions. The heart of fundraising is to help others connect a passion or memory with a cause. It’s about making your cause theirs. Here’s how you can lead them there: Tell your story
Ask for advice
Engage on social media
Make it easy and personal
Asking for donations can seem a lot less overwhelming when you view contributing as more of a privilege. You’re not asking – you’re inviting people to take action and participate. You’re selling significance and purpose. Lead them through constant communications to tell your story. Lead them with memberplanet! We have all the tools your nonprofit needs to expand reach and manage your donations in one spot. See what our other nonprofit customers are saying about how memberplanet aids and improves their communications.
Originally published: 10/16/2016
Our new donation site builder makes it easy to raise funds on behalf of any of the over 1.7 million charities in the United States. Now, when you create a new donation site, you will have the opportunity to select your favorite charity from our built-in database. When you use this feature donations will deposit directly to your chosen charity without the need for a secondary transfer on your part. Additionally, donors will automatically receive tax-deduction email receipts for these types of donations.  This update comes right in time for #GivingTuesday which is scheduled for Tuesday, November 27th, 2018. #GivingTuesday is a social media led initiative that promotes a collective global push for charitable donations on the Tuesday following U.S. Thanksgiving each year. #GivingTuesday marks just the beginning of the giving season. In fact, 50% of all charitable donations are made in December – so if you’re starting now you’re right on schedule! Setting up a site for tax deductible donations in the fall is a great way to capitalize on the biggest giving days of the year, including end-of-tax-year giving, which peaks the last week of December.   Originally published: 11/25/2015
For most PTA members, no matter the time of year, fundraising isn’t a walk in the park. Whether you’re campaigning for back-to-school season, the next holiday around the corner, or the book drive, coordinating time and resources to stay atop the minds of your supporters shouldn’t take over your life (or the lives of your volunteers). Since you’ve teamed up with memberplanet, offering your donors electronic payment options is super easy to do on the platform. Here are some other tips to save time so you can pass on the frustration and double up on the fun.  1. Don’t start from scratch – use a template With each new year and transition in PTA leaders, the history (excel sheets) from previous fundraisers can get lost in the shift. Also, learning a new position takes time. We’re here to make it easy. Since PTA fundraisers are often annual, you can save time by managing your event online. We even offer Donation Site templates. These pre-populated templates will help you set up your donation campaign. Our campaign feature also has the ability to save donation campaigns for future use, so the next event will practically take care of itself. By building upon past successes and the work that was already done, you will take the headache out of organizing the campaign, and have more time to focus on member engagement. 2. Take advantage of the gift of gab: social media Planning your fundraiser is only half the battle – you must promote it too! The good news is that promoting your event doesn’t have to be stressful. Use your campaign URL in as many places as you can, including your website, email, and social media. Through social media, you can get people talking about your event with just a few clicks. Picture word-of-mouth sharing – but amplified! Our Donation Sites were designed to be shared on your PTA social media channels. Ask your PTA members to share the event too. Everyone has a unique circle of friends, so the more people who share, the broader your reach gets. More awareness for your campaign and way less time spent making promotion calls or passing out flyers! We like to call that a win-win. 3. Cut out the stress: set and forget Engaging with your members and donors is the bread and butter of being a successful PTA leader. But there are only so many hours in a day, and as a leader, there is only so much time you can dedicate to PTA admin tasks. That’s what inspired us to build in automated features in our platform. Writing thank-you cards (the kind that’s sent through snail mail) take forever! To save time, admins can add a thank-you message to the automated confirmation email that is sent once someone donates to your online fundraiser. We highly recommend adding a thank-you message to the confirmation email as well as encouraging donors to spread the word about the campaign. If you’re really feeling like you’re in an automating mood, you can also include the info donors need to file their taxes. PTAs are 501(c)3 nonprofit organizations, and contributions to them are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. You should include the full name of your PTA unit, the EIN number, and your PTA’s location.  Whether you’re a seasoned PTA fundraising pro or just getting started, you can’t go wrong with these three steps – they’re fail proof, and most importantly, they’ll save you time. (So you can engage with your members and make a difference in your community.) Log in and see for yourself. PTA Simplified is a series of tips for PTA and PTO leaders to get the most out of managing their volunteer members and growing their membership all year long. Originally published: 8/17/2017
Part of leading your PTA is raising the funds necessary to make a difference in your unit. Unfortunately, orchestrating a computer drive to give your school a tech upgrade, a jump-a-thon to save at-risk student programs, or any other type of fundraiser can feel like a full-time undertaking. Lucky for you, memberplanet makes it easy. And if you need proof that launching an online fundraiser really makes a difference, check out how Wittmann Elementary School increased its membership funds by 75 percent. Here’s how to set up a donation campaign on memberplanet, which will get your PTA a couple steps closer to crushing your fundraising goal.  Create a fundraiser for your PTA 1. Hover over Donation Sites on the left navigation sidebar and click Create Donation Site in the submenu 2. Choose to raise funds for your own group on memberplanet 3. Select one of the following choices:
 4. Finish creating a campaign by filling in the required information: Campaign Title, Category, Why Are You Fundraising?, Campaign Goal, End Date, and Default Donation.
5. Click Save & Continue Customize the look of your donation campaign These next steps allow PTA admins to customize their Donation Sites. Use a memorable custom URL, choose specific colors, and upload a banner -- key identifiers for brand recognition and consistency. You can also upload a photo album that you’ve created on the platform; images are a great way to strengthen the connection between your cause and your donors. For example, including pictures of who will benefit from the funds raised or showing how the funds will be put to use is an effective way to convey your donors’ impact. You can go all out in customizing your fundraiser, or you can breeze through this section and hit Save & Publish Now. To customize, hover over any of the page sections and click the Edit icon that appears on the top right of the section.  You can always come back and make changes to this page if you decide to navigate away from it.
Get the word out As soon as you publish your Donation Site, your campaign page link will be provided, and you can share your campaign to social media directly from the platform, mobile app, or the page itself. We recommend sharing your fundraiser on as many channels as possible – through email, your website, text message and more.  Use our built-in URL shortener if you’re on a character limit, or customize the full URL. To customize the URL or get the short URL, click on the campaign you want to manage. Select the Copy or Customize the Campaign Page URL feature.  Click Customize or Copy to Clipboard for the URL you desire. Mobilize your PTA supporters – create Supporter Pages What’s a Supporter Page, you ask? It’s an individual’s fundraising page created in support of your PTA’s donation campaign. Supporter Pages are more effective in helping you reach your fundraising goal for these reasons:
Here’s how your PTA members (or anyone, really) can create a Supporter Page: 1. From your Donation Site, click Support this Campaign  2. Users will be prompted to log in to memberplanet or create an account if they don’t have one 3. After logging in or creating an account, a new browser window will appear in which supporters can set their own goal and add their own reason why they’re supporting the campaign
4. When finished, click Publish 5. The Supporter Page URL will be provided, and you can share it to social media directly from the platform, mobile app, or the page itself If you haven’t already, set up a bank account to receive funds. Our platform features were created to help you build a great campaign and maximize PTA donations – without creating a ton of paper work in the process. Follow these steps to set yourself on a clear path to crushing your fundraising goal. PTA Simplified is a series of tips for PTA and PTO leaders to get the most out of managing their volunteer members and growing their membership all year long. Originally published: 8/10/2017
Effective booster club leaders focus on fundraising because they firmly believe their altruism will help not just their children, but the entire community. As a Booster Club leader, you might find it challenging to balance all your responsibilities. Taking advantage of resourceful online tools may be your best bet for success. Here’s why you should consider a consolidated platform for events and fundraising to better engage your donors:  1. Attract more donors Every 15 seconds, a new user joins the world of social media. According to Brandwatch, there are 3.03 billion active social media users. That’s nearly 40 percent of the worldwide population. Booster Club leaders should consider how using social media can boost fundraising by targeting specific audiences. For example, the 2016 Global NGO Online Technology Report claims that millennials prefer to donate online, and they are most often inspired to give by social media. Utilize and mobilize your social media presence to spread the word about fundraising events.  2. Increase engagement with photos If you are looking to grab the attention of potential donors, spread the word about a cause, and/or inspire volunteerism, sharing photos online is a powerful move. Improve visibility by tagging others in your photos and opening yourself up to the photo-sharing community. According to The Guardian, people are more likely to donate to a cause when it means something to them. Use effective imagery to connect with people, and let them get to know the cause you want them to support.  3. Collect more money Offering online/mobile payment and donation options helps your donors help you. This eliminates the need for donors to have cash and checks on hand. Accepting online payments leverages today’s tech with potential donors -- where it’s only a few clicks from decision to completion of payment. That’s why online donation campaigns see more dollars collected overall. It’s not just easy, it’s a familiar process that donors feel innately comfortable with. According to a Cone Communications study, 48 percent of American adults are likely to use an app to make a donation. What are you waiting for? You can broaden your reach (and increase your donations) by using mobile and online payment methods. By making the most of online tools such as social media, electronic payment options, photo sharing, and email, you can be more successful in your fundraising efforts. Keep your contacts organized to seamlessly communicate with your whole audience and track their responses. You can test and target your messages to specific recipients and optimize your fundraising efforts to meet your goals every time. These online tools offer Booster Clubs an edge that will make managing fundraising events more effective, and better yet, more engaging. Learn more about fundraising and how memberplanet can help your Booster Club raise more donations. Get started with your free account today. |
