Turn your Merchandise from Expense to a Source of Fundraising

Turn Your Event Merchandise from an Expense to a !Source of Fundraising!

Presented by Andrew Urban of GoodThreads and

Carolyn Edrington of Melanoma Research Founda?on

How this webinar works

•  A link to the slides and a recording will be sent after the webinar

•  Please type questions in the box on the right side of your screen, we will be answering them throughout the webinar

•  Use hashtag: #fgwebinar to tweet about this webinar

About the Presenters

Andrew Urban Vice President of Business Development [email protected]

Carolyn Edrington National Director Miles for Melanoma [email protected]

Who is FirstGiving?

Who is GoodThreads?

A solution that makes it fun and easy to create customized merchandise that tells personal stories and supports nonprofit causes.

Who is Melanoma Research Founda?on?

–  Founded in 1996 by Diana Ashby, a Melanoma patient

–  2010 Operating budget of 2.6mil

–  Fundraising Expenses – 9% of budget

–  Education, Advocacy, and Research – 84% of budget

•  Mission Statement

–  To support medical RESEARCH for finding effective treatments and eventually a cure for melanoma. To EDUCATE patients and physicians about the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of melanoma. To act as an ADVOCATE for the melanoma community to raise the awareness of this disease and the need for a cure.

Webinar Takeaways

•  How to make merchandise a more effective, streamlined and profitable piece of your existing fundraising events

•  How personalized merchandise can increase engagement with your supporters and contribute to a consistent brand identity

•  Why merchandise can increase both donations per supporter AND donor satisfaction

•  How to create a persistent store presence for your non-profit

The Merchandise Problem

Extra Upfront Costs Here’s a cost breakdown for a hypothe?cal SmartMoney fun run.

Toilets

Online fund-‐raising commissions

Signage

Pre-‐ and post-‐event furniture

Entertainment

Event T-‐shirts

Water and snacks

Race gear

Fences and barricades

Permits and security

Net proceeds to charity

Actual funds raised to support organizaCon’s

mission

Bulk Orders = High Costs

Homemade shirts

Free, un-‐personalized shirts are less likely to be worn again aMer the event

Case Study: Melanoma Research Founda?on

Miles for Melanoma with FirstGiving •  2011 Events (3 quarters)

–  $533k for run/walk events through September. –  $858k for all registration-type events.

•  2010 Events (full year)

–  Over 7,500 Supporters –  $705 for run/walk events (but that’s all four quarters of

2010) –  $1.2 million for all registration type events –  Top cities

•  Wilmington, DE - $75k; Morristown NJ - $65k; Wisconsin Dells, WI - $45k

MRF Merchandise Headaches Major headaches with event merchandise

–  No revenue from registration fees –  Bulk orders/ Leftover T-Shirts –  “Homemade” shirts with pictures of honorees or

memorials –  Challenge to meet sponsors needs for branding –  Control over branding for overall event look –  Longevity for branding

FirstGiving & GoodThreads Solu?on Suppor?ng

Miles for Melanoma

MRF Results •  First GoodThreads Test

– Sep 25th 5th Annual Miles for Melanoma New Jersey 5k Run/Walk

– With one weeks notice pre-event 6% of fundraisers purchased an item

– Planning full integration now to pre-event communications cycle for future events. Anticipating 25% of fundraisers purchasing.

Tightening up branding

Increase Revenue

Purchase Fundraise Donate

Promote Sponsors & Brand Consistently

Longevity

•  Increased Engagement •  Increased Awareness

•  Will wear this shirt over and over again

•  Won’t end up in the Goodwill bin

Simple Ordering Process

Support Small Events & Grassroots Fundraisers

Bringing Fundraising & Merchandise Together!

Upcoming Webinar

Join us for our first webinar of the new year!

What’s new at FirstGiving

Thursday, January 5th, 2012 1pm EST, 10 PST

Connect with us in our social spaces FirstGiving

Facebook: www.facebook.com/firstgiving Twitter: www.twitter.com/firstgiving Online Fundraising blog: http://blog.firstgiving.com FirstGiving for Runners blog: http://runners.firstgiving.com

GoodThreads Twitter: www.twitter.com/goodthreads GoodThreads blog: http://tumblr.goodthreads.com Website: www.goodthreads.com

Thank you!

Interested in working with GoodThreads?

Lee Johnson Email:

[email protected] Telephone: (818) 445-4340

x228

Mention this webinar for free setup

(design services possibly extra)

Interested in fundraising online with FirstGiving?

Contact: Amber Williams

Email:

[email protected]

Telephone: 617-963-5123

Turn your Merchandise from Expense to a Source of Fundraising

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Turn your Merchandise from Expense to a Source of Fundraising