America’s Giving Challenge begins TODAY! Enter one or more of your causes in the Challenge for a chance to win $50,000 from the Case Foundation. Can you inspire your cause members, friends, neighbors, and Fans to donate? Can you mobilize them to fundraise too? The Challenge is about getting cause members deeply involved and engaged in the work you do. Convey to your supporters the impact their donations can make and your cause could be the next winning cause! The last time we held the Giving Challenge, Facebook users donated almost $600,000 to participating nonprofits. This year, with many times the number of users and many new tools, we hope to see nonprofits raise even more from new and existing donors.
WHAT IS AMERICA'S GIVING CHALLENGE?
The Challenge is a 30-day, national competition that encourages people to leverage their personal networks in support of the causes that matter most to them. Awards will be given to the nonprofit beneficiaries of the causes that garner the highest number of unique daily donations* between 3pm EDT October 7, 2009, and 3pm EST on November 6, 2009. Daily prize awards will also be given to the nonprofit beneficiaries of the causes with the highest number of unique daily donations that day.
This year, Causes is hosting the Challenge while the Case Foundation and Parade Magazine are supplying award money and media support, respectively. Visit the Challenge main page, download the Survival Guide for nonprofits, and read our FAQs.
*WHAT IS A "UNIQUE DAILY DONATION"?
A unique daily donation is defined as one donation per individual per day from 3pm ET to 3pm ET the next day. This means that multiple donations from the same individual to a specific cause in same day will only count once. However, individuals can donate to the same cause once per day for each of the 30 days of the Challenge and these will count as 30 unique donations (for purposes of the overall award). One more important note: we have opened up our donation form so that anyone can donate to your cause (i.e. even without a Facebook account), which means that you should promote your campaign to anyone who has access to the Internet. HOW MUCH CAN MY NONPROFIT WIN?
The breakdown of the awards is as follows:
Overall Awards (7 total; from 3pm Oct. 7 to 3pm Nov. 6)
$50,000 to the cause with the most unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge
$25,000 to the cause with the second highest amount of unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge
$10,000 to the next five causes with the most unique daily donations over the 30 days of the Challenge
Daily Awards (2 per day; from 3PM ET to 3PM ET the next day)
$1,000 to the cause with the most unique daily donations that day
$500 to the cause with the most unique daily donations that day
HOW DO I ENTER?
You must be the administrator of a cause to enter it in the Challenge. If you are a cause administrator, you can enter your cause(s) in the Challenge by visiting www.causes.com or by going to the cause(s) you administer and looking for the yellow banner across the top of the application. Both the Challenge landing page and the banner will have an “Enter the Challenge” button that will take you to a registration page. You can also directly enter your causes by going to: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/giving/entry
TIPS AND TOOLS
As your nonprofit gets started in the Giving Challenge, there are a few key points to keep in mind:
We just upgraded the Causes Nonprofit Partner Center! Use the Partner Center to build relationships and communicate with administrators and supporters across multiple causes. Check out our Insider’s Guide for tips on using each tool.
Within the Partner Center, use Bulletins to send targeted messages to your cause administrators and members encouraging them to donate. Be specific about where the money they donate goes, tell them why it is so important they donate now and recognize individual efforts and donations to the cause.
Use the Media Board on your cause to post great videos, pictures, and articles about your nonprofit and the issue(s) you work on.
Send milestone and progress reports to your cause members: Raised $500? Hit the 100 people donated mark? Recognize the individual contributions of your super cause members as well as when the cause as a whole reaches a goal or milestone.
Keep in mind that the Challenge is not just about winning money, but also about conveying real impact to your supporters. Building a community of engaged and empowered supporters will help you be competitive in the challenge and any other campaigns you hold in the future.
And again, the Challenge Survival Guide offers a much more comprehensive list of tips and tools that can help you win the Challenge.
CHALLENGE WEBINARS
We’ve prepared four webinars to help you get started and create an effective strategy for America’s Giving Challenge. Each session is slightly different, so sign up for a specific session you find interesting or all sessions for a comprehensive overview of the Giving Challenge.
Special Launch Training for America’s Giving Challenge
Remember, the Giving Challenge is not focused on how much money you can raise, but on how successful you are at building collective action and inspiring members to donate to your cause. Best of luck!
The Challenge is a 30-day, national competition that encourages people to leverage their personal networks in support of the causes that matter most to them. Awards will be given to the nonprofit beneficiaries of the causes that garner the highest number of unique daily donations* between 3pm EDT October 7, 2009, and 3pm EST on November 6, 2009. Daily prize awards will also be given to the nonprofit beneficiaries of the causes with the highest number of unique daily donations that day.
A unique daily donation is defined as one donation per individual per day from 3pm ET to 3pm ET the next day. This means that multiple donations from the same individual to a specific cause in same day will only count once. However, individuals can donate to the same cause once per day for each of the 30 days of the Challenge and these will count as 30 unique donations (for purposes of the overall award). One more important note: we have opened up our donation form so that anyone can donate to your cause (i.e. even without a Facebook account), which means that you should promote your campaign to anyone who has access to the Internet.
