In seeking sustainable ways to fundraise and cover operations, Nonprofits in Africa can benefit from crowdfunding – also referred to as collective giving – as an alternative funding source. The team from donate-ng share how they are transforming collective giving in Nigeria and the best practices nonprofits can adopt when crowdfunding.
The donate-ng platform is an online fundraising and crowdfunding portal founded in 2015 in Nigeria, where individuals and charities with social causes and projects can easily raise funds. Employing the use of technology, expert advisory, and targeted donation drives, the portal to remove the barriers to charitable fundraising in Nigeria and ensures global donors can support social causes, changemakers, charities, and nonprofits in the country.
With a mission to be the “go-to” portal for crowdfunding in Nigeria, donate-ng makes it easy for charities and Nonprofits in Nigeria to accept donations from across the world, providing not only the technology and a secure platform, but also consultation and advice on how to fundraise using social media, and offering guides on how crowdfunding works.
The platform is easy to use and free to sign up for and even allows individuals (and not just organizations) to fundraise for Nonprofits, with donations going directly to the charity of choice. Nonprofits who sign up benefit from awareness campaigns they help create on social media for their projects. Strategic initiatives are executed quarterly to help drive donations with a thriving community of recurring donors who are continually seeking charitable projects to support, and expert advice/guidance on how to successfully fundraise from their target audience.
Crowdfunding presents a plethora of opportunities and new streams for fundraising. However, the team advises that for those new to crowdfunding it is important to:
Use a trusted platform committed to your growth
Especially one that is committed to helping you become successful. donate-ng notes they have maintained recurring clients because of their focus on hosting fraud-free campaigns (thus making the platform secure and trusted) and a commitment to making successful fundraisers.
Be Reasonable
Nonprofits must ensure their crowdfunding campaign targets and duration (end-date) are reasonable. For instance, there is little feasibility in a small nonprofit/charity trying to raise 50 million Naira in 30 days. The target amount and the end date need to be realistic and achievable, with a relatable cause that is easy to understand. It is also advisable to break a funding project into phases, whereby, if you gain traction quickly, you can commence the next phase.
Be Creative
Crowdfunding is both an Art and a Science. The steps to crowdfunding are widely known, however, the strategy to a successful fundraiser needs to be unique and charities/nonprofits need to be creative when coming up with ideas/campaigns, and ensuring it resonates with the public. This often involves maintaining a realistic fundraiser, telling a relatable story, creating awareness, and being agile.
Donate-ng currently works with close to 500 Nonprofits in Nigeria. Since its inception, there have been 84,000 individuals impacted as a result of the various donations from across the world, and over 100 million naira has been processed in donations on the platform.
Three recent successful campaigns of note are:
● A prosthetic limb for Jane which raised 7.5 million Naira in about 48 hours to help Jane – the beneficiary – get a prosthetic limb and start a business
.●Uniforms for Kids in Abolarin College raised 1.7 million Naira in 2 months to fund uniforms for student beneficiaries at the tuition-free college.
● Project ‘Save Amarachi’ raised 7.8 million naira for a young child who had a brain tumor and needed surgery.
Based on their analysis, Nigerians are generally willing to donate to good causes, while medical and education-related projects tend to get the most attention from donors, other causes are also well supported.
Our thanks to the donate_ng team for these insights. Connect with them across social media on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.