The following is one of a series of guest posts from wonderful people in my network who stepped up to write while I'm travelling. If you'd like to join the cadre of guest writers, send me an email at hello@benjohnson.co.
Businesses and charities are quickly transitioning from a culture where lone rangers protected one’s turf to one of sharing resources and multiplying impact. In the past we worked in isolation and achieved results through a laborious process of addition. Today we are learning to drop one’s guard, trust others who are walking a similar path, and discover the strength of being intertwined with others in a common purpose.
Last year Ben from Frontier Marketing approached me with a creative plan. They already had partnered with Seacrest Foundation who had common aims in seeing the development of solid research into online fundraising, and the resulting study is truly groundbreaking. But what they needed to round out their work were some practical, concrete case studies. Ben proposed that my partner, Bridgeway Foundation, would offer up to $60,000 in matchable donations to six inner city charities. They would assist these organizations in creating and managing online campaigns to meet those matches, and in the process give six organizations better capacity to continue online fundraising in the future.
The results were astounding. First of all, nobody seems to attempt fundraising in the summer months – conventional wisdom says people are tuned out – but operating a campaign during the low season would prove just how effective online fundraising could be. By the end, we witnessed a quadrupling of Bridgeway’s investment as over $240,000 was raised in 1,270 donations to these six charities for their summer projects.
For years our foundation has led in building capacity for charities. Frontier’s initiative helped us pursue our mission in a new way. As a result of our partnership a significant report has been released for the charitable sector in Canada, charities were given crash courses in online fundraising, funds were multiplied, and charities were strengthened. We are all stronger when we partner with others.
Mark Petersen
CEO
Stronger Philanthropy
Businesses and charities are quickly transitioning from a culture where lone rangers protected one’s turf to one of sharing resources and multiplying impact. In the past we worked in isolation and achieved results through a laborious process of addition. Today we are learning to drop one’s guard, trust others who are walking a similar path, and discover the strength of being intertwined with others in a common purpose.
Last year Ben from Frontier Marketing approached me with a creative plan. They already had partnered with Seacrest Foundation who had common aims in seeing the development of solid research into online fundraising, and the resulting study is truly groundbreaking. But what they needed to round out their work were some practical, concrete case studies. Ben proposed that my partner, Bridgeway Foundation, would offer up to $60,000 in matchable donations to six inner city charities. They would assist these organizations in creating and managing online campaigns to meet those matches, and in the process give six organizations better capacity to continue online fundraising in the future.
The results were astounding. First of all, nobody seems to attempt fundraising in the summer months – conventional wisdom says people are tuned out – but operating a campaign during the low season would prove just how effective online fundraising could be. By the end, we witnessed a quadrupling of Bridgeway’s investment as over $240,000 was raised in 1,270 donations to these six charities for their summer projects.
For years our foundation has led in building capacity for charities. Frontier’s initiative helped us pursue our mission in a new way. As a result of our partnership a significant report has been released for the charitable sector in Canada, charities were given crash courses in online fundraising, funds were multiplied, and charities were strengthened. We are all stronger when we partner with others.
Mark Petersen
CEO
Stronger Philanthropy
Mark is the CEO for the newly-formed Stronger Philanthropy Inc. which multiplies impact for Canadian grantmakers. Stronger Philanthropy leverages donations by granting together. They offer streamlined systems, clear communications, worry-free administration, and accountable partnerships with charities. |