Social Media Week Lagos

The Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) DIY Fundraising: All You Need To Know About Online Fundraising  masterclass teaches nonprofits, civil society actors, activists (and anyone with a cause) to fundraise through building a community of online and offline supporters. We will review technology that helps to build and strengthen online communities of current and potential donors and supporters.


According to Blackbaud’s 2015 Charitable Giving Report, in the United States:
• Online giving has been steadily growing over the last couple of years, up 9.2% from 2014 to 2015.
• Small organizations continued to see the largest growth in online giving.


While this data is based on responses from the United States, a keen observation of the Nigerian landscape reveals that the current generation of digital natives who will become tomorrow’s donors and philanthropists are more likely to use technology-driven means of giving than more traditional methods. What this means for Nigerian nonprofits is that the trend indicates a gradual but definite growth in online giving.


The 2008 presidential campaign of President Obama was a watershed moment in bringing the power of community in fundraising to global notice. Prior to that, funding for campaigns was largely from a few powerful and wealthy individuals. The 2008 Obama campaign harnessed the power of communities of highly-engaged individuals to rally funds behind their preferred candidate. The campaign raised over $ 500 million and both his campaigns raised $41 billion through a combination of online and offline tactics.


As recognized by the SMW 2018 theme, while many technologies can increase feelings of isolation, there is a growing number, which are focused on fostering a sense of community. It is with these tools as well as crowdfunding platforms, that fundraisers seek to build the online portion of their giving campaigns. This session will be led by two social entrepreneurs with experience developing and implementing fundraising strategies and will cover:


• What online fundraising is and how it works
• Technology that can help to connect to donors by building community
• Best practices to build online engagement
• Review of successful online fundraising campaigns
• How to complement online engagement with offline community-building tactics
• Why it is important for fundraisers to connect with donors online