#Q4Prep – A Case for StoreFronts and Fundraising

One of the most common forms of philanthropy today is through fundraising.  We see organizations like Susan G. Komen , and Avon 2 Day Walk , among many others, raising hundreds of millions of dollars every month!  The fourth quarter 2012, in particular, saw a 16.7% increase in donations from the previous year.  In December 2012 alone, between Blackbaud, Network for Good, and PayPal, donors gave over $200,000,000!  They mostly have one thing in common…loving people, or philanthropy.  As a society, we do as much as possible to help others that are less fortunate.  It is not for religious beliefs or political beliefs; it is just GOOD to help when we can.

In 2012, online giving increased 14% from the previous year.  In fact, 30% of monetary donations took place online.  Similarly, Forrester Research estimates that in 2016 online shopping will have increased by 15% from today.  As it turns out, the internet is becoming a driving force for all kinds of transactions- whether it be donating or shopping.  Additionally, both see significant increases in the fourth quarter of the year!

One of ShareASale’s newest features is called StoreFronts.  The goal behind this tool was to find a way to pair this all together- fundraising, ecommerce, and Affiliate marketing.  With StoreFronts, Merchants can work closely with low-tech partners and essentially turn them into Affiliates for their individual fundraising needs.    

ShareASale will provide the domain along with a pre-built template fully integrated with social sharing tools, affiliate disclosure, and a simple signup process!

Merchants will modify a ShareASale-built template to include any of the following:

• Custom header to match the Merchant’s website (if needed)
• Product availability (3 products will be displayed at a time)
• Categories
• One select ad to be displayed on the side

Affiliates will modify the same template, but with the following:

• URL
• Organization Name (e.g. Johnny’s Little League Team)
• Hero Image (optional)
• Logo

The low-tech partner will now have a published site, which includes Affiliate links to the Merchant’s site.  When a transaction takes place, we will track it as normal and the low-tech partner can see transactions as they come in as well!

StoreFronts was designed for the low-tech person who is looking to raise funds without going through the headache of learning to build a website!  Affiliates can be up and running in a matter of minutes!

 Interested in setting up StoreFronts as a way to compliment your #Q4 offering…. shoot us an email we’ll help you out!