$6.5 million raised online by 4aGoodCause nonprofits in 2011

After crunching some numbers over the weekend, I'm happy to report a fantastic 2011 for the nonprofits using 4aGoodCause. Our clients continued to maintain a high per-donation-average of $142 in 2011, holding steady from 2010. Overall, online donations through 4aGoodCause were up 60% from 2010. Our $142 average only reflects online donations and does not include other methods our clients use for fundraising such as online event sales or products sales, which can have even higher average sale amounts. Overall, 4aGoodCause processed around $6.5 million in payments for nonprofits in 2011.

To our family of good causes - keep up the good work!

Happy MLK Day.

Record-breaking $25,000 online donation

We've had our clients get many rather large donations online but none quite as big as one that came through on New Year's Eve last week. A donor gave $25,000 in a single online donation to Mercy Health Foundation Springfield in support of the Safe and Sober Prom program. Congrats to Mercy Health Foundation Springfield on their record-breaking donation!  

What is the biggest online donation your nonprofit has received?

Happy New Year from 4aGoodCause

To all the good causes we work for.....

As the year ends, we think about all we are grateful for. Our relationship with you and your organization is one thing we treasure. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you. We wish you a Happy New Year and hope 2012 will be a year of safety, security and increasing online transactions for your good cause.

Thank you for being a loyal 4aGoodCause customer.

Fulfilling a nonprofit's wish list with online donations

What's on your wish list this holiday season? For me, its Silver Age Marvel comics (think 1970s Spider-man) and a refill of gumballs for the gumball machine in my office.

Nonprofits have wish lists also. Items on a nonprofit's wish list can vary from everyday items such as light bulbs or copy paper to big ticket items like computer equipment or building materials. It is fairly common for a nonprofit to publish a wish list around the holidays.

It is less common (but an idea we love) for that charity to design a special online donation form where donors can help the nonprofit purchase these items.  You can tie online donations directly to tangible items that help the charity. You can eliminate the burden on the donor of purchasing the items and dropping them off. And the nonprofit can use the web and social media to build a campaign around donations towards those big ticket items that may be hard to get directly donated.   

Here are two examples of wish list donation forms...

Each donation process shows the donor what the nonprofit needs, what it costs the nonprofit to obtain that item and provides an easy way for the donor to designate a gift towards that item.

WellStar Foundation

Boulder Shambhala Mediation Center

What is your nonprofit wishing for this year?

4aGoodCause integrates donation forms with Microsoft Dynamics CRM for Project C.U.R.E.

The reporting web site that we offer our clients has a very easy-to-use export to excel function. This helps our clients easily extract the data collected from their donation or other e-commerce forms that are hosted with us. The nonprofits often then import that information into their donor database or donor management system. While this process is very easy, it is exciting when we get an opportunity to remove this step and integrate our e-commerce forms in real-time, directly with the nonprofit's donor database. 

We just completed such a project for one of our good causes, Project C.U.R.E. Project C.U.RE. worked with IronWare Technologies to set up the nonprofit edition of Microsoft Dynamics CRM. MS Dynamics CRM is a cost-effective constituent management solution that is growing in popularity among nonprofits. We collaborated with IronWare to integrate our donation systems with this software. Now, as online donations happen, the 4aGoodCause donation forms automatically create donor and donation records in MS Dynamics CRM for Project C.U.R.E.

We'd love to hear from other nonprofit using MS Dynamics CRM. What do you think of the software? Have you been able to integrate it with your online donation process?

Notification of change in transaction fee

Dear current 4aGoodCause clients:

Please be notified of a slight adjustment in our e-commerce transaction fee, effective January 1, 2012. We have maintained the same $0.25 per transaction fee for over a decade now. As much as I would like to maintain this rate for another year, we must adjust it to cover increased technology expenses we have seen over the past few years. This fee will be increasing $0.07 for a new transaction fee of $0.32 per transaction.

Thank you for understanding that this price increase means that we can continue to maintain the superior standard of our services for the coming year. We anticipate no other pricing changes at this time. We strive to continue to keep our hosting fees among the lowest around and we remain one of the best e-commerce values. Our clients, on average, see a $50 return on every dollar spent with us.

Should you have any questions regarding this price change or our services, please contact me at 770-517-5962. We appreciate your business very much and are proud to be working for your good cause. 

Thank you,

Ronald Pruitt
President
4aGoodCause

Turn Cyber Monday into Giving Monday

Monday is Cyber Monday, one of the biggest online shopping days of the year. While you are online shopping for Christmas gifts for your loved ones, please think about also making a gift for those less fortunate. Give back by making an online donation to a good cause.  Online donations are safe, easy and will make a big impact for the nonprofit you choose to give to, whatever the size of the gift.

Here are some great causes to choose from...

Acts of Giving Alliance
Adopt-a-Classroom
Adoption Network Cleveland
Alzheimer's Foundation of Caregiving in Canada
Alzheimer's Foundation of America
AIDE
Aid to Inmate Mothers
Alabama Ear Institute
American Association of Suicidology
Atlanta Ronald McDonald House Charities
B' Fly Girls
Bayat Foundation
Birmingham International Center
Birmingham Zoo
Bishop Museum
Boulder Shambhala Center
Bright Future Jobs
Bruce Roberts Toy Fund
Catawba College
Center for Global Ministries
Cheltenham School District
Collat Jewish Family Services
Committee to Elect Kenn Young
Community Foundation of New Jersey
Community Foundation of the Ozarks
Concordia University Chicago
Curing Kids Cancer
Disability Rights NC
Easter Seals Central Alabama
Emerge! Center Against Domestic Abuse
Everybody Wins Atlanta
Family Honor
Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo
Georgia Christian School
Griffin School
Gulf of Maine Research Institute
Gwinnett County Public School Foundation
Historical Society of Frederick County
Honolulu Academy of Arts
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Inter-Faith Food Shuttle
Jewish Family Services of Greenwich
Jobs for Maine's Graduates
Juniper Foundation
Kate's Club
Kauai Museum
Laogai Research Foundation
Lassiter High School
Lighthouse Counseling Center
Los Angeles Fire Department Historical Society
Maine Community Foundation
Manna Freedom
Mercy Foundation for Health Innovation
Mercy Health Center Foundation
Mercy Health Foundation of NW Arkansas
Mercy Health of Joplin Foundation
Mercy Hospital Foundation Independence
Mercy Memorial Foundation
Mission Houses Museum
Missouri Citizens for Property Rights
Mitchell Institute
Montclair Fund for Educational Excellence
MySafe:LA
Nooristan Foundation
North American Butterfly Association
Northeast Indiana Public Radio
Northeastern PA Council BSA
Olympic Animal Sanctuary
Palm Village Retirement Community
Preble Street
Project C.U.R.E.
Pro Start Academy Scholarship Fund
Ramapo College Foundation
Ray Festa Melanoma Foundation
RCCC Foundation
Ronald McDonald House Charities - Baltimore
Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida
Santa Barbara Soccer Club
Save the Manatee Club
Silicon Valley Venture Fund
Southwest Christian Care
Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System Foundation
St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park
St. Edward Mercy Foundation
St. John's Foundation for Community Health
St. John's Mercy Foundation
St. John's Mercy Hospital Foundation
The Lionheart School
Transportation Association of Greenwich
Tuskegee-Macon County CDC
United Methodist Children's Home
Unity Church of Hawaii
Village Academy of Schools
Visiting Nurse & Hospice of Fairfield County
Voices for Alabama's Children
Volunteers in Public Schools
Way FM
WellStar Foundation
Wildlife Australia Fund
YWCA of Trenton
Zaman International

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