Innovative Fundraising Techniques Gaining Popularity

Before it was about getting donors to write checks. Now it’s about involving them in your ecosystem. Here’s 5 steps to get started today: You’re not just fundraising anymore. You’re onboarding stakeholders. If you want repeatable, compounding revenue from donors, partners, and decision-makers, you need to stop treating them like check-writers… …and start treating them like collaborators in a living system. Here’s how. 1. Diagnose your “center of gravity” Most orgs center fundraising around the mission. But the real gravitational pull for donors is their identity. → Ask yourself: What is the identity we help our funders step into? Examples: Systems Disruptor. Local Hero. Climate Investor. Opportunity Builder. Build messaging, experiences, and invites around that identity, not just impact stats. 2. Turn every program into a flywheel for new capital Stop separating “program delivery” from “fundraising.” Your programs are your best sales engine → Examples: • Invite donors to shadow frontline staff for one hour • Allow funders to sponsor a real-time decision and see the outcome • Let supporters “unlock” bonus services for beneficiaries through engagement, not just cash People fund what they help shape. 3. Use feedback as a funding mechanism Most orgs treat surveys as box-checking. But used right, feedback is fundraising foreplay. → Ask donors and partners to co-define what “success” looks like before you report back. Then build dashboards, stories, and events around their metrics. You didn’t just show impact. You made them part of the operating model. 4. Make your “thank you” do heavy lifting Thanking donors isn’t the end of a transaction. It’s the first trust test for future collaboration. → Instead of a generic “thank you,” send: • A 1-minute voice memo with a specific insight you gained from their gift • A sneak peek at a challenge you’re tackling and ask for their perspective • A micro-invite: “Can I get your eyes on something next week?” You’re not closing a loop. You’re opening a door. 5. Build a “Donor OS” (Operating System) Every funder should have a journey, not just a transaction history. → Track things like: • What insight made them first say “I’m in”? • Who do they influence (and who influences them)? • What kind of risk are they comfortable taking? • What internal narrative did your mission fulfill for them? Then tailor comms, invitations, and roles accordingly. Not everyone needs another newsletter but someone does want a seat at the strategy table. With purpose and impact, Mario

I can’t believe I’m writing about the merits of memecoins. But something changed my mind recently - one memecoin might have saved thousands of childrens’ lives. Memecoins are a joke. Literally. The first - and most popular, Dogecoin, was created in 2013 by two software engineers mocking the thousands of worthless cryptocurrencies. Don’t get me wrong. On-chain assets are unlocking fintech innovations like open banking, or open finance that have mostly been broken promises until crypto came along. But 99% of the time, when someone asks me about investing in a coin they read about - it's usually dog 💩 Unlike other cryptocurrencies, memecoins’ creators and investors make no pretense about their intrinsic value: zero. Tha’s why memecoins have exploded as a quirky asset class - blatant (and mutually acknowledged) pump and dump schemes, capitalizing on popular trends in internet culture. Popular memecoin creators have started donating a slice of their profits to charitable causes - usually as a publicity stunt. But last week, a memecoin did something no one expected: raising money to treat a rare disease in children, a niche market that usually goes unfunded. A fintech startup founder, Siqi Chen announced a charity fundraiser for his daughter, Mira, who was diagnosed with an extremely rare and dangerous brain tumor in September. Someone created a memecoin, $MIRA, and donated half of the entire token’s circulating supply to Siqi. Within days, it raised over $1m for the cause. In contrast, the traditional crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe only raised 80% of its $300,000 target. For context, the cost of bringing a new drug to market falls between $1.3 billion and $2.8 billion. So a new fundraising mechanism that is >3x as effective is no joke. One reason for the superior effectiveness of memecoins’ as a funding vehicle is the tradeable nature of the asset. Early participants profit from its success. That’s a powerful incentive for awareness that traditional crowdfunding platforms lack. The other reason is that memecoins - like memestocks - speak to a large, borderless ecosystem of investors, promoters, and influencers. Meme investing communities have proven very vocal, eager, capable and ideologically-motivated to deploy capital instantly. Traditional charities, or NGOs, don’t come anywhere close. Whether its WeWork, Theranos, or FTX, its easy to laugh at new fangled investing ideas. Ridicule the hot air and fluff that often comes with grifters eager to make a quick buck off the hot new thing. And sometimes that scorn is a much-needed reality check. But as the $MIRA memecoin reminds us, innovations - even laughable ones - have a way advancing our species forward in ways we seldom can forsee.

Welcome to the Future of Fundraising. In recent months I’ve noticed a change in the way leaders talk about adding trusted digital labor to their teams. Early conversations were focused on whether a single Virtual Engagement Officer could work and what it might accomplish. More often now, the question is what it looks like to begin with more than one VEO, and how that choice begins to shape a digital workforce. We now see many organizations launch with two VEOs from the very start. This decision is less about testing a concept and more about setting a direction. Launching with two VEOs marks the beginning of a digital workforce, one that sits alongside the human team and expands the surface area of relationships. From what we’re seeing, the move to begin with multiple VEOs comes from two factors. The first is confidence in the results that are visible in the daily conversations VEOs have with donors, the relationships they strengthen, and the metrics and success that Innovation Partners see. Leaders no longer feel the need to inch forward with a slow proof of concept. They see what’s proven possible and are ready to move quickly. The second is the overwhelming number of constituents and use cases. When teams discuss where to start, there are simply so many avenues because the number of rated but unassigned donors is so vast. That is what we saw this week at the recently merged Bay Path University and Cambridge College, which launched two VEOs to serve its distinct alumni bases as they define their digital workforce. Norfolk State, one of the first HBCU’s to introduce a VEO and the first to begin with multiple, is also in the process of defining strategic goals for each of their two. The same pattern is visible across the field. Boston Children’s Hospital uses two VEOs with distinct focuses—one on leadership annual giving and another guiding participants in their peer-to-peer fundraising efforts for an annual walk event. At the University of Arizona Foundation, one VEO works to reengage lapsed donors while another was recently added to focus on discovery and pipeline development. San Diego State has paired one VEO with planned giving prospects and another with annual fund donors. Texas State uses two VEOs to cover separate portfolios, from reacquiring long-lapsed alumni to renewing and retaining loyal supporters of the Forever Bobcat program. At the Medical University of South Carolina Foundation, one VEO represents the university while another focuses on the clinical side. The theme is consistent: organizations are beginning to design their digital workforce, not just test digital labor. One Virtual Engagement Officer validates the idea. Two accelerate the impact. That acceleration is how digital labor is taking its place alongside the team and changing the future of what’s possible for nonprofit fundraising.