2018 PURPLE PURSE CHALLENGE - Fundraising and engagement ideas for the: Amazon AWS

2018 PURPLE PURSE CHALLENGE
Fundraising and engagement ideas for the:
   ● Serena Williams-designed purple purse and
   ● 200 Purple Purse charms
BENEFITS
Contests, sweepstakes and events can help inject energy into your campaigns. They can help nudge that zero-dollar
fundraiser to take that leap, or can give an extra boost to some of your best fundraisers and keep the momentum going.

DEFINITIONS
● Sweepstakes: A sweepstakes offers an element of chance - the winner is picked in a random drawing from all
   eligible entrants. An example of a sweepstakes would be, ‘Everyone that raises at least $100 will be entered to win
   an annual membership to the museum.” A sweepstakes also requires a free alternate method of entry (where no
   donation, fundraising or purchase is required) so it is not considered an illegal lotteries or raffle. So, in the example
   above, there would also be an alternate method of entry where you could email (rather than raise $100) to be
   entered into the sweepstakes as an eligible entrant to potentially win the annual membership to the museum.
● Contests: A contest is game of skill - the winner is someone who takes action to meet a requirement and win. For
   example, raise the most and win. Unlike a sweepstakes where everyone has a chance to win who takes an action
   (e.g. donating to enter), with a contest, not everyone is guaranteed a prize.

IMPORTANT NOTES
   ● Be aware of local and state laws for raffles, sweepstakes and contests which vary by location. Please check with
      your legal counsel for appropriate rules, regulations, procedures for all raffles, contests, sweepstakes, etc.!
   ● CrowdRise offers contests and sweepstakes add ons for purchase if you would like to advertise your promotion
      on your Challenge fundraising page on CrowdRise. Click Here for more info.
   ● Per the CrowdRise ​Terms of Use​, you are not permitted to host or mention a contest / sweepstakes on your
      CrowdRise campaign page that was not administered by the CrowdRise team. They’ve designed their official
      sweepstakes and contest rules to comply with all federal and state laws (which can be complicated to follow), so
      not only do they protect CrowdRise, they protect you, too. Running a sweepstakes or contest that violates any
      state laws can have serious consequences. Please email ​PurplePurse@GoFundMe.com​ if you have any
      questions.

Thanks to many of the 2018 Purple Purse Challenge partners for the ideas in this tip sheet!

THE PURPLE PURSE: YOUR BIGGEST FUNDRAISING OPPORTUNITY
       GOAL: try to have $500 minimum funds raised through the purse
       IDEA: post photo of purse on your fundraising site and website with how someone can win
       QUOTE FROM A CHALLENGE PARTNER: “We eagerly await the delivery of our purse each year, since we
       start using it to promote the Challenge immediately!”
● Raffle at event; consider packaging with dinner reservations, boutique gift certificate, etc.
● Raffle among all those who donate $100; conduct raffle on Facebook Live
● Raffle among all those who donate ON A SPECIFIC DAY (really push your efforts on
   one BIG day)
● Have local celebrities buy and donate purple purses for an auction that also
   features the celebrity purse
● Every $10 donation is one entry to win purse; the more times you donate, the
   more entries to win
● Silent or Live auction item
● Prize for biggest fundraiser
● Prize for biggest single donor
● Raffle among members of team that raised the most

●  Raffle off opportunities to take photos of donors with the purse so they can share on social media; post photos on
   your Facebook photo gallery
● Auction use of the purse for one week to 52 of the highest donors
● Live Auction on Facebook
● Collect business cards for a drawing; add the names on the cards to your database for future fundraising
● Assign a different “purse carrier” each day (who receive a charm as a “thank you”) and travel purse to events, high
   traffic areas, business meetings; they’ll have palm cards with talking points on the issue and donation instructions
● Have a contest between donors by zip code; raffle the purse to one donor in the zip code that raises the most money
● Purple Purse baggo event; $10 donation to participate; winner gets purse
● Identify the 10 "charmers" of the community to help fundraise through their networks; present the purse to the
   “charmer” responsible for the most funds raised
**please read the “IMPORTANT NOTES” section above if you’re considering any tips noted here as a “raffle”

PURPLE PURSE CHARMS: OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE YOUR DONORS AND SUPPORTERS
GOAL: build awareness; rewards for smaller but larger number of donations
QUOTE FROM EXPERIENCED CHALLENGE PARTNER: “We will use the charms to create
        conversations and spark interest and will also use them creatively to encourage giving
        and spreading the message/information by providing them as incentives”.
● Give to those who donate and encourage “winners” to take photos on their purses/bags,
   post to social media with a link to your donation page
● Give to those who post the link to donate on their social media accounts
● Give to those who donate a certain amount (e.g. $100)
● Give to those who register or arrive at an event that features all purple-related items
● Put at every place at a banquet or in gift bags as people depart
● Give to employees, board, volunteers to jumpstart building teams and fundraising
● Give to local opinion leaders like the Mayor or members of Chamber of Commerce to spread awareness
● Set up iPad/donation station​ ​at local bank, with their permission (connects to financial abuse); give charms to donors
● Set up iPad/donation station at college or high school football game and give charms to donors (other venues:
   shopping mall, grocery store, bonfire, Halloween party)
● Put purple tennis balls in the purse and “auction” chances to guess the amount with the correct prognosticator
   winning the purse
● Set up a domestic violence and financial abuse educational quiz on a site like Survey Monkey and give a charm to the
   first 200 who complete quiz
● Set up a volunteer page for your event on online tool like SignUp Genius (free!; give charms to first 200 volunteers
● Sell photo opps of the purse at your event
● Give to influential newspaper, magazine, television, radio reporters with info about your event and fundraising page
● Host a press conference and give charms to all representatives of the media who attend with the press packet
● Engage local businesses as team leaders; do a kick-off for employees and offer charms to build excitement
● Set up online domestic violence trivia contest to educate about the issue and (e.g. Survey Monkey) and give a charm
   to each participant

EVENT IDEAS
NOTE: Make sure to have your Challenge fundraising link visible or iPads or laptops at your event so donations can be
       made on-the-spot via mobile or through a laptop you provide
NOTE: Since donations are “real-time,” feature your fundraising page on a big screen to demonstrate progress
● Benefit dinner or Gala with all décor in purple
● Art Gallery event with Serena Williams purse on a pedestal or behind a frame (like a piece of artwork) for an auction
● Walk a Mile in Her Shoes​: Survivors should be free to walk​; participants decorate shoes purple with prizes for best
● Fashion Show: ​Domestic violence is not fashionable​; safe survivors and sponsors can walk the runway
● Bowl-a-Thon: ​Strike against domestic violence
● Purple Purse Tea: with purple cookies, tea cakes
● Anniversary Party for Fifth Year of Challenge (especially impactful for partners that have participated all 5 years)

●   Purple Purse Awards Banquet to recognize survivor who made the biggest difference for other survivors in your
    community
●   Event at local sport bar featuring high profile football game; Sell squares for football pool for and give charms to all
    who purchase a square
●   Tennis tournament (to tie to Serena Williams); include free tennis membership donated by tennis club
●   Purple Purse Parties held at homes of influential members of the community with the purse traveling to each
●   “Purple” Wine Auction – guests donate wine that are placed in brown bags and auction off for $50 each – surprise!
●   Purple Purse parties at homes of influential community leaders with discussion about the issue and chances to
    donate
●   Place purple plastic pumpkins in various businesses around the community and ask for donations (to be put in the
    pumpkins. (NOTE THAT ONLY ONLINE DONATIONS COUNT TOWARDS THE CHALLENGE COMPETITION!)
●   Purple Purse bingo

FROM THE CROWDRISE BLOG

It’s an all too common problem. You’re hosting an event and have fundraisers signed up to raise
money on your behalf. Everything is going smoothly, until you realize many of the supporters who
signed up to fundraise... aren’t actually doing anything.

These zero-dollar fundraisers are taking up your time and energy, and aren’t activating.

We’ve found that one way to better engage the zero-dollar fundraiser is to offer incentives in order to kick-start their
campaigning and encourage them to raise money throughout the process. It not only helps to convert potentially
zero-dollar fundraisers into full-fledged fundraisers, but it also encourages your donors to give more, and give more
often.

What’s an incentive?

An incentive is basically a catch-all term to describe anything you’d give away as a prize in exchange for a donation or
money raised for your campaign. You could give away a physical prize like a signed autograph, an experiential prize like a
trip, or even a virtual prize like points to a rewards program or a coupon.

How your supporters enter and engage with incentive campaigns can happen in a couple of different ways:

Sweepstakes

A sweepstakes is when you offer up an incentive as a chance to win. For example, ‘The next 50 people to raise $100 will
be entered to win an annual membership to the museum.’ Or, ‘Donate at least $50 to our animal shelter and you’ll be
entered to win a pampered pets gift package.’ Often times with sweepstakes, you can also offer up multiple chances to
win. Say you have a $50 threshold to enter to win a sweepstakes, you can craft it so if someone gives or raises $150,
they’re entered to win three times. If the prize is desirable enough, you’ll see a boost in entrants trying to get better
odds at winning by entering multiple times.

Contests

A contest is a method of entry where you get something in exchange for taking an action that meets a requirement or
requires a skill. Unlike a sweepstakes where everyone who takes an action (donating to enter the contest) has a chance
to win, with a contest, not everyone is guaranteed a prize.

Examples of a contest could be ‘Raise at least $500 and get two tickets to our carbo-load dinner before the big race,’ or
‘Donate at least $40 and get a [Your Nonprofit] tee shirt.’ Contests can even give away virtual prizes such as points or
coupons. For example, ‘Donate at least $50 and we’ll add 5,000 rewards points to your account.’ Contests offer instant
gratification meaning that when you give or raise, you know you’re entitled to the prize at stake. And, studies have even

shown that getting something for free or at a discount can actually cause your brain to perceive the benefits of the
product as higher than they actually are.

Benefits and challenges

Incorporating incentives into your fundraising campaigns can be a great way to foster excitement, and get supporters
involved and invested in your fundraising efforts. But, making sure you know the pros and cons will help make
everything run that much smoother:

The benefits

Like we said above, contests and sweepstakes can help inject some energy into your campaigns. They can help nudge
that zero-dollar fundraiser to take that leap, or can give an extra boost to some of your best fundraisers and keep the
momentum going. They can help create some excitement during the middle or end of the campaign when you need a
little extra love. And they can also help encourage donors to not only give, but to give more than they were maybe
originally intending to.

Using some simple phrasing and strategy can also help boost the success of your incentives. For example, when you
phrase your incentive with an ‘at least’ clause like ‘Donate at least $50,’ you’re not limiting the amount given or raised
by the supporter.

Also, placing time limits on certain incentives can help create needed urgency during critical moments in your campaign.
Say you’re organizing an endurance event and have a lengthy pre-race fundraising period, launch a contest or sweeps at
the beginning, middle, and end of the fundraising period so that momentum is strong throughout the entire campaign.
This has the potential to turn a one-time donor into a multi donor, or a lightweight fundraiser into a heavyweight.

The challenges

Cons may not be the right word. It’s more that you want to make sure you have all of your t’s crossed and i’s dotted.

For example, you’ve got to be ready for the fulfillment of the prizes you’re giving away. If you’re running a sweepstakes,
that means handling choosing the winner, contacting them for their shipping information or other details, and getting
them the prize or necessary instructions to redeem their prize. You’ll want to make sure you have someone dedicated to
do the reach out and manage communication from the winner and those inquiring about the incentive and entry details.

You also want to make sure you have messaging ready to go that announces the incentive and method of entry via all of
your channels including social media, email, live events, etc. If your fundraisers, donors, and supporters don’t learn and
get excited about the opportunity, the point of the incentive is lost. So, make sure to leverage these opportunities in the
right way to create a sense of excitement and encourage both fundraising and giving.

Legal (you know the fun stuff)

Contests and sweepstakes are subject to regulation to ensure that they are conducted fairly, and these regulations can
vary from state to state. So, be sure your contest or sweepstakes rules meet the all the legal requirements in your area.

In addition, if you are hosting your incentives online through a platform or website that you don't control, it's important
to double-check the platform's terms of use to make sure your contest or promotion plays by the rules and is permitted.

For example, on CrowdRise, our terms of use prohibit 3rd party contests and sweepstakes for liability reasons, which is
why we created a featured product add-on that helps with all of the administrative aspects, including drafting legal
rules, and doing everything that's needed to make sure that your contest or sweepstakes is legal and your organization is
protected.

Incentives can work with all campaign types

Many different types of campaigns can benefit from using incentives. Endurance events such as runs, walks and cycles
are often the examples that come to mind when we think about successful incentives. You can give away access to the
VIP tent, corral spots, pre-race dinner or breakfast, a hotel stay for race weekend, etc. Many of these incentives don’t
have to cost money and the ones that do, can often be covered by a generous sponsor. Similar types of prizes can also
be given away for walks, bowl-a-thons, or golf outings.

Single charity events such as annual holiday fundraising events or galas can also benefit tremendously from adding
incentives. Movie premieres, concert or sporting event tickets, and VIP tables at a dinner benefit are just some examples
of how live or virtual fundraising events can use incentives.

With a well thought out messaging plan, sought after prizes, and a community ready to fundraise and give, using
incentives can be a successful tool for engaging and empowering your supporters to do more.
http://fundraising.crowdrise.com/blog/a-nonprofits-guide-to-using-incentives-to-engage-zero-dollar-fundraisers?tls=Em
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