Cam Smith‘s USA Today article highlights the Sports Matter partnership between DICK’s Sporting Goods and DonorsChoose.org to benefit school sports programs that are vanishing due to severe budget cuts. Mr. Smith is the high school sports blogger for USA Today and former editor of Yahoo’s Prep Rally blog. USA Today is a multi-platform news and information media company.
DICK’S Sporting Goods launchs groundbreaking ‘Sports Matter’ crowdfunding partnership
By Cam Smith | USA Today | 7/28/15
According to data compiled by Up2Us Sports, at current funding/cutback rates, 27 percent of U.S. public high schools will not have any school sports programs by 2020.
While pay-for-play policies have helped in some areas, they’re not applicable on an even footing and can exacerbate the divide in social class. That’s what makes Tuesday’s announcement about DICK’S Sporting Goods’ cooperative partnership with the well-respected school donation site DonorsChoose,org so important. Together, the two institutions are trying to show that there’s a model through which districts can continue to fund all the programs their students need, all while helping donors feel good about themselves and their investment.
Sports Matter Crowdfunding
The Sports Matter crowdfunding partnership between DonorsChoose.org and Dick’s Sporting Goods has the potential of generating a total of $3 million towards public school sports education and programs–which has educators and celebrities alike, very excited.
However, the partnering crowdfunding platform does put an expiration date on each campaign and returns donations to donors if the total project goal is not met. This can leave supporters and beneficiaries, who have put in a lot of hard work and hope into their fundraising project, heartbroken if donations fall short. Luckily for Sports Matter crowdfunders, once they reach 50% of their goal, the matching funds from Dick’s Sporting Goods kick in, to take them the rest of the way home.
Don’t Let Your Supporters (& Cause) Down
Once supporters complete the donation process, they are emotionally AND financially invested in your cause. Having to return donations can send a negative, and demoralizing message that implies that their contribution just wasn’t enough – a model that can cause donor acquisition and retention to suffer, big time!
Donor retention has a greater value than the donation itself for your organization with recurring donors giving 200% more.
By choosing a platform that directly and securely transfers donations to your cause, your organization can avoid this type of donor letdown and instead keep them motivated to continue supporting your cause. Also, look for ways to keep more of the donations made to your nonprofit by eliminating transaction fees, high credit card processing rates, or other costs for fulfillment, overhead, outreach and site maintenance, which could run as high as 15% of your goal.
MobileCause offers nonprofits an expanding suite of integrated, cloud-based mobile fundraising, communications and donor data solutions that require no technical skills to use and that will help your organization raise more money at a lower cost.
We believe in maximizing fundraising efforts and results for your cause by offering your organization zero transaction fees and replacing high/floating credit card processing charges with our industry-low, flat 2.35% processing for all credit/debit donations with no hidden fees.
