5 Strategies to Growing Your Nonprofit Fundraising – A Kiva Story

I often write about online nonprofit fundraising concepts and platforms, each with its own unique focus and benefits but Kiva stands out from most. Kiva is a nonprofit organization and online giving platform with the mission to connect people, through lending, to alleviate poverty. It’s an organization I know about firsthand as since June 2009, null have actively supported Kiva making 264 (re)loans to date.

Recently, Kiva released its first annual report for 2011and the growth experienced since its launch in 2005 has been tremendous. In 2011 over $89.4 million was lent towards 110,256 loans in 59 different countries – an increase of 25% over 2010.

Images courtesy of kiva.org

As a young nonprofit now entering its seventh year, and having received the top rating from Charity Navigator in February 2011, there are several factors that have contributed to its success as brought to light in the Kiva annual report and shared here:

1. Accessibility. In 2011, Kiva launched a campaign focused on $25 loans and in August 2011 gave away 8,000 $25 free trial loans. The $25 price point made it accessible for more lenders to participate, while still making them feel like they are making a difference. While the concept of giving a free trial loan or donation is not realistic for most nonprofits, a focus on an accessible donation amount as a starting point will definitely help increase appeal and participation to a broader range of supporters.
2. 100%. Kiva’s nonprofit model allows for 100% of all loans to go directly to the borrower without any administrative or other fees. Kiva operates with donations of online lenders, foundations, in kind revenue, corporations and individuals. Lenders have the satisfaction of knowing that 100% of their loan is going directly to the intended recipient and if they choose to support Kiva beyond that, they can. This concept is difficult for most nonprofits to replicate but they can make it known what % of all donations goes direct to the cause and what goes to other expenses.
3. Transparency. The lending program and the organization on the whole operates with full transparency and in its first annual report full accountability along with the impact Kiva is making around the world is given. Supporters are more likely to continue backing a cause or organization that they can trust so being open and transparent will help build confidence, loyalty and long lasting relationship.
4. Social Media. Integrating your organization with various social media platforms will help expand your reach. Kiva’s early integration of Facebook and Twitter along with their YouTube channel has helped spread awareness of their organization and contributed to their growth. As a web-based organization, social media has become an integral part of the nonprofit model for success. Allocating the necessary resources will help in creating a successful social media presence.
5. Updates. The aspect most appealing to Kiva supporters are the updates provided by Kiva on the borrower status – if they were successful, how their business is progressing and the status of loan repayments. It’s critical to provide regular updates on the progress of your cause, program or project. These can be as simple as updates via social media networks, blogging, website updates or through newsletters/email marketing. Providing these updates will improve supporter satisfaction and retention by building on their connection to the cause.

How Kiva Works

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/16991128[/vimeo]

Some highlights from Kiva’s Annual Report includes:

• The average size loan is $399 with over 79% of borrowers being women
• An impressive default rate of 1.09%
• The Philippines, Peru, Kenya, Paraguay and Uganda form the top 5 countries with the most borrowers
• 457,739 active lenders and 12,783 teams
• The top 5 lending cities include Bruxelles, New York City, London, San Francisco and Toronto
• Almost 50,000 daily visits on their website and over 160,000 monthly transactions
• Over 159,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook and over 110,000 new Twitter followers bumping Kiva to over 460,000 total followers
• In 2011 they have expanded to new countries, including: Burkina Faso, Georgia, Turkey, Yemen and Zimbabwe.

Kiva has definitely become a success story and is leaving its mark around the globe one loan at a time.

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Miratel Solutions is a Toronto call centre, eBusiness, and letter shop mail house specializing in professional fundraising services including telephone fundraising, online fundraising, lottery services, donation caging, donation processing and other donor management services. We are committed to our CSR business values in all contact centre services and mail house operations and advancing the missions of the nonprofits we proudly serve.