iPhone Apps for Nonprofits and Fundraising
Non Profit organizations have some special challenges these days. The need for funds is increasing but costs are rising, while in many cases memberships are under pressure and fundraising is declining or becoming more expensive.
Here’s a new and innovative approach for nonprofits and their fundraising effors. How about using your own iPhone app to stay in closer touch to your membership, contributors, donors, supporters, activists and everyone else you rely on for your stated mission?
Here are several ways a custom iPhone application can help a nonprofit and/or fundraising efforts:
* Awareness
* Fundraising
* Special promotions
* Membership renewals
* Wish list donations
* Special projects
* Social networking features within the app for your organization
Take a look at some sample non-profit organizations’ custom iPhone applications and think about how you might use a custom iPhone application to help meet your goals.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium partnered with Seafood Watch to produce an iPhone app that both promotes awareness and serves a useful consumer tool. The Salvation Army has an iPhone app that streams Christmas music and funds raised from sales of this app benefit the Salvation Army mission.
Creating a custom iPhone application for your nonprofit organization does have a cost, but this cost can be more than offset by sales of the application and increased donations/contributions through the app itself. Using an iPhone app as a portable portal to your nonprofit’s website so your members are always within a button touch. If the cost of making the app is not in your budget, why not add it to your wishlist? It would be sure to catch the eye of donors or sponsors who love the iPhone or who have high tech interests.
In addition, think of the publicity your organization will receive by having your own iPhone application – it will portray your organization as timely, forward thinking, tech enabled, hip, and more. What a great way to breathe new life and energy into your nonprofit organization while benefiting from a new fundraising opportunity.