Blog Archives
New Irish crowd funding platform is offering €1,000 for innovative fundraising
Community groups and projects across Ireland could get a kick start to their fundraising efforts by signing up for a new free Irish crowd funding platform called PledgUp.com.
The company, which is based in Longford, is offering €1,000 of funding to community groups or projects that sign up for the service with the most innovative fundraising ideas.
PledgUp.com is a free service that helps community groups to get online donations for their projects. Once a group sets up profile on the website they receive a link to a personalised fundraising page that they can email to their contacts or post on social media sites asking for donations. The service allows groups to ask for straight forward donations or to look for financial sponsorship of events they are organising. The groups can also get all their members involved by inviting them to join. Once they do they also receive a personalised page and the amount raised by each person is shown to the entire group.
Commenting cofounder Eoin Kennedy, PledgUp.com said “Smaller community groups have excellent networks and contacts in Ireland and abroad. Where they fall down is with technology skills. We have designed our platform to make it really simple and free for groups to create an online sponsorship page and to process online donations without the need for technical skills. We are receiving lots of interest from community groups trying to fundraise for a variety of things from new playgrounds, memorials right the way through to sports clubs looking for online donations for events like Strictly Come Dancing and Duathlons.”
Once people click on the links they are brought to a personalised page where they get details of the fundraiser and can donate online.
Speaking about the competition Mr Kennedy added “Every community in Ireland has some project that are trying to raise funds for. By signing up before the end of February they will be entered into a competition for a €1,000 donation pool. We are looking for the best fundraising causes and ideas. In addition to the competition they will also be able to use their personalised fundraising pages to immediately reach out to possible donors anywhere in the world.”
Details of the competition winners will be posted on www.PledgUp.com/blog. Three prizes will be awarded – €500 for 1st place, €300 for 2nd place and €200 for third. The competition runs until February 28th 2013.
About PledgUp.com
PledgUp.com is a start up based in Longford and was established by Eoin Kennedy and John Rowan. The company is part of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start programme and aims to make online fundraising accessible to all worthy causes.
Nominate a community group for the Dulux Let’s Colour Project 2012
In 2011, Dulux launched the Let’s Colour Project in Ireland, which helped transform and brighten over 200 local communities with colour. The 2012 project is underway and so Dulux are now welcoming applications from community, voluntary and charitable groups across the country.
Dulux has over 30,000 litres of colourful paint to donate to worthy projects throughout the country. They are currently looking for nominations so if there is a community building or space that could benefit from a vibrant positive change, please apply online and nominate the project.
The only condition of these submissions is that the space/building is of use to the community and that it is not commercial, derelict or residential, so, if there’s a building or space that you think could benefit from a colourful positive change, why not apply online and nominate your project today?
The closing date is the 23 May.
Photograph your volunteers for National Volunteering Week
Now that National Volunteering Week has arrived….
Here’s a great opportunity to highlight the work of your volunteers and encourage more volunteering for your organization.
Submit your photos of volunteers or voluntary activity for National Volunteering Week, which takes place May 14- May 20.
You can photograph an individual, small group or large event and chosen entries will be used in the nationwide media and PR campaign to promote National Volunteering Week, the photographs will feature nationwide: print, broadcast and print media, and Irish Rail advertising
All photos should be submitted to gavin@volunteer.ie
Learn more at www.volunteer.ie
Related Post:
Picture this: 5 tips for taking great photos of your volunteers
Are you working in fundraising in Ireland?
Here’s a great opportunity for fundraisers working for non profit organisations in Ireland to obtain a bursary to attend the National Fundraising Conference taking place next month in Dublin.
Five bursary places will be sponsored by the fundraising and direct marketing agency Ask Direct.
To be eligible for a bursary you must be working in a paid fundraising position for an organisation with a total annual income of less than €100,000.
Ireland’s National Fundraising Conference March 2012
I have just booked my place at The National Fundraising Conference which has as its theme this year Fostering Fundraising Excellence.
There is a great line-up of speakers and I am particularly looking forward to the masterclass on digital fundraising by Beate Sørum. This masterclass will focus on how to build and nurture a digital community, and will also take a look into the latest digital trends and what fundraisers should expect and prepare for in the future.
Full details of the conference venue, agenda and registration here
Crowd Funding in Ireland
Thanks to Ken McGuire for alerting me to the existence of Fund it - a new all-island crowdfunding website for Ireland’s creative projects.
It is funded under the New Stream programme, supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, The Arthur Guinness Fund and via the support of a technology grant from the Department of Arts, Heritage & the Gaeltacht.
It is an initiative of Business to Arts is a not-for-profit organisation working to support resilience and transformation in the cultural sector through research, innovation and partnership.
You can watch the video above to find out more or visit the website at fund.ie
See Change Creative Challenge
I really like the latest awareness-raising event by See Change, an NGO working to change attitudes and eliminate stigma about mental health problems in Ireland.
Each of us has the power re-write the script on how mental health problems are perceived in society, and on 26 October 2011, See Change are calling for 900 people to contribute to their story which aims to break the current GUINNESS WORLD RECORD for the most people to write a story.
See Change has partnered up with Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union, Union of Students in Ireland, and Fighting Words on this GUINNESS WORLD RECORD attempt to send a message loud and clear that mental health is an important part of everyone’s story, and like every story, it can have its ups and downs, twists and turns.
Social media use in Ireland
If you are itching to get your hands on the latest data on social media usage in Ireland, then you won’t want to miss this Neworld report.
Highlights include:
- Twitter has almost doubled its Irish accounts
- Facebook is adding 900 new Irish profiles per day
- LinkedIn is growing at a much faster than Facebook – in percentage terms at least (11% versus 4%)
Click here to read the full report.
Non-Profit News and Views
Welcome to a new feature - a weekly round-up of the latest news and views concerning non-profits. Watch out for it each Friday.
Katya also provides a great list of what’s in and out for non-profits in 2011 focussing on the very elements I talk of a lot here – engagement, interaction and relationship building.
The Wheel (Ireland) has some advice on Improving Your Appeals in Tough Times. Incidentally The Wheel are currently recruiting for an experienced Communications & Marketing Intern for those who might be interested in gaining experience in this area.
