[Chapter-delegates] Beyond the Net fundraising campaign update

Thu Nov 14 08:41:49 PST 2024

Hi Eduardo,
Thanks for asking about this.  I promised to come back with a fuller campaign recap for everyone, so thanks for your patience as I compiled that. Here are the key data points we have on participation in the Beyond the Net Campaign this autumn:

  *   Nearly ¾ of the 34 donations were from first-time donors, vitally helping to expand our community of supporters
  *   Donations came in from 16 countries and 17 Chapters
  *   Donors included Chapter members, Chapter leaders, Internet Society & Internet Society Foundation staff, and Internet Society Board members
  *   11 Champion Chapters volunteered to directly amplify the appeal within their communities
  *   Many donors also chose to honor someone special with their gift, adding a deeply personal and meaningful element to their gifts

Over the 6 months of collaborative campaign development, we hosted 2 rounds of focus groups with Chapter representatives from across all regions, made 1 presentation to the ChAC Steering Committee, built 1 dedicated campaign page, created 3 fundraising and communications toolkits, and launched a standalone 6-week email journey for Chapter members.

At the risk of repeating myself, I want to again thank all those involved for their interest, collaboration, and support in this new and significant project.  While modest donation totals of under $3,000 were realized in relation to the campaign target of $40,000, it very important to understand that this represents a meaningful level of growth in comparison with prior direct fundraising campaigns at ISOC. And most significantly, we did this, for the very first time, together as a collaborative fundraising project between interested chapter leaders and staff. I am looking forward to building upon the valuable insights and experiences this campaign generated, as we plan for 2025.

Please don’t hesitate to email me if you have reflections about your own participation in the Beyond the Net Campaign or if you have ideas you’d like to share for future fundraising campaigns, I’d love to hear them too. I am very excited that we are about to open a special end-of-year giving appeal which includes a 1:1 match for early donations thanks to the generosity of one of our own community members – more details will be posted soon!

Very best regards,
Isadora

Isadora Tharin, CFRE Senior Director, Individual Donors
tharin at isocfoundation.org<mailto:tharin at isocfoundation.org>
Time Zone: UTC-5
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Together, we can build an Internet for everyone.  Please make a gift today.<https://donorportal.internetsociety.org/-/XEJSXXLK> ❤️

From: Eduardo Diaz <eduardodiazrivera at gmail.com>
Date: Monday, October 28, 2024 at 11:32 AM
To: Isadora Tharin <tharin at isocfoundation.org>
Cc: chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Beyond the Net fundraising campaign update
Hi Isadora,

Thank you for the update. I am glad to hear that the Beyond the Net fundraising campaign succeeded. I am curious to know the total amount of money that was donated.

Thanks,
-ed

On Mon, Oct 28, 2024 at 10:15 AM Isadora Tharin via Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org<mailto:chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>> wrote:
Hi everyone, I hope you’ve had a great week.

I want to drop in here to share a small update and a big thank you - as many of you know, the Beyond the Net fundraising campaign came to a close earlier this month on the 11th. My deep gratitude for the open collaboration that the fundraising team and I experienced during the six months of developing the campaign this spring and summer - throughout the campaign development process and during the live phase this fall, it was a privilege to connect with leaders and members from many different chapters, and it was motivating and inspiring to hear your ideas, commitment, and enthusiasm for expanding ISOC’s community of supporters.

Building a new kind of campaign from the ground up was neither quick nor easy, but it has been a thoroughly rewarding experience so far thanks to the support and interest from so many people on this list. We gained invaluable insights that will serve as a foundation for future fundraising efforts developed in collaboration with the community.

I wanted to extend a particular shoutout to everyone who participated in our two rounds of focus groups in the spring - it was fantastic to have representation from Chapters including Benin, Belgium, Egypt, HK, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Nigeria, Nigeria, NYC, Quebec, Puerto Rico, SF Bay & Türkiye through those! I also need to say a massive thank you to the leaders of the Champion Chapters who courageously volunteered to amplify the campaign message within their own communities: Rwanda, SF Bay, Quebec, Venezuela, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Perú, and Colombia Chapters. Your willingness, leadership, and support were instrumental in making this campaign the successful and beneficial project it was.

Ultimately, donations came in from 17 Chapters across 16 countries. Donors included Chapter members, leaders, ISOC and Foundation staff, and even Board members. Significantly, 75% of all campaign donors were making a gift for the first time. All funds will be directed exclusively into future Beyond the Net funding.

Thank you again to everyone who took part - for your enthusiasm, dedication, and openness to embracing this experiment! I am currently preparing a full campaign recap, which I can share more widely once it's finalized.

Best regards, Isadora

Isadora Tharin, CFRE Senior Director, Individual Donors
tharin at isocfoundation.org<mailto:tharin at isocfoundation.org>
Time Zone: UTC-5
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The Internet should be for Everyone. Donate Today<https://www.internetsociety.org/donate/?utm_source=email&utm_medium=signature&utm_campaign=isoc-signature&utm_content=tharin> ❤️

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