Have you ever wished you could forgo the flyers and the email blasts you send constantly to the community in hopes of raising awareness for your nonprofit organization? Now there's an easier way to raise money for your cause and even attract new volunteers. Vonvo, the first Video Donation Tool caters to nonprofits around the country, giving them a venue to host meetings, plan events and provide them a virtual place where the average person can help them raise money for their cause. Brief Overview
Three years ago Max Ringelheim launched a website that changed the way people discovered and dealt with pressing issues around the world. Ringelheim was sick of watching the media portray politics in a biased way. He wanted the average citizen to be able to voice their opinion and empower them to inspire change in their community. Bringing aspects of Google Hangouts and Kickstarter, Vonvo was a way for ordinary people to log in and discuss what was going on in the world regardless of where they lived, their background, or their education level.
Today, Vonvo short for "video convo" is the first Video Donation Tool catering solely to nonprofits around the world. Providing nonprofits a marketing/fundraising tool that enables them to raise money, awareness, and attract new volunteers with the click of a button.
In Use
Roughly 15 organizations now use Vonvo. They use the website to promote a fundraising campaign, conduct meetings or acquire new volunteers. Before, nonprofits were forced to send out email blasts, canvas neighborhood, and hold fundraising events that at times were more of a hassle than they were effective. Vonvo, is more efficient when it comes to time and money, cost effective, and more engaging and profitable than sending out a newsletter, email, or posting flyers. Larger nonprofits take advantage of Vonvo on a weekly basis while smaller organizations use the Vonvo monthly or even yearly. Despite the organization, they benefit from Ringelheim's video donation tool.
Technology Employed
Because it's a website, Vonvo doesn't require hardware or software and requires minimal memory on your PC or MAC. The only requirement is the use of Chrome or Firefox to access the website and that they have a webcam.
Ease of Use
Overall feedback for Vonvo has been positive. Vonvo uses websites such as Youtube and company literature to make it easier for nonprofits to grasp Vonvo's capabilities. Out of the fifteen organizations that have used Vonvo, over half continue to use it. They praise the efficiently of the website and the ability it possesses to raise awareness for nonprofits and reach new volunteers. Ringelheim notes that most of the questions he gets are not about "how to use Vonvo" but about planning an event on Vonvo and making sure everything goes smoothly.
Recap
Vonvo, is a marketing/fundraising tool that combines the capabilities of Google Hangout with Kickstarter. Vonvo allows nonprofits the ability to plan, organize, and raise money for their cause.
Advantages
- Web-based
- Easy to use
- "Jack of All Trades" when it comes to uses. Use it as a conference call or use it as a donation tool
Disadvantages
- Still in the beginning stages
- Not well-known
- Have to compete with more well known websites such as Skype and Kickstarter
- Costs money to use while Skype and Kickstarter are free
My Opinion
I believe that Ringelheim is on to something with Vonvo. Social media plays a huge role in mainstream society whether it's used privately or professionally. It's shown success in the marketing world and has been proven to benefit nonprofits. Where as Kickstarter can only be used once for a particular cause, Vonvo can be used on a daily basis for a longer span of time. It is nice to be able to use one website for all your fundraising needs as opposed to multiple sites.
Once Vonvo is more established, I expect that we will be hearing more about them and seeing more and more nonprofits use them. Although Vonvo does cost money to use, it's easier than downloading multiple programs.
