Guest post by Orca.so
Cryptocurrency donations to support nonprofits are increasing at a rapid rate. This is in part due to the rapid rise in value of various crypto assets, but also the desire of many in the crypto space to be mission-driven and make an impact in the "real world."
Here are 4 tips to get your organization in front of more crypto donors:
1. Build a Twitter Presence
One of the keys to raising awareness is to go where your audience lives! In the case of the crypto community, they live on Twitter more than any other social platform. Building a presence on Twitter is a good start in all the traditional ways: providing updates and building excitement for new initiatives, having an open dialogue with your audience, and building connections with those outside of your network. However, it's also useful to directly interact with companies, projects, and people who are deep in the world of crypto and looking to give back.
2. Reach out to Crypto Companies (small and large!)
Crypto communities are naturally insular - we don't get outside the bubble much! However, there is definitely a desire to donate back, whether it's a small organization just starting out or a very large one with a formal Corporate Social Responsibility function.
After reaching out (e.g., over Twitter — it works 🙂), make it easy to facilitate donations by setting up a profile on platforms that enable crypto donations (like Every.org!).
One example on the larger scale is FTX (one of the biggest global crypto exchanges). They've set up the FTX Foundation to allocate 1% of revenue from fees to charitable causes.
On a smaller scale, we at Orca have committed to donating a portion of our trading fees directly to ocean conservation and fighting climate change through the Orca Impact Fund. Since we launched the ORCA governance token in early August, we've already been generating >$500 per day for the Orca Impact Fund. Currently, our users (ORCA tokenholders) are voting on which nonprofit will receive our first donation. Over 1,000 users have already voted and learned about the two nonprofits on this quarter's shortlist: The Ocean Foundation and Ocean Conservancy.
3. Educate Users on the Benefits of Donating Crypto
Donating through crypto has several benefits for the donor, including making the donation process much faster and simpler. By aligning your organization as a supporter of crypto and pushing educational content that most crypto donors have not considered, you can vastly increase the potential donor set. Diving into the nuances of using various donation vehicles (like a donor-advised fund) can help broaden the potential donor set, too.
4. Offer to Collaborate with their Community
Crypto is inherently a community-driven phenomenon. Whether it's big names like Bitcoin or Ethereum or a fledgling product like Orca, the community drives and champions each project's growth. Of all the natively online communities, crypto often has some of the most motivated and engaged community members. Oftentimes, AMAs and other educational events draw live audiences in the hundreds or more, providing a great opportunity to get exposure for your nonprofit to a new set of global donors. Tap into their Twitter and social networks by co-promoting and engaging their audience while sharing the purpose of your cause.
What's in store for the future of crypto and nonprofits?
Crypto will continue to become a bigger part of the conversation, both for donations and for the future of money. Long-term, it increases transparency around the source and distribution of funds and can help direct funds to a specific cause within your broader mission. As many nonprofits now operate globally, it also eases cross-border payments. Done correctly, crypto payments are an exceptionally fast, safe, and secure way to transfer funds abroad. Lastly, it is often simpler to donate a large amount of crypto than fiat, which opens the doors to larger, faster, and more impactful donations—and a better world.
About Orca
Orca is the easiest way to exchange cryptocurrency on the Solana blockchain. Orca donates 0.01% of all trading fees to charity. Simply by trading on Orca, you’re helping save the ocean and fight climate change. Learn more about the Orca Impact Fund.
The views and opinions expressed in this blog belong solely to the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any other organization including Every.org.