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Sep 18, 2024
What is the 50 State Challenge?
Down deep, most people have a little competitive spirit in them; when making something into a game, more people are likely to get in on the fun.
Gamification is a tool used by employers, tech companies, consumer businesses, and nonprofits to increase engagement and loyalty. Companies and nonprofits aren’t just doing it for fun. The value of gamification is estimated to be $37 billion by 2027.
Whether it is airline status tiers, training badges, or celebratory confetti when you place a winning bid,these moments of gamification can be a real benefit to both the creator and the user.
Gamification is a great opportunity for nonprofits to increase their reach and encourage giving in new, creative ways. A popular option that is easy to do with ANY digital fundraising campaign is the 50 State Challenge.
How To: 50 State Challenge
The goal of the 50 State Challenge is to have a donor from every state give at least $10. You can implement this challenge during a Day of Giving, peer-to-peer campaign, or as you seek funding for a specific project.
If you are running the show, or you are asking your peer-to-peer fundraisers to participate, this map color-in tool will help keep the challenge status up-to-date. You can even pick a branded color!
Tips for the 50 State Challenge
- Explain to your donor network that you want to fill in the whole map with at least one donor from every state, based on billing address, for a minimum amount, such as $10. Set the challenge start and end time, typically no longer than 5 days (you don’t want people to get fatigued).
- Prioritize updating the map at an organization level several times throughout the challenge. If you are encouraging your peer-to-peer teams, depending on how many teams you have, perhaps you can update their maps for them, too.
- Share the updated map on social media, your easy-to-update fundraising page, and via an email campaign throughout the challenge time period. Update on how much the challenge has raised overall and how far you have to go to reach your goal.
- Set up prizes for reaching all 50 states, as well as incremental levels, such as 20 and 40 states. Some have had success by region or all states that Route 66 travels through. You can give the levels fun names related to your organization or the country, such as bald eagles, stars, stripes, and more.
- Plan for prizes! Prizes can be swag, shout-outs on social media, special events (such as donuts with the principal, or a tour with a researcher), tickets to your gala, mocktail naming rights, candy carts at your gala, and more.
- The 50 State Challenge is a GREAT project for an intern, engaged volunteer, or committee member to run. Once you set the parameters and prizes for the challenge, you can use the framework over and over again.
Creative Spins on the 50 State Challenge
Perhaps the 50 State Challenge feels out of reach or like too much for your team to manage. Can you do something different, still along the lines of gamification? In every instance, make the challenge timebound, from anywhere from 24 hours to one week.
$$ BINGO Card
Write different dollar amounts on a BINGO card. Traditional BINGO wins, but consider adding variations like four corners, blackout, outside edge, pyramid, and more. Everyone who wins BINGO gets a prize!
Profession BINGO Card
Create a BINGO card with different professions such as teacher, mail carrier, banker, marketer, C-Suite executive, etc. If the peer-to-peer fundraiser gets BINGO, they win!
Voting
People love to give opinions! Offer a voting competition for donations to your fundraisers or donors. You can ask people to put their artwork, pet, or Dopest Dad up for a vote. This encourages a far reach because people want to WIN. Don’t forget a fun prize!
Most $20.24 donations
Is there a meaningful number to your organization, such as a founding year or an anniversary number? The year of the fundraiser works, too. It helps if it is distinguishable, such as 1948 or 76 years. See how many $19.48 or $76 donations you can get!
Most Matching Gifts
If your fundraising and donor management platform has a partnership with a matching gift tool, or you have another functional way to track matching gift requests, this is an easy way to double or triple your donations. Consider looking at your donor data to see where people work ahead of the challenge. Give anyone who works at a company that you know offers a matching program a heads-up that this challenge is coming!
Including gamification in your organization’s fundraising strategy can mean real mission impact dollars for your nonprofit. Gamification increases engagement, feelings of achievement (and those endorphins!), and outreach potential.
Give the 50 State Challenge a try, and experience what you can accomplish with a little fun!
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