Coronavirus or COVID-19 is spreading at such a pace that the number of cases in some areas are doubling each week. So far, over 6.9 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been officially declared globally, with around 410,000 deaths, leaving many in the critical condition fighting for their life. Due to this high-rising increase, many countries are falling short on person protection equipment such as masks, gloves and other medical equipment required for treatment.

Economies are declining, Healthcare infrastructures are failing, and the small business community is shut down. Schools are closed, malls, restaurants, and many other businesses are either closed or only keeping a small porting of their business in place due to the government issued lockdown. The world could see another recession that can be worse than the last recession in that took place in 2009(Source: IMF ).

So, what can you do to help?

Fundraising for Coronavirus: How to Raise Funds for victims and families of the COVID-19 Pandemic

1. Support industries that are Impacted by Coronavirus:

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected industries due to the pandemic. Most hospitals are overcrowded and do not have enough personal protection equipment for the workers. Most companies have seen a drop of 70-80% in sales resulting in huge profit losses and corresponding unemployment in affected countries. Also, hourly workers or employees being not paid during their lockdown are among the most vulnerable during this pandemic, making low-income household families more vulnerable and in need of immediate financial assistance.

2. Create a Fundraiser:

Another way to support these victims is to create a fundraiser for a local nonprofit helping victims and families affected by the Coronavirus. By setting up a fundraiser, you can support the nonprofits who are raising funds to provide food & water, medical supplies, and volunteering support due to the spread of coronavirus. Once the fundraiser is created, share your updates to your audience, invite them to join your cause and make donations to support your fundraiser. Invite your professional connections to build your network and support your nonprofit fundraising cause.

3. Directly Donate to Nonprofit Organizations:

A great way to support the victims and families affected by the Coronavirus is to donate direct to these nonprofits who are helping or providing necessities to people affected by COVID-19.

If you are looking for charities serving people during this hard time, you can click here and find local or national nonprofits supporting these causes. You can help through monetary donations, or providing food, water, medicine, toiletries, and more. If you’re not able to donate items or want to do your own nonprofit fundraising, consider starting a fundraiser to support a local charity. Using iConnectX, you can find over 144 local onboarded nonprofits or 1.7 million non-onboarded nonprofits and start fundraising on their behalf.

4. Shift away from traditional events and move to Virtual Events:

The COVID-19 pandemic across the USA and world has brought fundraising events to a halt that forcing the nonprofits to change the tactics to raise the funds to run the programs supporting the community by basic necessities.

During these times, nonprofits have to be more mindful and sensitive when asking for funds to support their cause, as we are all concerned about our own financial situations. Leveraging iConnectX, nonprofits or individuals (through fundraisers) can create virtual events to solicit online fundraising auctions or sell tickets to a virtual event. They can invite their networks to participate. Find out more on how to create a nonprofit virtual event.

Now, more than event, it is important to stay connected with your top donors who consistently donate to your causes and volunteer in your programs. Reach out to your existing audience and/or target the new “giving-minded” audience in iConnectX and promote your online auctions or virtual events. Using iConnectX, create an account and connect with professionals willing to donate to nonprofits during these challenging times the country is going through.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a deadly and infectious disease affected by a newly discovered coronavirus. The coronavirus disease reportedly originated from Wuhan, the capital city of China’s Wuhan province.

Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus experiencing mild to moderate respiratory illness and reportedly people with good immunity recovering without special treatment. Older people above 60 years and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to affect from the coronavirus.

The best way to prevent the virus and slow down its transmission to be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol-based sanitizer frequently and not touching your face. Doctors are advising to wash your hands regularly.

The coronavirus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow). It is also reported in some parts of the world that when an infected person coughs or sneezes, the droplets travel in the air for an hour that is causing more coronavirus cases.

At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for coronavirus. Donald Trump, the president of the USA permits to treat the infected people with medicine using for Malaria treatment. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. iConnectX will keep you updated with the latest news and updates through its blog and social media page. Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter

Coronavirus Prevention:

The government of all countries is advising their citizens to follow social distancing that is the best way to defeat the nCOVID-19 or coronavirus. Many countries like Italy or Spain failed to take timely social distancing action that reported the highest deaths in the world.

To prevent infection and to slow transmission of coronavirus or COVID-19, do the following:

• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or clean them with alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
• Maintain the social distancing and not to come out if your city or province reported coronavirus cases or if Government has lockdown the city.
• Advice to maintain at least 1-meter distance between two people.
• Avoid touching your nose, mouth, and eyes.
• Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing.
• Stay home if you feel unwell.
• Avoid taking medicine without the Doctor’s consult, it can be dangerous to your life.
• Refrain from smoking and other activities that weaken the lungs.
• Practice social distancing by avoiding unnecessary travel and staying away from large groups of people.

The USA government has asked for Hydroxychloroquine, a medication used to prevent and treat malaria, from many countries to use in the treatment of COVID-19. India export the consignment of hydroxychloroquine, days after New Delhi lifted a ban on the export of the anti-malaria drug, seen as a possible cure for COVID-19, to the US and some other countries on humanitarian grounds.

Coronavirus Disease and Symptoms:

The coronavirus or nCOVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Coronavirus is a respiratory disease and most infected people will develop mild to moderate symptoms and recover without requiring special treatment. People who have underlying medical conditions and those over 60 years old have a higher risk of developing severe disease that leads to death.

Common symptoms include:

• Fever
• Runny Nose
• Tiredness
• Dry cough

Other symptoms include:

• Shortness of breath
• Aches and pains
• Sore throat
• Very few individuals will complain about diarrhea, nausea or a runny nose.

Individuals with mild symptoms who are otherwise healthy should self-isolate and contact their medical provider or a COVID-19 information line for advice on testing and referral.

People with fever, cough or difficulty breathing should call their doctor and seek medical attention.

Coronavirus in the USA (COVID-19 in the USA)

The US exceeds China and Italy and took the grim title of the country with most COVID-19 cases worldwide. The state of New York has become the epicenter of the country’s outbreak with most cases reported from this region only followed by New Jersey and California with total COVID-19 or coronavirus deaths crossed 115,000.

In the United States, more than 1,942,910 and 6.9 million people worldwide have tested COVID-19 positive. In the USA alone, 33k people have been recovered from the virus and discharged from the hospital. The world has observed 21% fatality in all the closed cases, edging out Italy which has reported most deaths, and China, where the virus was first detected and in two months, it has infected more than 180 countries.

Fundraising for Coronavirus or COVID-19

To prevent the people from coronavirus pandemic, governments across the world completely or partially lockdown the country to stop the movement of people from city-to-city or country leaving the poor, daily wages laborer and underprivileged people unemployed. Many local nonprofits are coming forward to provide the food. You as a responsible citizen, create virtual events, online donations, programs to raise funds to help the people affecting due to coronavirus or COVID-19. Support local or national nonprofits for fundraising in coronavirus pandemic.

Summary

The coronavirus or nCOVID-19 which originated from Wuhan, the capital of China’s Hubei province, initially the Hubei province reported the 99% cases in the first month of the outbreak. The coronavirus outbreak panicked the people living in the city lead them to fly to their country. The unpreparedness of respective governments leads to an increase in cases, and also people who did not heed to government advisories leads to more cases.

Currently, the USA has reported more coronavirus or COVID-19 cases followed by European countries. Italy, France, Spain, and Germany are the most affected countries in Europe. So far, Italy has seen more deaths due to coronavirus pandemic followed by Spain.

Reportedly, there is no approved medicine by WHO but respective governments are using prescribed medicines suggested by their health organizations. The best way to defeat the novel coronavirus is by maintaining social distancing. Government across the world has completely or partially lockdown the county. A country like India where the population is little over 1.3 billion is currently in stage 2 and the government has completely locked down the country. It is reported that if coronavirus pandemic enters into stage 3 then it will lead to millions of positive coronavirus cases and deaths.

As a nonprofit fundraiser, you know that the period between Thanksgiving and New Year is one of the most important times to fundraise. After all, 30 percent of all donations are made in the month of December. And you’re likely feeling the pressure to meet your yearly fundraising goal… or raise a good chunk of your operating budget for the coming year.

That said there are two big challenges you likely face with your holiday fundraising:

Challenge #1: You and your fundraising team (whether they are staff or board) are worn out and/or focused on family holiday activities.

Challenge #2: Every nonprofit is asking for money this time of year. How do you cut through the fundraising noise?

A solution to both challenges is to deploy your volunteers to fundraise for you! Here’s why:

Reason #1: Even with their own holiday preparations, your volunteers are motivated, and their networks of friends and colleagues are primed to give. This is a time of year when people feel a sense of generosity and want to make a difference. Many also crave an opportunity to be connected to something positive—especially if holiday stress is intense.

To this point, charitable-minded people give an average of four nonprofits during the holiday season.

Reason #2: Social fundraising—meaning DIY, peer-to-peer online fundraising—is powerfully motivating. When your volunteers promote your nonprofit, they are transferring their trust of your social impact to their friends and colleagues.

This form of “social proof” is a psychological phenomenon. Your volunteers are tuning their friends and colleague’s brains into your cause. What a strategic way to cut through the fundraising noise.

Reason #3: For your volunteers moving up the career ladder, fundraising is an underutilized way to build a professional network. For professionals at any stage of their career, fundraising for a cause demonstrates passion, initiative, creativity, teamwork, and social responsibility, as well as skill in communication and project management. What’s more, fundraising provides a unique avenue to begin a relationship with a potential coach or mentor.

In other words, you can build a mutually beneficial partnership with your volunteers around fundraising.

Reason #4: With the advent of online fundraising platforms—like iConnectX—it’s easier than ever to empower your volunteers. They in turn help you connect into communities your nonprofit might not otherwise be able to access. iConnectX, for example, links you to a community of giving-minded professionals.

But who will be your best fundraising volunteers? Keep in mind the following kinds of people working for your cause:

1. Entrepreneurs: They are likely proactive and have cultivated a broad professional network with the potential give generously. If they are starting a business, entrepreneurs are also motivated to expand their networks. And they tend to have more flexible schedules to coordinate with you around fundraising.
2. Social Media Masters: This may seem a bit obvious, but there are people who use social media and then there are people who have built social media into their lives as primary source of connection and joy.
   These volunteers are likely to find an online fundraising a creative and fun challenge. They’re also likely to make time for fundraising, even with busy schedules.
3. Artists (professional and hobbyists): Artists in your volunteer community are incredibly valuable advocates for your nonprofit. They can promote you through their work.They can create beautiful fundraising assets for you — videos, graphics, poems, stories. With a little guidance, your volunteer artists are likely to come up with idea that you just don’t have the time or energy to formulate.
4. Generation Y professionals: Volunteers in their 20s and 30s are likely to be career minded, and you can show them how fundraising is a powerful way for them to build networks across different industries. Generation Y is also particularly savvy with social media.

Once you’ve identified your volunteer team of fundraisers, here are some ways to deploy them that don’t require a lot of lead time or a heavy lift from you.

Create a matching gift campaign. You may be cultivating a pool of major donors for a matching gift effort as part of your holiday fundraising. You know how effective matching gifts are. Individuals are highly motivated knowing that their gift is matched, and they are likely to give 22 percent more on average.

You can also ask your volunteers to organize mini matching gift campaigns. They can recruit their friends and colleagues to give to a matching gift pool. Or volunteers can use their own donation to your nonprofit to start a online matching fundraiser. They just need an email template, an online fundraising platform (like iConnectX) and a call script.

Take advantage of corporate philanthropy. As you know, social responsibility has emerged as a key component of corporate brand awareness, especially for Generation Y. So ask your professional volunteers to investigate their employer’s giving programs. Corporate giving initiatives come in many forms, including:

• Employee matching gift programs, where an employee’s gift to a registered nonprofit is matched by the company.
• Giving days, where corporations set up mini giving conventions that enable employees to solicit gifts for their favorite nonprofits.
• Volunteer “vacations,” where employees are allowed a number of hours per year to work with a nonprofit.

Empower your professional volunteers to ask the right questions and provide you with information on their company’s giving, especially the timing for receiving a corporate matching gift. This information in of itself is priceless. There’s no better way to understand a corporation’s giving practices than from an “inside man.”

For your volunteers who work at companies with no formal giving program, ask them to set up a giving day.

It doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking. Your volunteers can recruit a few work colleagues and set up a “booth” at an existing event, such as the company holiday party. They simply need a few talking points, a computer, and a donation page link. As colleagues meet and mingle, they can stop by the computer to donate.

Host a virtual event. There’s no need for you or your volunteers to rent out space, negotiate with a caterer to donate food, or find a date that doesn’t conflict with holiday parties. Your volunteers can host virtual events online.

For example, they can host virtual holiday feasts in honor of the people you serve. Through iConnectX, your volunteers can offer tickets for seats at a virtual dinner table.

Then encourage volunteers to be creative in sharing the details of the event. For example, your volunteers can send scripts of imaginary toasts or they can send pictures of people celebrating at the “event.”

Organize intimate events. Many nonprofits use the holidays to host a significant fundraising party or tour. Yet you know what a massive undertaking such events are.

What about asking ten volunteers to host ten small events? They can host dinner parties, pull together a bowling or indoor mini-golf group, or recruit a laser tag team. Then do the math: if ten volunteers bring together ten people each, that’s 100 donors supporting your cause!

Arrange for an online holiday auction. You often see silent auctions at in-person fundraisers. But you don’t need an event to run an auction. You can host one online. You and your volunteers can auction off all kinds of items that may not require a lot of time and energy to negotiate for or obtain. For example, your volunteers can auction off:

• Time with a life skills coach
• One-of-a-kind crafts made by themselves or your clients
• A round of golf at a private or public course
• Tennis lessons
• Homemade baked goods
• A few rounds of signature cocktails at a popular bar
• A holiday gift wrapping service

Most local businesses and your volunteers are happy to donate something to a charity auction, especially during the holidays. What’s more, your volunteers can help connect you with local businesses for future fundraising efforts.

Promote a holiday dare. You’ve heard of the ice bucket challenge. Like the ALS Association, your volunteers can have a lot of fun thinking about holiday dares to complete when a fundraising goal is met.

Your adventurous volunteers could dare to:

• Record themselves singing a song or reciting a silly poem and post it on your Facebook page.
• Post a series of pictures of themselves dressed in the ugliest outfits they can find.
• Video themselves wearing a sandwich board promoting your cause in front of their office.

Fundraising should be fun, especially during the holidays.

Know that you can use iConnectX to help deploy your volunteers. Our platform is set up for any kind of online ticketing, peer-to-peer fundraising, and online auctions. We also offer iBridge, a unique way to fundraise. Professionals can give or buy coaching time from one another—with funds going to chosen nonprofits.

This next stretch of weeks is so important to your nonprofit. Make the most of it with your volunteers and iConnectX.