United Women of Color: Diversifying Digital Fundraising

United Women of Color (UWOC) is dedicated to advancing the rights of women of color through advocacy, community engagement, and leadership development. The organization works to amplify voices, create systemic change, and provide resources to support its diverse community of women of color. UWOC focuses on organizing, education, and providing spaces for empowerment, particularly for marginalized women.

Project Overview 

With a grant from Progressive Multiplier, United Women of Color developed a multifaceted digital fundraising strategy to generate independent revenue while advancing their mission. By designing a three-pronged approach that included e-commerce, monthly donations, and SMS campaigns, UWOC built a foundation for financial independence while strengthening their movement-building capacity. The project transformed their approach to fundraising and created pathways for deeper community engagement.

Key Strategies and Successes

UWOC's digital fundraising initiative consisted of three integrated components designed to diversify revenue while engaging different segments of their supporter base:

• E-Commerce Store: Creating and marketing branded merchandise timed with symbolic dates relevant to their mission (Women's History Month, Pride, Juneteenth, and holiday shopping season)
• Monthly Donor Program: Transitioning from a membership model to a recurring donation program targeting social media followers and volunteers
• SMS Campaigns: Utilizing text messaging to solicit donations and deploy push polls for specific calls to action
• Multi-Channel Marketing: Implementing weekly newsletters, consistent social media posting, text messaging to 25,000 people in their service area, and QR codes at in-person events
  
  

Lessons Learned

• Leverage Authentic Leadership: Personal appeals from passionate leaders generate the strongest response from potential donors and volunteers
• Invest in Dedicated Capacity: Revenue generation requires focused staff time and cannot be effectively managed as a side project
• Embrace Structured Planning: The project charter and timeline provided essential guidance, especially during staff transitions
• Connect Fundraising to Mission: Framing revenue generation as an extension of the organization's values helps overcome hesitation about asking for money
• Diversify Engagement Options: Offering multiple ways to support creates more entry points for community participation
• Build on In-Person Connections: Face-to-face interactions at events remain powerful for building the subscriber and donor base
  
  

Impact

United Women of Color successfully transformed their approach to community fundraising while staying true to their grassroots values. Their e-commerce platform featuring designs by local artist Jalyn Ignont not only generated revenue but amplified their message through wearable activism. A community t-shirt design contest raised approximately $400, which was gifted to the winning artist, demonstrating UWOC's commitment to economic empowerment within their community.

The organization experienced significant growth in organizational capacity, hiring a part-time volunteer coordinator and a part-time deputy director with an MSW focused on development. They now attract 10-15 volunteers per event, with 2-3 new people joining each time, creating a pipeline from volunteer engagement to financial support.

UWOC expects independent revenue to grow to 50% of their total income within five years, significantly reducing their reliance on traditional grant funding. This financial independence will provide greater flexibility to pursue their mission of empowering women and girls of color through civic engagement, education, and community resources.