Fundraising with pixel advertising raises money and awareness for non-profits
Pixel advertising is a form of Internet advertising that is increasing in popularity. The publicity around a pixel advertising website created by a British university student who needed to raise money to pay for her education has created a lot of interest in this type of advertising.
The website, called Milliondollarhomepage.com, has earned its creator, Alex Tew, trillions of dollars since he launched it in August 2005. The home page of Tew’s website is a grid divided into blocks of one million pixels. Pixels are sold to advertisers in blocks of 100 pixels, each measuring 10 x 10 pixels. Each block of pixels becomes part of a colorful mosaic of advertising on the website. At $1.00 a pixel, by the time the page is sold out, Tew will have raised a million dollars for his education with this creative advertising technique.
Could your organization, club or non-profit group raise a million dollars by selling advertising pixel microblocks? It’s possible. Anyone can set up a pixel advertising website and The Million Dollar Homepage has inspired many businesses and organizations to create their own pixel advertising campaigns. Your organization may already be selling advertising space on your shows or other print materials. Selling pixel advertising is just like selling any other form of advertising, except that the ad appears on the world wide web while you keep your website active. The potential for millions of people to see your ad, for a year or more, is a huge selling point for advertisers and donors.
What do you need to get started with pixel advertising fundraising? If your organization already has a website, you can set up pixel advertising on a page on your existing site. Or, you can buy a new domain name and set up a website just for your
pixel fundraiser. You will need a web hosting account for your site and a pixel advertising software program. You can buy a software program online and install it yourself or have it installed by a professional. Your organization will also need to set up an online payment processor, such as PayPal. Once your website is set up, you’ll need someone in your organization to manage and monitor the program. You will be able to sell all online advertising through the software program, as well as process online payments.
Does trying to raise a million dollars sound unrealistic for your organization? When you set up your software, you will be able to set your own selling price for the pixels. Therefore, your organization must decide how much money you need to raise and what your advertising website will be about. If you want to raise fifty thousand dollars, then you would sell your pixels for five cents a pixel. This would make a block of one hundred pixels cost only five dollars. You can also change the minimum amount of ad unit purchases required. If your required minimum ad units are one thousand, then your minimum ad unit would cost a very reasonable fifty dollars per ad space. You would also only have to sell a thousand ad spaces to earn fifty thousand dollars. Even if you were to sell your pixels for a penny a pixel, you could still make ten thousand dollars with a one pixel ad page.
How can non-profit organizations use pixel advertising? You could sell pixels and donate the money to a charity like the American Red Cross. Or set up a pixel page to raise money for a specific project, like building a playground or a spring school trip. Pixels don’t have to be sold only to businesses. A school group might sell pixels to alumni or parents of a graduating class. A graduating class could set up a pixel page and raise money for their graduation party.
The fundraising possibilities with pixel advertising are limitless. A well-designed and well-promoted pixel ad campaign has the potential to raise money and awareness for your organization. This form of advertising fundraising is worth considering as part of your organization’s fundraising strategy.