At CAF America, we are honored to work with incredible donors who are committed to making a difference in the world. We are also thrilled to have meaningful relationships with the many organizations around the globe that are on the ground solving problems with creative and innovative solutions.
CAF America plays a unique role in connecting donors and organizations, and we want those with whom we work to have a good understanding of how to best represent our relationship. Here are a few guidelines that may help you explain CAF America’s role in the philanthropic sector.
If you have been approved as eligible to receive grants from CAF America, this can enhance your appeal to new American donors who may not realize they can receive a tax-deduction by giving to CAF America and suggesting your organization as the grant recipient. Below are some ideas you can use in your marketing materials to help make this clear in your outreach to current and potential donors.
Email Marketing
Reaching out to donors, volunteers, and community members through email is often the best way to get your organization’s message out. Whether through a newsletter or individual emails to supporters, your organization will be able to clearly communicate your mission, share the CAF America donation link, and to invite them to get involved.
As you plan your organization’s donor outreach, below are some helpful tips to make sure you get the most out of email marketing:
- Reach out supporters from email addresses they are familiar with or are already in their contact book. If you email supporters from a new email address, or one that is not connected to your organization, the email might be seen as spam or not trustworthy.
- If you are sending a newsletter, only reach out to contacts who have opt-ed into your email lists. Each country has their own laws and regulations on who you can send email marketing to, but as a general rule, do not put new contacts on your email marketing lists.
Sample email language about CAF America
To help when drafting your organization’s email outreach, our team has put together a short description of your relationship with CAF America and how donors in the United States can take advantage of tax deductible donations to your organization. We encourage you to use this language in your donation campaign to highlight your status as a Validated Organization, and to appeal to American donors.
(Organization name) is proud to be able to accept tax-deductible donations from American donors in partnership with CAF America as a validated organization. As a US public charity, CAF America is able to accept funds from US donors who can then recommend that CAF America use those funds to support foreign charitable organizations like (organization name). Please visit our donation page on CAF America’s website at (DonorView Link) to get started on making your tax effective donation today. All donations will receive a tax deductible receipt upon completion.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media is a powerful tool to share your organizations’ impact with current donors and new donors alike. If your organization has social media accounts that are not frequently used or your organization does not have any, today is a great opportunity to launch your social media marketing. To help amplify your organization's work and social media presence, any social media post that tags CAF America and share your organization's work will be reposted by our accounts.
CAF America has LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook accounts that we use daily to communicate our current initiatives, share upcoming events, and interact with our valued donors, grantees, and other partners. Based on our experiences and analysis of these platforms, here are some helpful suggestions for getting the most out of your organization's social media:
- Ask your social media followers to share stories of why they support your organization. Retweet their replies!
- Use relevant hashtags to show up on the feeds of a wider audience.
- Encourage donors, team members, and those in your community to follow your organization on your social media accounts.
- Try to share photos, a graphic, or a designed tile with each of your social posts. By sharing images, social media users are more likely to interact with your post and you can tell the story of your organization’s work better.
CAF America would like to amplify the impactful work of your organization and your campaigns on social media. Every relevant post on social media that tags CAF America, will be liked and reposted by our accounts on either Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn. View our handles and accounts below!
LOGO GUIDANCE
As a valued partner, CAF America encourages donors and foreign charitable organizations to display their association with CAF America on their website and other promotional materials. If your organization is interested in using the CAF America logo in your marketing materials, we’ve included our logo in this resources packet. In order to use our logo, we ask for your organization to follow the guidance below:
- The logo should not be stretched, skewed, cropped, given a shadow or subjected to any other effects and edits.
- The CAF America logo should be linked to www.cafamerica.org when possible.
If your organization is using our logo in a way that violates the above guidance, we will ask your organization to remove our logo from your promotional materials.
If you are eligible for the CAF International Validated Organization Badge, we ask that you use the badge instead of the logo as the badge allows your stakeholders to read more information about the validation process and access your directly linked certificate.
VALIDATED ORGANIZATION BADGE
Organizations that have been validated by CAF International have completed an extensive application and due diligence process with one of the CAF International’s Global Offices. The CAF International Validated Organization Badge is awarded to organizations that are structured and operated as nonprofit entities. This is confirmed by a validation process that goes far beyond a simple reliance on a foreign government database.
Your digital badge and certificate will serve as a seal of assurance for donors that your organization is structured and operates as a nonprofit entity, that grant funds provided to your organization will be used exclusively for charitable purposes, and that your organization went through our extensive review to ensure against the risk of fraud, money laundering, or other illicit activities.
As your organization is currently eligible to receive donations through CAF America, you can now share or download your digital credential. We suggest adding the badge to your organization website’s footer. It should be prominently placed on your donation page as well.You should have received an email from Accredible with a link to download your badge. If you have not received this email, please contact us at info@cafamerica.org.
Options: You can promote your status as a CAF International validated organization and control where it is shown.
Easy Sharing, Almost Everywhere: Add your badge to your email signature, to your LinkedIn profile, or share to any of your preferred social networks.
Link Directly to Your Credentials: Embed or hyperlink your badge using the provided HTML code. This allows your stakeholders to read more information about the validation process and access your directly linked certificate. If you are unsure how, share the Accredible email with your website administrator or read this short guide.
Security: Your donors, partners, and anyone else with whom you share your badge can instantly verify your status as a CAF International validated organization.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions, please contact the CAF America office at (202) 793-2232 or info@cafamerica.org
