Hybrid Fundraising Models

A founder raised $28.8M in 90 seconds. No VCs. No roadmaps. Few connections. Welcome to 2025, where fundraising is getting weird (in a good way). Founders are getting creative with capital. Here are 5 fancy fundraising mechanisms turning heads: 1️⃣ Uniswap Labs v4 Hooks The newest game-changer for decentralized fundraising: → Set presale prices for token bootstrapping → Whitelist early supporters → Customize trading fee structures (you receive a set % of the trading fees) → Switch seamlessly to regular DEX trading 2️⃣ Liquidity Bootstrapping Pools (LBPs) Think reverse Dutch auctions on steroids: → Price starts high, drops strategically → Whales can't manipulate the market → Mask Network raised almost $40M via Balancer LBPs. 3️⃣ Initial DEX Offerings (IDOs) The democratized raise: → No VCs needed → Instant trading → LayerZero Labs raised almost $300M in this way 4️⃣ DAO Treasury Funding Community-first capital: → Proposals replace pitch decks → Gitcoin Grants distributed $60M+ → Transparent allocation through voting 5️⃣ Smart SAFTs Traditional agreements meet smart contracts: → Automated token distribution → Built-in compliance → Protected investor rights through code → No equity dilution for founders Here's what's fascinating: Each of these removes a "trusted" middleman: ✓ v4 Hooks eliminate gatekeepers ✓ LBPs eliminate price manipulators ✓ IDOs bypass venture capital ✓ DAOs replace investment committees ✓ Smart SAFTs turn legal agreements into code The future of fundraising isn't about who you know or who you meet for coffee. It's about what you're building.

I spent the entire summer surrounded by art, craft and culture. No, this wasn't the Venice Biennale; it was much closer to home. Indian hospitality has long imported its idea of luxury: Italian marble, Belgian chandeliers, UK crockery, a template built elsewhere entirely. The market has caught up to that instinct. India's art market is in a structural resurgence — global sales back to USD 59.6 billion in 2025. Serious capital is chasing Indian art and Indian craft simultaneously. But most heritage brands still commoditise "experience" — a cooking class, a heritage walk, a folk performance for the gallery. It photographs well. It doesn't reinvent anything if the interest stays at a surface level. So we stopped treating The Belgadia Palace as a property and rather a platform for culture. This June, we launched The Mayurbhanj Residency with Art & Charlie — three moves that made it an investment with real ROI: 1. Attracting the right guest profile: A senior artist in residence for a month, working in direct dialogue with our artisan clusters. Guests watch the collaboration between contemporary and craft artists, each one complementing the other's knowledge; it increases interest in being there for a limited time, watching a preview of serious art being crafted. Guest inquiries trickled in asking for seats at the table for next year. 2. Collection over campaign. Every residency leaves a permanent installation — shown at Mumbai Gallery Weekend in January. We're not renting culture for a season. We arrive at a gallery that showcases community through art. Organic, authentic storytelling and our signature experience of a craft trail showcasing our proximity to GI-certified and Craftmark-certified artists. Inbound Agents and Collectors took notice. 3. Institution over footnote. The Mayurbhanj Foundation facilitated the residency, earning a formal seat among galleries, curators and collectors, not a CSR mention. As an institution, we have been patrons of the arts, and this was a contemporary way to carry that forward. The result: a model that helps discerning guests find you, generates a real media narrative, and, most importantly, generates revenue for the destination. In short: find the pattern connecting things that look worlds apart, then build the bridge only your brand can credibly build. Craft and contemporary art looked unrelated, until proximity, patience, and the right institutional partner made them one story. If your brand is sitting on cultural equity you haven't yet turned into an asset — I help brands find that exact pattern and build the bridge to the audience who's actually looking for it. That's the advisory work I do now. DM me. The Mayurbhanj Residency continues. https://lnkd.in/dXNxr82p #BrandStrategy #Hospitality #IndianArt #Heritage

🚀 Entrepreneurs, imagine building and launching a product in *days*, not months. That’s the reality when you leverage AI agents and no-code platforms. 💡 Our experiment with FundBot, an AI-driven fundraising assistant, speaks volumes: ✅ 4 days to build ✅ $200 initial investment ✅ 100+ investor outreach campaigns automated ✅ Quarter of a year in time savings in investor research ✅ 40x improvement in cold outreach response rate What’s the secret sauce? Combining AI agents with no-code tools like Google Apps, Make, and ChatGPT. But it’s not just about the tools — it’s about knowing 'what works'. In my latest blog, I unpack: 🧩 What to look for in no-code platforms 🛠️ Insider tips on building with AI agents 🚧 Pitfalls to avoid AI tools don’t just speed up development; they empower you to validate ideas, iterate quickly, and focus on what really matters: solving problems for your customers. What’s one tool or tip you swear by when building fast? Let’s share insights 👇  #AI #NoCode #Entrepreneurship #Innovation #TechnologicalPower #AITools #AIAgents

Let’s talk “Ways to Give” pages - and how to make sure they’re not just website filler 💉 If you’re at a nonprofit and not sure what that is, definitely keep reading 👀 There’s a whole lot of ways someone could give beyond a credit card - a dedicated page to lay out those options (DAFs, Stock, QCDs, Bequests, etc.) is table stakes for nonprofit websites these days 🍽️ You might be thinking “but Mitch, you’re always going on about how critical it is to have a DAF payment option in the actual donation form, why do you care about Ways to Give pages?” 🤔 DAF Strategy is like improv - it’s always yes, and! 🎭 Yes, you’ll catch the most new DAF donors by having DAFpay in your donation forms, AND existing supporters are more likely to be poking around your website. You want to meet donors wherever they are with the easiest pathways for giving 🚂 All that to say, I’ve gone through 100s of examples & have a few tips: 1️⃣ Have a Ways to Give Page There are so many good precedents readily available to be inspired by - I’ll link some below 🌟 In deciding what types of giving to include, start with the ways you’re already receiving support & some areas you’re focused on expanding into 🥇 2️⃣ Assess how it’s used to have strategic ordering A client recently asked their digital team to move DAFs to the top of their ways to give page & the response was “oh that makes sense, people click on that way more than anything else” 😮 Evaluate what is getting the most interaction & iterate. I’m confident that most orgs are getting more DAF gifts than anything else (it’s nearly 20% of philanthropy these days!) 🏆 3️⃣ Have standalone pages for those highly trafficked options When a donor searches “your org name” + “giving method” you want an SEO optimized place for them to land. With DAFs for example, your website/donor-advised-funds or /dafs is incredibly valuable real estate. Invest in it! 🏡 4️⃣ Include key information In addition to a DAFpay button, or link to your org’s verified page on the DAF Day giving site (where donors can also complete a DAF gift in 3 clicks & you’ll get notified immediately with their email), there’s some other key items: 👉🏼EIN 👉🏼Full legal name 👉🏼Official address  👉🏼Point of contact with email & phone number - this is the most controversial & yes you’ll get some spam, but you’ll also present as a real & available human being which will be key for some donors. If you do nothing else after reading this post, go check your website and see how long it takes you to find your EIN… this is the easiest way to lose a DAF donor if they’re not giving through DAFpay! 👻 They have to look you up in their portal & since so many organizations have similar names or legal names that differ from their marketing names, it’s hard to give confidently without confirming your EIN ✅ What do think is most critical for a Ways to Give Page? What’s worked best in your experience? #nonprofit #fundraising #philanthropy

AI is only as powerful as the problems it solves. For nonprofits, one of the most fundamental challenges is knowing how much to ask for, and when. Ask too high, and you risk discouraging a gift. Ask too low, and you leave potential impact on the table. That’s why we’ve taken Intelligent Ask Amounts to the next level for GoFundMe Pro partners. Grounded in deep user research and powered by GoFundMe’s AI models, this improved version gives nonprofits the ability to dynamically optimize campaigns for what matters most: one-time revenue, conversions, recurring gifts, or a balanced mix. The ask amounts adapt in real time to donor behavior and campaign goals—helping nonprofits drive more sustainable giving. The best part? These improvements are to a product that has already delivered results. For example: the National Civil Rights Museum used Intelligent Ask Amounts during key giving moments and saw a 62% increase in average gift size on December 31st year-over-year, along with other strong gains. (I’ll link the case study with more details in the comments!) What makes me proud isn’t just the AI, it’s the teamwork behind it. Three product pods, Applied Science, Research, CX, Legal, Marketing, Comms and more all came together to turn a complex fundraising challenge into a solution that’s both powerful and practical. Because at the end of the day, innovation is only meaningful when it helps nonprofits raise more with less friction—so they can focus on their mission. 👉 Learn more here: https://gfme.co/47CvtSc 

Welcome to the Future of Fundraising. I’ve talked extensively about the challenges fundraising organizations face not being able to personally engage with the majority of their donor base. One question my team and I still get asked regularly is “how is autonomous fundraising different from a segmented, multi-point marketing campaign?” Email and text marketing are essential fundraising tools that allow organizations to quickly share updates with supporters and promote time-sensitive events or campaigns. These campaigns do have their place, but they lack the ability to adapt to the individual preferences needed to meaningfully engage a donor. While segmentation and automation tools that personalize names or donation amounts exist, they do little to mask the fact that the communication is, in fact, a mass broadcast. In contrast, Autonomous Fundraising uses Virtual Engagement Officers (VEOs) to treat each donor communication as 1:1 and unique, the same way human relationship managers do. But unlike their human counterparts, VEOs are not challenged by scale because they tap into the power of Large Language Models (LLMs). LLMs are advanced AI systems that understand and produce messaging that feels natural and conversational, much like how we communicate with one another. They power the VEO’s ability to understand the context of past interactions, giving history, and more to generate personalized content based on that data and circumstances. Whether it’s a birthday message, stewardship note, or tailored ask, LLMs craft messages that resonate with the donor on a personal level. As a former major gift officer, I find what’s equally important about LLMs is that they "listen" and “remember” donor engagements over time. This creates a meaningful back-and-forth that builds stronger connections between donors and organizations. This extends all the way through to capabilities like multi-lingual communication, giving the VEO the ability to reach out and respond to donors in their preferred language, breaking down previous barriers to inclusion and participation. When we first introduced fully autonomous fundraising, we were told that the opt-out rate would be extremely high, somewhere between 5-10% because donors would not want to interact with AI. However, in practice, we’ve found the complete opposite. In marketing, direct mail has a 0.5-2% response rate, SMS has a 1.5% opt-out, and email .25%. In comparison, of the 17,000+ communications the VEO has sent, there is just a .12% opt out. The truth is, people don’t opt out of personal communications. We know 1:1 engagement is the best way to bring donors closer to the missions of our organizations. Increasing donor retention by even a few percentage points can have an exponential impact on the lifetime value of an organization’s donor base, which translates to long-term sustainability of an organization and its ability to fulfill its mission.

Welcome Emily Groccia, VP of Customer Success at Givzey to talk about AI at Version2.ai on this episode of 🔥 The Lantern 🔥 What is Version2? Version2 is the world’s first autonomous fundraiser. Announced less than a year ago, this product directly addresses the labor shortage in non-profit fundraising. Their team creates trusted digital labor that can be applied to donors who are not managed by humans in non-profit donor portfolios. In September of 2024 they launched their first cohort of 13 innovation partners. Each partner assigns a portfolio of 1,000 donors to a virtual engagement officer responsible for executing a series of 8-12 touchpoints throughout the course of a year to lead those donors to a gift. Just like an institutional giving officer! 👀 How is that impacting the donor experience? 👀 Only 1-5% of the top donors are usually managed by a human gift officer so most of the donors served by Version 2 lie outside of a major gift portfolio. Every organization would love to manage every individual donor in a 1:1 relationship, but it’s just not possible. Version 2 is allowing organizations to reach that other 95% with a much more personalized experience. 📈 What are some of the highlights from Version2 thus far? 📈 Version2 publishes a dashboard of autonomous fundraising 2x per week. VEOs (virtual engagement officers) have raised >$500k in gifts, 3k+ engagements, and 45k+ donor activities. Their opt out rate is only 0.13%! Donors want to hear from these organizations more, in a deeper way, with the ability to reply. They value personal engagement. 🤔 Why is autonomous fundraising working? 🤔 San Diego State is a customer using Version2 for their planned giving portfolio, serving older donors. This portfolio has the highest engagement of any partner because personalized interactions that connect to donors resonate with their customers. 🔍 What is the roadmap ahead for Version 2? 🔎 Now that they’ve proven autonomous fundraising works, they are leveraging their learnings to further define use cases and apply digital labor to more aspects of advancement in the non-profit space. More to come!! The Lantern is brought to you by Givzey & MGMT Boston this March

Donors are using Claude and ChatGPT to decide which nonprofits to fund. Most foundation CEOs I talk to still think AI is something their grants team will figure out next year. In the last 90 days, watching donor behavior through our Charity Navigator AI search pilot, we've seen the shift in real time: 1. Cause-based queries are replacing organization-name searches. People ask "who's doing the best work on maternal health in the USA" instead of typing in a nonprofit they already know. 2. Checkout rates doubled when AI surfaced the right org at the right moment. 3. Donate-button intent jumped 64% when the discovery experience was conversational instead of a search bar. The implication is uncomfortable. If your nonprofit, foundation, or platform isn't visible to AI, you're becoming invisible to donors. The infrastructure question for 2026 isn't "should we use AI." It's whether your data is structured so AI can find you, understand you, and recommend you. Most of the sector hasn't noticed yet. #Philanthropy #AI #Fundraising

Stop launching your #GivingTuesday or year-end fundraiser at $0. I’ve watched too many strong campaigns underperform simply because they went live before showing even a tiny hint of momentum. Behavioral science backs this up. People are far more likely to act when they see others already doing the thing (social proof and herd behavior), and they’re more motivated when a goal looks “in motion,” not untouched (the goal-gradient effect). Here’s the smarter play: 1️⃣ Anchor the campaign with early supporters. Line up 3–5 early gifts from board members, champions, or monthly donors before you go public. You’re creating social proof that lowers the mental risk of giving. 2️⃣ Don’t press send at $0 raised. An empty thermometer reads like uncertainty. Even a small amount of visible progress signals that backing you is safe and worthwhile. 3️⃣ Name the momentum. “12 supporters already jumped in this morning” activates bandwagon behavior more effectively than any clever subject line. 4️⃣ Stack micro wins. Short progress updates throughout the day amplify the goal-gradient effect. The closer you appear to the finish line, the faster people give. 5️⃣ Help latecomers feel early. Don’t frame them as behind. Highlight what their gift unlocks next so they feel part of forward motion, not filling a gap. Most nonprofits blame donor fatigue. Often, the real issue is momentum fatigue — asking before you’ve built any. Want my Brave Fundraisers Guide with the scripts and prompts that help campaigns start strong? Comment BRAVE and I’ll send it to you. #nonprofits #funding #fundraiser #marketing #fundraising

As a Communications Officer in an NGO, targeting donors, funders, and partners on social media requires strategy — not just storytelling. Here’s how I would approach it: 1. Segment Before You Speak Not all audiences are the same. Donors want impact, transparency, and emotional connection. Funders want data, scalability, governance, and measurable outcomes. Partners want alignment, visibility, and shared value. A single generic post won’t convert all three. Content must be intentional. 2. Lead With Impact + Evidence Social media is crowded. Credibility wins attention. I would consistently publish: Before/after impact stories Clear outcome metrics (beneficiaries reached, % change, ROI of intervention) Visual dashboards and infographics Short case studies Numbers build trust. Stories build connection. Together, they build funding confidence. 3. Position the Organization as a Thought Leader Donors don’t just fund projects — they fund competence. I would create: LinkedIn articles on sector insights Commentary on policy trends Reflections on lessons learned from field implementation Data-driven threads on SDG alignment This attracts institutional funders looking for strategic partners — not just implementers. 4. Showcase Partnerships Publicly Tag existing partners. Celebrate collaboration. When organizations see their peers working with you, social proof increases credibility. Partnerships attract partnerships. 5. Clear Call-to-Action Every campaign should answer: Are we seeking grants? Corporate sponsorship? Strategic collaboration? Technical partners? The CTA must be visible and specific — website link, proposal deck, contact email, impact report. 6. Retarget & Nurture Social media is the first touchpoint, not the final conversion. Connect with decision-makers on LinkedIn Send tailored follow-up messages Share quarterly impact briefs via email Invite prospects to webinars or virtual field tours Campaigns convert when communication continues beyond the post. Key Takeaways Targeting donors, funders, and partners on social media is not about posting more. It’s about: Strategic messaging. Evidence-based storytelling. Consistent positioning. Relationship building. Because funding follows credibility. #NGOCommunications #FundraisingStrategy #DevelopmentSector #SocialImpact #CommunicationsOfficer #CommunicationsManager