The Art of Nonprofit Storytelling: Brand Ambassadors...

In nonprofit fundraising, storytelling is an art. But what if there was a tool that could make your story tangible, a part of your donor's everyday life? A tool that increased both donor engagement and donations through a perpetual donation machine, created by your brand ambassadors.

"Gather 'roud, have a look, get your smartphone's out 'cause what I'm about to show you has hella clout!"

A challenge coin is a custom minted 2" metal coin, about 3.5mm thick and struck from solid brass. The images designed in the coin can be anything you can imagine. 2D or 3D detail with vibrant colors and 15 different finishes to choose from.

For decades, military men and women have been striking custom coins and carrying them in their pocket. Unless they showed it to you, you'd probably never know!

US military units have custom metal coins struck for their squadron, battalion, organization or group. Only members of each respective organization are even aware of these coins being created, because they all carry them as part of that organization's shared experiences.

• Challenge coins represent pride in being part of an organization.
• Challenge coins show affiliation with an organization.
• They're given as tokens of appreciation
• The tradition extends beyond the military community to law enforcement, firefighters, clubs and organizations.

• Coins are conversation starters and can be a tangible piece of your fundraising effort. It's a piece of the fundraising effort meant to be held and carried in your pocket. It's a fundraising tool to put in someone's hand.

There's a new fundraising tool that promises to help every charity raise more money. The design, weight, and thickness may look like an ordinary challenge coin but this coin is special. This is a patented custom minted charity coin with an embedded microchip that allows the coin to "DO" something no other challenge coin can do.

What started as a patent for a high-tech magic trick, magically transformed into a fundraising tool that could strengthen donor engagement, turn donors into brand ambassadors, and start the wheel moving toward a perpetual donation machine. One coin at a time, person by person, on a grass roots level.

This is more than just a coin. It's a bridge from the last donation to the next, a tool your donors can connect with and carry in their pocket knowing they're doing their part to help your fundraising efforts. It turns your donors into brand ambassadors, making them all extensions of your fundraising effort. That's the real magic!

The coin's weight symbolically represents the weight of the charity they help carry. The 3D detail and hand-painted enamel bring your cause to life in their hands. While they're holding and admiring the coin, you talk about why you support this charity, sharing the great things they do.

The goal? Find at least one other person willing to make the next donation, creating a chain of perpetual donations. Make your donation AND FIND ONE OTHER PERSON to make the NEXT donation. The coolest part? The coin's magic trick that can take them to the donation page WHILE you're face to face talking to them about it! No more having people tell you "Oh yea, I"ll check it out!" and then never following through.

When they're ready to hand the coin back to you, tell them, "Wait!" I didn't even show you the coolest part of this coin! Do you like magic tricks? (sure) This coin can do a magic trick where you get to be the magician. (ok) Open your smartphone and touch it against the coin."

With a tap of the coin to their phone, a browser opens on their phone, and they are taken straight to the donation page of your charity. A donation at this point is direct and just a tap away. Now they have an opportunity to create some real magic by helping the cause. No pressure, you don't have to make a donation but if you want to, and you made a donation right now, that would be a pretty cool magic trick. Right? I think 1 in 10 would say yes at a minimum.

Tell the story of something with an emotional connection that people can get behind. Launch it to your top donors first (as a thank you gift) for their long time support. Invite them to become a brand ambassador. If your donors choose to agree to three simple principles, they would be a great addition to your new brand ambassador program.

1. Carry this coin in your pocket daily to be reminded of what our organization does.
2. Look for opportunities (in your day to day life) where you can put the coin in someone's hand and talk to them about our fundraising efforts. Spread awareness! The coin will sell itself!
3. Find a minimum of ONE other person, willing to make a donation and become the next brand ambassador. Repeat if you want to continue helping. Stop when you want to stop.

Set the bar low with a minimum of one donor and everyone will be able to find at least one! If everyone donating, to get this special coin, agrees to these three principles, it will create a perpetual donation machine bridging the gap from your donation to the next. This is all kicked off from the initial donations. Each donation leads to the next, over and over. Sure some may not do it but let's be optimistic and think about all the people who will get multiple people to make donations! That's where an individual's efforts can create substantial gains.

If you get 10K donations for your brand ambassador coin, that's 10K supporters now with a direct link to your donation page all out looking for ONE new donor by showing people the coin.

Who's going to stop at just one? The beauty of this model isn't the donation, it's the perpetual donation machine you build. You're bringing a military tradition to your fundraising model which gives you a point of reference when someone asks "Why would I want to carry this coin in my pocket?"

Teach them why.

• It's a gift I received for a donation I made.
• It reminds me about all the great things this charity does and keeps them top of mind. It's a part of the charity I can hold in my hand and feel connected.
• It's a conversation starter so I can talk to others about the charity efforts
• It's a tool that can link a smartphone directly to the donation website through a NFC microchip embedded in the center of the coin. NOW. Not later.

Where to start

Start with your best donors, and watch the magic happen. Smart Coins? are ready to revolutionize the fundraising industry with a new breath of life in donor engagement.

I wrote this song and used ChatGPT to tweek and structure the lyrics. Then I used Suno.ai to generate original music and vocals for my lyrics.

Storytelling in songs

Touch of Giving

For this song I was going for a Dr Seuss type rhythmic storyline, that could tell my store in under 4 minutes. I created the town of Giverglee, a small town of people who lived carefree lives. They supported each other and constantly raised money and awareness for their favorite charities but they were always looking for a way to kick up their fundraising this year! Enter me with the solution! You'll have to watch the video to see how it ends!

Smart Coins?: The Musical

Steps to creating a brand ambassador program

1. Send me a message. "Hey Keith, I'm interested in talking about this for my charity..."
2. Free consultation to discuss your specific fundraising goals
3. Pitch the campaign to your marketing and fundraising staff
4. Designing a coin for the fundraiser
5. Pre-selling or marketing of the fundraiser to create interest and awareness
6. Establish an order time window (30 days) to order one of the brand ambassador fundraising coins through your website or order taking channels
7. Money is collected when the order is placed
8. At the end of 30 days, you know exactly how many coins you need and you've already collected the donation so no risk of coins not selling or having coins "left over".
9. Place the bulk minting order
10. Coins ship to your warehouse in 30-45 days.
11. You ship the coins to the donors.
12. As brand ambassadors receive their coins, they start sharing and generating donations which generate additional coin orders all from their initial order.
13. Reorder coins as needed. Repeat.
14. Make a new coin for the next fundraiser and donors will begin collecting them.
15. Make it a tradition for your donors. Smart Coins?

For nearly 30 years, I've designed custom coins for all branches of the US military, police and fire departments and clubs, events and organizations. I've seen first had how people respond to these coins, if they've never held a challenge coin in their hand. It truly is a tactile experience when you hold one of these coins in your hands.

Smart Coin? is a patented fundraising tool manufactured exclusively by Gray Water Ops For more info visit https://smartcoins.GrayWaterOps.com