This is lesson fifty-eight. This is towards one of our missions. Education.
You'll learn everything about marketing - from the basics to the most advanced strategies - for free, thanks to VellumWorks.
What is Affiliate Marketing?
Affiliate marketing is a performance-based arrangement where a third party, called an affiliate, promotes your charity and receives a reward when a specific action occurs, such as a donation, a registration, or a sale.
In commercial marketing, affiliates typically earn a commission. For charities, the reward structure works differently, but the principle is the same: someone uses their platform, audience, or influence to drive action on your behalf, and they benefit when it works.
How Charities Can Use Affiliate-Style Models
Referral programmes
Give your supporters a unique link. Every time someone donates or signs up through that link, the original supporter is credited — often through recognition, points, or a personal matching gift.
Beehiiv (this newsletter platform) calls this a referral programme. The concept is identical to affiliate marketing: your existing audience becomes a growth engine.
Some retailers and online platforms allow supporters to generate donations simply by shopping. The retailer pays a percentage of each sale to your chosen charity.
Promoting these programmes to your supporters costs nothing and can generate passive income over time.
Fundraising pages and peer-to-peer
When supporters create personal fundraising pages and share them with their networks, they are functionally acting as affiliates, reaching an audience you couldn't reach yourself.
The Key Principle: Make It Easy to Advocate
Every affiliate or referral model depends on one thing: your supporters wanting to share.
They'll share when:
They're proud of what your charity does
They feel personally connected to the cause
The mechanism is simple (one link, one click)
There's a clear hook to share ("Help me reach my fundraising target")
The technical side is secondary. The emotional motivation to share is everything.
What Charities Should Watch Out For
Compliance: Any financial arrangement with an affiliate or partner must be transparent and may have legal or regulatory implications. Check with your finance and legal leads.
Brand association: You don't fully control how an affiliate represents you. Set clear guidelines.
Quality over quantity: A handful of passionate advocates will outperform hundreds of passive ones.
10-Minute Exercise: Design a Simple Referral Ask
Think about your most engaged supporters, the people who respond to emails, share your posts, or come to every event.
Write a single-sentence ask you could send them:
"We're looking for people like you to help spread the word: here's how you can help with just one share."
What would you link them to? What would you ask them to do?
That's the foundation of a referral programme.
Why is this important to know?
The people who already love your charity are your most credible and cost-effective marketing channel.
Affiliate and referral thinking gives you a framework for turning that goodwill into structured growth — reaching new audiences through trusted voices, at minimal cost.
At VellumWorks, we believe knowledge should be free. That's why this series will guide you, step by step, through everything from the basics to the most advanced marketing strategies: no jargon, no gatekeeping, just empowering education.
