Once your organization has decided to hold a brick fundraising campaign, your next important decision should be figuring out the project’s timeline. Just like in business, timing is everything for a fundraiser. If you want to have a successful brick campaign, here are some tips for timing it properly.
Properly time your brick campaign with a few of these handy tips.
Know Thy Self
Before you set up a timeline for a brick campagin, you’ll need to take a look at your group’s calendar and also have a good understanding of how your organization works. For example:
- If most of your big donors leave town in the summer, hold your fundraiser in the winter.
- If you want help from high school or college volunteers, don’t kick off your fundraiser right before finals week or other important exams.
- If your group is busiest in the autumn, don’t add to their burden; choose a different season.
- Try to avoid any major holidays that will slow your momentum, especially for a short-term fundraiser.
Partner Organizations
Keep in mind that your nonprofit won’t be the only organization trying to raise money this year. Although most local fundraisers won’t be a conflict for donors, there could be a problem if a partner organization is holding a concurrent fundraising campaign. Some examples of partner conflicts:
- A soup kitchen that serves the homeless needs to raise funds, however, their partner organization, a local homeless shelter, is already in a fundraising campaign.
- A parish school wants to kick off a major fundraiser, even though the parish church is currently in the middle of a capital campaign.
- The School of Science and the School of Medicine at a university both need to raise funds. Unfortunately, their donor pools are virtually the same.
Mid-week
Online donations are at their highest on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Therefore, your best bet is to launch your online fundraiser on one of those two days.
Communication
It’s a well-known fact in the fundraising world that communicating with donors improves your chances of getting repeat donations and larger donations. You should communicate with your donors at these times:
- Kickoff – Let your friends and donors know when you plan to launch your brick fundraiser. Send your email between 3 and 5 p.m. for the best response. In order to reach more supporters, don’t forget to utilize social media.
- Welcome! – Show your appreciation to new volunteers and your fundraising committee with a welcome email. Include information on how to be successful as a volunteer/fundraiser.
- Updates – You will want to contact your supporter base by email each time your organization reaches an important fundraising milestone, receives a large grant or has a great mission-related story to tell.
- Thank You – Compose a ‘Thank You’ email for donors who give online. This correspondence should include not only the donation amount and date, but also how the donation will be used.
For more fundraising tips and information on the best times to launch a brick campaign, speak with our knowledgeable Bricks R Us representatives.
