Many of the best ways to facilitate and increase fundraising for your organization involve online strategies which can make donating very accessible and very easy for contributors. If you’re aware of some of these tactics, you will probably be much more successful in your fundraising efforts. Try to incorporate at least a few of the recommendations below for your next big fundraising campaign.
Make your mission clear
People will be much more likely to donate to a cause which has a clear mission, and is easy to remember. Across all channels that you use to promote your fundraising efforts, you should reiterate your mission, so it becomes fixed in the minds of potential donors, and makes them want to be a part of that mission.
Establish contribution levels
It’s better not to leave donation levels up to possible contributors, because they won’t have an understanding of how much impact their gift will have. By setting donation levels and describing the impacts they will have on your mission, you’ll be giving donors a concrete idea of how their contribution will affect the overall cause. Of course, you can still accept any level of donation that people care to contribute, but give them suggested levels as well.
Inform donors how their contribution will help
All donors like to know how their contribution will be used to help the cause, so you should provide a list of items needed by your organization, and make sure that potential donors see this list. Many donors in fact, like to contribute to a certain area because that’s the one they feel most strongly about.
Make sure donation websites are secure
Just like online shopping, donors like to know that their contributions are secure when making online transactions. Use firewalls to block hackers’ attempts at data-hijacking, and make sure your website is protected by SSL technology, to give donors peace of mind about financial transactions.
Make the contribution process easy to do
The last thing you want to do is create a complicated process for donating to your cause. People who intend to give, but get caught up in some kind of involved donation process might well simply abandon the effort, just as they would abandon a confusing shopping cart process on an e-commerce website. Your entire process for giving should be quick, easy, and repeatable, to encourage multiple donations.
Make it fun to donate
One of the best ways to make it fun to donate is to use the social media. You can encourage people to setup challenges with their friends and relatives, and this will get a lot of extra mileage out of your campaign efforts. If you can create a social media campaign which captures the imagination of a few people, it can spread quickly and become hugely successful.
Acknowledge all donations
Some people prefer that their contributions remain anonymous, but the majority prefer to be recognized for their gifts. Regardless of those preferences, all donations should be appreciated, so within three days of receiving a donation, it should be acknowledged in some way by your organization. This is essential not only for the current campaign, but for any future efforts as well – contributors whose donations go unacknowledged may not be so inclined to get involved with your next campaign.
