Most Effective Way to Fundraise? – A Complete Overview

Posted on May 20, 2021

If you are running a nonprofit, then you will know that organizing fundraising campaigns can be quite a task!

Especially in the current scenario when some of the tried-and-tested fundraising strategies cannot be implemented because of the pandemic.

It is heartening to note that despite the pandemic, many donors have donated in different ways to various charities. However, the onus is on nonprofits to associate with charities that donors care about and think of innovative fundraising strategies.

When we think of types of fundraising methods, nonprofit events like auctions, organizing 5km runs, etc. come to mind. However, given the current circumstances, we realize that fundraising methods need complete revamping. Simply put nonprofits need to think of digital methods of raising funds instead of physical ones, at least for now!

The last year has witnessed many events being organized virtually. Nonprofits have also successfully organized online auctions, etc. to generate funds. Another aspect of fundraising that became relevant last year was building trust with donors by communicating with them through emails or social media campaigns.

Managing so many things like email marketing, social media marketing, virtual events, choosing types of fundraising methods, budget shortfalls, can get quite overwhelming for a non-profit.

It is best to develop a fundraising strategy plan that is aligned with your nonprofit and work towards your goals.

So, take a deep breath, sit back, and read on for a comprehensive fundraising strategy plan and customize it according to the needs of your brand!

1. Align your Strategy with your Brand

There are so many nonprofit fundraising strategies like crowdfunding, peer-to-peer funding, etc. that it can be quite confusing to choose the right one for your nonprofit.

A word of caution, many nonprofits lose track of their goals when they get caught up in all these strategies especially when they try to implement strategies that might be working for others.

So, to make sure that you stay on track with your goals, here’s what you need to do!

Establish your fundraising goals that are aligned with the mission of your nonprofit. This can be your strategic goal for the entire year or a long-term goal.

Next, break down your goals into “bite-sized” objectives. These objectives can be the monthly fundraising targets that you can plan to achieve with the help of your fundraising campaigns.

Determine your budget for each fundraising campaign.

Establish teams to plan these campaigns. Make sure that you include board members, members of staff, volunteers, interested donors as a part of your campaigns.

2. Research

You must plan your fundraising strategy based on insights and relevant data. For this, you need to research your past campaigns. This data will help you understand what strategies worked/did not work for your nonprofit in the past. It is also a good idea to check out what your competitors are doing and what is working for them.

It is also beneficial to collect data about your audience and what their needs are, etc.

You can shortlist fundraising strategies that are aligned with the mission of your nonprofit.

However, you must ensure that the campaigns you select are well within your budget.

3. Choosing Campaigns

There is a wide range of fundraising methods available for nonprofits to choose from.

However, you need to bear certain things in mind while choosing them:

• Ensure that your fundraising campaigns reach a broad range of donors. Create fundraising programs that facilitate small, medium, and major donors to participate in campaigns and donate easily.
• Encourage recurring donations instead of one-time donations. This will increase your donor base as people who may not be able to donate large sums will still be able to donate.
• Choose fundraising campaigns that are aligned to the mission of your nonprofit.
• Make sure that you make it easy for your donor to make donations through mobiles.
• Select fundraising strategies that are easy to use.

Here’s are some effective methods for fundraising:

Online donations: This is when donors contribute to a nonprofit through its online donation page.

In-kind Donations: These include non-monetary donations like food, drinks, equipment, etc. In-kind donations are usually given by companies.

Text-to Give: This is a simple text-to-give technique for donating wherein the donor texts a code when he wants to donate. Nonprofits establish codes, a campaign keyword with a predetermined donation amount. So, when a donor texts the keyword to the code, the predetermined donation amount is billed to their mobile phone bill.

Auction: Charity auctions are one of the most effective ways of fundraising. In an online auction, bids are invited for articles that are displayed by the nonprofit on different channels for a specific time. These bids are compared, and the highest bidder gets the article. You can organize a virtual event where the winning bids are announced.

Peer-to-peer fundraising: In peer-to-peer fundraising, people who support your nonprofit collect donations for you by asking their friends, contacts, etc. to donate. Donors can contribute through donation pages of your supporters. These pages are linked to your nonprofit’s main donation form.

Besides these, there is a myriad of other fundraising options like crowdfunding, corporate grants, etc. It is recommended that you check the features of each type of fundraising strategy and choose the ones best suited to your nonprofit and your donors.

4. Marketing

One of the most important aspects for raising brand awareness and increasing donor base is marketing your brand. And, in the current scenario, digital marketing strategies are a must.

So, you need to increase the visibility of your brand with search engine optimization, email marketing, social media marketing campaigns, etc.

You can increase your website traffic by posting fresh content regularly on your website. Make sure that you market your brand effectively with high-quality content.

Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies to market your brand to your audience. Email marketing helps you establish a personal relationship between the recipients and your brand. Emails are communication channels through which you can tell your donors about your mission, let them know how their donations are helping your organization reach its fundraising goals, etc. This helps build trust and loyalty.

With the rising number of social media users worldwide, it can be considered as an effective marketing strategy to reach a wide audience.

You can choose the right blend of marketing strategies for effective fundraising.

Effective marketing strategies can also help attract corporate sponsorship to increase your overall fundraising.

5. Monitoring

After executing a fundraising campaign, you need to measure its effectiveness. This will help you understand the areas for improvement in your campaigns so that you can plan better strategies.

Also, make sure that you collect feedback from your participants in the campaigns. This data will help you enhance your future campaigns.

These can be considered as the building blocks for any fundraising strategy. You can customize your fundraising campaigns based on them.

iConnectX is a platform that streamlines all nonprofit fundraising campaigns. This platform has all the features tailored to the needs of nonprofits.