Planning Your Campaign
The first step in an online giving campaign is to start with a plan. Decide what is it that you're fundraising for: Maybe you want to raise 5,000 dollars to build a food pantry for students or raise 10,000 for a scholarship fund. Use this goal to set up the framework for your peer-to-peer campaign.
Next set an activity timeline. Planning will keep your team aligned and your campaign organized for maximum impact. Make sure everyone knows dates and what to expect. Have a kick-off date to track activities and to motivate your team and supporters.
Ideas for fundraising campaigns
A-thons- A-Thon fundraising refers to an event-style fundraiser that brings in donations from friends and family who want to support your mission or cause. Examples of this are walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons, and read-a-thons. Some organizations even make up their own like the United Way of Marshall County, AL who created a Can-a-thon to provide food for local families in need.
Galas- A Gala is a formal event intended to raise money for a benefit or cause. A gala can include additional ways to raise money, such as a silent auction or an opportunity to collect individual pledges and donations during the event.
Giving days- A Giving Day is a dedicated day (usually 24 hours) that brings together fundraising, supporter engagement, social networks, and awareness to create a targeted multichannel campaign. One of the things that makes giving days unique is their time sensitive nature which helps create a sense of urgency so your supporters will be moved to action. Some examples are: Worldwide Day of Giving, and Giving Tuesday, which is probably the most popular. There are also cause awareness days like Earth Day, International Youth Day, Endangered Species Day. You can even create your own giving day!
Best practices for your campaign
Set a fundraising goal- Setting an achievable monetary goal will give your supporters something to work towards. Make sure not to set the goal too high so that your donors feel good when they reach the goal.
Use peer-to-peer fundraising software- Using technology to give your supporters the tools they need to succeed with the campaign will make the process easier and more effective. Your website, marketing, and donation processing should be reviewed and optimized for your campaign. Check out StratusLIVE Ignite Online Giving Platform.
Tell a heartfelt compelling story- The next step is to create your message. This is your opportunity to tell a story that creates an impact. Make sure to use emotion and images that trigger action. What or who has been impacted by your cause? Once you’ve done this, make sure you present a consistent message to your audience. Your ultimate goal is to get them engaged in your mission.
Encourage competition- Offering a prize or incentive can help spark competition to raise money. The prize or incentive could be a gift card or a physical prize (perhaps something someone has donated).
Give public recognition– Use a leaderboard to track progress and consider having an official award at the end of the campaign for the biggest fundraising participant and acknowledge them on your social media sites.
Match donations– A matching campaign is one where a donor (which can be an individual, company, or group) has pledged to give a financial contribution to the charity to “match” all donations from other supporters within a certain timeframe, up to their pledged amount. Using matching gifts in fundraising can significantly increase your donations.
Use multiple platforms for engagement
Social media-There’s a lot of potential for marketing and leveraging the power of relationships when you’re using social media for fundraising. The first thing you need to do is to decide which social media platforms best serve your organization-which platforms do your target audience use? Then make sure you're using those same platforms
Email-Give your fundraisers the tools they need to successfully fundraise by creating email templates about your organization so they can easily send out information about the campaign to their networks telling them why and how to donate.
Traditional marketing- Two of the most popular forms of traditional marketing are direct mail and print advertising.
Make the donation process easy
If the donation process is too long on your page, people will leave without donating. You want to make it easy for your donors to give. Consider investing in an online giving platform that will manage your constituent's data, process their payments, and send automated messaging thanking them for their donation.
Once you’ve got new donors and collected their data your organization can analyze that information to use it for donor retention and increase fundraising growth. Using Donor retention efforts helps to engage your new donors so that they continue to give to the organization each year.
When you use good peer-to-peer fundraising software it makes it easy to put together an event page, support your participants as they raise money for your cause and analyze the information from the campaign when it’s finished. StratusLIVE Ignite, our online giving platform, is a robust tool that enables nonprofits to connect digitally with donors through multiple giving modes including website campaigns, workplace CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), peer-to-peer, team-based, and DIY (do it yourself) fundraising.
Find out more about how our technology can help your nonprofit
It’s no doubt that nonprofit organizations are relying on technology now more than ever and virtual campaigns and events will continue long into the future. Want to find out more about peer-to-peer fundraising software? Contact StratusLIVE and we’ll show you what our technology can do for your organization!
Eager for more best practices on peer-to-peer fundraising?
Watch our webinar - Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: The Ultimate Guide for Nonprofits!
