'Tis the Season To Raise Funds
Ron Weber, Trinet Internet Solutions, Inc.
As the holiday season approaches, many nonprofits often find themselves scrambling to meet year-end donation goals. While it's well known that Thanksgiving initiates a greater charitable focus, it takes more than a "donate-now" button to funnel that giving spirit into a plentiful fundraising season.
With turkey time only 2 months away, custom online giving campaigns are this season's must-have necessity. Yet when it comes to nonprofit fundraising, remember one size doesn't fit all. With countless nonprofits vying for donors' dollars, the more tailored the campaign, the more success you'll find.
1. Establish a Fundraising Goal... and Communicate It!
Establish your goals and timeline, and then share that number with your constituents! Donors actually respond to a specific donation goal better than a generic call for funds.
What would inspire you more? A "Donate Now!" button or "Help Us Raise $75,000 by December 20th to Supply 7,000 Kenyan Communities With Clean Water"? The second example creates a sense of urgency for donors to give, while clearly stating the goals of the campaign.
Additionally, displaying a donation thermometer on your marketing collateral is a creative way to show progress toward your goal. For example, Play Pumps, a nonprofit that provides clean water to developing nations, uses a water tank as its website's donation thermometer. The water tank splashes closer to the campaign goal as each donation is collected.
2. Develop an Integrated Campaign
Next, your campaign needs a home, otherwise known as a landing page.
Supporters need a designated space to read about your cause, perhaps leave comments and give donations. Whether it's on your homepage or an internal web page, use this space to establish credibility by sharing how last year's holiday donations impacted your beneficiaries. Transparency is not only valued, but rewarded by donors.
Also, consider customized giving options like a gift catalog or a "build your own donation" application. Today, donors love to immerse themselves in narrative giving spaces, where they choose the exact use of their dollars, the receiving country or region, and the amount of their donation. When ADRA, an international relief agency, used a gift catalog to increase giving, donations were 50% higher than non-catalog donations.*
3. Promote, Promote, Promote!
You can't assume your donors will come simply because you built a campaign. A well-developed email marketing campaign is essential to fundraising success.
In your first email, introduce your mission, goals, timeline and achievements. Then highlight progression toward that goal in following emails to leverage donation momentum.
Segmentation is another powerful tool with email marketing. Do you have a group of donors who show favor to a specific project? Then respond to their interest by highlighting that project in a custom email. When Love Worth Finding, a broadcast ministry, incorporated email strategy into a custom giving campaign, their giving increased 105 percent over the previous year, with 40 percent of their donations resulting from their email efforts.*
4. What Can You Give?
Remember to ask for nonmonetary support as well. Offer holiday eCards that web visitors or email recipients can forward to their friends to help promote your cause.
ADRA inspires youth activism by creating a kids site, which offers “Kids in Action Kits.” With a parent's help, kids can download a kit on how to host a garage sale to raise donation money or write a letter to congress.
Also, turn supporters into advocates by asking them to post links to your campaign on their Facebook or Twitter pages. A link strategy, or posting your links on other blogs or websites, can reach a fresh audience of prospective donors and dramatically increase your web traffic with relatively little cost. Also, if you know anyone with well-read blogs, ask them to write about your cause for a day! This simple tactic extends your cause to new circles under the introduction of an already trusted source.
5. Use Offline Channels to Drive Online Action
Finally, use ongoing marketing initiatives to support your campaign. Promote this special giving opportunity in current advertisements, while speaking at events, or in print newsletters. Both online and offline campaigns should flow together seamlessly, inspiring constituents to adopt your cause as their own.
The goal of giving campaigns lies not just in collecting donations, but also in uniting with others for a greater cause. Strategic giving season preparation is essential for meeting fundraising goals and growing a strong base of supporters.
* All statistics are from Trinet Internet Solutions, Inc. case studies. Trinet is a full-service web firm, with offices in California and Washington DC and over 60 web design professionals, specializing in strategy consulting, design, development and online fundraising. With over 14 years of experience, Trinet has implemented successful web marketing campaigns for nonprofits like The Salvation Army, American Red Cross and the YMCA.
