The Future of Fundraising: Bringing Your Cause Online
One of the most common ways for charities to generate funds is through fundraising. It’s no wonder that, with the large quantities of everyday activities that take place online, we’ve seen an increase in virtual fundraising.
According to the recent reports, virtual giving climbed by 10% in 2019 and consistently growing, with a monthly increase of 22%. It is expected to gain more popularity in the future, given its significant move toward digital-first fundraising.
A Wider Audience
Virtual fundraising enables everyone who has access to the internet worldwide to contribute to your project. This may allow you to extend your donor base as you’re no longer constrained to local donors and physical location limits.
For instance, although you could only comfortably accommodate 150 guests at your in-person charity event, you can welcome several more participants at your online gala.
Logistics is Less Complex
When done well, large-scale in-person activities may raise a significant amount of money but may need substantial infrastructure.
On the other hand, online fundraisers may raise exactly as much money with a far lower initial outlay. While actual events will always benefit patrons and employees to meet face-to-face, virtual campaigns are frequently easier to plan. They may help you collect significant amounts of money without increasing expenditures accordingly.
More Efficient in the Organization and Monitoring
When a contributor or a supporter donates online, it is immediately added into your database, and an automated thank you note together with the tax receipt will be sent out without you having to do anything.
No more manually entering data into computers, waiting for checks, or mailing receipts because the entire process is now automated. This digitization lowers overhead expenses and frees up resources for your group to focus on its goal.
Perhaps your group hasn’t yet devised a strategy for generating funds online, or you need to jump-start your online efforts. In any case, it’s time to start working on your community fundraising skills and explore some online crowdfunding ideas for your organization to attract more donations.
1. Email or Social Media Blast
While your organization may already have done an email campaign in the past, it may be beneficial to give a one-day electronic fundraising blast a chance. Consider it a giving day but without the clutter of tens of thousands of groups soliciting donations.
To start, choose a day, preferably one with some significance or symbolism for your group or cause—for example, Mental Health Awareness Day or Women’s month. You can even give it an endearing name to entice folks and send out a soliciting donations email on the day of your choosing. An emotional tale, relevant visuals, and a call-to-action that shows significance should all be included in it.
On the other hand, if your target demographic is more active on social media, focusing your blitz on those platforms is worth considering. Although it’s a fantastic way to generate more funds, ensure that you research which social media sites draw your targets more. For transparency, set a monetary amount target and frequently update your followers each day to let them know what you’ve already earned and how much more is needed to reach your goal.
2. Virtual Race
Any workout can be used as the basis for a virtual race. Typically, this is walking or jogging, but you can also consider bicycling, swimming, or other types of exercise more appropriate for your demographic.
Participants may finish the race at their own pace and communicate with their network via their digital platforms. This means that you want to ensure you have all the necessary virtual run event equipment and resources to assist with their challenge and their fundraising objectives. Ensure that when you choose an activity and a time range, set up a peer-to-peer fundraising website and begin recruiting people. Consider targeting your shareholders or other highly committed donors to get a higher engagement and donations.
3. P2P
Peer-to-peer fundraising makes up 18% of all online donations, making it one of the most excellent digital fundraising strategies available. By urging your friends and family to promote meaningful fundraising sites and generate money for your organization, they help you establish your cause’s reputation.
This generates higher success as one out of every four solicitation emails sent by peer-to-peer fundraisers have better results, as opposed to one out of every 500 emails sent by a nonprofit.
Consider including a personal plea and social media sharing buttons on your fundraising website to generate more traffic and lead to your campaign.
In response to the health and safety guidelines, NGOs are postponing, reconsidering, and modifying their scheduled fundraising activities, and the majority have been forced to shift their activities online.
Moving soliciting donations online enables charitable groups to continue generating critical income to support their activities and services.
