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2021 Fundraising Tips to Jumpstart the New Year

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2021 Fundraising Tips

The nonprofit fundraising landscape has changed, and nonprofits are now thinking outside of traditional signature, in-person-only events to stay relevant and widen their audience reach. Those that leveraged technology at the beginning of the pandemic quickly transitioned fundraising efforts online to connect with supporters, drive deeper engagement and maximize donations, while those that didn’t pivot online continue to struggle to move their missions forward.  

Technology investments and adoption of new and innovative trends in 2020 are enabling nonprofits to build greater resiliency in the new year. For those not-so-tech-savvy fundraisers, below are a few easy ways digital technology can be used to jumpstart fundraising efforts. 

Tap into Donor Data to Personalize Engagement

You don’t have to be tech-savvy to understand trends in donor giving. Start with your most loyal supporters and look into how much they gave over the last year, when and how. Tap into this insight to segment and target outreach based on donor engagement and giving habits. Personalized messaging makes donors feel recognized and appreciated, ensuring repeat and recurring giving.

To drive greater donor engagement in 2021, try creating more robust registration pages and post-giving surveys to capture additional donor data. Maybe the donor or someone they love is personally impacted by the cause, or perhaps the donor simply wants to help others. Understanding motivations to give will enable you to develop hyper-personalized messaging that resonates with each audience and creates life-long supporters.

Reduce Costs and Raise More with Donor Covers the Fee Opt-In

Most donors want 100% of their donation to go straight to the cause and data suggests that they would opt-in to cover any fees, such as credit card processing as an extra gift, if the option was available. Simply use your fundraising platform to give donors the option to cover the transaction fees and watch your fundraising dollars grow while inspiring and satisfying your donor base!

Enable Different Types of Giving Options, Including Hybrid Event Options

Technology enables a slew of fundraising options, so make 2021 the year your organization diversifies its efforts. In addition to enabling direct donations, recurring or monthly giving options, try adding a virtual event – such as an online auction, gala or peer-to-peer event – to your next campaign. Providing multiple giving options and hybrid event options enables donors to give the way they prefer as well as the opportunity to participate in multiple events, maximizing donations.

Industry surveys and data indicates that astute fundraisers will incorporate virtual elements to all in-person fundraising efforts in the future, leading to a rise in hybrid fundraising. One of the biggest benefits of hybrid events is that anyone can attend from anywhere. Expand your network of givers by reaching out to all donors, not just past event attendees. Expanding your addressable audience increases your overall network of supporters today and tomorrow.

Maximize Workplace Giving

A lot of companies provide matching giving programs as a benefit to employees. Utilize your fundraising platform and enable a corporate gift matching company search for organizations that participate in employee giving. Encouraging givers to look up their company in a donor matching database can help forge stronger emotional connections with donors and your mission by doubling their donation!

Think Outside Normal Business Hours

If you are targeting corporate donors, it makes sense to stick to traditional office hours for email sends, as you want to connect with those donors when they’re most active. However, if you’re targeting individuals and families, consider breaking out of the norm by sending emails, texts and social media posts during off-hours, including on the weekend. 

Use your fundraising platform to quickly schedule emails during off hours to maximize donations. Social media posts can also be scheduled ahead of time, making outreach a breeze.

The pandemic has severely impacted fundraising efforts for nonprofits around the world. As we settle into our “new normal,” the most successful nonprofits, regardless of size, will learn to adapt quickly and leverage tools to navigate an ever-changing fundraising landscape. From leveraging donor data and automating email outreach to tapping into social media and virtual events, the ability to meet revenue goals and enact positive change is far easier when backed by the right strategies. 

How Can Nonprofits Collect on Money Owed?

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Collecting Membership Dues

Nonprofits differ from for-profit companies in a variety of ways. However, one thing all organizations have in common is that they have to pay bills.

Some nonprofits sell memberships, charge membership fees or charge for products or services, apparel or accessories. Others rely solely on grants or donations. All of these situations can result in a nonprofit being owed money.

When for profit companies are owed money, they often turn to a debt collection agency to help. Is this an option for nonprofits? Yes and no.

Here are some common situations where a nonprofit might be owed money, and how they might pursue payment.

Collecting Unpaid Pledges

Nothing is more frustrating in fundraising than people who pledge to support the organization and do not follow through.

If a pledge was simply a pledge, that is someone offered to give you money and did not do so, you may be out of luck when it comes to collecting. Social pressure delivered by board members or others who know the donor may be your best chance at getting the donor to live up to their promise. No matter how tempting it is, do not go to social media with your complaints. You could damage your organization’s reputation and cause legal problems for yourself.

If a pledge was given in exchange for something else, such as a table at a gala, event tickets or naming rights on a building, then the donor is legally obligated to pay the gift. In this situation, you may want to consult with a debt collector.

While all companies and organizations want to protect their brand name, since they depend on contributors, nonprofits have to be even more careful about legal issues and mitigate reputational risk.

This doesn’t mean that sending an overdue payment to a debt collector is off the table. Because they are trained negotiators, debt collectors may solve a situation more quickly and painlessly than your own attempts to do so. A professional collector will typically not be emotional and can try to preserve the relationship between the nonprofit and the person who promises to give. Someone who owes and can’t pay immediately may be embarrassed to say this but can be more open with a collector who can then come up with a plan to collect the money.

Collecting Tuitions and Membership Fees

Museums, schools and community organizations are usually nonprofit entities. They may charge memberships or tuition and have the ability to do so on a sliding scale.

While memberships and tuition are legally binding agreements, it may be harder to send the complete cost for someone who pays the full amount to collections. If you offer memberships at different levels or income-based rates, then you are much more likely to get pushback from full price members, who may feel you are unfairly targeting them for full payment and not others. In these cases, it makes more sense to simply lower the amount that the family or member owes.

Collecting Grants and Other Nonprofit Funding

There are three main sources of grant money: businesses, government, and foundations. Grants generally come with signed agreements and requirements. Funders may stop paying on a grant because they feel that the organization is not living up to its end of the agreement or because they are having their own financial difficulties. If you are in dispute with a grant-giving organization, you can ideally solve it without involving lawyers or collection agencies.

However, if you have lived up to your end of an agreement and are not receiving the promised funds, you may wish to involve either a lawyer or a collection agency. It’s important to review your grant agreements and see if there is any language about nonpayment. You may have waived your right to pursue collections when you accepted the grant. Be aware that some state governments are notoriously late in paying on grants, and you may not have any practical recourse.

States or other organizations may also contract with nonprofits to provide certain services for their clients or residents. These payment agreements are also legally binding and need to be carefully considered before signing. Depending on the reason for nonpayment.

As a nonprofit, you are trying to make the world a better place. To accomplish that important work, you need to keep your lights on and your doors open. Understanding when and how to collect on unpaid funds will help you do that.

New Nonprofit Fundraising Guide -Top Tips for Raising More

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New nonprofits crop up all the time, yet there are still a lot of questions floating around surrounding fundraising from startup organizations. Can you solicit donations before receiving tax-exempt status from the government? What about grants? What exactly goes into incorporating and applying for 501c3 status? 

That’s why we’ve put together this quick guide for helping new nonprofits and the philanthropists behind their missions begin to explore fundraising in a new way. Specifically, we’ll cover the following:

  1. Fundraising before receiving 501c3 status
  2. Seeking grants as a new nonprofit
  3. Acquiring initial donor support
  4. Getting started with fundraising software

Are you ready to learn more about the beginning stages of fundraising as a startup nonprofit—and how to make your efforts as productive as possible? Let’s get started.

1. Fundraising before receiving 501c3 status

As a new nonprofit, you’re likely eager to get started fundraising as soon as possible. You don’t want to sit around waiting for some government official to approve your application. Luckily, you might not have to wait.

Nonprofit experts share that while it is possible to begin raising funds prior to receiving official 501c3 status, there are a few critical components to keep in mind:

  • You must disclose your uncertain tax status to donors before accepting gifts.
  • If your organization is denied tax exemption by the IRS, donors’ contributions will not be tax-deductible.
  • The rules and regulations can vary from state to state.

Make sure you look into the specific state and local laws where you’ll be fundraising to make sure you—and your donors—don’t end up in a difficult situation. Still, other organizations choose not to begin their fundraising until they’ve become an officially certified 501c3 nonprofit just to be certain.

2. Seeking grants as a new nonprofit

Grant funding is a fantastic way to supplement individual contributions and bankroll your organization’s mission—especially for startup organizations. This Grants Plus guide to nonprofit grant-writing stresses that a grant proposal should be clear, tailored, compelling, and persuasive. After all, it’s critical that you make a compelling case that your organization is the best recipient for the funding, as grant funding is limited and very competitive in nature.

If you’re seeing relevant grant funding for your organization, these are the most common sources to look into:

  • Corporations: Building partnerships with businesses and getting corporate sponsors is one of the best ways to raise support for your nonprofit. Corporate philanthropy is a win-win for all involved. The nonprofit receives critical funding while the business builds a charitable reputation among consumers and employees.
  • Government: Government funding is another great way to support your nonprofit as it’s beginning to grow. Specifically, there are federal, state, and municipal-funded grant programs in place to help charitable organizations pursue their missions. A great place to get started with federal grants is with the comprehensive database at grants.gov.
  • Foundations: Finally, there are also private grant-giving foundations that exist solely to financially support nonprofits looking to better the world, usually within the same community as the funder. These grants are typically more targeted, so it’s a good idea to search for foundations in the area that align with your own organization’s mission.

One thing to keep in mind when soliciting grant funding for your nonprofit is that while individual supporters might be willing to contribute to your fundraisers before you’ve received 501c3 status, most grant-giving institutions will not. Instead, you’ll likely want to wait to pursue grant funding until you’re an officially incorporated nonprofit organization. And in the meantime, you can begin building relationships with individual donors.

3. Acquiring initial donor support

Acquiring initial donor support for your new nonprofit can be an overwhelming task. After all, if you’re newly incorporated, it’s likely that you don’t have a lot of existing brand awareness in the community. When getting started seeking donor support, here are a few best practices to consider:

  • Explain the need. Why are you starting a new nonprofit in the first place? What need exists in the world that you plan to fulfill by creating this new organization? Before you can expect donor support, you need to make your community aware of the problem you attend to address—and how they can help.
  • Share where donations go. Be specific about where individuals’ donations will go and how they will be used. For example, can a donation of $X feed a family of four for a month? When you explain where funding is directed upfront, donors can see not only what their money is being used for (food), but who it is going to help (a family of four). 
  • Leverage your own network. More than likely, you have your own existing network of individuals who want to see you succeed. This might include family members, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and more. Try getting their support first, and encouraging them to share your campaign to their social media pages to garner even more traction for your fundraisers.

Then, be sure to begin the donor stewardship process to work toward building long-term relationships with your supporters. Although acquiring new donors will be critical at the beginning, it will be most cost-effective for your organization to begin retaining existing support rather than continually seeking new, one-time donors.

4. Getting started with fundraising software

Selecting your fundraising software is a critical aspect of getting your fundraising efforts up and running as a new nonprofit. Luckily, there are a ton of existing software providers to choose from.

Top donation software will prioritize aspects that enhance the donor experience and provide benefits to your organization, such as:

  • User-friendliness: Make sure your fundraising software is easy to use for both your nonprofit team on the backend setting up campaigns and your donors and supporters on the frontend contributing to your cause. Otherwise, you risk losing out on critical support due to a lengthy or otherwise complicated giving process.
  • Functionality: The features included will vary from provider to provider, but it’s a good idea to look for a solution that offers online giving pages, text-to-give, event and ticketing tools, and even mobile bidding software for fundraising auctions. The more functions your donation software encompasses, the more you’ll be able to raise for your mission using a single tool.
  • Affordability: Robust fundraising solutions can be great investments, but sometimes you just don’t have the money to shell out for new technology as a startup organization. Luckily, there are a ton of free and low-cost solutions available to help new and small nonprofits raise money without straining their wallets. Plus, if you invest in an easily scalable solution, you can add on new features and functionality as you need it. This way, your fundraising software is able to grow alongside your organization!

With the right fundraising software provider, you’ll be able to accept online donations and bring in online fundraising revenue for your new nonprofit. Then, additional fundraising software solutions (such as your donor database or CRM) can help you collect, organize, and leverage information about your supporters to build relationships and craft future campaigns.

As you surely know, starting a nonprofit organization is difficult—but it doesn’t have to be impossible. 

By launching your fundraising efforts as quickly as possible, exploring available grants, acquiring critical donor support, and setting up a foundation of high-quality fundraising software, you’ll be well on your way to fundraising success. And with that, you’ll be better equipped to pursue the mission that inspired you in the first place. Good luck!

Capital Campaigns for Churches and Religious Institutions: 3 Proven Tips

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A well-executed capital campaign has the power to multiply a church’s current offerings while simultaneously inspiring action and lifelong generosity among the parish community. These campaigns fund costly initiatives that expand the ministry and ultimately spread the Word of God. 

There are several reasons why a church or other religious organization would run a capital campaign. For instance, the funds may be used to purchase or build a new building, renovate an existing structure, expand ministry, or pay off debt. However, they require a great deal of hands-on administration. 

As with any fundraising initiative, there are several best practices you’ll need under your belt to successfully inspire generosity among your parish community or congregation. If your church is undertaking a capital campaign, we recommend these three strategies to inspire church members to get involved:

  1. Build a passionate team.
  2. Connect giving to your mission.
  3. Find other ways people can be involved.

Whether your church is looking to renovate its buildings, retire debt, or take on another major project, a capital campaign is worth considering. When backed by these best practices, your ministry can promote a spirit of philanthropy, develop a sense of belonging, and secure vital funds to keep expanding the church. 

1. Build a passionate team.

The foundation of any successful fundraising endeavor is a passionate team that will champion your mission at every turn. Organizing a capital campaign is a hefty project that requires ample time, focus, and resources, and a hands-on team will ensure that everything is covered.

While existing church leaders will certainly lead the charge, there are several other groups you’ll want to consider. Inviting others to participate will provide a wide range of ownership, ultimately setting your campaign up for success.

As described in Greater Mission’s church capital campaign guide, administrative teams are typically composed of three types of individuals:

  1. Church members: These people will be your strongest supporters on the ground level. Inviting church members to participate will boost morale and instill a sense of trust and transparency among other congregants.
  2. Staff: These individuals understand the inner workings of your church. For smaller staffs, include your accountant or treasurer to keep an eye on the financial aspects. For larger staffs, consider inviting additional staff members to join.
  3. Leadership: Commissioned church leaders have a clear-cut passion for your mission. Aim to have around one-third of your internal campaign committee represented by leadership.

Some religious organizations opt to take it a step further by hiring an independent consultant. Even if your church already has capable fundraisers, an experienced consultant can bring unparalleled value to your team. These professionals possess special skill sets paired with firsthand experience that will help shepherd your campaign to conclusion.

Like Bloomerang’s capital campaign guide describes, “fundraising consultants can be well worth their cost…given their objective viewpoint and expertise in the field.” Hiring the right consultant will increase the likelihood of reaching your campaign goals, so take the necessary time to locate one with proven faith, commitment, and experience.

2. Connect giving to your mission.

Churches like yours consist of people who are already highly invested in the mission. While congregants already understand your ministry, they might not immediately grasp why a capital campaign is necessary. Help them tie the connection between giving and your mission in order to inspire generosity.

Keep in mind that your church’s capital campaign isn’t just about raising money; it’s about asking your congregation to step into their faith and give beyond their typical contributions. 

To ignite a passion for giving, put God at the forefront of your capital campaign. Leaders that fail to do this miss a vital opportunity to build discipleship values. Not to mention, these campaigns tend to be less successful than those that are driven by faith and highlight discipleship.

Take this a step further by communicating supporters’ potential to change lives. Will a new building increase your church’s capacity for outreach? If you effectively share how the capital campaign will make a difference in your ministry (and therefore church members’ own lives), you’ll successfully remind the congregation that the campaign isn’t just about raising money.

A fundraising approach alone may produce results, but it won’t lead to substantial stewardship. Taking the time to help church members understand the purpose of your capital campaign and their own role in its success and the success of the community will prove invaluable as your campaign progresses. 

3. Find other ways people can be involved.

While most members will give monetary donations, not every family is in a financially sound place to give, especially due to the pandemic’s economic impact. Give these individuals the opportunity to support your campaign in different ways that meet their needs. 

There are a few core ways that church members can participate in your capital campaign beyond donating. When selecting other opportunities to share with congregants, consider these ideas:

  • Participate in campaign administration. Instead of donating money, they can donate their time. Encourage those who aren’t able to contribute financially to join your capital campaign team and take on administrative duties. Giving them direct responsibility will provide them with a sense of accountability for your campaign’s success.
  • Encourage them to use their skills. For example, if you’re planning a church building project, make sure to utilize members’ construction skills. If they have strong communication skills and valuable connections with other church members, have them participate in campaign promotion.
  • Always ask the parishioners to pray for the parish and success of the campaign. Prayer is central to all that we do as a faith community and should be included in all that we do. 

Encouraging church members to give isn’t limited to monetary donations. By extending congregants’ opportunities to contribute in any way they can, you’ll accomplish one of the core purposes of your campaign: inspiring generosity. Regardless of their financial situation, congregants will enjoy supporting your campaign and furthering God’s Kingdom.

Wrapping Up

A capital campaign is a multifaceted undertaking that involves several moving parts. Taking the time to sufficiently plan your campaign will prove invaluable in the long-run. When well-executed, this type of fundraiser can set your ministry up for ongoing growth, whether that means retiring debt or taking on a major construction project. 

Start by forming a passionate campaign team composed of various members in your ministry. Remember, a skilled consultant can steer you in the right direction based on ample firsthand experience, whether you’re brand new to capital campaigns or are already a knowledgeable fundraiser. From here, be sure to provide every opportunity for church members to give, so that congregants can support your work and experience joy in their generosity. 

Above all, don’t lose sight of the reason behind your campaign. Your campaign has the power to take members from a basic appreciation to a deep commitment for your vision, so put God at the forefront of all your efforts. In turn, you’ll secure faith-filled givers for a lifetime, not just for the duration of your campaign.

Nonprofits and COVID-19: How to Strategize Beyond the Crisis

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Nonprofit Funding

When the pandemic first emerged, nonprofit professionals everywhere were caught off guard. At that point, the focus was on emergency funding, pivoting operations and simply responding to the crisis.

We’re now long past that point, and nonprofits everywhere are back to work with fundraising and other initiatives—after all, your organization’s mission is more essential than ever! But this period of uncertainty underscored the importance of a flexible, adaptable and informed strategy.

As we continue to work through unusual circumstances, it will be important to create a strategy that’s cognizant of the uncertain landscape while positioning your organization for success over the next 6 to 12 months.

When it comes to strategizing beyond the crisis, make sure to:

  • Fortify your internal foundation.
  • Revisit your planned fundraising goals and timelines.
  • Adjust your communications strategy.
  • Solicit gifts with care.
  • Turn to alternative methods of funding.

Are you ready to establish a strong foundation for success beyond the crisis? Let’s get started.

Fortify your internal foundation.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the U.S., a flurry of stay-at-home orders and CDC social distancing recommendations sent citizens into their homes. Even many months later, many organizations are opting to extend these solutions to ensure staffers and volunteers are as safe as possible for the duration of the crisis. 

This is the perfect opportunity to revisit your impromptu work-from-home processes and internal structures to ensure everything is working efficiently.

As you begin refining your strategy, consider the following:

  • How can you improve your work from home policies? Consider which aspects of your organization’s productivity were impacted negatively in the transition to working from home. Can you create new policies around meetings, communications, scheduling, working hours, etc. to regain any lost productivity, or even to level up from your efficiency at the start of the year?
  • How can you improve any in-office/in-the-field procedures? Ensure your in-office/in-field staffers and volunteers are equipped with all needed equipment (and more!) to feel as safe as possible during this time. While the initial transition was quick, you should have more time and perspective now to address any issues. 
  • Would third-party consulting benefit your organization? Consider hiring a fundraising consultant to help navigate major strategy changes and challenges associated with COVID-19 operations. These advisors provide an unbiased view and nonprofit expertise to guide your organization to success despite the uncertain landscape.

Any of these improvements will continue to generate benefits for your nonprofit for years to come.

Revisit your planned fundraising goals and timeline.

While we wouldn’t advise taking on a large-scale capital campaign right now, avoiding fundraising completely is not an option. Your mission and the needs of your constituents still exist, and may even be more urgent due to the pandemic’s effects!

Instead of pausing, revisit your existing goals and timeline and make adjustments where needed to accommodate the current circumstances. Let’s break this down a bit further.

Timeline

Whether you’re in the middle of a campaign or you’re operating off a general 2020 fundraising calendar, you’ve probably set an overarching timeline for your organization’s upcoming efforts.

Revisit this timeline, paying close attention to benchmarks, campaign start/end dates and event dates. Then, consider the following questions:

  • Are there any deadlines that you’re not on track to meet?
  • Are there any upcoming events that must be moved?
  • Are there any benchmarks that you’ll have a better chance of meeting if they’re moved?

Making any needed adjustments ahead of time gives your organization the best chance possible to adjust and get back on course.

Goals

The challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic couldn’t have been predicted, even by the most observant, worldly nonprofit leaders. Because of that, it’s time to let go of any guilt associated with the inability to reach every fundraising goal you set at the outset of the year.

Of course, that doesn’t mean changing course with wild abandon! Instead, as the year draws to a close, consider each goal you set for 2020. Are there any that are simply impossible to reach, even if your nonprofit operates as optimally as possible from here on out? Brainstorm new challenging yet feasible goals— referred to as stretch goals in the world of capital campaign consulting— for your team to aspire toward.

Adjust your communications strategy.

Before you dive back into nonprofit fundraising, revisit and revitalize your current communications strategy. This is because the pandemic has created a few unique communications challenges, such as:

  • The society-wide stress that’s affecting many, whether due to economic challenges, health concerns or both.
  • The risk of sounding insensitive in the wake of such a societal downturn.
  • The physical distance separating nonprofits, supporters and the cause uniting both.

How do you greet all of these challenges when revitalizing your communications? We recommend starting with:

  • Training staff and volunteers to respond. Your staff members may be greeted with a new gamut of supporter responses, including eager support, ambivalence and even sad stories. Ensure they’re ready to respond in an empathetic manner regardless of how the conversations turn.
  • Recreating key communications materials. While you may have already prepared your fortified communications materials, including fundraising letters and your case for support, you should revisit these materials. It’s important that any physical materials you’re sharing with supporters acknowledge the state of current events.
  • Use technology to the fullest extent. To replicate the benefits of in-person communications, implement technology to further your cause. Consider using video conferencing software and social networks to stay connected despite social distancing measures.

With these tips, your staff will be better prepared to communicate with supporters during what is still a trying time for many.

Solicit gifts with care.

Many nonprofits opted against fundraising for their causes during the outset of the crisis to fundraise for the pandemic response instead. This isn’t exactly feasible, as your organization’s cause is too important to abandon for months at a time!

So, how do you begin soliciting gifts again as the pandemic wages on? Very carefully.

Consider the following tips for soliciting gifts during a crisis:

  • Check in with supporters before making an ask. Even though we’re well into a new phase of the pandemic, remember that the crisis is still in full swing for many! Begin any gift conversations with an acknowledgment of this, asking supporters first and foremost how they’re faring through it all. Further, only continue with the gift solicitation if the donor indicates they’re open to such an ask.
  • Offer creative giving options. For example, offer the opportunity to make a pledged gift now with the actual donation occurring later in the year. Or, offer a recurring giving program in which donors can give a smaller amount biweekly or monthly, rather than one large gift upfront.
  • Ask donors how you can best engage them. If a supporter is unable to give during this time, ask them how they’d like to be involved today and in the future. Would they be open to another gift ask a month down the line?

With these tips, you’ll be prepared to successfully secure donations to fuel your cause and continue stewarding those supporters that are unable to give at the moment. An empathetic and flexible fundraising approach will serve you well in the future, too. If fundraising during a crisis is unfamiliar for your staff, remember that you can bring in a consultant to help.

Turn to alternative methods of funding.

Donations to your organization may be less readily available than this time last year. COVID-19 kickstarted an ongoing economic downfall, with record unemployment rates that may be impacting your donors. You may encounter:

  • Previously secured major gifts being canceled.
  • A decrease in mid-tier and small gifts.
  • A pause of recurring gifts.

As we’ve covered, you should greet these situations with empathy and understanding. However, that doesn’t mean you should stop trying to fundraise for the cause! These recent circumstances have highlighted the importance of diversifying revenue streams.

Consider alternative methods of funding you may not have used in the past. For example, this is a great time to ramp up your efforts to seek donations from donor-advised funds (DAFs), grant funding and corporate sponsorships. 

Donor-Advised Funds

Donor-advised funds are specialized holding accounts in which major donors contribute funding, receive associated tax benefits and choose beneficiaries at a later date. These accounts are very popular with major donors, and there is a decent chance that some of your major donors have contributed already! 

Seek out these funds within your organization’s existing support base and externally from DAF sponsors, which include community foundations and wealth-management firms. Making allocations from a DAF is one way that supporters can give without actually donating any more during the crisis. Learn more through this DonorSearch guide.

Corporate Giving

In recent years, corporate giving has been steadily on the rise. While many industries have been negatively affected by the pandemic, others are still experiencing stability and even growth. 

While you should keep the sector of the company in mind (for example, now isn’t the best time to approach a travel-focused business), look to businesses as a potential source of revenue for your mission. You can solicit corporate sponsorships or look for opportunities to secure matching gift revenue or volunteer grants through the employers of your supporters.

Grant Funding

Many grantmaking organizations have vowed to make funding more readily available to organizations in response to COVID-19. This could mean simplifying application requirements or providing more unrestricted funds. Research existing and crisis-specific grant opportunities, and prepare your proposals.

Learn more about nonprofit grant writing through this guide, and don’t be discouraged if you need to seek fundraising consultant assistance with the process. After all, proposal writing takes a village!

While many organizations paused fundraising and forward-movement at the outset of the pandemic, it’s past time to hit “resume” on your nonprofit’s operations. Your essential cause depends on it. 

Incorporate these tips into your approach, and consider hiring a nonprofit consultant for a fresh perspective and seasoned experience. By following this guide, you’ll strengthen your nonprofit’s fundamental strategies in order to handle the challenges of the current landscape and thrive in the future.

5 Ways to Make Your Virtual Auction Stand Out to Donors

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It’s been an extremely busy several months for the nonprofit sector. Pandemic response efforts, crisis fundraising, and shifting to virtual engagement techniques have almost certainly required drastic changes in your nonprofit’s initial plans for the year.

And with the year-end giving season right around the corner, there’s not much of a chance to take a break! Your nonprofit is probably already gearing up for another busy period of fundraising and donor engagement to tap into year-end generosity.

Hopefully, your nonprofit has already begun exploring its virtual event options since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Virtual fundraising events have proven to be viable alternatives for nonprofits ready to get started with the right technology and strategies. In fact, many nonprofits that we’ve worked with have dramatically exceeded their initial fundraising goals with the switch to virtual events.

If an engaging virtual event sounds like the right move for your organization’s year-end campaign, we recommend hosting a virtual auction.

At OneCause, we specialize in supporting charity auctions, so we’ve pivoted right alongside the nonprofit sector to adapt to the new realities and challenges of virtual fundraising. Online auctions are an extremely flexible type of virtual event that can work for all types of missions and audiences. Plus, they’re easy to incorporate into a wide variety of other virtual events you might host, like an online gala.

However, competition for your donors’ attention online is fiercer than ever before! In order to maximize your event, you’ll need an effective event plan and marketing strategy to get you started. Here are our top tips for making your own virtual auction stand out to donors:

  1. Procure the perfect range of auction items.
  2. Host livestreamed celebrations during your auction.
  3. Give donors access to mobile bidding tools.
  4. Offer engaging add-ons to boost revenue.
  5. Tap into the power of peer-to-peer tactics.

Armed with these tips, you’ll be sure to draw a substantial crowd to your nonprofit’s virtual auction and keep them engaged through to close-out. Let’s dive in.

1.   Procure the perfect range of auction items.

More than any other element of your virtual auction, the items that you procure will play a major role in determining your success. You’ll need to procure the perfect range of auction items to excite your donors and generate some healthy competition. Nothing can attract excited bidders quite like the perfect auction item or package.

However, this means more than simply offering the most exciting or flashy items you can find. Your catalog of auction items needs to be targeted to your nonprofit’s unique audience.

This means considering donors’ interests but also their capacity to give and their expectations for your event. For instance, a large-scale virtual gala targeting older, wealthy donors would definitely feature a different range of auction items than a smaller online auction hosted by a school PTA.

Take the time to think about your own audience and supporters, and then start brainstorming different items and packages that they’ll find exciting and truly valuable. In our own auction item idea directory, we’ve broken down our favorites into categories like classic ideas, showstoppers, virtual-friendly items, and more to help kickstart your procurement process.

2.   Host live streamed celebrations during your virtual auction.

Livestreaming has proven itself to be a valuable addition to all kinds of virtual nonprofit events, including auctions. Incorporating live elements into your virtual auction opens up new opportunities to make donation appeals, present items, shout-out your supporters, and create a more dynamic, engaging experience.

These are a few ways that nonprofits have added live streaming elements to their virtual auctions:

  • Kickoff celebrations to launch the auction, explain the rules, and show off key items.
  • Live finales to announce winners, thank your participants, and make final donation appeals.
  • Periodic live check-ins to make announcements and amp up the bidding energy.
  • Large virtual gala portions of the events in which you might include speakers, ceremonies, multimedia presentations, entertainment, and sponsor shout-outs.
  • Live bidding portions for mobile bidders to compete for your top items in real-time.

To simplify the process of including live streaming elements in your auction, work with virtual fundraising software that features built-in live video capabilities. A centralized virtual event center will improve the entire experience for both bidders and your team once it’s time to kick off the auction.

3.   Give donors access to mobile bidding tools.

Mobile bidding tools open up your virtual auction to much wider audiences by allowing bids from both desktop and smartphones. Since many virtual auctions occur over several days, providing your participant’s plenty of flexibility and easy mobile access is a no-brainer to boost engagement.

While your virtual auction will naturally not involve classic paper bid sheets, offering mobile bidding in addition to bidding through your main website offers a major benefit: push notifications.

With push notifications, you can instantly direct bidders’ attention to items that could use more bids or to your top items that are generating a ton of competition. Plus, you can keep everyone in the loop by notifying all of your bidders at once about bid openings, closures, and upcoming live streams.

If you incorporate mobile bidding tools into your virtual auction, you’ll need to take an extra step to fully explain to your participants how the technology works. Include explainers and demo videos in your broader digital strategy for promoting the event.

We recommend creating a dedicated email stream to send to registrants leading up to the event launch. In these emails, tease your items, explain how the process works, and walk through the mobile bidding process step-by-step. This can greatly reduce confusion and frustration once your auction begins, so bidders can hit the ground running.

4.   Offer engaging add-ons to boost revenue.

Add-ons are a great way to offer your bidders more ways to engage with your auction while also raising additional revenue. Consider these popular add-ons for virtual events like auctions:

  • Buy-it-now options. Give bidders the option to bypass the competition and simply purchase their favorite item (usually at 150-200% of the item’s initial fair market value).
  • Fixed-price add-ons. These are add-ons that participants can purchase during the registration process or throughout the duration of the virtual auction. T-shirts are a classic example, although think about other add-ons more directly related to your mission. For instance, a food bank might offer bidders the option to directly purchase a case of foodstuff to be donated to its pantry.
  • Raffle tickets. Raffles make easy additions to all kinds of nonprofit events. With a virtual raffle, participants can purchase digital tickets when they register for your auction. Then, pick a winner during your finale livestream. This is a great way to boost your event’s revenue without adding too much extra work to your team’s to-do list.
  • Fundraising challenges. Spur giving with competitive giving elements. Set fundraising goals and ask donors to unlock challenges for your hosts or ambassadors if they hit donation goals. Fun examples include head shaving, cake in the face, Tik Tok dances, and other funny social challenges.
  • Extra perks. A little incentive is never a bad idea to boost engagement and make your auction more exciting. Consider offering extra perks to item winners (or even randomly-chosen participants!) like free merchandise, tickets to your next event, or a discounted annual membership.

Add-ons like these can help you raise more while creating a more engaging experience for attendees. Virtual auctions are extremely flexible fundraising events, so get creative to come up with the best ideas to incorporate into your own plans. Just be sure to actively promote any of these exciting perks to encourage more potential attendees to register!

5.   Tap into the power of peer-to-peer tactics.

Social media marketing is a powerful force for spreading the word about your virtual auction and securing more support for your cause. Use peer-to-peer tactics to boost attendance, raise additional donations, and generate more excitement leading up to your auction. There are two general routes you might take:

  • Launch a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign. Empower your supporters to create their own individual giving pages to share with friends and family online. Encourage them to explain why they love your nonprofit’s mission and are excited about your upcoming virtual auction. This strategy can get your virtual event in front of a much wider audience, helping you to increase attendance while also raising more donations.
  • Recruit ambassadors in your community. An ambassador campaign allows you to take a more focused approach to large-scale virtual event promotion. Recruit well-connected supporters and give them everything they’ll need to get the job done, including individual sign-up pages and digital content to share online. Set specific donation and registration goals for your ambassadors, and then be sure to publicly recognize and reward them during your event.

Both of these tactics tap into the power of social proof to generate more engagement for your auction. When a potential donor or attendee sees that their loved one supports your cause and eagerly promotes it on your behalf, they’re much more likely to get involved than if they encountered your nonprofit on their own.

Plus, the direct impact that ambassadors and peer-to-peer volunteers can have on your event goes a long way to deepen their relationships with your cause. This makes peer-to-peer tactics an effective way to boost your retention rates over time. Bloomerang’s guide to donor retention ranks peer-to-peer campaigns as one of the top strategies for cultivating stronger long-term relationships with supporters.

Heading into the year-end giving season, your nonprofit’s virtual campaigns and events have to stand out from the crowd in order to succeed!

If you’re hosting a virtual auction as part of your year-end fundraising and engagement activities, remember these tips and incorporate them into your plans from the start. With a tailored range of auction items, engaging live streams, intuitive bidding tools, appealing add-ons, and peer-to-peer connections, your virtual auction will stand out to supporters as an exciting opportunity. Best of luck!

Creating Donation Pages that Convert: 5 Pro Tips

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Online Donation Pages Tips

As we round out a hectic year and look ahead to new challenges and opportunities, it’s worth it to take some time to review the fundamentals and look for small, iterative changes that can yield big results over the next year. 

While many nonprofits consider donor engagement and retention to be their biggest pain points, you also have to consider how you’re securing those supporters in the first place. 

For a nonprofit, the foundation of all your fundraising strategies is your donation page. 

Small issues with your organization’s online donation page can have major effects on your ability to convert visitors into donors, measured by your donation conversion rate. A poor conversion rate means that not many of the visitors who find their way to your donation page actually feel motivated to follow through with making a gift. That’s a serious issue, and it’s one that many nonprofits aren’t even aware is holding them back.

That’s why creating a stronger, high-converting donation page is especially important as we head into the year-end giving season and Giving Tuesday. You definitely don’t want to miss out on the opportunity to secure donations from the higher volume of visitors that organizations typically see around this time. 

That being said, let’s walk through a few pro tips for strengthening your donation page and boosting conversions:

  1. Start with an integrated donation app.
  2. Keep your design simple and mobile-optimized.
  3. Create multiple donation pages and conduct A/B tests.
  4. Use suggested donation tiers to drive revenue.
  5. Create campaign-specific donation pages.

With online-only engagement the new norm for most organizations, your donation page shouldn’t stand between your nonprofit and increased support! These tips are great starting places to begin seeing improvements in your own conversion rate. Let’s dive in.

1 Start with an integrated donation app.

Software integrations are extremely valuable for nonprofits. Their benefits include saving your team’s time and generating data that you can use to improve your fundraising and marketing strategies. 

Most importantly, integrations between your donation page, website, and database or CRM give you increased visibility into how your donation page is performing. Without a clear sense of the number of visitors landing on your donation page and completing transactions, you can’t gauge your conversion rate or begin making data-driven improvements.

Using donation software that integrates with your other tools will be your best bet. If you’re working with a cloud-based, modular-style CRM platform like Salesforce or Microsoft Dynamics, use a donation app that’s specifically designed to integrate with those systems. 

With data automatically flowing from your donation app to your database (and coupled with website data through Google Analytics), you’ll get a complete picture of your donation page’s performance over time. This gives you a solid foundation on which to begin making improvements.

2. Keep your design simple and mobile-optimized.

The design of your donation page can play a major role in how well it converts donors. Simple, intuitive design that doesn’t slow users down is key. Avoid elements like:

  • Too many images or distracting multimedia
  • Multiple pages a donor needs to click through in order to complete a donation
  • Unnecessary fields or required account creation

Any of these elements will slow down your donors when they’re feeling most motivated to give. Make the process as fast and seamless as possible to avoid deterring any potential support. 

As an added bonus, simpler designs typically work much better on mobile devices than complicated pages. Mobile-optimization is critical today with more and more web traffic occurring on mobile devices. If your donation page doesn’t work well (or at all!) on smaller screens, you’re almost certainly losing out on potential donations.

Additionally, the ability to customize and tweak the design of your donation page is a must. This is one reason why payment processing services like PayPal that serve very general needs often aren’t the best choice for nonprofit organizations. For a deeper dive into this topic, check out our Soapbox guide to Venmo and PayPal alternatives for nonprofits. 

3. Create multiple donation pages and conduct A/B tests.

To fine-tune one or more elements of your donation page, we recommend creating multiple versions and conducting A/B tests. Let’s say you want to see which text appeal is more effective at converting donors. Here’s how you’d find out:

  1. Create two versions of your donation page, each with a different message encouraging visitors to make a transaction. One might emphasize how their support will directly impact your mission, and the other might emphasize why their support is so important for your nonprofit amid today’s challenges. Leading donation software should allow you to easily create and customize additional donation pages as needed.
  2. Promote both donation pages to your supporters online via email or social media. Try sending an email that links to one donation page, and then following up with a separate email linking to the other donation page after a week or two.
  3. Review how each page performed. Integrated donation software should make it easy to identify how many visitors and donations each page secured. Make note of these insights, and use them to make updates to your other donation pages over time.

This is a fairly simple example, but A/B testing is an invaluable tool for improving nearly every aspect of your donation page. By strengthening your text appeals, visual design, suggested donation tiers, and more, you can build a high-converting donation page one element at a time.

Even beyond your donation page, A/B testing is an important tactic to have in your arsenal. Use this technique to improve all the elements of your broader digital strategy, like your nonprofit’s marketing materials.

4. Use suggested donation tiers to drive revenue.

Peer pressure and the power of persuasion can be extremely effective for boosting donation conversions. Make sure your donation page includes pre-set suggested donation tiers for donors to consider (in addition to the option to set their own preferred amount).

Use your past donation data to find your average donation amount. Then, build tiers around it, encouraging donors to go just a bit higher. Suggesting an amount makes the donation process even simpler for donors, and highlighting your average donation amount can persuade some visitors to give more than they would have otherwise.

This is an easy way to drive more revenue with very little extra effort, so it’s important to have suggested donation tiers on your pages. This is especially true when you want to maximize revenue during time-bound campaigns and high-volume giving days.

Plus, suggesting donation amounts is a great opportunity to show donors the specific impacts of their gifts. For instance, a gift of a certain amount might buy X number of school supplies for a child or help feed an animal in need for X days. Visualizing the concrete impact of their support is a surefire way to motivate more donors to give.

5. Create campaign-specific donation pages.

By creating separate donation pages for your nonprofit’s various fundraising campaigns, you can put all of these tips and your insights from A/B tests into action.

Giving Tuesday is the perfect example. Create a dedicated donation page specifically for your Giving Tuesday campaign, and link supporters to it in all of your promotional emails, social media posts, and blog posts leading up to the big day. This allows you to target every element of your donation page, like its design, text, and follow-up messages, to that particular campaign.

Plus, creating campaign-specific donation pages drastically simplifies the process of tracking each campaign’s performance. When integrated with your database, transaction and engagement data from each page will be properly reported under the appropriate campaign.

As we round out a whirlwind of a year and look ahead to the year-end giving season, strengthening your nonprofit’s core fundraising foundation is a great use of your time.

As the anchor of all of your online fundraising efforts, your donation pages must pull their weight! There’s no reason why nonprofits should endure poor conversion rates when simple, iterative fixes like the ones in these tips can be easily implemented. Plus, incorporating best practices like software integrations and A/B testing into your regular fundraising approach will benefit your nonprofit well into the future. Best of luck!

Virtual Fundraising: Tips for Moving In-Person Auctions Online

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Virtual Fundraising Auctions

With the entire world affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent economic fallout, the vital services and resources that nonprofits provide are in historically high demand. To meet this surge and move their mission forward, nonprofits must decide -and decide quickly- the best way to continue their fundraising efforts in a contactless way.  

As nonprofits navigate a new fundraising landscape that has completely changed in just a few short months, one tactic that is gaining momentum is hosting an online auction.  

To maximize efforts and drive greater donations, below are some critical steps to keep in mind before jumping on this emerging trend in online fundraising.  

Get your auction list in check:  

Although it sounds like a simple task, creating and refining an auction list is easier said than done. As resources may be limited, it’s best to target items that won’t take a lot of phone calls or research to request. If possible, focus on items that are easily transported to the winners (i.e. electronically or via regular mail). Additionally, with many businesses and services temporarily closed due to COVID-19, make sure to check on any restrictions on the donated item. For instance, if a local Italian restaurant donated a gift card but it’s only open for delivery, disclose this in the item restrictions field.  

When finding new items, keep in mind that most businesses donate to auctions in order to convert new customers. Therefore, find out which businesses have the capacity to contribute and present the auction as an opportunity to support a great cause and reach a new customer base. This will be an easier selling point for a business that ties into your mission. For example, if you work at an animal shelter, ask local pet stores or boutiques for grooming gift certificates, dog and cat toys or pet sitting services. By teaming up with a like-minded business, you create an ally to promote your mission to customers that fall squarely in your target demographic.  

Select a site to host your auction:  

Selecting a reputable online fundraising platform that enables you to connect with your donors in a meaningful way is critical. Do your research to find a site that reaches a large bidding community and streamlines promotion efforts by choosing a platform with email and communication tools. Also, for any initiative that requires individuals to disclose sensitive information like credit card numbers, opt for a site that makes data privacy a top priority.   

Polish your communication plan:  

Once you’ve selected your donor destination site of choice, create a foolproof communication plan to reach your desired audience. As mentioned, if you choose a site that has email capabilities, it’s easier to create targeted campaigns to attract new supporters and reengage previous donors. 

While it’s important to target your usual guest list, do not forget to contact participants from all past fundraising events and campaigns. For previous supporters, thank them for their continued commitment and illustrate how the online auction differs from past events. To personalize outreach, auction organizers should consider calling donors that are historically very loyal or generous.  

Don’t forget to tie in your organization’s mission with the event. Include photos and examples of the impact supporters’ donations will have. If you have a recent major accomplishment- like a breakthrough in research or reaching a fundraising milestone- be sure to mention that too.  

Urge your contacts to register as bidders for the auction but understand that this is not the only call to action you should include. It’s also vital to encourage registrants to share the auction with friends and family or post on their personal social media profiles. Once you have some registered bidders, be sure to send them emails about new items you’ve listed or highlight items with no bids (or ones with the most bids!). 

Don’t be shy in your outreach efforts. While it’s certainly a sensitive time to ask for donations, a lot of people still want to support your event and cause.  

Say thank you and stay engaged: 

Before the auction even closes, continue to engage supporters. Say “thank you” early and as often as possible. To foster long standing relationships, send acknowledgement letters to all individuals and businesses that donate items as you receive them.  

As soon as the auction closes, send each winner a tax receipt that includes a description of the item purchased, its fair market value and the amount of purchase. Some auction hosting sites will automatically send these out, but you can always follow up with a personalized thank you note and a receipt as needed.  

Don’t stop there, once the auction closes, keep checking in with your supporters and members. When applicable, share relevant resources with your community. If you’re calling your supporters, for their records, always send a follow up email after with a note highlighting the auction’s success. 

 Additionally, always remember to keep the momentum. You do not always need a concrete reason to reach out but providing new resources or mission updates are great ways to keep your community engaged. 

Ready your virtual gavel!  

While accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual fundraising is here to stay due to its ability to drive greater donations, attract new supporters and reduce operational costs.  

By following the tips above and embracing this emerging trend in fundraising, nonprofits can quickly recoup some of the revenue that might otherwise be lost and show their supporters that they’re still here to help.    

8 Tips to Get Your Nonprofit Started with Digital and Social Media

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Social Media Nonprofit Digital Marketing

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, now is the time to dramatically change the ways you interact with and engage clients, donors, sponsors, and funders and advocate for your mission.

You may be expanding pre-pandemic digital marketing strategies. Or, digital marketing, including social media, may be new terrain.

Awareness vs. Action

First, let’s be clear about what you want to accomplish. Unless you have a budget the size of Coca-Cola’s, building awareness will be a never-ending battle.

Instead, you want to focus first on your goals and the specific action(s) you want your audiences to take. Beginning here sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised at how many organizations just start cranking out content.

Take the case of an organization with two tremendous digital assets, two websites with active blogs, one targeting consumer audiences and the other B2B.

When I asked the communications director about her goals, she did a double-take. No one, it seemed, had ever asked her that question. Dumbfounded, she said, “I don’t know.”

Gulp.

Whether you’re the executive director or the marketing and communications director, this should never be the answer you hear (or say) to this question.

8 Tips to Get the Most from your Digital Marketing and Social Media Investments

Money and time are precious resources for every organization. Here are eight tips to invest yours wisely and achieve results.

  1. What are your goals?
    As a business, your core goals should revolve around generating revenue, based on your specific business model.
  2. Who are your audiences?
    Clarify as much information about each. Where they live, marital status, family size, occupation, shopping habits, household income, ethnic backgrounds—these are all details you’ll want to know.
  3. What content would be valuable?
    Now that you know your goals and who your audiences are, it’s time to decide on content. What format, what level of detail, what types of information are best?
  4. Where should you distribute it?
    Related to the types of content are the distribution channels. Let’s say you run an education organization. If you’re speaking to middle school and high school kids, social media that they use may be effective. Those same channels, with rare exception, however, would not work for the superintendent. To reach him or her, you may need to create a brief white paper, short video, webinar, or even a personal conversation.
    Be sure to use media whose audiences reflect your audiences.
  5. All Roads Lead…Where?
    You will have multiple pieces of content and visual or video assets that speak to multiple audiences.  Know how each piece works in your overall portfolio. Always provide a call-to-action (CTA). What do you want your customer to do? At the end of the content, tell them. Don’t assume they know.
  6. Amplify with social media.
    When you create the primary content, generate multiple engaging posts about it using important keywords in both. Get a little personal. Or be provocative, even contrarian. Use humor and images and memes. Get people’s attention while sharing bits of content that will intrigue and encourage readers to take action.
  7. Amplify with advertising.
    If your campaign is critical to revenue generation and worth the investment, amplify it further with advertising. Focus on the right keywords and audience segments. Consider using a landing page to track responses.
  8. Metrics
    By tracking metrics, you can see how your social media campaigns and advertising are doing to drive click throughs to your landing page and persuading current and new audiences. By adding a drip email campaign, you can build relationships and also track how engaged your new subscribers are with your messages. Ultimately, you can see what percentage take action.

While this process may seem extensive and overwhelming to some, remember the rewards.

  • Your marketing is more effective.
  • Your organization builds its capacity.
  • You will expand your audiences and engage more people in your mission.

What’s the next action you’ll take so that as we move beyond the pandemic, you’re in a better place a year from now?

5 Helpful Tips for Raising Funds for Schools

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School Fundraiser Raising Funds

In a perfect world, every student would have access to quality learning materials, field trips, sports equipment, modern learning technology, musical instruments, and this year, a deep stockpile of hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes.

But as we all know, programming and supplies like that are expensive. In some districts, school budgets barely cover the essential classroom supplies, and students have to work with out-of-date textbooks and obsolete software.

When budgets are tight, one popular way to bring in extra money is with a school fundraiser. You’ve likely seen countless ideas for running an easy and effective fundraiser, but it can be challenging to pick an option that works well for your school—and for the current pandemic.

At ABC Fundraising, we provide the tools and resources that schools and other organizations need to raise critical funds. Over the years, we’ve helped countless groups raise over 50 million dollars, so we’ve seen firsthand the profit and success that determined organizers can achieve with the right platform.

Along the way, we’ve picked up a few key tips on how to run a successful fundraiser for your school, including:

  • Choose a timely and relevant fundraising option.
  • Find a platform that allows you to execute your fundraiser remotely.
  • Customize your fundraiser to your school.
  • Pick a high-quality food product.
  • Consider discount cards and scratch-offs.

To get you prepared for the new school year and start fundraising off on the right foot, we’ll be diving deep into each of these tips. Let’s begin!

Choose a timely and relevant fundraising option.

Seasonal fundraisers are classics for a reason. Your fundraiser will be more successful if it taps into current events or the spirit of the season.

We aren’t just talking about Christmas, though coordinating your campaign with this winter holiday does make it easy to encourage purchasing items to give as gifts. Consider theming your fundraiser around another holiday, like Halloween, for a more unique twist!

Your school can also choose a fundraising idea that matches the weather, like how an outdoor summer fundraiser is built for sunny days.

Right now, the most relevant topic on everyone’s mind is the COVID-19 pandemic. Selecting a fundraiser with coronavirus in mind (like a custom face mask fundraiser) will definitely ensure your campaign fits in with the current times.

With this type of fundraiser, you can sell cotton face masks branded with your school’s logo and colors. Face mask fundraisers help your community show school spirit, stay safe, and gather revenue all at once—a win-win for all!

Because the pandemic isn’t going away anytime soon, a face mask fundraiser will remain a current and appropriate choice for months to come. But if you’d rather explore a different timely option, the holiday season is right around the corner.

Find a platform that allows you to execute your fundraiser remotely.

Traditional fundraising programs usually involve in-person interaction, so you’ll need to make the appropriate changes to your strategy this year. For instance, many schools sell merchandise or other items to help raise money for their programs and buy supplies. Potential contributors may be wary of getting close enough to handle a paper order form, and students and parents might experience challenges safely selling door-to-door.

In our current times, communities will have far more success with fundraisers that are socially distanced. Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can still fundraise safely, whether you’re using an online ordering system or executing a virtual peer-to-peer fundraising campaign.

Modern fundraising vendors can now create a customized web store for an entirely contact-free experience. Additionally, students and parents can easily share  forms online to collect orders instead of relying on a paper form. Then when the product is delivered, you can hold contactless pickup (just like restaurants) for locals or ship to far-away supporters.

In many ways, compared to your more traditional in-person efforts, remote fundraisers are easier and more convenient for parents and students to execute, adding a bonus benefit beyond addressing safety concerns.

Choosing a fundraising vendor with an online order system will have advantages that last far beyond the current pandemic. You’ll be able to accept a variety of payment options like PayPal and credit cards, which is key in a world where plastic is more common than cash. Plus, you’ll be able to extend your reach to a wider geographic area than is possible with a purely in-person fundraiser.

Customize your fundraiser to your school.

When you start planning your fundraiser, you’ll want to consider the specific needs of your students and community. Every school is different, so some varieties of fundraisers may work better for you than others. Consider soliciting feedback from parents before you make your final choice.

In addition to picking a fundraiser that suits your school’s individualized wishes, you can also customize elements of the fundraiser itself. Let’s explore the example of selling merchandise or other items for your school’s fundraiser.

With the right fundraising platform, you can customize your order forms and web store with your school’s colors and brand. This infuses school spirit into the entire fundraising process and encourages generous support from your community.

Showing off your school pride can also extend to the items sold in the fundraiser. You can sell a variety of products custom-branded with your school’s colors and logo, including:

  • Face masks
  • T-shirts
  • Travel mugs
  • Car decals and magnets

And this is just a small handful of the options available. If you can think of it, you can probably customize it! For more ideas you can personalize to your school’s specific needs, check out this list of the best school fundraising ideas.

Pick a high-quality food product.

Many school fundraisers depend on selling an edible item as your featured product. But we’ve all encountered the low-quality, overpriced options that give fundraising food a bad reputation.

If you’re going to fundraise with a food item, you need to pick something that your supporters are sure to love—and that will generate a good profit for your school!

Be sure to find a vendor that focuses on high-quality food products at prices that make sense for your community.Here are a few of our favorite delicious options that your supporters will enjoy:

  • Cookie dough
  • Gourmet coffee
  • Chocolate bars
  • Cotton candy
  • Gourmet popcorn
  • Gummy bears

Many food-based fundraisers cost nothing up-front for your school and have low minimum orders, making them affordable and accessible options.

Consider discount cards and scratch-offs.

If your school wants to branch out from the traditional food fundraiser and selling your own items, another top recommendation is to offer discounts for third-party vendors in exchange for donations.

For example, you can sell:

  • Discount Cards. Generally, a discount card includes up to 20 amazing deals valid at local businesses. In exchange for their contribution, your supporters get a plastic wallet-sized card with discounts and free items, like $5 off a haircut or a free appetizer at a restaurant.
  • Scratch Cards. With a scratch-off card, donors can scratch off circles to reveal a small donation. As a thank you, they receive a sheet of coupons from national sponsors. Because this option is so low-cost, it’s a good fit for small fundraising goals.

Gathering discounts like these can be a lot of work—someone has to request and gather sponsorships from local stores, franchise locations, and restaurants. But with the right fundraising vendor, this process can be hassle-free for your school. They can handle the entire process from finding and securing merchants to selling and producing cards.

Fundraisers like discount cards and scratch-offs are a highly profitable solution because your supporters still get something valuable without needing to deal with a physical, perishable product.

Although the coming school year will have plenty of challenges, these fundraising tips will help set your school up for success. For more suggestions to help your school raise funds, check out ABC Fundraising’s list of easy and effective fundraising ideas. Good luck!

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