online fundraising advice

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 livestreamed celebrations during your 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 livestreaming 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 livestreaming 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 participants 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 livestreams.

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.

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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 livestreams, 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!

In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, nonprofits everywhere are having to cancel their biggest revenue-generating events and take an entirely new approach to fundraise. As a nonprofit professional, you might be worried about the looming shortfalls in fundraising revenue and what that will mean for your organization.

While a lot is still up in the air when it comes to managing a nonprofit and getting things back on track, one thing is for sure—now is not the time to give up. In fact, there’s a lot that nonprofits can be doing at present to keep operations up and running amid the disruption.

One such idea is the implementation of virtual fundraising events. Nonprofit organizations have long understood the benefits of engaging supporters with fundraising events. Now, it’s just a matter of adjusting to the circumstances.

Whether you’re interested in transitioning an existing event into a virtual one, or starting from scratch planning an engaging online fundraiser, here are four of the best ways to capture your audience’s attention and boost registrations in no time:

1. Plan unique and intriguing events.
2. Connect with donors on an emotional level.
3. Keep the momentum going with strategic communication.
4. Raise the stakes with matching gifts.

Ready to get started? Let’s jump in.

1. Plan unique and intriguing events.

The best way to ensure a good turnout at your fundraising events, whether virtual or in-person, is to plan activities that your supporters will enjoy. Remember, not everyone likes the same types of events. To appeal to the highest possible number of participants, offer a diverse set of fundraising events.

Especially now, with the majority of the world’s population stuck inside for days on end, an appealing virtual event might be just what your supporters need!

Here are some of our favorite ideas to switch things up with virtual fundraising events:

• Virtual 5k: Although you can’t host a traditional 5k fundraiser right now, an adapted version can be a unique way for participants to get out of the house while raising money for a good cause. Simply encourage supporters to walk or run a set distance on their own and record their stats with a smartwatch or tracking app!
• Virtual auction: Both live and silent auctions are tried-and-true fundraising events for organizations everywhere. Now, you only have to take that auction to the virtual sphere! Collect items just like you usually would. Then, participants can bid online through a virtual auction catalog instead of at a physical location.
• Virtual gala: Hosting a gala can be a great way to engage with supporters who are looking for a reason to get spruced up, even if it’s just for a live-streamed event. But of course, the great part about a virtual gala is that attendees are also able to participate without dressing up at all!

Consider integrating your virtual event with a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for even better results. This way, you can easily expand your network of support and reach a wider audience with the help of your dedicated volunteer fundraisers.

2. Connect with donors on an emotional level.

Not only should you focus on the appeal of the event itself, but also that of your organization as a whole. A great way to maintain that appeal is through building emotional connections with supporters.

With a looming recession ahead of us, you might be expecting significant drops in fundraising revenue during this time. That’s why it’s so important to emphasize donor retention.

Here are four simple tips to follow to strengthen donor relationships and convey the importance of each and every gift:

• Share success stories.
• Use pictures to illustrate impact.
• Emphasize the importance of donors’ continued support.
• Show your appreciation.

Remember, it’s more important to stay emotionally in-touch with donors during a pandemic than ever before. Many of your organization’s key supporters have likely been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis— whether medically or economically.

In other words, donors’ budgets are likely tight during this time. That means you’ll need to effectively demonstrate the purpose behind your mission and the emotional significance of each donation if you want to capture their attention and secure their support fully.

3. Keep the momentum going with strategic communication.

An essential aspect of planning and hosting a virtual fundraising event is the virtual outreach that precedes it. This effort is how supporters all over the world can hear about your upcoming event and decide to attend.

Thanks to effective digital marketing and communications tools, it’s easier than ever to get your message out into the world. However, this technology also introduces new issues having to do with breaking through the digital clutter and creating compelling messages that stand out.

Here are some of the best ways to boost your fundraising momentum and get your audience excited about your event:

• Send out targeted email blasts.
• Increase your social media presence.
• Be sure to remind attendees ahead of time.
• Keep your website up-to-date with event information.

Learn more about establishing a successful nonprofit digital strategy here, and then use your newfound knowledge to promote your upcoming virtual fundraising event!

4. Raise the stakes with matching gifts.

Did you know that many of your donors are eligible to have their gifts matched through corporate giving programs by their employers? And yet many eligible donors don’t know about these programs and how to take advantage of the opportunities!

Studies show that when donors know their gift gets matched, 84% report that they’d be much more likely to donate, and 1 in 3 donors suggests they’d make a larger donation. That’s because donors get the joy of knowing their gift is making twice the impact without having to reach back into their wallets.

Consider taking your fundraising event to the next level by leveraging the power of matching gifts. Encourage donors to quickly and easily search their employer in a matching gift database to find out whether they’re eligible!

For more information on how to leverage corporate philanthropy and matching gift programs with your organization’s events, see this comprehensive guide.

A critical characteristic of successful nonprofit organizations is the ability to adapt, and the current social and economic constraints are testing it. By bringing your best fundraising events to the virtual sphere, you can increase your reach and receive support from all over the world.

For more inspiration, check out our extensive guide of unique and exciting fundraising ideas to get started. Good luck!

We’re all accustomed to the typical fundraising programming––galas, events, cold calling––but having a ‘donate now’ button on your website can help you reach diverse audiences and gain a new pool of donors. At ARTE, we work to engage young people, amplify their voices and help them organize for human rights change through the visual arts. To help them rise to the challenge, we have to remain flexible in the ways that we work.

To achieve our vision, we work not only with our students but with our donors, meaning we work both at grassroots and foundational levels. Donations help organizations like ours do the work they need to create a more just world. But, like so many others, we’re still up against limited bandwidth and budgets, so we were thrilled with the opportunity to work with Wix, the website development platform company, to redo our website through its Social Good Project at its Wix Design Playground in NYC.

We worked with the program’s students to create a strategy for increasing reach online and getting more people to donate. By including the button clearly on our site, we were able to create a simple call-to-action.

Tools to help nonprofits grow

Having an online presence is fundamental for nonprofit organizations. We are all attracting different stakeholders: donors, volunteers and recipients of our services. A website helps engage us with each stakeholder, while helping them easily understand the organization’s mission and culture. It also allows you to reach more people and create a connection, building an online community.

To get people to donate, make sure that the website enables them to easily do so. People are busy and anything that can delay a transaction can result in the most well-intentioned donor leaving. So, make sure to provide a process that is easy to understand, simple and quick.

Additionally, make the website informative enough that it keeps people coming back. That way, while some might not donate immediately, you can drive donations later by including a donate button in an email newsletter. This will also help readers continue to equate donations with the organization.

Donation button on your website

Connecting the donation button to your nonprofit’s bank account is the first and best option, since it eliminates third-party fees and expenses. However, third parties can help to spread the word about your organization and better appeal to their audiences. Wix’s funding options allow us to do both, enabling direct donations, as well as going through PayPal Donations, which connects directly to our PayPal account.

Using trusted merchant services to accept donation payments is crucial because it gives donors a sense of security when making donations to our organizations. Depending on the type of nonprofit, it may be wise to also use crowdfunding and social media donation buttons. Donors can more easily recognize these brands and trust them.

While Paypal is our go-to, there are also different donation buttons that suit an organization’s needs. Fundly, for example, is a great crowdfunding donation tool, particularly for collecting a lot of small donations. Other good tools include Double the Donation, a matching gifts donation button, and a verified button, which helps secure the organization and its donors.

Like galas, fundraisers and community activities, a website is a way to connect with your audience. Make sure it’s updated to modern standards, so you don’t lose the ability to continue the important work your nonprofit is completing.

If you are tasked with finding a good online giving service for your nonprofit, you will quickly realize that under the surface, online giving is not as simple as the sales sites might lead you to believe.

What might seem like a good rate might in fact be a tiered rate your actual donations may not qualify for. The sales site may look nothing like the product itself. And the actual experience of donors is often overlooked amidst all the bulleted lists of features, options, and glowing promises.

Fortunately, in the maze of online giving, there’s a place nonprofits can turn to for help.

Consider the OnlineGivingGuide.com your tour guide for the online giving universe. Filled with humorous cartoons and cutting insight, it lays out the features shoppers should seek in a service—and offers cautionary tips on the deceptive practices some platforms use.

Here are three main steps we gleaned from the guide:

STEP 1: Find the right fit

There are innumerable options when it comes to selecting an online giving site. From industry giants such as Blackbaud and the various online properties of Ministry Brands (like easyTithe, eGiving.com, and Kindrid) to innovative competitors like Givingtools.com, nonprofits have an assortment of electronic giving platforms to choose from.

How can you find the one that’s right for your nonprofit?

The Online Giving Guide lists three basic considerations for shoppers to ponder before making a selection:

The sales site: Don’t be fooled by aesthetically-pleasing online giving sites. After all, they’re often crafted by web design teams – not the folks who built the actual product. Look beyond a giving platform’s virtual appearance to ensure its modern look isn’t masking a terrible product.

The interface: Experiment with a platform’s interface to test its capabilities across multiple platforms. It should work as flawlessly on a smartphone as it does on a desktop, and look nice on a variety of window and screen sizes. Can donors give to multiple appeals with a single checkout? Do they need a password before they give for the first time?

The processor: This plays a significant role in determining an online giving service’s rates and features. Look for a processor with a strong track record of successfully securing and handling funds. Look for 0% ACH and flat, affordable credit card rates. Even better, look for system that is open and allows you to plug in the processor you prefer.

STEP #2: Test the waters

Legitimate giving sites give potential clients an opportunity to try their services before committing to a product. With this in mind, shoppers are wise to engage in a trial run to determine whether a giving service’s features—and actual product experience—align with their needs.

Trial runs give nonprofits an opportunity to review necessary functionality before making a choice. When it comes down to deciding between two or three products, request a demo to address the following:

User friendliness: Navigate the site through the eyes of a donor looking to make a gift. Is this platform easy to use? Does it simplify the gift-giving process? If not, strike this option off your list.

Ease of administration: Evaluate the site from an administrative perspective, too, to ensure you’re happy with the ways in which your company can manage the platform.

Lingering issues: If questions arise as you demo a product, reach out to the company to have those inquiries addressed. This is the time to clear up any concerns or confusion you might have about a giving platform. Best to do this now before you—and your donors—are committed to a service you might not like.

STEP #3: Do the math

Online giving platforms offer a hefty return on investment. After all, the average online gift is $128. Moreover, online charity donations were expected to reach an astounding $31 billion last year. It’s a lucrative market, and one some online platforms are capitalizing on by charging hefty (sometimes hidden) costs and locking you in to a lengthy service term.

For instance, Gofundme.com takes a five percent cut of donations, on top of a 2.9 percent processing fee. It also charges $0.30 per donation. When all is tallied, a charity using the service pockets less than $118 of that aforementioned $128 donation.

Fortunately, not all services charge such astronomical fees. Some sites, such as Givingtools.com, pocket a significantly smaller portion of donations. Giving Tools hails itself as the least expensive giving system on the market, charging a 0% plus a small $0.25 flat fee for each donation. (Credit card processing fees are an additional 2.85%.)

OnlineGivingGuide.com offers a handy calculator that helps nonprofits determine the exact cost of using an online giving platform.

The popularity of online giving is growing at record speed; its year-over-year growth reached 23 percent last year. But with the increasing popularity of online giving come venture-capital-backed companies looking to cash in on the new fashion. Indeed, some companies like Ministry Brands own numerous processors: you might think you are looking at two services when in fact you are looking at two limbs of the same conglomerate.

When you’re shopping for an online giving platform, start with OnlineGivingGuide.com and follow the structured approach it presents. It’s rare to find an online resource this handy, humorous, and even-handed. Check it out today!

With the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) this year, nonprofits are steeling themselves for increased competition for decreased donations – an anticipated result of the change in charitable contribution deduction rules. Some nonprofits looking for an edge are exploring the option to accept cryptocurrency for donations. The most commonly referred to cryptocurrency is Bitcoin, but there are numerous currencies available. While adding this as an option for donors may increase the organization’s reach and its reputation for being on the leading edge, it comes with some cautions and important safeguards.

Should your nonprofit accept cryptocurrency donations? The answer is an emphatic “It depends.” Here are five things we believe nonprofits should take into consideration:

Volatility

Cryptocurrency values are highly volatile. For example, in February of this year, the value for Bitcoin reflected weekly returns of -10.4 percent and -6.1 percent before bouncing back with an increase of 29.1 percent, followed by -11.9 percent. That’s just four weeks of activity. There are many who are confident that cryptocurrency is here to stay, but at present, it seems that just as many believe that Bitcoin’s volatility is one of several indicators that the cryptocurrency is another “bubble” waiting to burst.

Regardless of what the future holds, this volatility creates a strong argument for nonprofits that decide to accept Bitcoin to have a third-party processor in place to immediately convert cryptocurrency donations to cash.

Opportunity

Even with its significant volatility, many people who have invested in cryptocurrency have become quite wealthy. According to Fortune Magazine (December 2017), a $100 investment in Bitcoin in 2010 was worth $28,341,266 as of December 2017. Many individuals who have profited from their cryptocurrency investments are looking for ways to support meaningful charitable causes while taking advantage of available tax deductions.

Allowed Purpose of Donations

Some organizations are choosing to use cryptocurrency donations as a strategic way to build and support technological innovation. For example, United Way Worldwide uses cryptocurrency donations to benefit their Innovation Fund. Other organizations accept cryptocurrency as donations to be used for the same overall mission and purposes as donations made with cash, credit card or stock. The Water Project was an early adopter among nonprofits and continues to accept and use cryptocurrency donations for their overall mission.

A Differentiator

While an increasing number of nonprofits are accepting cryptocurrency donations, it is not a widely accepted practice. As such, nonprofits could still use this as a differentiator in their appeal to donors, as long as they recognize and protect themselves against the volatility and take time to fully understand what cryptocurrency is and how it works. As a differentiator, it should not take the place of mission-specific stories, outreach and other methods that have been successful in the past.

The IRS Is Watching

While the focus of the IRS is on those who have directly invested in and reaped financial rewards from cryptocurrency, the long-term impact of the agency’s heightened engagement in this area could be a detriment to the appeal of cryptocurrency as an investment, the long-term wealth of cryptocurrency investors and ultimately nonprofits who may come to count on such donations. The caution? As always, don’t put all (or an overly significant) number of your donor eggs in one basket.

As with any new approach to receiving and handling donations that may impact your nonprofit, it is wise to seek the advice and counsel of those who understand your organization, its resources and the options you’re exploring. The list of considerations presented above is limited and provides only a basic overview of some key considerations. To implement cryptocurrency options for donors, legal and accounting advice coupled with access to experienced third-party processors are critical.

This new avenue for donors should be only one of many options your nonprofit explores as you seek to ensure you have the financial resources necessary to achieve your mission.