Fundraising is a vital activity for charities and nonprofit organizations. It’s what enables you to get the funds you need to stay afloat and work towards achieving all the goals you’re aiming for. Yet, raising money can also be a very tricky task to get right. With that in mind, here are six top tips to help you make your next fundraising drive a roaring success.
1. Have a Clear Purpose
When you ask people for money, they understandably want to know exactly what you’re going to spend it on. It’s helpful to have a very clear and specific goal here, to show supporters that you have an achievable plan that will make a difference in the world. For example, ‘help animals’ is too vague. Instead, say something like ‘build an animal shelter for 100 cats and dogs’ or ‘equip every fire truck in the country with an oxygen mask for pets’. Then you can follow up after the campaign and show how your goal has been achieved.
2. Make It Interactive
People are much more likely to get involved with a fundraiser and donate money if there is a fun and interactive element to it. Famous campaigns, such as the Ice Bucket Challenge and Movember, are proof of this. Even simple tactics, such as having a hashtag and asking people to post a certain type of photo on Instagram (like the no-makeup selfies) can help to spread the word and encourage engagement.
3. Outsource the Admin
Running a successful fundraising campaign requires a lot of work. Therefore, if your charity only has a small team, you might find it helpful to outsource some of the admin. For instance, a company, such as www.woodsvalldata.co.uk, can take care of processing the responses to your campaign while you focus on raising awareness via media interviews. This frees up more time for you to work towards achieving your goal.
4. Tell a Story
Storytelling is one of the most effective strategies you can harness in a fundraising campaign. As an example, by focusing on one individual, you make it easier for people to relate to your campaign. Even if your goal is to help lots of people, focusing on a specific person to illustrate this can be extremely powerful and move supporters on a more personal level.
5. Know Your Audience
Having a target audience in mind for your campaign can be a big help. Think about the type of person who might donate to your cause. What social media platforms do they use? What newspapers do they read? What websites do they visit? This kind of information can make it easier to tailor your message and choose where will be most effective to advertise your campaign.
6. Make It Easy for People to Give
If you want people to donate money, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to do so. That means having a nice big ‘donate’ button on your website, making your donation page optimized for use on cellphones and tablets, and not requiring people to input too much information before they can give.
