how to crowdfund Archives

How to Fundraise Online Successfully in 2017

This entry is from our Expert Guest series where funding professionals share their best tips on fundraising tactics.

Raising money for a good cause online this year? Here is how to use digital tools, great content, and social media to help you take your fundraising game to the next level. Here’s to reaching those fundraising targets in 2017!

Set out your fundraising aims

Whether you’re an individual with a target to meet, or you are in charge of raising funds for a project – setting out clear goals and targets is step one of online fundraising.

Targets make donating more fun – online trackers and progress reports mean people can get involved in the project and see the amount climb higher and higher. Goals create momentum and drive, and will keep your campaign from stalling.
Select a fundraising goal that is realistic and specific – use something actionable and measurable as your target (building a new school, putting someone through college etc.). A target that’s too ambiguous or vague will struggle to attract committed donors.
Know when to push hard for the best results – most of online giving is concentrated around the year end. Factor in seasonality when mapping out fundraising targets.

Have a content strategy

In order to encourage people to donate and give generously – make sure you create content that gives them a reason to.

What kind of language should you use? It’s best to be clear, concise, and use emotive (but direct) language.

Blogging? Create a series of articles that explain why your cause is so important, and how people can get involved and help. Rather than focus on big picture stuff and the figures, zoom in on individual people and stories to have a more emotive impact.
On social? Mix up the content formats in order to connect with as many people as possible. Design suitable social graphics for maximum engagement and attention.
Emails? Learn how to grab people’s attention with your subject lines – that’s all you get sometimes.
Have an editorial calendar mapped out so that you can jump in on relevant seasonal events, awareness days, and hashtags. Great content comes from great planning.

Go down the crowdfunding route

What could be better than getting a whole online community behind your cause (and donating)?

Crowdfunding sites and platforms are the perfect way to raise money, and it’s a super easy way to encourage other people to get involved. The sites do all the hard work – you just have to make sure that your cause tells a compelling story.

Crowdfunding isn’t just for Silicon Valley startups – it’s the perfect nonprofit fundraising strategy. Focus on creating a really compelling value proposition and grabbing people’s attention.
Relationships matter – make sure you engage with donors and investors with personalized messages. Remember to thank donors after the dust has settled – share how the money made a difference.

Get everyone involved

Social media is an amazing online tool that allows you to create a virtual community around your cause. It’s also one of the best ways to harvest user-generated content for your nonprofit (who could forget all those priceless ice bucket videos)?

Use your social media channels as a place to engage with people, and share your progress with followers on a regular basis. Make social an integral part of your fundraising campaign.

Social is all about sharing, but don’t just settle for awareness (though that’s great too); be clear on the fact that you need actual funds to get this thing off the ground. Liking and sharing is easy – now you’ve got to make not donating hard.
Thank donors publicly on social media – it’s a great way to identify potential advocates.

Differentiate

A great way to create a buzz around your cause is to do something a bit different.

Whether you have a funny tale to tell, or a shock tactic video – getting people’s attention is half the online battle. Don’t expect (or count on) something that you do to go ‘viral’. Yes, some campaigns gain traction that way, but virality is hard to manufacture. Just focus on creating something shareable instead.
Videos and animations can really help you up your engagement levels, so don’t rule out video. Putting a video together isn’t as expensive as it used to be, and you can easily upload a campaign on a video sharing site like YouTube. YouTube for Nonprofits helps nonprofits collect donations straight from YouTube.
Urgency in the form of flash fundraising can encourage people to donate there and then. You might be better off investing in more frequent, shorter online campaign, rather than one that runs on and on.
Whatever method you go for, always have a clear call to action that connects with your cause. Keep it simple and direct.

Retail therapy

Give people options when they shop online – make donating to you more fun.

Shopping and giving to charity all in one go is the best kind of retail therapy. Ecommerce is a growing nonprofit income strategy – it’s easy to get set up with platforms like Shopify, and you can pretty much sell what you want (think branded tshirts, phone cases, greetings cards, chocolates, hampers etc.)
AmazonSmile is a great ecommerce fundraising option – Amazon donates a percentage of sales to people’s chosen charity. Get yours signed up today.
Online auctions are another great way to make fundraising more fun for donors – think of it as the logical evolution of the yard sale.
Make donations into meaningful gifts. Offer a generous thank you pack to encourage people to gift their donation.

Make it easy

Online fundraising is all about making things easier for nonprofits, fundraisers, and donors.

Collecting donations? Make sure users have a clear path to follow. Give them multiple ways to get involved (various amounts etc.), and don’t put people off with over complicated forms. Offer simple payment options and don’t ask for too much commitment too soon – it’s a conversion killer.
As well as making things easy, you need to build trust with online donors. They might never see you in person, so focus on building up their confidence. Always put your best foot forwards with great copy, messaging, and visuals. Don’t be sloppy – nonprofits should be just as brand proud as other companies. Include payment trust signals on your online payment portals. Reassure people about where their money is going.

Target advocates

In order for the word to spread online, you will need some high-profile advocates to share your content or fundraising page.

These advocates don’t have to be anyone new – it could be that a regular patron or trustee can lend their online brand to the cause. If you do need to find new cause advocates – start with bloggers who are likely to have a vested interest in your mission. Explain to them what you’re trying to achieve (and how they can help).
Look for people who have a sizeable online audience themselves. Anyone who donates or engages with the campaign – get talking to them – they might be your next advocate.
Donation matching is a great fundraising tactic that leverages another organization’s or individual’s public profile.

Embrace the digital world to help you fundraise better, but don’t forget the core ethics of accountability, transparency, and relationships. Online, your campaigns have the potential of reaching millions and changing lives, but don’t be disheartened if your achievements seem modest in comparison. It’s important to remain focused on what you do and keep doing it well – don’t always contrast and compare. What online resources have helped you fundraise?

Looking for a great tool for online fundraising? Plumfund offers free online crowdfunding opportunities.

Bio: Kayleigh Alexandra, Content Marketer & Startup Specialist

Passionate about writing for the startup and entrepren eurial audience, I have recently been part of setting up an exciting project at MicroStartups.org. We donate all our website profits to charities that help people reach their full potential. Find out more on Twitter.

3 Easy Ways Nonprofits Can Raise More Money with Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding, or any form of group fundraising, has been around for decades. The term used to refer to startups and entrepreneurs looking for investors (à la Shark Tank). More recently, online crowdfunding sites like Plumfund have erupted in popularity.

These fundraising pages allow individuals and organizations to create an online giving campaign where friends and supporters can pay right on the page using the site’s credit card processor. Because of its accessibility and ease of use, online crowdfunding has become popular amongst individuals raising money for personal causes such as medical funds, home renovations, honeymoons, celebrations and more.

It’s more important than ever for nonprofits and charities—organizations that follow traditional event fundraising models—to capitalize on these new revenue opportunities.

In 2015, the crowdfunding industry raised $34.4B, and 30 percent went to social causes. The World Bank estimates crowdfunding will reach a whopping $90B by 2017 if it continues growing at its current rate. Needless to say, the iron is hot!

Crowdfunding is goal-specific, fast-paced and fun. Could your nonprofit benefit from the trend?

Crowdfunding for Nonprofits

Here are 3 quick ways nonprofit organizations can use crowdfunding to raise more for their causes.

1. Create project-specific goals

Crowdfunding is perfectly suited to project-based, short-term goals. People looking to make a powerful, immediate impact with their dollars may even be more willing to give to crowdfunding campaigns than a general monthly fund. Here’s a few timely projects your organization can consider:

Seasonal or milestone fund: A winter holiday giving campaign is a mainstay for many charities, but you can center campaigns around other special milestones as well. Think anniversaries, organization milestones, election campaigns, big sporting events, municipal holidays and more) year-round. Make an annual giving campaign more dynamic by adding crowdfunding to the mix.

Emergency relief fund: Perhaps sudden flooding has caused damage to your building and suspended operations. Or your city is experiencing extreme weather, and your organization wants to provide shelter, medical services and hot/cold beverages to the elderly and people without homes. Create a site demonstrating the urgent need using dollar and time specific goals (i.e. “Will you help us raise $10,000 in the next 2 weeks to provide shelter for 100 families?”).

Note: If your nonprofit holds fundraising events, you’ll notice that crowdfunding sites follow the same principles of an in-person Fund a Need or Cash Appeal. For example, if you’re raising money to fund a certain piece of equipment or program that costs $1,000, you’re already familiar with the strategies behind project-specific crowdfunding campaigns.

Expert tip: Want to run a successful Fund-a-Need at your next event fundraiser? Click here to try out Checklist Builder, a charity event organizer created by our friends at Winspire.

2. Utilize social media

Crowdfunding platforms let you engage new donors, educate them on your cause and extract more funds for your mission.

Remember the viral “ice bucket challenge” of 2014? The ALS Association successfully raised $115 million in 8 weeks—including countless donors who had never heard of ALS before.

How were they able to strike crowdfunding gold?

First, they used a completely unique – and fun – idea. (See: America’s Funniest Home Videos’ “Ice Bucket Fails” compilation.) Never before had we been challenged to either dunk ourselves with a bucket of cold water and/or donate $100 to ALS. The challenge expertly tapped into people’s competitive and social nature.

They also kept the ask level relatively low. The challenge was as much about raising awareness as raising critical dollars for ALS research. While $100 was recommended, people were free to complete the challenge and give as much or as little as they wanted. Even those who weren’t able to donate could feel good about being part of the ripple effect.

More importantly, the challenge tapped into the viral nature of social media in a way we have not seen before or since. What nonprofits can do to expand their reach online:

Create a sense of community. Crowdfunding sites make donors feel like they’re contributing to a bigger purpose. They can read comments from backers around the world and leave their own mark on the cause. This can create a very powerful connection with each donor.

Get the support of a few key donors (even if there’s just a few!). It takes just a few clicks for supporters to share a crowdfunding site link with multiple social networks. With the power of social media, you never know how far the right campaign could spread.

Offer customizable giving options. Let donors decide how much they want to give, and emphasize that no donation is too small – every dollar counts. This will encourage more people to give and share freely.

3. Tell your story

The ability to customize text and host visuals to tell the unique story of your organization is a huge advantage of crowdfunding sites

Visuals: Make sure they’re high quality and impactful. Keep videos short (under 2 minutes) and simple.

Written stories and testimonials: Stories must be concise an
d urgent with a clear beginning, middle and conclusion. Quotes from beneficiaries of your services, statistics and stories of change are all great options to feature on your site.

For more practical tips on telling your nonprofit’s story, see “The Power of Storytelling During Nonprofit Events.”

Encourage supporters to become “evangelists” for your cause by creating their own sites. Facebook, for example, has a new feature, “Fundraisers,” that will allow people to raise money for their favorite nonprofits (501(c)(3) organizations in the U.S. that have registered with Facebook for this purpose). Many other crowdfunding sites will allow supporters to create their own personal fundraising pages.

Two common uses of personal fundraising pages:

Celebrations. Special occasions where we typically give gifts, like birthdays and weddings, are the perfect opportunity to highlight charitable causes. Studies show millennials in particular are growing tired of having more “stuff” and want to make a difference in the world. Make it easy by providing a default description of your organization on these sites.

Team and peer-to-peer fundraising events. This works great for 5K runs, relays, walk-a-thons and other events in which participants are raising money for a goal. Teammates and participants write about their personal connection to the cause, upload pictures and share the link on social networks and by email. The more personal the ask, the higher the likelihood friends and family will give.

Choose the crowdfunding platform that’s right for you

Stick to crowdfunding sites designed specifically to help nonprofits raise money. In addition, find a nonprofit crowdfunding site that allows customizability, but still a user-friendly, sleek and professional template to save you time.

The site should make it very easy to accept donations. Check if they charge for creating campaigns; some (like Plumfund) are free to host and only charge a processing fee on credit card donations (typically around 3%). Finally, the site must have ample options for sharing via social media.

To find the best fit for your organization, take advantage of the free trial period most sites offer.

Bottom line: Crowdfunding need not replace normal fundraising activities like annual events. Instead, online crowdfunding can become part of your development strategy year-round. When used correctly, project-specific and timely crowdfunding campaigns can amplify event revenue to record-breaking heights.

Today’s blog comes to you from Summy at Winspire, a provider of unique, big-ticket travel packages charities can use in their fundraising auctions and raffles. As Fundraising Editor, Summy brings hands-on experience in nonprofit development, event fundraising and publishing to their blog, Winspire News. Click here to sign up for weekly articles, time-saving templates and other resources designed to help organizations meet and exceed their fundraising goals. (As an added bonus, you’ll be entered to win over $1,000 in donated auction items for use in your next fundraiser!)