As a nonprofit leader, you’re no stranger to the demand for creative tactics to engage donors online. Attention spans when using a digital device have plummeted by 66% over the past two decades, and the competition online for donors’ focus is ever-increasing with the growing amount of digital content.
Clever communication strategies and marketing efforts are a great start, but they can be ineffective if they promote stale fundraising campaigns. That’s why your nonprofit needs to infuse its fundraising strategy with creative ideas!
Let’s review the top digital fundraising campaign ideas that your donors won’t be able to ignore!
1. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
A peer-to-peer fundraising campaign allows your supporters to fundraise on behalf of your cause by creating their own donation pages and sharing them with their personal networks. As Cornershop Creative explains, the benefits of this campaign are two-fold: it brings in significant funding for your cause and introduces your mission to new groups of potential supporters.
Here’s how it works:
- Your nonprofit recruits supporters to fundraise on your behalf
- Participants create donation pages branded to your nonprofit
- Your team provides guidance on campaign messaging and answers participants’ questions
- Participants share their donation pages with their personal networks
- Your nonprofit monitors the campaign’s success using peer-to-peer fundraising software
And that’s it! In addition to generating revenue and cause awareness, this type of digital fundraising campaign is also easy to manage. Your nonprofit may choose to take extra steps, like training participants beforehand and incorporating gamification elements to motivate fundraisers throughout the campaign. However, this campaign remains relatively low-effort on your nonprofit’s part.
2. Virtual Challenges
Virtual challenges are online events that involve participants completing an activity. Your nonprofit raises funds through registration fees, milestone donations, or pledges, while participants raise awareness for your cause by publicly sharing their progress.
Social media channels are a particularly powerful platform for hosting these challenges, since their inherent sharing power helps maximize the donations you can collect. For example, if you’ve ever researched Facebook for nonprofits, you know that the social media channel offers fundraising tools to help organizations collect donations directly through the platform. When participants share your challenge, their Facebook friends will get involved and tell their friends, and so on.
A well-known example of this type of campaign is the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, which raised $115 million when social media users worldwide posted videos of themselves dumping buckets of ice-cold water on their heads and challenging their friends to do the same. Those funds were invested in ALS research and care for people living with the disease.
3. Online Merchandise Sales
Branded merchandise is not only a fundraising source but a promotional tool, since donors who wear or use items displaying your nonprofit’s branding will act as mobile ambassadors for your organization. Plus, selling merchandise provides a steady stream of income without the need to plan and execute a formal fundraising event or campaign.
Create an online store where you can sell items such as:
- T-shirts
- Tote bags
- Water bottles
- Mugs
- Hats
- Stickers or decals
The best place to host your online store is your nonprofit’s website. Straightforward donation options are a key component of strong websites, and a web store where donors can easily add items to their cart incentivizes giving by offering something tangible in exchange for their donation.
4. Email Drip Campaign
An email drip campaign is a series of automated emails sent to people triggered by their interactions with your organization or a predetermined, time-based schedule. These emails enable your nonprofit to engage donors, nurture relationships with them over time, and encourage them to take specific actions, like donating or signing up for an event.
To craft emails that resonate with your audience, be sure to:
- Segment donors and tailor emails to their preferences and interests
- Use stories to grab your audience’s attention
- Incorporate clear calls to action (CTAs) that urge donors to continue their involvement
- Provide regular impact updates using data and testimonials
As you develop your email drip campaign, test different versions of your emails through A/B testing to see which ones perform better with your audience. Based on the results, you can adjust your email subject lines, CTAs, and other content to refine future emails.
5. eCard Campaign
An eCard campaign is a fundraising initiative in which supporters send electronic greeting cards to their personal networks in exchange for a donation to your nonprofit. This way, your nonprofit raises funds by selling eCards and gets its brand in front of an entirely new audience of your supporters’ friends, family members, and colleagues.
To create eCards that excite your supporters, consider:
- Using a timeless design: Kwala’s graphic design guide explains that timeless images and fonts don’t have to be frequently updated, unlike designs that follow current trends. This way, your nonprofit can create a catalog of fun eCards and sit back while donors send them!
- Including personalization options: While your team can likely come up with top-tier eCard designs, donors will want to add their personal touch before sending them! Allow them to personalize elements such as the photos included or the message on the card to give the sender more ownership over the experience.
- Promoting them on your website: Whether you use WordPress or Drupal or simply let a professional web designer handle your nonprofit’s site, you must prioritize making your eCards accessible. Ensure they function smoothly on desktop and mobile devices, and make it easy for donors to purchase and customize them online.
Once you’ve developed a catalog of eCards, use your marketing channels to spread the word about them. You can add a sense of urgency to the campaign by promoting eCards tied to specific dates, such as upcoming holidays or dates related to your mission. For example, this could include an eCard celebrating your nonprofit’s anniversary or an important date related to your mission.
With the right digital fundraising campaigns in your nonprofit’s back pocket, you’ll be able to engage donors in the present and retain their support over the long term. As a result, they’ll come back for all your future campaigns and might even bring their friends, too!
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Ira Horowitz
With 15 years’ experience, Ira is an expert in nonprofit online communications and online fundraising. His work has resulted in increased funds and resounding supporter engagement for hundreds of organizations.
Ira oversees our project management team and works with clients to provide our clients with the best possible final product. He also manages all of our strategic engagements and helps guide nonprofits to determine their long-term strategy goals for online communications.
