Tips for a Successful Online Nonprofit Fundraiser

Ilia Jones | April 2021

Tips for a Successful Online Nonprofit Fundraiser

If the COVID pandemic has made anything clear, it’s that the internet is valuable for reaching out to others. But for nonprofits, raising funds online still creates a few hurdles. There’s an art to asking for funds online, whether you’re reaching out via social media, email, or your organization’s website.

Even after in-person events resume, online fundraising can be a valuable way to get the word out to large groups of people at once. Here are some tips to help boost success rates for your future fundraisers.

Make participation easy

The best thing you can do to maximize your success rates is to make it easy for people to support you. If someone wants to volunteer, how do they sign up? If they go to your nonprofit’s website, can they find information on that? The same goes for donations. If you’re having a fundraising drive, potential donors should have an easy way to get the money to you.

Setting up a website for giving is only the first step, though. Little things like suggesting an amount and making it easy for donors to share news of their donation can make a big difference. You can also give donors the option of making a recurring payment or future donation to your cause.

Share results

Your supporters want to do more than hand over money. Showing them where their funds are going can really make a big difference. Regularly share pictures in email and social media of your fundraiser’s efforts. You can also use video to get that message across.

Another way to invest supporters in your organization is to ask them to share visuals of their own interactions with your nonprofit. If they purchased a product, encourage them to share photos of themselves with it and tag you. When you have an event, create a hashtag for the event and invite people to share photos and videos of themselves with their own online followers.

Host online events

Events don’t have to be in person, even outside of a pandemic. Using Zoom, Skype, or one of the many other tools out there, you can host a virtual event for your nonprofit. It does take a little planning, but you may find that you’re getting better results when people don’t have to get dressed and leave the house to support your cause.

virtual-event-party

You can do standard meetings and conferences, of course, but there are also some innovative ways to take real-world events to an online space, including:

  • Movie-watching parties
  • Gala dinners
  • Auctions
  • Marathons
  • Book clubs
  • Game nights

Basically, if you regularly held an event in person, think of ways you can move it online. Next time you’re hosting an in-person event, look for ways you can loop at-home attendees into the festivities. If you can stream the event and expand the number of participants, you’ll bring in even more money and keep more supporters engaged in the work of your nonprofit.

Whether you’re holding events, hosting a fundraising drive, or a combination of both, the internet can be a great way to expand your reach so that you bring more money in. ArcStone specializes in helping nonprofits take their marketing efforts to the next level. For more information on how ArcStone can help you with your online fundraising, visit ArcStone’s Online Events page.

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