Innovative ways to fundraise: Creating a sense of belonging for your donors

With so many non-profits fundraising for causes and just as many willing donors, it has become imperative for non-profits to make sure that they continue adding to the new pool of donors and make sure their donors keep coming back.

To keep your donors coming back to you, it’s important to keep your non-profit on “top of mind” for your donors. It’s important for donors to feel a sense of belonging to the cause so they can continue to donate as well as champion for the cause. It’s always easier to attract donors who have had a personal connection to the cause – often the ones who come forward have first-hand experience with the cause themselves or through a family member. It’s difficult to attract donors who don’t have similar associations and they often tend to question the legitimacy of the non-profit or ask themselves if it’s a cause they really feel strongly about.

Non-profits have often tried to personalize their fundraising approach. Usually fundraising events are a platform for non-profits to engage potential donors and explain how every dollar donated is being spent. Obviously, this kind of outreach can’t be sustained as events cost money and don’t always reach out to everyone. Non-profits have also used direct marketing approach via postcards and literature about their causes.

Given the volume of postcards and handwritten notes that must be sent out, RST Marketing has created Real Pen, a product that can send out hundreds of “handwritten” notes for non-profits. Keith Kanode of RST Marketing says “I think if you can’t speak one on one with a donor, your next best option is a personalized, hand addressed-looking package.” Several other personalization strategies used by non-profits have ranged from activities such as marathons, bake sales and gift baskets, yet all these strategies are limiting and cannot be sustained for long-term fundraising.

Today, with a boom in social media and internet marketing, the personalized approach has been taken a step further. Companies like Fundly work with non-profit organizations to build their very own non-profit fundraising pages at no cost and also train them to leverage social media tools such as Facebook & twitter for their fundraising campaigns. Using the internet for fundraising not only reduces the cost of mailers & postcards that eventually get recycled, but most importantly allows non-profits to engage with new and current donors and keep track of all the donations coming in more effectively. Allowing the donor to research the cause, create their own donor profile and keep track of how their donation adds to the overall fundraising goal, gives them a sense of pride and belonging.

At the end of the day, making sure your donors feel good about what they have done to support your fundraiser will automatically translate into a loyal donor and more new donations.