3 Lessons Learned From the Biggest Online Fundraising Campaigns

Online fundraising has been around for several years now and the time and analysis that has gone into experimenting with the best practices is monumental. In this billion dollar nonprofit industry, thousands of charities delve into the internet pool to connect with potential donors and supporters. Some have had good results, others have stagnated, while a rare few have soared to superstardom by raising millions of dollars. What discrepancies are found between these groups and what can you do to be on the higher end of the fundraising list?

Balance Your Time

Many organizations start off a project or campaign with a bang and then within a few months the dedication and persistency seem to fizzle out. What started out as weekly e-mails, monthly mailers, and intriguing hooks on Twitter slowly start to decrease into nonexistence. One major cause of this decline is not from lack of desire or commitment, but from being overwhelmed with multiple projects; most staff members are overextended and can’t address every issue that is placed in their in box.

Just as there is a food pyramid dictating your intake of fruits, vegetables, proteins, and carbohydrates, so should nonprofits create a time pyramid balancing input verse output. While all of your tasks feel important, how many are truly necessary? When you’re doing too many projects, very rarely can you do any of them well. When you’re creating your development and marketing time pyramids, consider how much time you should spend on donor events, online fundraising, donor appreciation, and supporter recruitment. What is the cost of your time, energy, and financial investment in relation to your return? All of these areas are important to regulate, but all of the projects that are created to nurture these areas are not all equal.

Test Your Key Issues

Your donors obviously care about your mission or they wouldn’t donate to your cause. However, every nonprofit has sub-sets of issues within your cause that appeal to different donors. Test which projects and areas appeal most to your donors. Are you a symphony? Maybe your donors are more interested in contributing to young musicians getting their start or they may be fond of supporting musicians putting on school assemblies for children. Are you a pet shelter? See if your supporters donate more to causes pertaining to animal rescues as compared to community adoption days. Experiment to see what hot topics your donors are most tuned in to.

Highlighting key issues that are in the forefront of the media is also a great way to tap into new donors and hang on to current supporters. The greater variety of topics you touch upon, the more likely you are to hit on an issue that touches more donors.  Upload great pictures and a heartwarming story next to your donate button on your webpage and you’ve got an excellent foundation for increased funding.

Diversify Your Marketing

Just as each donor is unique, so is their preferred method of giving and how they communicate with your organization. The older generation tends to respond to the traditional methods of direct mail campaigns and volunteer call lists. The younger generation is glued to Social Media and their cell phone. Some like to read e-newsletters once a week. Others like updates once a month or once a quarter.  Too many letters or Tweets can be a turn-off to some donors who may feel overwhelmed. Too little communication and you’re out of sight, out of mind.

Bottom line: determine who your donors are and ask how they would like to connect with your nonprofit. Take a poll. Base your mailers on donor giving levels. Keep track of comments and giving based on how many posts you publish. Yes, this takes a lot of work and time, but what you invest now with bring invaluable information later.