Ideas for Fundraising to Put Some Heat Behind Summer Donations

Summer is undoubtedly one of the slowest times of year for fundraising; between expensive vacations and the distractions of having the kids home from school, many organizations struggle to have the same fundraising success that they find throughout most of the year. Here are some ways to conquer those summertime blues using online fundraising.

DO keep your social media schedule

Just because your donors may be slowing down a bit in the heat of summer doesn’t mean that you should. Keep posting your blogs, writing on Facebook, and sending out Tweets. Many people are taking time off of work which means that they are spending more time on their computer reading e-mails and commenting back on social networking sites.

If you don’t have a schedule in place yet for your online activity, create one. At least once a week consider posting a story or update on Facebook and a few times a week create Tweets about an interesting statistic or news story pertaining to your cause. You may also want to send out an e-newsletter quarterly.

DON’T neglect your donor relationships

As I’ve said, many people take vacation days off during the summer months to spend with their kids. This is the perfect chance to nurture a partnership with your supporters or potential donors through creating family activities. Plan a picnic, volunteer day, concert in the park, art fair, or any other event that can include the whole family. Long-term donations are built on relationships and involving children is an investment in your organization’s future.

Many teenagers these days also have Facebook accounts and e-mails and would love to hear from you. When they volunteer or attend a fun event, they really feel like they are a part of your organization’s community.

One more idea on this point: kids are bored during summer and parents are looking for ways to get them out of the house. Maybe a day camp, art lessons, or painting your offices could bridge this gap. Kids love to feel important and involved in making a difference. They also love to brag about what they’ve done. Imagine the publicity online and through texting that one teenager could contribute (plus you’ll make a ton of donor parents happy and invested in your organization.)

DO plan for the future

Depending on your type of organization, work may be a little slow right now. If you are an after school program, you probably have the summer off. Homeless shelters also have less clientele in the warm weather. This is the opportune time to plan for those busy holiday months. Research what other organizations have done by using Google searches, posting questions on LinkedIn, or conducting an online poll using Facebook. How can you get the most bang for your buck with holiday fundraising? What marketing tools can you fabricate now so that you won’t be rushed during your busy season?

You may also want to compile data pertinent to your charity through conducting A/B testing. Basically, create two different campaigns with singular varying factors to determine which gets the better response. After this initial mailer or web traffic, you assess which got the better result and go that route for future campaigns.
These slower months are a great time to do the things you wish you could the rest of the year including analysis, brainstorming, and data collection.

DON’T stop learning about online fundraising

It seems like every day there is something new to be learned on the internet. Why not play around on your social networking sites or check out some tutorials on YouTube? Look up video seminars on fundraising that you may have missed or browse through popular fundraising websites such as mashable.com, thefundraisingauthority.com, and charitystar.org. Online fundraising seems to be an ever evolving platform and there are hundreds of new ideas out there to try. Every campaign is an experiment to see what works for your specific group of donors. Who couldn’t use new ideas?