Effective fundraising events can be expensive and time-consuming. There are so many small details to plan out. From ticketing and registration to managing guests, organizations have a lot on their plates.

Luckily, fundraising platforms can help you greatly! These solutions were created to streamline the efforts non-profits have while planning social events and make it easier for them to focus on their core competency: raise money to various causes. Here are 10 ways that fundraising systems can help your organization with your next event:
 
1.  Choosing the right event:
When selecting the type of event, you should take your organization’s cause, goals, and resources into consideration. However, you should also think about the interests of your supporter base, since they will be the ones attending the event. And a fundraising platform can help you get a detailed look into your supporters’ preferences.

If it’s a cause they’re interested in, they’re more likely to attend!
 
2. Creating event workflows:
Having so many tasks to keep track of can make it challenging to get things organized and assuring everything gets done at the right time. It’s especially easy to overlook small tasks or repeat them if there isn’t a centralized system in place to keep everyone on track. Not only this could be a huge waste of time, but also money.

That is why fundraising software solves this problem by offering nonprofits that centralized platform where they can create specific workflows to plan out every step of the process and keep everyone in the loop.

This kind of solution gives everyone access to the same information, so everyone will always be on the same page.
 
3. Inviting the right people:
Even though you’d probably want to invite your entire base to your event, filtered lists oftentimes have a much more significant result in terms of fundraising.

Fundraising platforms can really come in handy for those times where you need to target your event to a specific group.

That way you can keep the members that fit your criteria up-to-date without risking inadvertently annoying supporters to whom this information doesn’t apply.
 
4. Sending invites:
With a platform like this, the process of sending out invites a whole lot easier, too. No matter how your nonprofit chooses to send out invites, the fundraising platform will have features in place to help.

If your platform also has an email marketing functionality, you can take your guest list an extra step and approach your invitees with email campaigns!
 
5. Online registrations:
Attendees and volunteers will be the two critical groups that will impact the success of your event. It’s crucial to make sure they participate by making sign-up easy and as convenient as possible. One of the best ways to do so is by providing online volunteer sign-up and event registration forms.

Software tailored for NPOs will come with online donation capability, where organizations can build online donation pages, and create customized sign-up and registration forms branded to their events.
 
6. Managing your guest list with ease:
With a fundraising solution, your organization will no longer have to spend the time manually inserting attendee information. Once supporters have registered online to attend your event, their data will automatically be saved in the software.
 
7. Selling gifts:
Selling products is an excellent way to raise more funds and get people excited to attend your event.

With a fundraising platform, selling merchandise is much more manageable. The best solutions should allow organizations to create online product catalogs so people can easily buy them online.
 
8. Enabling mobile giving:
With a mobile-friendly platform, attendees will be able to promptly donate at your event wherever they are by simply accessing the mobile version of your donation page! 

Remember, when it’s suitable, donors will be more likely to contribute.
 
9. Complementing your event with a peer-to-peer campaign:
P2P campaigns mobilize donors to fundraise on behalf of organizations by requesting donations from their peers. They’re an excellent technique to expand your supporter base and increase your fundraising donations.
 
It might seem difficult to organize a base of fundraisers but, with the right peer-to-peer platform, it’s not. With this online solution, fundraisers can build personalized donation pages that can be branded to your organization, making it easy to process donations and oversee fundraisers’ efforts.

These solutions also provide social sharing so that supporters can request donations from their friends on social media.
 
10. Automating receipts and follow up messages:
Once your event is over, it’s essential to follow up with your attendees and acknowledge their contributions. To do so, you’ll need to send them a thank you message and a donation receipt.
‘Thank you’ or follow-up letters are important because they make supporters feel appreciated, which is a crucial part of the stewardship process. Now, receipts are not just important, but they’re also often necessary, especially for tax purposes.

Online donation and mobile giving platforms can help enormously because they automate the sending out process, right after the donation is made.
 

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Bottom line, a powerful fundraising software will make planning and executing social events a much simpler process for nonprofit organizations. The solution can streamline many of your event planning by centralizing your efforts. It’s also easier to collect donor data because all sources are tracked in one place. That way, you’ll get deeper insights into your donors, so your next event will be even more informed and successful!

Whether your nonprofit is small and is just starting in the fundraising sector, you’re probably looking for different ways to ask for donations. Technology and the internet have enabled nonprofits to ask for contributions in a variety of ways.
If you’re looking for some ways to ramp up your fundraising strategies, we have some smart ideas that will help your organization in new, creative ways.
 
1. Ask for Donations on Social Media
While your nonprofit may have to compete with your donors’ friends’ updates and their engagement photos, you can start using social media to solicit donations from your followers.
One way you can start raising more money is to use it as a place to link donors to your online donation page. You shouldn’t be making donation requests within every single post, but you can encourage followers to contribute by posting a status with an interesting image at least every week.

And just as a bonus, your nonprofit will likely gain more followers when you ask for donations on social media. Provide them ways to share their contribution with their friends, and you’ll probably see an increase in your post reach.

Social media fundraising is on the rise. Make sure you use these tools!
 
2. Ask for Donations via SMS
People use their cell phones for everything these days, and your nonprofit should take advantage of text-to-give technology.

Text-to-give campaigns were made accessible in 2010, and now nonprofits can make use of this technology, allowing donors to quickly contribute.
 
3. Ask for Donations at Fundraising Events
Ok, so fundraising events aren’t exactly the newest ways to ask for donations, but your nonprofit can still get creative with your activities and encourage supporters to donate to your cause.

Fundraising events are an excellent way for your donors to interact with one another and with members of your NPO. Not only can these events serve as fantastic social opportunities, but they are also perfect for your nonprofit to raise some extra money.
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Whether you’re hosting a charity race or a gala for a museum, using fundraising events as a way to ask for donations can be a great way to generate more funds for your organization.
In addition to your standard event fundraising strategies, you can implement a text-to-give campaign during your fundraiser or have a designated table set up where people can donate.

​Planning doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. It does, however, require some serious thought, especially when it comes to planning your next fundraising structure. If you can answer the following questions, you’re in the path of having your best fundraising year ever!
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1. How much money does your nonprofit organization need?

It’s critical to set up a specific goal for your fundraising plan. There's no such thing as “we just want to raise more money,.” After all, how much is ‘more money’? The smartest way to come up with the amount your organization needs to raise is first to understand the goals you’d like to achieve with the donation and then figure out how much that will cost. That specific amount will be your fundraising goal! 
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2. Where will the donation come from?

Will it be from different individuals? Or perhaps a few foundations? Events? Firstly, you’ll need a mix of various revenue sources to ensure your organization’s financial health.  That’s why you’ll need to determine where and from whom the money will come from BEFORE setting up your goal and diversify the sources as much as you can. For example, if all your revenue comes from one grant and something happens to that one revenue stream, you’ll find yourself struggling. 
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3. Who to ask?

The golden rule here is: be specific. Creating lists of current and potential donors to ask works enormously. By the way, this works best if you’re using a good donor tracking software. It’s unrealistic to expect the entire community to support your organization’s cause. The right approach is to target current donors, lost donors, and warm leads. 
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4. When to ask?

A calendar that includes grant/events deadlines, appeals, etc. will give you a complete overview. You can start with the hard deadlines and then add event and requests, newsletters, etc. This will help you quickly visualize what’s happening and when. An important tip: be sure to space out your ‘Donation Requests’ and include some personalized touches to ensure you aren’t always showing up in the mailbox/inbox with your hand out, asking for money.
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5. How to ask?

This is crucial, and you really need to think through the amount you’ll ask your donors in advance. An excellent way to start is by making a list of what you need: How much will it cost you to achieve your goal? What equipment will you be needing? The more clearly you know what you need, the easier the ‘Request’ is, mainly when it represents something tangible. 
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 6. How to follow up on a gift?

In order to decide how to follow up on your donors, firstly, you’ll need to define a way of thanking them after they contribute to your cause and, consequently, engage them into a relationship with your organization. You’ll want to have this all planned out in advance so it can happen shortly after they give. Another action that needs to take place right after a donation is the sending of the donation receipt. Keep in mind that thanking donors is critical to your fundraising success. 

Once you have the answers to these six questions, you’ll have the foundation for your fundraising campaign. You can use this guide for all campaigns you might create, knowing that you’ll be ready for a successful year.

1. Train your fundraisers:
The most important thing to keep in mind when running a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign is that you need to train your volunteers. Most of them won’t have extensive experience fundraising for a cause, so they’ll need some guidance as to the best practices and resources they can adopt.

Hold a training session, online “how-to” sessions, offer resources to read, and/or make your staff available for any questions that may arise.
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2. Ongoing support:
Even once your volunteers’ individual campaign pages have been launched, you should continue providing ongoing support to your fundraisers in case any questions or concerns arise. Doing so will help you continue maximizing your fundraising potential and, more importantly, show them that they’re valuable to your campaign.

3. Use games:
While motivation can be kept up by offering support and encouragement, there are many other methods you can incorporate to maximize your campaign’s fundraising potential and keep everyone engaged.
Gaming techniques are effective ways to encourage and even incentive your supporters to put in as much effort as possible.
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4. Create an event:
One of the most important things to remember about peer-to-peer fundraising is its versatility. When you put on a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, it can work well as a lead-up to an event. Both online fundraising (the peer-to-peer fundraising campaign) and offline fundraising (the physical event) can draw attention to your nonprofit and boost your visibility in the greater community.

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The Bottom Line

Peer-to-peer fundraising is an essential fundraising method that can make a huge impact on your nonprofit’s overall strategy. Train your fundraisers, offer them ongoing support, encourage them to continue their hard work, and round it all out with an outstanding event!

Remember: real, flesh and bone people are at the end of your campaigns and all fundraising marketing activities. That’s why authenticity is critical when promoting social causes.

Approaching major donors means giving them a name, a face, and a purpose.
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Chances are your best supporters are already in your list. That is why most NPOs solicit a group of donors that could affect their organization immensely. These are your fundraisers. You need to target this group to maximize their already proven desire to give. They’re your biggest advocates!

Analyze your campaigns, identify donors who give annually and at more significant amounts. Define and specify their trends for giving and their involvement in the nonprofit community. Check who are the donors who’re capable of doing more and put them into your prospect pipeline.

Another essential aspect is analyzing your donation program. Approaches that attract small donations rarely translate into large ones. The main reason is that they lack time to build trust between you and your supporter. To cultivate significant contributions is very similar to developing a friendship: it requires sensibility. These bonds relationships with 2-way communication. Good friends know how to communicate and enjoy helping each other. With that in mind, finding supporters suited to this type of relationship requires following the fundraising cycle:
 
Identification: This stage is where you’ll spot individuals in existing lists and campaign results. You could also reach out into the community to identify philanthropists and benefactors.

Qualification: Qualify your leads regarding their mission goals, and ensure they have shown a willingness to give and support your cause, have previous nonprofit involvement, and a frequency of donating.

Nurturing: Invite a prospect to a tour on your organization, to an event or a social gathering. Tailor the experience to their specific interests, and provide them first-hand access to see your work.

Solicitation: This is a real balancing act. Experienced Development Officers will rely on the organic process of nurturing. If the previous step well performed, you might not need to ask at all.

Maintenance: It’s an ongoing process. It’s important to show your donors that you appreciate their help and the impact it will have on your organization. The main goal is to bring them closer to your mission.

However, friendships take time to solidify. Most NPOs report an 18 – 24 month period for significant donations. The secret here is to demonstrate that you can be trusted and relied upon.

Now, more than ever, NPOs need to use every tool at their disposal to raise donations, but making an online fundraising campaign may seem difficult. In this article, we present some exciting tips to boost your next online fundraising strategy:

1.) Define your social media strategy:
In our increasingly interconnected world, 70% of people use some form of social network. Social media has become an important channel nonprofit can use to boost their outreach and fundraising capabilities. Your first step is to decide which social platforms are the most relevant for your cause. Some of the most used ones are: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. No matter which one you decide to use, there are three basic directives to follow:
1.) Promote your mission and goals;
2.)Tell your nonprofit’s story;
​3.) Engage with the community. Once you’ve developed your social media presence, you should post updates, pictures, invitations, relevant information, celebrate milestones and thank your donors.

2.) Simplify the donation process:
It’s your responsibility to make the donation process as simple as possible for your supporters. Once they make the decision to support your social cause or your non-profit organization, the action should be straightforward and fast. One good example on how to make your process as simple as possible is to give your donors suggestions of predefined amounts, recurring donations, or gifts. This will facilitate the decision process and give them an easy path to follow.

3.) Optimize your campaign for mobile devices:
With the rise of smartphones and tablets, your campaign page should be easily accessible from anywhere. Some important topics to keep in mind when creating your mobile-friendly presence are:

• Your email campaign needs to load correctly and be optimized for smartphones and tables;
• When choosing a font for your communication, make sure it’s readable on small screens;
• Your campaign webpage must be mobile-responsive, considering that more and more people will primarily use their smartphones to access it.

 
4.) Focus on the follow-up:
Instead of sending an automated, scripted “thank you” message, send out personalized emails and, when possible, include a picture or video showing how their donation makes a difference. Don’t forget that the most critical part of building donor relationships is following up with them after the donation and sounding sincere and human. Sending the donation receipt as soon as the donation is completed also makes a huge difference, mainly because most platforms take days to do so. After a few days, send another ‘thank you’ email with a little more information about ways to get involved with your cause.

5. ) Use creative and captivating visuals:
Attract your supporters and pique their interest using images and captivating videos. Branding your donation page with your organization’s logo, colors, fonts, and design patterns makes it clear to your users that they are in the right place, allowing them to feel safe and secure entering their personal and payment information when they contribute. Another important tip is to use minimalistic design features. Don’t over complicate and clutter your campaign’s webpage. This will avoid distractions and user confusion., removing any obstacles to prevent them from donating.

6.) Show results and celebrate achieved milestones:
When setting up your fundraising campaign’s plan, it’s essential to create some benchmarks and post them on your social media channels each time your cause meets one. Celebrate your successes along the way! Engaging with your supporters will also cause a huge impact; it can be as simple as retweeting their post or leaving a comment on their Facebook post, making them know they made a personal impact.

Nonprofit fundraising and fun summer activities have never sounded like a more perfect duo. School’s out, temperatures are up, and everyone is looking for something to do in the sun. Put the fun in fundraising with some of these summer fundraising ideas.
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• Host a Swim-A-Thon

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​Be sure to think of your target audience when choosing which of these activities to try out. Your events should allow supporters to further relate to the organization. And remember that even the most simple fundraising event takes preparation. Determine your budget and goals at the beginning of the planning process and good luck! 😊

Whether you are new to social fundraising or have been in the field for many years, you probably know that the key to developing a consistent stream of donations lies in building relationships with your donors. Once a donor connects with a nonprofit, they are much more likely to donate again and again if they are engaged with the organization.

The value that a retained donor brings to a nonprofit is enormous. By focusing on the long-term value of a donor, an organization can make a significant and positive impact on the bottom line.

Typical return donors will make their second donation to a nonprofit a year after their first donation. This implies that nonprofits may be waiting until just before a donor’s first anniversary to re-engage them with another appeal. Instead of waiting for almost a year to
re-engage donors, reach out sooner. Better yet, allow them to become recurring givers. Of all one-time donors who become recurring givers, 25% give another unique gift on top of their
​still-active subscription plan. This signifies deep engagement and dedication to a nonprofit’s mission.