Best Practices for Online Fundraising Campaigns

Best Practices for Online Fundraising Campaigns

Make Specific Asks The easier you can make it for your donors to donate, the more likely they’ll be to actually follow through. Whether you send out an email campaign, provide a donation button on your website, or ask for help on Facebook, you should always ask for a set amount of money, and then make it easy for your audience to follow through.

Use Social Media Wisely Despite the growth of online fundraising, social media giving actually accounts for very little of the total online giving. If you understand this concept, you can use it to your advantage.

When fundraising for an organization, look to your social media marketing accounts to grow your following, interact with donors and potential donors, and spread your message. Offer the occasional giving opportunity, but don’t be disappointed if the results aren’t phenomenal. See your social networks as a way to build relationships, push people to your website, and grow your email list – the tool that ultimately helps spur online giving the most.

If you’re doing peer-to-peer fundraising for personal causes, social media might actually be an excellent way to raise funds. In fact, according to a 2013 article on Nonprofit Tech for Good, in the average peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, 15% to 18% of all donations are referred directly from Facebook. You’ve already built personal relationships with your online social connections – when you take a cause to a social forum, you’re likely to generate more interest.

Post Frequencies vary across Social Media Platforms. Adjust your post frequency accordingly. Example:

• Facebook 30 days to conclusion of campaign 1x/Day
• Twitter 30 days prior 2x/day, 2 weeks prior 4x per day, 1 week prior 6x per day and 3 days prior to conclusion of campaign 8 to 10 times a day
• Instagram follow Twitter guidelines

Focus on Email Campaigns  While email campaign response rates are declining, email lists are growing, still making email fundraising efforts an important part of any online campaign. Be thoughtful when you’re putting together a campaign – communicate a story through images and quotes, and be clear about why you’re reaching out. People who subscribe to your newsletters are giving you an invitation to reach out to them directly, so it’s important not to abuse the relationship or confuse your message. Tell a story, share your goals, ask for the donors’ help, and make it easy for them to follow through.

Keep Your Message Simple-Be Concise Chances are you have a lot to say about your cause – you’re passionate about it and you want everyone you know to understand your passion.  In today’s hyper fast digital world, if you can’t clearly communicate your need, your message, and your action plan within seconds of reaching your audience, you’re going to lose them.

Therefore, consciously develop an online fundraising campaign with short attention spans in mind. Put together a campaign and a message, walk away, come back, and dumb it down further. Use images and videos to engage an audience, and always include a short call to action.

Track, Segment, and Adjust  With online fundraising, corresponding analytics that are generated. You can track and monitor practically every communication with email tools, web analytics, and social metrics.

Don’t let these tools go unused. Pay attention to email open rates and click-through. Keep track of which social media posts result in the greatest response, and pay attention to which social networks are generating traffic to your website. Constantly adjust your fundraising efforts based on these tools to continue growing your online influence.

Steps to Success for Online Fundraising

• Send out press releases to appropriate media outlets. Follow up with campaign updates and information mid campaign and at the end of the campaign.
• Produce content interesting to your donors. Videos of less than 1 minute work the best. Update Instagram, Facebook and twitter regularly with new content.
• DON'T FORGET about LINKEDIN ask you supporters to share the campaign with their colleagues on LinkedIn.
• Embed fundraising campaign on Website.
• For Facebook create an event and link the campaign to the event page. Add the campaign to the call to action tab on the Facebook page. Boost the event.
• Email Campaign to targeted listserv beginning once weekly until 21 day prior to conclusion of campaign. There weeks prior twice weekly and every day the last 3 days of campaign. Be sure to include new press coverage and online content in your updates.
• THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!  You cannot thank your donors enough. If your campaign generates an automatic Thank You, follow up with a personal note from the organization.