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Why Nonprofits Should Integrate Marketing & Fundraising

At many nonprofits, the marketing and fundraising teams work separately. One may handle all emails, social media accounts, and advertising, while the other cultivates donors and plans events. While this separate approach can work, nonprofits miss out on major benefits by keeping marketing and fundraising apart. 

Here’s why you should integrate these two essential elements of your nonprofit.

1. Fundraising IS marketing.

The goal of marketing is to raise awareness about what your organization is doing and to sell what you have to offer. The “sale” for your nonprofit may look different than for for-profits; instead of selling products, your nonprofit may use marketing to connect new people to your services, get new volunteers, or raise money. 

Your fundraising team is trying to sell something, too. They’re trying to convince donors that your organization is worth investing in. This is often done through the same channels and with the same approaches that marketers use: emails, social media posts, newsletters, and even ads. Your fundraising team will lean on classic marketing strategies to secure donations, like crafting powerful stories, creating a sense of urgency to donate, and showing the value of what your organization has to offer.

Fundamentally, there are few differences between fundraising and marketing. By bringing together your fundraising and marketing teams, you can leverage your marketing expertise to create the most powerful fundraising efforts. You’ll also be able to use your fundraising team’s experience to inform your broader marketing efforts, meaning both teams—and both their goals—will benefit from integration.

2. Fundraising and marketing reach the same audiences.

Your best donors often already support your work. This includes volunteers, people you help, and engaged community members. Your donors and general supporters are not separate groups. They all have a common interest in your work.

When you communicate with these groups separately, you risk tiring your supporters. Your donors and supporters may not know which messages are from marketing or fundraising. They just notice the volume of messages like ads and emails. If fundraising and marketing don’t collaborate, you’re more likely to overwhelm your most engaged supporters. This is a common way nonprofits lose email subscribers, social media followers, and small donors.

By integrating marketing and fundraising, you can ensure proper communication frequency with supporters. You can provide consistent messaging across channels. This is key to cultivating long-term donors and supporters.

3. Integrating efforts lets you pool resources.

Nonprofits often have tight budgets. Adding staff is a major expense. Combining marketing and fundraising helps maximize staff time. It prevents duplicating work. Instead of separate teams writing emails and posts, one person can oversee communication for both. This frees up your team for more outreach, donor connection, and other key tasks. You can fully utilize your team and budget this way. You can achieve your goals without adding staff.

4. Marketing = stewardship.

Donor stewardship is the way to turn one-time donors into recurring, lifelong donors. By cultivating relationships with your donors, you can ensure your organization will be top-of-mind the next time they’re looking to give. You can also ensure your donors feel appreciated and that their donation matters, no matter how big or small it is. 

Your marketing efforts won’t just bring in new donors—they’re part of the stewardship journey for your existing donors. Sharing the new and exciting things happening at your organization can be an excellent way to steward individual donors and corporate sponsors. By keeping them up-to-date about your big developments or opportunities to get involved, your donors will feel invested in your work and will be excited to keep supporting you. 

5. Your organization needs one voice.

Your organization’s voice includes how you speak about your work, what language you use, and whether your tone is formal or casual. When your organization has a cohesive voice, supporters (and potential supporters) will be able to recognize your organization across communications and more easily connect with it. An inconsistent brand voice can confuse supporters and make them wonder if your team is on the same page about how your organization wants to present itself publicly. 

An organization is more likely to have an inconsistent voice when its teams aren’t collaborating, such as with separated marketing and fundraising teams. Your marketing team may be using a casual tone on social media while your fundraising team is sending emails to donors with a more formal tone. One team may be using an entirely different set of terminology to talk about your work than the other team. This makes it difficult for supporters and other donors to understand what you do and how they should speak about it to others. This also makes it tough for new staff or board members, who may be unsure of the “correct” way to talk about the organization based on your teams’ different communication styles.

By merging your fundraising and marketing efforts, you can ensure everything your organization puts out into the world has the same message, tone, and impact. Your fundraising and marketing staff can work together to determine the best ways to speak about your work, finding a balance that resonates with both groups’ goals and needs.

6. Integration ensures everyone is invested in the same goals.

When your teams are siloed, your marketing and fundraising teams often set and work toward separate goals. Your marketing staff may focus on building an audience and driving new clients to your nonprofit. Meanwhile, your fundraising staff concentrate on cultivating new donors. While the teams may incidentally support each other’s goals, they are not invested in achieving them.

Integrating your marketing and fundraising teams helps ensure your staff strive for the same goals. Their support of one another becomes intentional instead of incidental. When marketing experts back a fundraising campaign, they do not feel sidetracked from their main work. Rather, they feel part of achieving a shared goal.

How To Integrate Marketing & Fundraising

Integrating marketing and fundraising can feel daunting. Your nonprofit may have longstanding teams with their own systems. Integration should happen slowly and carefully. This ensures confidence in the new setup.

A good first step is gathering everyone together. If the teams don’t know each other, introduce them. Have people share duties. Note responsibility overlaps. Understand each team’s strengths and weaknesses. Encourage voicing concerns early so you can address them.

 

 

Once you understand what both teams are working with, have both teams share their goals. What have the marketing and fundraising teams been working towards? Where do those goals overlap? How can each team help the other achieve those goals? It will likely take multiple meetings to understand how your combined teams can best work together. You may also want to encourage team members to meet individually with those who do similar work on the other team to get a more in-depth understanding of each other’s strengths and how they may want to divide work up between them.

As you integrate the two teams, be sure to check in often, both with individual staff members and with the group as a whole. There are many concerns that could arise during this process, and it’s important to catch them early. Some staff members could feel that work is being taken away from them or that they’re being “demoted.” Others may worry about reporting structures, management, or who will be ultimately responsible for various aspects of the work. Regular communication can assuage any fears and ensure logistical kinks are worked out before they become larger issues.

Integration isn’t an overnight process. Your teams may initially feel some discomfort about sharing their work with one another. But by creating a safe environment for the teams to share, connect, and collaborate, you can ensure they’ll reap all the benefits of integration. Your team will be able to make the most of everyone’s unique skill sets, pool resources, and present your organization with a unified voice. 

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12 Steps for Your Midyear Fundraising Tune-up

When most people hear the word ‘tune-up,’ they naturally think about automobiles, and probably that their own car is overdue. A car represents a major investment, and timely service and maintenance ensures the best return on that investment. Similarly, giving your fundraising efforts a ‘fundraising tune-up’ can significantly enhance their efficiency and yield better results in achieving your organization’s goals.

All for- and non-profit organizations will enormously benefit from similar tune-ups to ensure operations are performing at peak efficiency. We often hear that non-profits should model themselves more like businesses. I’ll take that one step further: Non-profits that typically even in good times need to stretch nickels into dimes, have more motivation to make sure they are running as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. There is little, if any, fat to trim.

The pressures to maintain and increase gift income mount as the need for programs, services and benefits escalate during times of inflation and challenging economic realities when more people are struggling.

Here are 12 elements to consider for conducting a mid-year fundraising tune up to diagnose, make repairs and improvements that will drive up gift income that is so essential in carrying out noble missions that touch, improve and save more lives.

Assess Where You Stand

1. Make a brutally honest assessment of where every part of the resource development program stands. What were the goals and objectives set at the beginning of the year? As temperatures rise during the summer, how is your organization doing? Are you ahead, on or behind pace?

2. Engage as many members as possible of your nonprofit family in these frank discussions. If the mindset is that resource development is solely the responsibility of the development staff, the nonprofit is handcuffing itself and compromising its potential. All professional and volunteer team members of the nonprofit have a role to play, and this starts with contributing their ideas and best thinking on where fundraising is succeeding and where there are opportunities for improvement.

3. Be sure your assessment addresses the external environment. How is the local economy fairing? Have any major employers moved in or out of your community? How severe was the impact of the pandemic? How visible and positive is the perception of your nonprofit’s leadership?

 

 

Evaluate Your Approach

4. How well do you understand the motivations of your donors? The fundraising tune-up needs to feature private conversations with your leading donors on what they believe provides the greatest satisfaction from their gifts. What have they enjoyed from gifts made to other good causes that they haven’t seen receive enough attention from your non-profit?

5. Communications and fundraising are seamless. In other words, you can’t tell where one ends and the other begins. The good news is that communications has never offered so many tools to connect with donors and prospects. The challenge is to most effectively integrate all of the different communications activities so that they truly reinforce each other. The first step is spending enough time to precisely identify your three most essential messages. Then make sure that your print, electronic and digital media efforts are relentlessly pounding those messages home.

6. Though their share has dropped a few points in recent years the vast majority of gifts still come from individuals. When you add bequests and gifts from family foundations to individuals, this share of the pie is about 85% of the philanthropic pie. By all means, welcome gifts from corporations and foundations, but prospect lists must emphasize individuals, because in the words of the infamous bank robber Willie Sutton: “That’s where the money is.”

Cultivate and Steward Donors

7. We live in a fundraising environment increasingly dependent on major gifts as fewer and fewer donors are making larger and larger gifts. Keep your prospect list of major gift donors in front of you every day of the week. Are they receiving priority cultivation? If not, identify the bottlenecks. The larger the gift target the more challenging it is to get on the prospect’s schedule. Quality interaction is at a premium as money follows time. Is your major gift prospect list missing potential individuals, corporations and foundations? The Six Degrees of Separation reminds us that everyone on the planet is separated by no more than six personal relationships. Take full advantage of doors that can be opened by staff — both fundraising and programmatic — board members, volunteers and donors. A fundraising tune-up can help assess if major gift prospects are receiving proper priority and cultivation.

8. It is amazing how often this simple truth is overlooked: You have to ask every donor prospect for a specific amount, for a specific purpose to be paid by a specific time. The more that you ask — especially in face-to-face meetings — the more money you will raise. There is no precise formula on the duration of the cultivation period, other than we know that the greater the desired gift the more cultivation is necessary. Sometimes the cultivation phase — forging a personal and emotional alignment between the non-profit’s mission, vision and values and the donor prospect’s philanthropic priorities can be completed in months if there is enough quality interaction. For major gifts, this may take a year or more. But no organization should delay its ask one day more than is absolutely essential. Remember that your donor prospect is likely being cultivated by other deserving non-profits championing admirable causes.

9. Your most likely major gifts will come from your current donor base. Is your stewardship program genuine and robust in acknowledging and thanking people for their gifts of time and money? This can take a wide range of forms from intimate recognition events to much larger public events. Stewardship should be carefully designed with the donor’s personality in mind. The deepest concern for the vast majority of donors is understanding how their gift dollars are making a difference. New technology is providing more and more effective strategies such as impact videos. Never underestimate the power of donors personally interacting with the beneficiaries of their generosity. In higher education, this power is evident when donors meet with scholarship recipients. Study your retention rate to keep donors and encourage repeat, and potentially larger, gifts each year. This approach offers a fundraising tune-up and proves more cost-effective by retaining a current donor base instead of solely focusing on acquiring new ones.

Implement Improvements

10. Are all your outreach channels emphasizing new and popular ways of giving? Donor advised funds have emerged as the most dynamic component of American philanthropy. according to the most recent data from the National Philanthropic Trust. Grants from DAFs rose 28% to $46 billion. Your website, marketing material and especially solicitation activities should inquire about opportunities to give through DAFs.

11. People can make gifts several times larger through their estates than through wealth. Be sure to discuss the wide range of options from charitable bequests, retirement funds, insurance policies, gifts of stock and other assets.

12. Celebrate victories. Recognize the roles played by everyone in the discovery, cultivation, solicitation and stewardship of gifts. They don’t come easily, especially major gifts. Let everyone know that they are directly contributing to the power of your mission to advance good works.

This list, by no means, is all-inclusive. No doubt, you can and should add other components to assess, analyze and upgrade the caliber of your resource development program. Final word: Don’t be afraid to make changes. Keep to sound fundraising principles and best practices but take full advantage to adjust strategies as circumstances warrant. Your nonprofit needs to be operating at peak performance as you enter the later stages of the year when most gift income is raised.

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As a fellow fundraiser, let me begin by giving you my congratulations on completing an unprecedented fundraising year. I hope you can spend some time in the next few weeks to take a break and carry out some much-deserved self-care. Be sure to take time to appreciate your team members who contributed to your organization’s fundraising success.

Although the end of a fiscal year can bring a sense of relief, the start of a new year can understandably cause anxiety. The beginning of the fundraising year often leads to fundraisers asking themselves some age-old questions: What initiatives are working? Should we eliminate the golf outing? How can I measure and track our overall fundraising program?

Sadly, often before fundraisers can start to address these questions, they are quickly distracted by the next fundraising initiative. So, most nonprofit fundraising plans aren’t supported by data, but rather stem from inertia and intuition. Thankfully, 2023 provides an opportunity to determine how to improve our fundraising efforts.

So, how successful was your organization’s fundraising last year?

You might answer this question with metrics like the amount raised, the number of new donors or the number of donations. While these basic figures can be informative from a year-over-year trend perspective, they do a poor job answering questions like: Why did these metrics change? What are the weaknesses in my fundraising plan? Where should we focus our efforts this new fundraising year?

I consider those basic metrics to be “rearview mirror” metrics as they only tell you what has happened in the past. “Rearview mirror” metrics don’t point your organization to where you would like to head. What you really need are metrics that provide you with a plan of action, or a map, to help bolster your fundraising efforts.

Map Metrics

Although the topic of fundraising metrics isn’t very sexy, the payoff from a data-based fundraising plan will be. Fifteen years ago, I worked for a healthcare consulting firm with the motto: “you can’t move it if you don’t measure it.” I believe the same is true with fundraising. You need a detailed analysis to make an actionable plan to improve your fundraising efforts. Luckily, you can achieve a thorough analysis with these 10 key data points from either your CRM or accounting software.

10 Key Data Points

To start, you will need to compile the following data points. For simplicity’s sake, assume all data points are for 2022 unless otherwise noted.

Actual Fundraising Expense (include your best guess of the salary costs associated with employee’s time spent fundraising)
Organizational Expenses
Number of Contributions Received
Number of Contributions Received
2021 Total Number of Donors
2022 Total Number of Donors
The Number of New Donors This Year in 2022 (i.e. gave in 2022, but not in 2021)
2022 Number of Retained Donors (i.e. gave in both 2022 & 2021)
The Number of Lapsed Donors in 2022 (i.e. did not give in 2022 but did give in 2021)
2022 Total Amount of Contributions from Top 5 Donors

Obviously, to determine trends over time, you will need to obtain this information for multiple years. However, much can be learned from analyzing even a single year and comparing yourself to industry benchmarks.

Because they are easy to understand, simple to calculate, and they efficiently measure the key drivers of a productive fundraising plan, I consider these metrics to be “map worthy”. Many of these can be applied to separate fundraising initiatives. But this article will focus primarily on how they can be used to assess your overall fundraising program. Also, I’ve provided several great tools toward the end of this article to help you with this process.

Donor Retention Rate

2022 Number of Retained Donors/2021 Total Number of Donors

Without question, your donor retention rate is one of the most important fundraising metrics. It’s possible to increase your giving in years where you lose more donors than you retain. But, it’s nearly impossible for a nonprofit to survive prolonged episodes of poor donor retention.

The closer your retention rate is to 100%, the better. Currently, the average nonprofit has a retention rate of about ~45% which means that nonprofits are losing more donors than they can retain.

So why is donor retention such a big deal? According to preeminent fundraising scholar, Dr. Adrian Sargeant, a 10% improvement in donor retention rate can double the lifetime value of donors in your database. If you could only track one metric annually to monitor your fundraising, it should be donor retention.

Donor Attrition Rate 

2022 Number of Lapsed Donors/2021 Total Number of Donors

In addition to using this formula, you can also calculate the donor attrition rate by subtracting the donor retention rate from 1. So, for example, if your retention rate last year was 55%, your attrition rate would be 45%. The closer your attrition rate is to 0%, the better.

Churn 

2022 New Donors – 2022 Lapsed Donors

Churn is a great way to assess the net result of your donor retention and donor recruitment efforts. It helps you quickly identify whether your organization is experiencing a net inflow or outflow of donors. Often new donor counts and retention are measured separately and can feel disparate from each other. Churn eliminates any noise in the data, telling you if your active donor counts are heading in the right direction.

Donation Frequency 

Number of 2022 donations / Number of 2022 Donors

Donor frequency helps distill how efficiently you’re increasing the number of donations per donor. The higher your frequency, the better. A large onslaught of single gifts would lower your frequency (a great problem for any nonprofit). But, a higher donation frequency means that your average donor is giving more frequently. For example, transitioning a large group of donors from an annual gift to monthly donations would drastically improve your donation frequency. There are two major reasons why that matters. One, the higher your frequency, the more likely your donations are evenly spread throughout the calendar year. Second, and perhaps more importantly, research shows that, on average, donors who give more than once a year give a greater amount each year, are more loyal to the organization, have higher retention rates, and as result, significantly improve your organization’s average Donor Lifetime Value.

Donor Lifetime Value (DLV)

Average Annual Gift / Attrition Rate

Perhaps self-explanatory, DLV shows the lifetime value of your average donor based on your Average Annual Gift. The Average Annual Gift is simply your Total amount of Contributions divided by the total number of donations. While there are multiple ways that DLV is calculated, most require you to calculate the average amount of time your donor is active with your organization (aka Donor Lifespan). As someone who has struggled through the process of calculating the average donor’s lifespan, I would recommend the above formula instead. In addition to being incredibly easy to calculate, I find it to be a perfectly adequate way to assess trends over time. Your goal is to always be increasing your DLV as that means you are retaining more donors and/or getting more donations per donor.

Lost Potential

Donor Lifetime Value x 2022 Number of Lapsed Donors

This number should be the core motivation for you to work on donor retention. If your DLV is $1000 and you lost 100 donors last year, the lifetime value of those donors would be $100,000. If you are looking for a bit of encouragement after calculating Lost Potential, I recommend calculating your Retained Value (DLV x # of your retained donors). Retained Value gives you a clear sense of the “true worth” of the active donors in your database.

Bonus Tip

As the old saying goes, “You’re likely to raise more money from existing donors than by acquiring new donors.” If you can determine the attrition rate of the average first-time donor vs. your retained donors, you will likely affirm the merits of this saying. Such data can be helpful to share with board members or bosses that are pushing for “more new donors” when you would rather prioritize untapped opportunities within your existing donor group.

Return on Investment (ROI) 

(Total contributions – Fundraising Expenses)/ Fundraising Expenses

Cost to Raise a Dollar (CRD) 

Fundraising Expenses / (Total contributions – Fundraising Expenses)

ROI and CRD help measure how efficiently your investments (aka fundraising expenses) lead to funds raised. While ROI and CRD can be calculated to assess your overall fundraising program, these same metrics are excellent at assessing individual fundraising initiatives and trends over time. Most nonprofits assess their initiatives by net income (initiative revenue – initiative expenses). However, they may be surprised to learn that once staff time is included in the expenses, many of their initiatives have a negative ROI. Your goal with ROI is to be positive and the higher the number, the better.

CRD is a slightly more accessible way to communicate the success of your fundraising efforts and is simply the inverse of the ROI calculation. Basically, CRD is the amount you have to spend to raise $1. Your primary CRD goal is to be below $1. The lower your CRD, the better. Conversely, should your cost go above $1, you are losing money.

Dependency Quotient (DQ)

Total Amount of Contributions from Top 5 Donors/ Total Organizational Expenses

It is always good for organizations to assess their overall dependency on their top donors. As you can see, the DQ determines the share of your overall organizational expenses that rely on your top 5 donors’ donations. Perhaps obvious, your goal is to decrease your dependency quotient over time as that means that you are diversifying your contribution sources.

Dependency Quotient vs. Cost to Raise a Dollar

The interplay between these two metrics can provide a lot of insight as to where you should focus your efforts in the year ahead. If you are doing things correctly, you should be moving from High to Low in both DQ & CRD.

As someone who is always happy to borrow great ideas, the content to create the following table is from a  great Bloomerang article: 3 Metrics to Help Measure Fundraising Effectiveness. The article also provides helpful real-life examples of how organizations can move in the right direction. 

Is your head spinning yet?

While this all may seem overwhelming, much of the math above could be accomplished by the average third grader. The only thing keeping you from obtaining a clearer picture of your organization’s fundraising is a bit of time and some elbow grease. Luckily, I am happy to report that there are several resources available to help calculate the metrics you need to guide your fundraising plan:

Free Resources from The Timothy Group

We have created a simple, yet effective spreadsheet that calculates all the above metrics by simply providing the top 10 data points above. The spreadsheet also produces 13 graphs & charts to provide visuals for your organization’s past fundraising trends which are great for copying and pasting into your next board fundraising report. Also, for those of you that are interested in assessing your fundraising initiatives at a more granular level, we’ve added a bonus Initiative ROI Cheat Sheet that will quickly show you where your organization is getting its biggest bang for the buck, and perhaps more importantly, which initiatives should be discontinued. If you are interested in obtaining the spreadsheet, download it free here: Metrics Tool & Fundraising Metrics Slides

Your current CRM

While not every CRM has amazing reporting functionality, most do calculate many of the above metrics. I suggest that you try diving into the CRM’s dashboards or searching one of the above metrics or data points in their help/resources section. 

FundraisingReportCard.com (FRC)

By simply importing your organization’s gift dates, gift amounts, and profile ID (most systems have an anonymized alphanumeric ID available), FRC will not only calculate many of the metrics above, but it also quickly produces beautiful graphs, trend lines, and segmentations that make analysis a snap. If you are lucky enough to be using Kindful or Little Green Light as your CRM, they have a very simple integration that will do all the heavy lifting for you. Even if you don’t use their dashboards, be sure to check out their benchmarks page as it provides nonprofit sector-specific benchmarks that instantly help you see how you are doing compared to your sector. 

Fundraising Effectiveness Project (FEP)

The Association for Fundraising Professionals has created a set of free downloadable spreadsheets that will help you calculate many of the top metrics. 

You can do this! (and we’re here to help)

With no obligation, I would be happy to provide 30 minutes of my time to help you through this process. Whether it be helping you obtain your key data points, using one of the above tools, or analyzing your results, The Timothy Group is here to help. We have worked with many nonprofits to assess their programs and I promise it will be worth the effort. Let’s leave intuition and inertia in the review mirror and make 2023 the year you implement a data-driven fundraising plan!

Note: The above article is intended to provide quality actionable content for the reader. Jonathan Helder and the Timothy Group do not receive any compensation for the referral links to the article and/or fundraising tools listed above.

Note: The above article is intended to provide quality actionable content for the reader. Jonathan Helder, CFRE, ECRF, Consultant, does not receive any compensation for the referral links to the article and/or fundraising tools listed above. 

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Donation Page Optimization: Best Practices for Nonprofit Fundraising

 

Why your donation pages matter

Your nonprofit is always top of mind, but unfortunately, it’s easy for your donors and community to get sidetracked by the things in their own lives. That’s why it is critical that you make giving to your nonprofit as easy and seamless as possible. One simple way is to use donation page optimization, which can assist in increasing donations!

 

Online giving allows your donors to give any time of day. That flexibility increases the likelihood that they’ll follow through on their decision to support your nonprofit – because they can give whenever your nonprofit comes to mind!

 

So, let’s put ourselves in the shoes of our donors: Imagine a mom of four, who works full-time. You set up a call to explain the work you are doing, and she is excited to support you! She even commits to supporting your work with a recurring gift.

Then one day, she’s sitting down to work, and she remembers her decision to support you. Thankfully, you have an online donation page set up, and she remembers that you sent her a link over a month ago! She presses pause on her work and quickly goes to set her donation up. Item taken off my…umm…her… checklist.

This story may or may not be based on true events…

But why is donation page optimization important?

 

Isn’t it enough to just have the page set up? You can accept donations, so why does it matter if it’s optimized?

Let’s continue with the previous example: A mom with a lot on her plate. But she cares about the nonprofit she wants to support, so she hits pause on everything else for a moment. She’s going to take care of setting up the donation right now. Unfortunately, the donation page is incredibly clunky. 10 minutes later and she still hasn’t been able to donate.

Now she remembers why she hadn’t completed the setup in the first place!

Does she continue to take the time to deal with this headache? If she puts it off, how long will it be till it’s actually taken care of? 5 more minutes of trying before she throws in the towel and finally texts her spouse the link. Thankfully, he has the patience of a saint, and 17 minutes later their recurring gift was set up.

So why is an optimized donation page important? Because you really don’t want to bank on all of your donors having a patient spouse.

 

Best practices for donation page optimization

 

 

 

Let’s break down this graphic into actionable steps! So what does donation page optimization even mean? Donation page optimization is when you improve the design of your nonprofit’s online giving page to make them more functional and give the user a better experience. Having a page that is functional, fast, and easy-to-use increases your donor conversion rate – the percentage of people who visit your page and follow through on giving.

Here are six ways that you can optimize your donation pages and increase your nonprofit’s impact and online giving conversion rate. We’ve broken it into simple and manageable steps that you can get started with today! Plus, check out this free donation page cheat sheet!

When a donor has a positive user experience, they are more likely to give again in the future. Optimizing your donation page can also help your nonprofit stand out from other organizations and make a greater impact.

 

Keep it simple

When it comes to donation pages, simplicity is key. Your page should be easy to navigate, with a clear call to action and minimal distractions. Simplicity keeps your page user-friendly and easily navigable. You want to make sure you have all the necessary information, but avoid cluttered designs, excessive text, or too many form fields that may discourage potential donors.

The harder it is to donate the more likely your donor is to give up during the donation process.

 

Use consistent and visually appealing branding

A visually appealing donation page encourages donors to give. Use high-quality images, engaging videos, and consistent branding to create a cohesive and compelling user experience.

 

 

 

Donors feel more confident in giving when everything is on one page and branded to your nonprofit. That’s why custom online giving pages or embeddable donation forms are important. When donors are taken to a popup or another page, it can feel like a scam. Donors want to be certain they are giving to you. They don’t want to wonder if the link is legitimate.

Things to consider:

• Use consistent colors
• Have your nonprofit’s logo on the page
• Pull images or messaging from other parts of your website
• Keep everything on your site

When testing your pages, make sure they are easy to read and look good on both desktop and mobile devices.

 

Optimize each donation page for mobile

 

With the rise of mobile giving, remember to consider mobile devices when making your pages. Your nonprofit will come to mind at random times. Because most people carry their phones with them at all times, a well set up donation page will make it easy for donors to give at any time.

Make sure your page is responsive and easy to navigate on smaller screens. Use large, clear buttons and keep form fields to a minimum to make the giving process as smooth as possible.

Donors don’t want to have to zoom in to fill out a form. They also don’t want to scroll left and right to read everything on your page. We’ve all been there before. It’s frustrating to use a website that isn’t set up for mobile.

 

Give your donors options

Not all donors are the same, so it’s good to offer a variety of giving options. Allow donors to choose between one-time, recurring, or annual gifts. Offer options like credit cards, ACH, Apple + Google Pay, or PayPal. Giving donors the flexibility to choose how and when they give can increase donations while encouraging repeat giving.

 

Highlight donation impact

Social proof can be a powerful motivator for donors. Consider showcasing the impact of previous fundraising campaigns or displaying testimonials from satisfied donors. Highlight the difference your work is having on the community. You encourage donors to give and feel good about their donations when you tell the stories of the people your nonprofit serves and the way you help them be the heroes in their own stories.

 

Make connections

We’re social beings. We want to connect others with the things that are important to us. And we want to be connected with those we are supporting. When your donation page is easy to share, donors are more likely to share it. Help them be the connectors between what they care about and the people in their circles.

And it’s important that you connect with your supporters after they donate. It is important to take the time to thank your donors. I know this is just another thing to add to your already packed plate. Using online giving pages that let you send out automatic receipts and thank you notes right after a gift is sent can be a game changer for your nonprofit.

 

Conclusion

People who are excited about your mission want to support you! When you make it easy to navigate your donation page, you increase the likelihood that your supporters will follow through on their donations.

As our world becomes increasingly digital, more and more donors will choose to donate online. Pages that are user-friendly and clearly belong to your organization increase the likelihood that a donor will follow through on their donation. Give your donors options by optimizing for mobile use and offering a variety of payment options. And lastly, help your donors build connections – both between what they care about and their community and between them and your organization.

 

 

 

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Download the 7 Tips on Asking for Donations guide here! 

1. Research Your Donors to Read Their Minds

The words you want them to say: “Wow, it’s like he read my mind!”

How do you get to that point? You research your donor as an individual, but you also have a broad depth of general research on the kinds of people who donate to your nonprofit as a whole group.

Always prepare for your solicitation meeting. You need to be able to answer these questions if you want to get into a donor’s heart:

• What kinds of words do they use? Do they talk about their passions?
• What do they care about? Are there other causes they are a part of?
• Do they have a history of giving?
• What are their common objections, fears and concerns about giving?

Using research to gauge how to ask donors for money can yield great outcomes. Thanks to the internet, we have more access to information about our donors than ever. In addition, we have the ability to survey our donors and examine how they talk about our cause. Using research to gauge how to ask donors for money can yield great outcomes.

Note, however, that if you survey your donors or ask questions of a potential donor, you have to learn to read the answer behind the answer. We have to address the fears and risks every donor feels, even if the donor herself can’t identify them out loud. And then, connect their existing passions and desires to our nonprofit’s cause, using the same language they use.

In other words, understand your donor base so well it’s like you’ve read their minds.

Don’t worry, this is easier than it sounds if you follow the next six tips…

2. Practice, Practice, PRACTICE — And Then Practice Some More

The best way to dominate your donor visits, get more funds and create real, lasting connections with your nonprofit … is to PRACTICE every aspect of your ask.

In other words, by the time you are actually sitting in front of a prospect, you should have rehearsed the many paths the conversation could take MANY times before. Understanding your talking points, how you’ll graciously address common objections and the exact way you’ll frame your ask allows you to stop thinking about these things and just focus on talking with the donor.

Practice your ask. We can’t emphasize it enough. Run through how you’ll call them on the phone. Plan on how to structure your meeting. Decide how long you’ll make small talk at the beginning, and how to transition smoothly into the ask itself. Leave no stone unturned!

The key to this:

• Practice out loud.
• Then, practice in front of a mirror.
• Then, record yourself on video practicing.

It might feel a little awkward, but you’ll learn things about your delivery. This will allow you to be far more confident and free when it comes to actually making the ask. Don’t skip this step.

3. Never, Ever Surprise Your Prospect

If your potential donor is ever surprised you’re asking them for money, something is deeply amiss. Don’t catch them off guard. You want them to feel as prepared as you will be before heading into the meeting.

Make it clear in your first call or contact that you’re interested in talking to the potential donor about your cause and how he or she might be able to get involved. Make it clear that, while you’re interested in them as a person, there’s a deeper purpose for your visit. That way, they’ll be able to prepare their response, objections and questions. The meeting will serve both of you best when you’re on the same page, always remember this when considering how to ask donors for money.

4. Stop Being Boring (It Isn’t Worth It)

Boring feels safe. No presenter who just reads bullet points off a PowerPoint instead does it because they want their audience to eagerly contemplate running from the room. Nope, they do it because it feels safe.

Reading a PowerPoint feels like an easy way to tell your audience all the info they want and be sure not to forget anything important. But instead, you fail to keep your audience engaged. The actual way to be safe is what we discussed above: PRACTICE. Then you won’t need slides, and you can focus instead on not being boring. The conversation will flow more naturally.

At the same time, don’t be scared of sounding awkward or too forward by asking things like, “What do you think is the biggest challenge we face in this area?” Provoke interesting reactions that are memorable, not boring, formulaic encounters. Show them that their input in the conversation is truly valuable (more on that in the next step).

Your goal is to make your donor both catch your enthusiasm and feel understood. But to get there, you need to let yourself be not-boring enough that they can have fun talking to you. Engaging in personal conversation apart from a PowerPoint will help you build rapport before making the ask.

5. Ask for Advice — You’ll Usually End Up with Money

The old fundraising maxim applies here:

“Ask for money, you’ll get advice. Ask for advice, you’ll get money.”

What most people truly want is to be heard. This concept is often foreshadowed when analyzing how to ask donors for money. Asking for advice means that they will freely tell you the secret thing they are most passionate about, as well as their biggest fears about giving. And most importantly, the donor will feel valued and important. Which they are! They’re the ones whose enthusiasm makes changes happen in the world. So ask them for their input and impressions.

For more tips on the advice visit, check out Gail Perry’s great article on how advice visits can open any door in town.

6. Your Secret Weapon is Pointed Silence

Our culture HATES silence. We think it’s awkward and we want to fill it. This is one reason why extroverted salespeople and fundraisers can actually do worse than introverts.

Often, the most important, meaningful thing—the thing your prospect REALLY wants to tell you—won’t be said if you quickly fill the silence.

Bad Fundraiser: “What’s the most important thing about the environment to you?”

 

Donor: “Well, I think environmental damage is a pretty big problem. We’re hurting the environment forever and we don’t even realize it!”

 

Bad Fundraiser: “Yeah, you’re so right! That’s why our Program X is so important! Let me tell you… [Donor hears: “blah blah blah”]

Don’t do this! Your funding for next year will die a thousand painful deaths. Here’s how that conversation could have gone:

Superman Fundraiser: “What’s the most important thing about the environment to you?”

 

Donor: “Well, I think environmental damage is a pretty big problem. We’re hurting the environment forever and we don’t even realize it!”

 

Superman Fundraiser: “For sure!” [shuts up and looks genuinely interested]

 

Donor: [feels like he should talk because of the silence] “… Yeah! It’s really crazy. In fact, the other day I was thinking about when I was a kid and would go out and look at the stars in the country and see meteors and all kinds of awesome stuff. But now that the city is so big, and there’s so much light pollution and smog, when I go out with MY kids to our cabin we’re lucky to see anything. It’s so sad.”

WOW. And you were about to start making a generic appeal about one of your programs, totally at random! Now you have so much material to work with, and know exactly the RIGHT program to talk about.

Your donor has practically sold themselves, all because you stayed quiet! You’re fundraising for this guy’s kids’ happiness now, not your program!

Too many advice-givers say “just listen better!” But they fail to tell you that it means “shut up and allow silence, even if it feels awkward at first.” Great journalists love this technique—it gets them the best interviews and quotes.

By the way, this works in discussions of all kinds—whether you’re negotiating a contract, your salary, trying to understand your significant other, or asking for a donation. Use strategic silence next time you talk with anyone. The effect almost feels magical and is a hidden approach to how to ask donors for money.

7. Ask for a Specific Amount (Don’t Make Your Donor Do Any Work)

Finally, always ask for a specific amount to contribute to the cause.

Why is this important? Because it takes the burden off of the donor to figure out what size of a donation is necessary. They don’t know anything about your campaign goals. You do. So help them out. Don’t make your donor do the work.

In Summary

We get it. Asking for money is intimidating. But it’s also an immense privilege. You’re inviting other people to take action on a cause that they genuinely care about. You’re selling significance. You’re helping potential donors connect more with their passion, their values, and their dreams. At the end of the day, most people really don’t mind feeling like they’re making a valuable impact on the world.

You’ve just got to ask them to.

Originally published 10.30.13—Last Updated 3.16.2023

The post How to Ask Donors for Money: 7 Proven Tips appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

The first problem is that despite fundraising being an obvious responsibility for board members to engage in, the majority of board members aren’t doing it. The second problem is that despite their importance, many people view the board of director meetings as drab and high-level mumbo jumbo. However, with some planning and foresight, you can make these meetings more lively and engaging, plus build a successful fundraising board.

Here are 7 tips to more productive meetings. They will help make your board of director meetings more productive, exciting, and worthwhile.

The Meeting Starts Before the Meeting

Fun fact: a board of directors meeting doesn’t start when everyone sits around a table and the meeting is called to order. Your work starts long before then. Before the meeting, you need to take care of the logistics to make the time run smoothly. It helps to collect and send out all of the regular reports including the financials, director reports, and any other business filings that need to be reviewed prior to the meeting. Check out this guide if you need help deciding what reports your board should see. Management reports differ from traditional financial reports because they help leaders make data-driven decisions. They provide the actionable information you need to further your mission and increase outcomes.

If you send it out to the directors early, they have time to take notes, prepare questions and become more familiar with the information. Aim for at least seven days in advance.

It also helps to keep surprises to a minimum at board meetings (unless it is a birthday party). If you have any significant proposals or controversial items, it’s beneficial to give board members a heads up before the meeting. You don’t want to catch anyone off guard. This can also help you argue the merits of the proposals prior to the meeting, and it gives each of the directors time to carefully weigh the benefits of each item. Again, taking some of the thinking and digesting of ideas from the board meeting will help them run more smoothly.

Leverage Technology for Maximum Efficiency

There’s plenty of technology out there. Make sure that you pursue a technology designed for you, the nonprofit organization. Board management software has taken off. Here are a couple of options for nonprofits.

1. Easy Board. Since 2012, Easy Board has helped hundreds of organizations, including Nonprofit Hub, improve their technology to boost productivity, are easy to use, and help people spend more time doing the things they love. Easily keep your board up to date by posting meetings, documents, video conference links, etc., in one central place. All your board members will automatically be notified by email.
2. BoardEffect. BoardEffect is a board management solution for nonprofit, community healthcare, and higher education organizations delivering an easy-to-use platform equipped with tools to help board members collaborate and make informed decisions. Our board portal platform simplifies complex board management processes and empowers governance leaders to effectively plan and execute board management cycles through transparent and secure collaboration.

You can leverage several other technologies to help streamline the entire board meeting process, make sure it covers the nonprofit board meeting checkboxes. Apps like Asana and Trello make it easy for team members to check off tasks or provide updates on fundraising efforts. To-do lists, task tracking, and status updates can take minutes when done via digital means instead of communication over email or other messaging platforms, which can get bogged down in clutter due to back-and-forth conversations. Additionally, digital whiteboards make it possible to schedule upcoming tasks quickly and digitally share them with team members.

Set an Agenda and Stick to It

A meeting without an agenda is a recipe for disaster — no one has a clear understanding of what should be accomplished, so the conversation quickly falls away from any plan and wanders off track. Set a detailed agenda before the meeting begins and make sure everyone knows the purpose and expected outcomes of each item. Share this agenda with members well in advance, so they can come prepared with questions or feedback to contribute.

Each meeting has several regular business items that need to be covered, such as reviewing previous meeting minutes, and reports and discussing new and old business—but how you set up the meeting can dictate its effectiveness.

Darian Rodriguez argues that the consent agenda is one of the greatest things to ever happen for board meetings. Consent agendas typically contain the prior meeting’s minutes, ED reports, and routine financials that can be previewed in advance and simply accepted (or not) within the first five minutes of the board of director’s meeting.

If you are scheduled to have a long, mentally draining discussion about a future program, following it up with an in-depth review of the next year’s budget might not lead to a productive use of your time. Keep the meeting snappy, mix in breaks and don’t let the conversations get too heavy. Keep the energy up! By thinking ahead and balancing the agenda, you can create a meeting that allows you to tackle several serious topics but doesn’t drag. The other half of this comes in during the meeting. Once you set the agenda, stick to it to make sure you get everything done that you’ve planned.

Keep the Meeting on Track With Time Limits & Meeting Minutes

To ensure your meetings stay on track, set a time limit for each agenda item. This way, you and your team are always aware of how much time is left and when it’s time to move onto the next item. Additionally, take detailed minutes at each meeting so that everyone can review what was discussed at a later date. You should also make sure someone is cleary assiged to taking notes on the meeting, whether it is you, the board’s secretary or someone else. The minutes should include a summary of points being made, actions steps, motions and other official actions. Taking detailed, thorough minutes during the meeting can help eliminate headaches later. Clear communication will keep your board members focused on one goal — the advancement of your cause through successful fundraising efforts.

It can be easy to get caught up in the discussion and focus on the direction of the conversation. If running short on time starts to be a problem, consider longer or more frequent touch bases with your members. Make sure they are a part of that conversation if the new meeting structure differs from what they originally committed to.

Team Building

The board of directors that plays together stays together, right? Mostly, yes. You don’t have to play together, but you should care about the people you are working with and the board members should have an investment in what you’re doing. You should encourage sharing of personal stories and successes (during appropriate times) between board members so they get to know each other. You can also spend time at meetings doing team building activities, but make sure these aren’t forced or make anyone feel uncomfortable. The goal is the build a team and not to find new players for your rec league basketball team.

Listen and Ask for Opinions

Every member of your board is important. You can make them feel more engaged by making sure everyone has the chance to contribute. Sometimes board members can be quiet because they’re overshadowed by other members, but other times they are thinking the matter over in their heads and still formulating their thoughts. It’s one thing to ask them to talk, but you should also listen to what they are saying and fit it into the context of the meeting. Allow everyone the opportunity to speak and make sure the entire board has their attention.

Recognize and Thank

The members of your board of directors aren’t robots, unless you are reading this in the year 2102 and humans have been overtaken by our computer overlords. But for now, they are people and they should be recognized for their contributions both to your organization and in their everyday life. When all your hard work comes to fruition, make sure you take the time to recognize and thank your board for their efforts. Acknowledging members’ accomplishments during or after the meeting is a great way to show gratitude and keep morale high.

While this might not be tied directly to meetings, making sure that your directors know that you appreciate their work can help you have more effective meetings. If they feel appreciated, they will likely be more engaged and want to participate—you don’t have to spend money to do so either. While you can provide them with dinner or gifts, a thank-you note or a special gift unique to your nonprofit can also be just as effective. Small token gifts such as flowers or a gift card can show appreciation for members who went above and beyond in their fundraising efforts. Celebrating successes as a team can also foster engagement and excitement in future events.

Maintain Accountability with Follow-Ups After Each Meeting

This is simple and straightforward, but you should review action steps for the next meeting twice, if not three times. First, at the end of each meeting review the tasks assigned to board members and the timeline for each item. Then after the meeting, send an email out to the board members with another reminder of the action items. Maintaining accountability among your members will show them that their input is valued and encourages engagement in fundraising discussions. Follow-up emails after each meeting can also be helpful reminders of what needs to be done. Additionally, quarterly emails can help set goals, update the team on progress, and get members excited about future events. With these easy tips your team will stay enthusiastic and committed to their event all season long!

When you send out the notice of the next upcoming meeting, you can also send out another reminder of the action steps. Like we talked about in the first point, meetings don’t just happen when everyone is together. If your directors keep moving the work forward between the meetings it can help the actual meetings more productive.

As with anything, leading a board meeting takes skill. It takes leadership, organization and clear expectations. If you follow these 7 tips to more productive meetings, you’ll be off to a good start to make your board of director meetings more efficient—but also make your own adjustments based on your specific board. Before you know it, your board will be pumping like a strong, healthy heart, raising more money for your organization.

The post 7 Tips for More Productive Board Meetings That Get Members Fundraising appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

What does the head of a foundation that gave $18 million in grant money last year have to say about grant writing and the relationship between foundations and nonprofit professionals?

Don’t get trapped

One of the many mistakes Kutash routinely sees in grant writing is that the applicant looks at the application as a set-in-stone document that has to be followed like a math formula.

“Too often, grantees get ‘trapped by the app,’ and they only answer the questions that they are asked,” Kutash explained.

He later expanded on that thought, talking about the perceived “power imbalance” between the foundation and potential grantee. He thought that this could be the reason that the grantees are getting trapped. Having the courage to step outside the boundaries of the application, and tell the foundation not what they think they need to know, but rather what you think they need to know can make the difference in an application.

The “value” of money

Let’s face it, the reason nonprofits turn to foundations and grants is a need for money. Some might think that the amount of money being asked for is a major part of the grant application process, but Kutash disagreed.

“In many ways, the specific dollar amount may be the least valuable part of the whole grant,” he said.

He also talked about the misconception that once the money is received, the grantee has succeeded and the process is over. Grant reporting is crucial in continuing to build the newly formed relationship between the grantseeker and grantmaker. That grantee has now gained a supporter and another “person” in their corner. In that sense, the relationship between foundation and nonprofit is very similar to the relationship that is strived for between nonprofits and individual donors.

Look for transparency

In a recent article Kutash wrote for The Center for Effective Philanthropy, he talked about how he believes transparency should be utilized by foundations, and how the Peter Kiewit Foundation is working towards being more transparent. We asked him to expand on some of the things he wrote about.

Kutash said that there are certain things that nonprofits have a right to know. The foundation’s strategy, priorities and goals of the foundation, as well as the process and criteria for reviewing grants. Knowing these things can help the grant writer know how their grant is being reviewed, and what they should emphasize in the application.

Customer service is key

Prior to taking the executive position at the Peter Kiewit Foundation, Kutash worked as a managing director for FSG, a San Francisco based consulting firm, providing assistance to nonprofits and other charitable foundations around the world. We talked about how his experience providing consulting services impacts his work now. He said the biggest thing he brought from FSG to his new position is an attention towards customer service.

“When you work in consulting, one of the things that’s really important is customer service,” he said. “I want our program officers to be great at customer service first.”

He went on to explain that a focus on this can help in relationship-building. That’s something that is important on both sides as the working relationship grows past the initial grant.

Check out Nonprofits Hub’s Certificate Course on Grant Writing Basics. Participants who complete the entire course will receive a non-accredited certificate to boost their resume and their confidence as they go for their next round of funding!

Originally published 4.4.16—Updated 12.26.22

The post 4 Grant Writing Tips to Bolster Relationships with Foundations appeared first on Nonprofit Hub.

As we head into the new year, your nonprofit organization is likely prioritizing your top fundraising strategies. While the social impact sector is continuously adapting to the current economic climate, what might be different about 2023? Let’s discuss some opportunities this year brings to update your strategy for growing support.  

Increase your reach by diversifying your fundraising strategy in the four following areas:

• Events
• Donor pool
• Payment options
• Funding sources

1. Events          

These past few years have been a rollercoaster with fundraising events, leaving nonprofits wondering if events should be in-person, virtual, or hybrid. The answer to that was ever-changing as everyone continued to address the coronavirus pandemic. While in-person events are only partially risk-free, they are back for 2023. However, many nonprofits experienced an unexpected silver lining with virtual events. This begs the question of what type of events you should offer now. With diversification being the key to success this year, the answer is “all of the above.”                                                            

Benefits of In-Person Events

Nothing quite compares to the experience of being in a location together to support a cause close to your heart. In-person events build trust with supporters and allow them to get to know your nonprofit. You can introduce donors to your team and volunteers. In the case of animal rescue, for example, donors can even meet some of the sweet faces their funds are helping. 

Likewise, you get the opportunity to know your supporters on a deeper level as well. Additionally, there are increased ways to show donors the impact of your nonprofit work. Since every person is different, each donor takes a different journey to realize they want to support your mission. For some, in-person experiences leave a lasting impression. 

Benefits of Virtual Events

On the other hand, virtual events offer unique benefits. First, you can have more attendees due to the lack of space restrictions. Also, potential donors from anywhere can attend without geographical limitations! Sometimes the best supporters are the furthest away, and virtual events allow them to be included. Cast a wider net and reach more supporters when advertising your events since anyone can attend virtually. Furthermore, you cut costs on travel with virtual events and reserve those funds needed elsewhere. 

Benefits of Hybrid Events

You can have the best of both worlds when hybrid events are run properly. Your virtual attendees may even get more value from seeing your in-person participants. Since you have more options for fundraising activities with in-person events, you’ll have more to show your virtual audience. You can build meaningful relationships with local supporters and those interacting from home through hybrid events. 

2. Donor Pool                                                                    

Expand your donor pool by reaching different audiences on various networks. As some of your previous donors may be less financially able to support your nonprofit this year, reaching new supporters is essential. However, they don’t all congregate in the same place. Therefore, new donors will need to discover your organization where they are at. Let’s explore a few places where you might have potential supporters waiting. 

The Google Network

As Google users make up the majority of searchers in the US market, you can reach potential donors in large numbers with Google Ads. With the Google Ad Grant, your nonprofit can take advantage of $10,000 worth of monthly advertising on the Google network. By now, your organization may be utilizing this fantastic resource to increase your donor pool. Numerous tips and tricks for getting the most out of this grant exist. If you haven’t tried the Google Ad Grant or seen the right results, we recommend collaborating with trusted partners or other nonprofits to learn more. You can follow blogs, attend webinars, and listen to podcasts to gain insights on utilizing the Google Ad Grant best. 

The Microsoft Network

Perhaps less well-known, there is now a Microsoft Ads for Social Impact Grant. While Microsoft previously offered advertising funds to nonprofits, this grant rolled out in the summer of 2022 and required no financial contribution from nonprofits. While these ad funds are used similarly to the Google Ad Grant, the Microsoft Ad Grant provides nonprofits with $3,000 monthly advertising. This grant will help you target users of the Microsoft Search Network (Bing, Yahoo, AOL) and Microsoft Audience Network (outlook.com, MSN, Microsoft Edge, Ecosia). Combine the Microsoft Ads for Social Impact Grant with the Google Grant to increase your donor pool significantly. If you are curious about how to do this, connect with us.  

Social Media

While your nonprofit likely has a large social media presence, reaching new supporters on social media has changed over the past year. With multiple platforms updating their algorithms repeatedly in 2022, it can be challenging to figure out what works now. One trend that is sticking around is the need to engage with other accounts. 

For example, have you ever made a quick social media post and immediately jumped off the platform to tackle your many other tasks? This is understandable, especially if you have a small team. However, you may have noticed that your posts did significantly better when you stuck around on the platform to engage with others. This is because algorithms changed in mid-2022 on platforms like Instagram and TikTok to favor user engagement. 

While engagement has always been rewarded to some degree, it is vital now. Therefore, you can increase your reach on posts by showing some love to other nonprofits through liking, commenting, and following. This is also an excellent way to support other nonprofits during difficult times. Whether or not they reciprocate, the algorithm partially uses your engagement activity to determine the right audience for your content. This includes non-followers who may become new supporters. Therefore, it pays to be social on social media. Increase your donor pool while you help other nonprofits. It’s a win-win. 

3. Payment Options                                                        

While everyone might be struggling financially on some level, the desire to give and help others doesn’t go away. When donors cease their monetary contributions due to financial hardships, many hope to give again or would like to provide a different amount. Similarly, potential donors are more likely to begin supporting your mission if they have plenty of payment options. Therefore, you can offer more opportunities to increase the likelihood of continued support from current and new donors. 

Tailored Amounts

Allow donors to choose the amount they can manage with their current commitments. Of course, you can offer choices of pre-selected amounts, but always provide the “other amount” option, which allows donors to enter a custom amount. If you can update this to make it simple to change the amount at any time before the automatic payment, this will be very helpful too. These are great options for recurrent donors because their financial situation may fluctuate monthly. Additionally, this is a way of letting supporters know that you appreciate every donation regardless of size. When faced with hardships, donors may be more likely to continue giving if the amount doesn’t create a financial burden. 

Tailored Frequency

Much like the amount, the payment frequency matters as well. While some recurrent donors may want to lower their monthly payment amount temporarily, others might prefer to select particular months to donate. Offering flexibility increases the chances that you won’t lose those donors altogether. Also, you might consider implementing an “ask me next month” option for donors who have just selected to “opt out” of future donation payments. However, this option should be offered tactfully with extended gratitude for everything they’ve given and without guilt. Donors must be assured that your organization sees them as individuals and appreciates them greatly. 

Additional Methods

By accepting additional payment methods, you make the donation process more convenient. This shows supporters that you value their time, which goes a long way. 

Consider adding these payment method options if you haven’t already: 

• PayPal

In the growing gig economy, you might find more donors that want to use a PayPal card. While a PayPal account has many uses, freelancers often receive payments via PayPal. They have a debit card for this account, which makes it very convenient to donate or shop online. 

• Venmo

Digital wallets like Venmo are becoming increasingly popular. Venmo allows friends, family, and businesses to reimburse others. When Venmo is accepted as a payment option, this cuts the extra step of transferring the money into a different account first. It’s very convenient. 

4. Funding Sources     

There’s no question that nonprofits need donations to continue their essential work, but what can your nonprofit do when donations run short? Getting creative with your funding sources will pay off tremendously this year. 

Consider these funding options as valuable support for your mission:                                         

• Selling Merchandise

Consider adding an online shop on your website to generate additional funding. With everything your nonprofit handles, an online shop might feel like one more thing. However, you might be surprised by the benefits. For instance, nonprofit organizations have some of the best logos that people are proud to wear on a t-shirt. As authenticity is valued more than ever now, younger adults are growing tired of wearing the same clothing as everyone else. Not only can sales increase your funding, but having supporters wear your logo is free advertising! 

In addition to clothing, there are many options for products you can sell that are related to your mission. If you would like examples of various nonprofit shops, check out our Holiday Gift Guide, which features numerous organizations with unique merchandise. 

• Legacy and Tribute Fundraising

According to Legacy Foresight, we can expect an “exceptional period of growth” from legacy giving over the next ten years. A legacy gift is a donation from an individual’s estate to a chosen charity. As awareness of this giving method increases, it’s important to add educational information on your donation pages about this option. Also, these donations offer tax benefits to families. An article from Network for Good states that legacy giving “can even become one of your nonprofit’s most reliable revenue sources and an additional way for your donors to show support.”

• Corporate Partnerships

By partnering with a corporation, you each benefit in multiple ways. First and foremost, this is a great way to generate revenue for your nonprofit. You can receive a sizable corporate donation in exchange for acknowledging their brand on your website, marketing materials, and advertisements. Secondly, this mutual partnership may allow you to reach new audiences through the business’s promotional campaigns. The corporation benefits from excellent PR and growing its audience as well. Learn more about corporate partnerships here. 

Conclusion

While the new year brings uncertainty, nonprofit organizations can navigate these challenges by diversifying their fundraising strategies. Individuals and businesses still want to give in 2023, but they will likely need more options as they, too, are adapting. By providing diverse opportunities for support, your organization can get the necessary help to make an incredible impact in the upcoming year.

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