3 Tech-Savvy Strategies to Boost Your Digital Fundraising

July 30, 2018

Since the advent of online fundraising, nonprofits have seen their communities trend more and more toward digital interaction.

People love to give online. It’s more convenient, more engaging, and makes showing support to your cause a natural part of online life.

Whether you’re raising money for a peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, crowdfunding for your cause, or just looking to drive more givers to your online fundraising forms, there’s a lot your nonprofit needs to know to perfect its digital fundraising efforts.

Curious to learn more? In this post, we’ll run through the top ways your team can:

  • Optimize your nonprofit’s online fundraising form,
  • Engage in social media-friendly fundraising strategies, and
  • Offer tools to make donating easier for supporters.

When your nonprofit gets its digital fundraising strategy right, there’s no limit to what you can accomplish online. Let’s dive into these tech-savvy strategies! 

Optimize your nonprofit’s online fundraising form

Your nonprofit’s online fundraising form is the heart of your community’s digital presence.

Ultimately, all of your online engagement should be designed to drive supporters to your form and inspire them to give. If supporters reach your form and they find it unintuitive, uninspiring, or just plain unattractive, they’re less likely to donate.

Luckily, there are a few key ways your team can improve its online donation form strategy:

  • Mobile optimize your online fundraising form. It should be just as readable for smartphone or tablet users as it is for traditional desktop users.
  • Include inspiring imagery to illustrate your cause. Tell supporters who you are as an organization with branded colors, logos, and photos on your giving form.
  • Make donating a quick process. Don’t add too many steps on the path to giving. If your form takes too long to complete, supporters may abandon it before making a gift.

The best way to ensure digital fundraising works for your cause is to invest in robust online giving software. This way, you’ll be armed with all the tools you need to create optimized donation forms.

Engage in social media friendly fundraising strategies

By far, one of the most effective ways to spread your nonprofit’s presence online is through social media.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are among the most active websites in the world, and many of your supporters engage on social media throughout the day. Boost the reach of your nonprofit online by engaging in social media friendly fundraising strategies.

For your next digital fundraising campaign, try some of these strategies to make a splash on social media:

  • Promote peer-to-peer fundraising. This fundraising method is especially suited to digital channels and can be a really powerful force on social media. Because peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are driven by online engagement, they’re the perfect fit for sites like Facebook that encourage sharing and engaging with content.
  • Invest in social media management software. To keep up with your supporters online, be sure to find social media management tools to strategize your posts. Use this software to draft and schedule content as well as keep accurate records of your supporters’ social media affiliations for more effective outreach efforts.

Bonus tip! The more effort your nonprofit puts into its social media strategy, the better. Plan out your social media engagement efforts in an editorial calendar at the beginning of your campaigns.

Offer tools to make donating easier for supporters

When deciding to donate is a no-brainer for supporters, you’ll see your nonprofit’s fundraising success skyrocket.

This is why your team should invest in some smart giving tools to help ease the pathway to giving for your community. Tools that offer giving alternatives or promote unconventional giving opportunities can help inspire supporters to donate.

Try some of these effective tools to boost giving among your supporters:

  • Matching gift databases. Embed a matching gift database in your online fundraising forms. When supporters see how far their gifts can go, they might be inspired to give more.
  • Micro-fundraisers. Try holding a short-term fundraiser (think an hour-long or day-long event) with a smaller fundraising goal to inspire supporters to give spontaneously.
  • Live stream fundraising events. Broadcast your fundraising events and link to your online giving page below the video to keep supporters who stayed at home excited and involved.

When your supporters stay involved with your cause, they’re automatically more likely to donate in the future. For this reason, it’s crucial to present your community with accessible giving opportunities like the ones above to keep them engaged and maintain your relationship.

Additionally, consider engaging with your community using a Facebook fundraiser.

Does your nonprofit need a digital fundraising refresher? With these tips on hand, your team can get started making online fundraising work better for your cause.

3 Tech-Savvy Strategies to Boost Your Digital Fundraising Ready to revolutionize your digital fundraising efforts? Take a look at our favorite strategies for boosting online fundraising success for your nonprofit, including optimizing your giving form, hosting micro-fundraisers, and more. https://learn.g2crowd.com/hubfs/boost%20digital%20fundraising.jpg
Dan Quirk Dan Quirk is the Marketing Manager at Salsa Labs, the premier fundraising software company for growth-focused nonprofits. Dan's marketing focus on content creation, conversion optimization, and modern marketing technology helps him coach nonprofit development teams on digital fundraising best practices. https://learn.g2crowd.com/hubfs/Dan%20Quirk.png https://www.linkedin.com/in/danquirk13/

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