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Categories:
Website Strategies
Online Donation Form Strategies
Email Strategies
Social Media Strategies
Advertising Strategies

Without fundraising, your organization wouldn’t be able to stay up and running, further your causes, or help those that you serve.

In other words, fundraising is absolutely crucial to your success. Almost all nonprofit efforts tie into fundraising in some way.

But with the introduction of increasingly advanced technology, fundraising is constantly changing. Many organizations aren’t sure how to navigate this ever-evolving landscape.

Don’t worry; we’ve got you covered. In this guide, we’ve compiled a list of nearly 30 strategies (most of them digital) that will help you rock your fundraising!

Use the navigation on the left to jump down to the categories your organization is most interested in, or read through our guide to gain a more comprehensive fundraising strategy.

FREE BONUS: Download our accompanying Donor Database Software Buyer's Guide. Easily save it on your computer for later reference or print it to have a copy to take with you.

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.

Website Fundraising Strategies

Website Strategies:
Ensure your website is up-to-date.
Prominently feature a "Donate Now" button.
Tell your story.
Include a "More Ways to Give" page.
Make sure it’s mobile-responsive.

Your nonprofit’s website is the cornerstone of your digital fundraising efforts.

It’s how many supporters will first come into contact with you, and it’s where the majority of them will give online.

That being the case, it couldn’t be more important to optimize your website!

By doing so, you’ll be able to raise more now and consistently engage your donors, so you can establish the deeper relationships that will help you raise more down the line.

Ensure your website is up-to-date.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Keeping your website up-to-date is important from both a design and user-experience standpoint. A modern-looking website appears more authoritative and credible, allowing you to establish more trust with your donors. Because modern design trends favor minimalism, updating your website also ensures that it will be easily navigable to users, which results in them interacting with your site for longer. An appealing design and an excellent user experience will both lead to a higher volume of online donations!

How It's Done

Your organization should be updating your website every 2-4 years. You’ll want to design as proactively as possible to reduce the number of major changes you’ll have to make. Stick to a minimal design; avoid cramming your page with lots of fancy design elements, and leave plenty of white space to highlight key content and keep from distracting your browsers. Additionally, make sure all pages of your website are branded to your nonprofit so that your donors will always be certain they’re interacting with you.

Takeaway:

An up-to-date website will establish greater credibility with your donors and extend their site visits, both of which result in more online donations.
Click here for more web design tips!

Prominently feature a “Donate Now” button.

Why It's a Great Strategy

If you want your supporters to donate online (and we’re guessing you do!), you have to let them know how to do it! Prominently featuring your “Donate Now” button leads donors to exactly where they can make a donation. When they don’t have to search for where to donate, giving will be far more convenient, and they’ll be far more likely to follow through on submitting a contribution.

How It's Done

Your “Donate Now” button should be easy to spot on all pages of your website. Keep it above the fold (the part of the page that’s visible when it loads) so that users don’t have to scroll to find it. Use a standout color that really sets your button apart from the rest of your content, and make sure that your language is clear, concise, and actionable. The goal is to leave no uncertainty!

Takeaway:

Placing your “Donate Now” button in a visible spot on every page of your website will make it easier for your donors to give online, because they’ll never have to search for where to make a contribution.

Tell your story.

Why It's a Great Strategy

One of the main reasons that donors give to organizations is because they feel personally moved by the cause. Telling your organization’s story on your website emphasizes both your specific cause and philanthropy in general. It also makes your online outreach more personal. When the content you share is heartfelt, there’s a greater chance your donors will be captivated by your cause and will contribute to your organization.

How It's Done

To craft a compelling story, you’ll want to think about your nonprofit’s history. What were some of the defining moments that got you to where you are today? How do you hope to grow? Include these important aspects on your homepage and wherever is natural throughout your website. Remember to keep your story as donor-centric as possible; you should be emphasizing how your donors have and will continue to advance your cause.

Takeaway:

By telling your story on your website, you’ll be able to relate to donors on a more personal level and make your cause more compelling.

Include a “More Ways to Give” Page.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Just because some of your supporters are interacting with your organization online doesn’t necessarily mean that they want to support you by making an online donation. Including a “More Ways to Give” page will let browsers know about alternative ways to contribute and will give them all the information they need to start getting involved. When your donors can choose their own involvement based on their preferences, there’s a greater chance that they’ll support you.

How It's Done

When creating a “More Ways to Give” page on your website, start by listing out all of the alternative channels your organization uses for accepting standard, monetary donations (direct mail, mobile giving, etc.). You’ll also want to consider other opportunities to get involved (for example, your membership program, volunteering, etc.). Make sure your page informs supporters of how they can get started with these opportunities and directs them to any other pertinent information.

Takeaway:

By including a “More Ways to Give” page on your website, you’ll appeal to more of your donors’ preferences, resulting in higher levels of donor engagement.

Make Sure It’s Mobile-Responsive.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Now, a majority of users (around 60%) arrive at websites from their mobile devices. To provide the best experience for all of your browsers (including those on smartphones and tablets!), your website should be mobile-responsive. If your donors have to pinch, swipe, and zoom to view your pages, they’ll be far less likely to submit donations. In other words, if your website isn’t mobile-responsive, you could be missing out on donations from about 60% of your base! Don’t miss out on all those potential funds and make your website mobile-responsive.

How It's Done

Most website page builders use a responsive technology framework that will automatically generate a mobile-responsive version of your page, but you can always hire a website designer to do it for you. However, when designing, it’s best to keep mobile in mind. Use a vertical, one-column layout and a large, easy-to-read font (sans-serif fonts look best on screens) to optimize your website for mobile. And, of course, the best way to make sure that your website is mobile-responsive is to view it on your smartphone or tablet.

Takeaway:

A mobile-responsive website creates a good user experience for all browsers and results in more mobile donors.

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.

Online Donation Form Strategies

Online Donation Form Strategies:
Brand your form to your organization.
Use a unique form for each campaign.
Include emotionally-compelling images.
Keep your form minimal.
Include multiple giving levels.
Encourage recurring gifts.

Your online donation form is the key player when it comes to facilitating online donations.

It’s where donors will actually be submitting their contributions, so it couldn’t be more important to optimize your form.

When your form is user-friendly and accessible, your donors will be far more likely to give to your organization online, and you should see higher digital retention and conversion rates.

That means improved fundraising results both now and in the future!

Brand your form to your organization.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Branding your form to your organization is crucial for building trust with your donors. When your donors submit a donation online, they’re not only giving you money, but they’re also providing their sensitive information. Using a form that reflects your logo and the rest of your website will ensure that your donors know they’re actually giving to your organization, and they’ll feel a lot more confident doing so!

How It's Done

The design of your online donation form should mirror the look and feel of your website. Use the same font, colors, imagery, and language as those included on your website, and make sure to include your logo somewhere on the form. Many CRMs can generate branded donation forms and easily integrate them with your website, so consider looking into purchasing a platform with these capabilities if you aren’t using one already.

Takeaway:

Branding your form to your organization results in more online donations, because donors will be certain that they’re always interacting with a nonprofit they know and trust.
Click here to learn more about nonprofit donation forms!

Use a Unique Form for Each Campaign.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Each of your fundraising campaigns have unique goals. Using separate online donation forms creates a clearer distinction between projects and allows donors to more easily give within the context of a certain campaign. When there’s a clearer distinction, the hope is that your donors will be more motivated to give to multiple campaigns. Additionally, with more focused forms, it’s easier to equate gifts with specific results, which leads to more donations.

How It's Done

Use your CRM to generate a branded form for each of the fundraising campaigns that your organization is currently running. While all of your forms should be branded to your organization, you can include campaign-specific images and stories to make each of your forms more relevant and unique. It can also be helpful to create a separate page for each campaign on your website where you can share the link to that campaign’s donation page.

Takeaway:

Creating separate donation forms for each of your fundraising campaigns makes your forms more specific, which leads to increased online donations.

Include Emotionally-Compelling Images.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Including emotionally-compelling images is a relatively simple and highly effective way to make your online donation forms more impactful. On a purely aesthetic level, images make your forms more visually appealing. More importantly, their emotional nature can move donors with your cause and convince them to give. Plus, including images will make it easier for your organization to design campaign-unique forms.

How It's Done

Include images on your online donation forms! The most captivating images will be original to your organization, so try to only include photos that either one of your staff or your constituents has personally taken or created. You should stick to one image per form to create the most impact. Additionally, make sure the images on your forms mirror the images you use on the respective campaign pages on your website.

Takeaway:

Placing an emotionally-moving image on each of your donation forms can make your forms more compelling.

Keep Your Form Minimal.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Having to fill out a long or complicated form can deter donors from actually submitting their gifts. Keeping your form as minimal as possible will make it much more convenient for donors to give, which is a huge driving factor when it comes to whether or not they’ll do so. Plus, some donors might not feel comfortable indulging a lot of personal information, so it’s best to keep the required fields on your form to a minimum to see the highest conversion rates.

How It's Done

Only include the information fields that are absolutely necessary on your donation form (for example, name, gift amount, payment information, etc.). The fields will vary based on the needs of your campaign, but always be sure to include one contact information field (usually email) on your form, so you can properly follow up with your donors. Additionally, you can offer the option to create an account so that recurring donors don’t have to submit the same information each time they give.

Takeaway:

Minimizing the amount of required fields on your donation forms will make it much more convenient for donors to give online, which leads to a higher volume of donations.

Include Multiple Giving Levels.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Including multiple pre-set giving levels on your online donation forms can lead to more donations for a number of reasons. There’s a social influence factor that comes into play; many donors aren’t sure how much they’re expected to give, so being presented with options can make them more confident about donating. Offering options usually also results in slightly higher donations, since all it takes to give more is the click of a button.

How It's Done

To set giving levels, you’ll want to consider three things: average gift amount, campaign goals, and where similar organizations are setting their giving levels. Set your levels around the average, but try to push the average amount slightly higher to ease donors into upgrading. You should also equate each giving level with concrete results. Donors are more likely to give when they can visualize how their funds are helping you further your cause.

Takeaway:

By presenting donors with multiple giving levels, your online donation forms will subtly influence them to give more.

Encourage Recurring Gifts.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Recurring givers are some of the most valuable donors for nonprofits. They give far more over the span of their relationship with your organization than one-time donors ever could. By emphasizing recurring giving on your donation form and making it easy for donors to get set up with this option, you should see a greater number of recurring donors. After all, the more convenient something is, the more likely your donors are to do it.

How It's Done

The easiest way to emphasize recurring giving on your form is to include a box or field that donors can click to get set up. As with your donation amounts, you should provide them with multiple options for scheduling their gifts (for example monthly, quarterly, yearly, etc.). If possible, you should also include a short blurb on your form telling donors exactly how much more of an impact they can make by setting up recurring giving.

Takeaway:

By including the option to set up recurring giving on your online donation forms, your organization will see more recurring donors, and thus, gain a more valuable base.
Click here to learn more about online donations!

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.

Email Fundraising Strategies

Email Strategies:
Split-test subject lines.
Be direct.
Keep it short.
Engage before asking.
Segment your list.
Match emails to your donation page.
Follow up properly.

Email is one of the primary digital outreach channels that nonprofits use to keep up with their donors.

Organizations use emails for a number of things, including asking for donations, of course!

In fact, about 1/3 of online gifts are made as a result of email marketing.

However, since donors actually have to leave their email and visit your website to submit a donation, convincing them to give over email definitely takes a bit of strategy.

Read our tips to learn how you can make your email outreach as compelling as possible to see better fundraising results!

Split-Test Subject Lines.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Your subject lines are the first thing that donors spot when they receive your emails. Achieving the highest email open rates and getting more donors to read your content starts with creating an attention-grabbing subject line. The best way to test the efficacy of your subject lines is by running split-testing (or A/B testing), which allows your organization to send multiple versions of the same email to different recipients to gauge which subjects perform best.

How It's Done

Most email marketing platforms should allow your organization to easily conduct split-testing. Craft two or three different subject lines for the same email, and send them out to different segments of your email list. You’ll want to run multiple split-tests on different emails and note the patterns you see. If a certain type of subject line consistently garners more opens, it’s a sign that you should probably structure your subject lines for future outreach similarly.

Takeaway:

Split-testing can help your organization craft more powerful subject lines so that more donors will open your emails.
Why is no one reading your emails? Click here to find out!

Be Direct.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Your donors are busy people, and chances are, they’re constantly flooded with emails. You only have so many words and so much time to hold their attention, so it’s important to immediately make the intentions behind your emails clear if you want to get your message across. Skirting around your point can cause your donors to lose interest before they even get to the ask. Plus, your donors aren’t going to give unless they know you’re asking!

How It's Done

When crafting your emails, make your donation request as transparent as possible. You should start off the email by asking your donors for help, then repeat the ask again towards the end. Use clear, concise, and actionable language to eliminate the possibility of any confusion. Also, make sure to spell out how donors can make a contribution and include the link to your online donation form in a prominent place.

Takeaway:

Being direct in your emails makes your donation asks more explicit. When donors know exactly what you’re requesting, they’ll be more likely to help!

Keep It Short.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Internet browsers have notoriously short attention spans. With an abundance of content online, it’s only becoming more difficult to capture your donors’ attention and keep it. By keeping your emails short, your organization will be able to engage your donors throughout the email’s entirety to successfully make the ask.

How It's Done

Ideally, each email should be between about 150-250 words, but you should never exceed 500. Additionally, when it comes to length, email structure matters. Try to make your messages as scannable as possible; avoid using big blocks of text, and bold the points that you want to highlight most.

Takeaway:

Keeping your emails between 150-250 words creates the best chance that donors will read the entirety of your emails and make it to the ask.

Engage Before Asking.

Why It's a Great Strategy

It’s important to make relationship-building the overall focus your outreach, instead of just viewing outreach as a way to fundraise. Sharing content through email is an excellent way to give back to your donors by providing them something valuable and to start (or keep!) building those relationships. When your donors feel you care about them beyond the donation form, they’ll feel more invested and be more likely to start giving and keep giving.

How It's Done

Don’t always send asks! Your organization should be varying your email outreach. For example, you could share news and updates, and offer other opportunities to get involved. You’ll want to craft multiple campaigns that target different constituent groups (for example, you might create separate campaigns for new donors, recurring donors, and members). Think about what content you can include that will be the most relevant to each group.

Takeaway:

When you use your email campaigns to engage donors outside of the donation process, your organization will be able to build the long-lasting relationships that result in more donations.

Segment Your List.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Remember those targeted email campaigns we discussed in the previous point? It will be much easier to manage sending out multiple campaigns when you segment your list. Segmenting your list simply refers to splitting your email list into smaller groups based on certain criteria. By doing so, you can ensure that your organization will always be sending the most relevant content to each supporter for the greatest chance of engaging them.

How It's Done

Segmenting your list will be much simpler with the help of the right software. Robust CRMs with email marketing features should let you split up your donor list based on any of the information fields included in the platform. How you choose to segment your donors into different groups depends on your organization and which main groups of constituents you hope to target with individualized outreach strategies.

Takeaway:

By segmenting your email list, your organization can more effectively cater to the needs and preferences of each of your constituent groups to see greater engagement.

Match Emails to Your Donation Page.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Emails including direct asks should always reflect the look and feel of your donation pages. Being consistent across all mediums (here, specifically your website, your donation pages, and your emails) makes your organization seem more credible and builds more trust among your donors. When each email is branded to your organization, donors can be sure that each piece of outreach is coming from a trusted sender, which results in more donations.

How It's Done

You should brand all emails in which you make direct asks to the corresponding donation page. To clarify, if you were making a direct ask for your annual fund campaign, you would want to brand the email to your annual fund donation form. Use the same imagery, language, color scheme, and font in the body of your email as those in your form. It can be helpful to think of your website, donation pages, and emails as three parts of the same whole.

Takeaway:

Consistency is key to getting your donors to trust you. Matching up your emails with your donation pages never leaves any doubt in donors’ minds about who they’re communicating with.

Follow Up Properly.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Email is the most common digital channel that nonprofits use to follow up with their donors, especially those that give online! The proper follow up will include both a thank-you and a donation receipt. Sending donors the proper follow up is crucial to good stewardship. Providing a receipt lets them know you’ve received their donations, and acknowledging their gifts makes them feel appreciated, both of which lead to higher retention rates (e.g. more donations!).

How It's Done

If you’re using a CRM with email marketing features, you can set your software to automate receipts and thank-yous once donors submit a gift online. You should still follow up with donors by sending out a more personalized thanks, but at the very least you’ll be able to ensure that no donations go unacknowledged. Make sure to send out your thanks within 48 hours after the donation is submitted and to personalize them using any relevant information you might have in your CRM.

Takeaway:

Proper follow-ups will make your donor base feel more valued, which leads to a higher number of recurring donors. Make sure to include both a thank you letter and a donation receipt!

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.

Social Media Fundraising Strategies

Social Media Strategies:
Set aside 15 minutes per day per site.
Run a peer-to-peer campaign.
Add a "Donate Now" button to your Facebook page.
Participate in #GivingTuesday.
Include social sharing buttons on your website and in email.
Recruit social influencers.

Social media has quickly become one of the most popular communication channels and can be an excellent outreach channel for nonprofits.

If you play your cards right, social media can help your organization raise a lot of money in a short amount of time and expand your reach significantly.

All it takes is a concerted effort to engage your supporters and an openness to trying out new fundraising trends.

Check out some of our strategies to see how you can make the most out of your social media presence to win more donations.

Set Aside 15 Minutes Per Day Per Site.

Why It's a Great Strategy

It can be hard to keep up with your organization’s social media pages, especially when you have a million other efforts running simultaneously. Setting aside a minimum of 15 minutes per day for each site ensures you’ll be able to maintain your pages and keep up with your social media followers. When your presence is more consistent, you’ll be more relevant and your social media outreach and fundraising will be more successful.

How It's Done

Devote 15 minutes each workday to each of the social media sites that your organization currently uses. During this time you can post new articles or updates, respond to comments or messages from your donors, share other pages’ content, and spark conversations with your supporters or other organizations. This time is really yours to complete any tasks related to social media upkeep.

Takeaway:

Regularly setting aside time to focus specifically on your social media sites will allow your organization to stay on top of engaging your followers.

Run a Peer-to-Peer Campaign.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Peer-to-peer has become all of the rage in fundraising and for good reason. During p2p campaigns, nonprofits mobilize their supporters to ask for donations on their behalf, most commonly over social media. It’s an effective strategy, because it can help you reach a fundraising goal more quickly and grow your network exponentially. Since fundraising happens more organically among peers, it also solves the trust problem many nonprofits face when requesting online donations.

How It's Done

In order to run a successful peer-to-peer campaign, you’ll need to recruit some loyal supporters who are interested in fundraising on your behalf. You’ll also need excellent peer-to-peer software. These platforms will allow you to create personalized donation pages that fundraisers can share on their social media accounts and use to collect donations. While it can be tempting to step back and let supporters take the reins, make sure you’re providing your fundraisers with lots of support throughout the campaign.

Takeaway:

Peer-to-peer campaigns can help your organization see better fundraising results and a more expansive supporter base.
Click here to learn more about peer-to-peer fundraising!

Participate in #GivingTuesday.

Why It's A Great Strategy

#GivingTuesday takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving and challenges your donors to meet a fundraising goal in 24 hours. The highly urgent and definitive nature of this fundraising strategy can really motivate donors to give a lot within a short span of time. Additionally, since it takes place during the holiday season, many donors are in the giving spirit and are looking to contribute to the charitable causes they care about. It’s a win-win!

How It's Done

You should first register as an official #GivingTuesday partner, which lists information about your organization and how to donate in #GivingTuesday’s online directory. This effort takes widespread awareness to be successful, so you should also start advertising well in advance. Share your goals and let donors know how they can get involved. Once #GivingTuesday rolls around, start sharing your donation page and updating donors on your progress!

Takeaway:

#GivingTuesday is one of the newest trends in fundraising and can help your nonprofit reach your fundraising goals in just 24 hours!
Download our free annual fund eBook to learn more about #GivingTuesday!

Include Social Sharing Buttons on Your Website and in Email.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Your organization should be including social sharing buttons on your website and in the emails you send out to supporters. Doing so subtly encourages donors to share their contributions and makes it easy for them to do so. The hope is that, when your donors’ peers see them contributing to a worthy cause, they’ll be inspired to donate themselves! After all, the social influence factor is a powerful driving force.

How It's Done

Many CRMs have social sharing features that allow your organization to easily place social sharing buttons in your emails and on your website. You should include buttons that correspond to each of the social media sites your supporter base is most active on. Place them on your donation confirmation page and in your acknowledgement emails. Supporters are more likely to share when their donations are fresh on their minds!

Takeaway:

Incorporating social sharing buttons into your website and email donation confirmations encourages donors to share their contributions, which will naturally expand your base!

Recruit Social Influencers.

Why It's A Great Strategy

Social influencers are people outside of your organization who have a prominent social media presence and post positive messages about your organization. The benefits of recruiting social influencers are two-fold. First, you’ll be able to create a more consistent and varied social media presence. Second, it can help solve the trust issue. When potential donors see someone they admire posting about how amazing your nonprofit is, they’ll want to start supporting you themselves!

How It's Done

To start recruiting some social media influencers, you’ll first want to turn to your existing donor base. Do you have any supporters who have been supporting your organization for years and also have a large social media following? If so, they’re the perfect candidates! You can also consult your staff to see if they know anyone with social media clout who wouldn’t mind posting about your organization every so often. Aim to have your influencers share one positive post about your nonprofit per month.

Takeaway:

Social influencers are respected social media presences who agree to share positive opinions about your organization. They can really help you grow your social media reach!

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.

Advertising Strategies

Advertising Strategies:
Take advantage of online affiliate programs.
Explore ad retargeting.
Consider investing in Facebook ads.
Advertise online fundraising in offline outreach.

While advertising isn’t a fundraising strategy in and of itself, strong advertising can do wonders for the success of your fundraising.

Advertising allows you to get the word out about your campaigns and events, which raises more awareness of your cause and work.

By running advertising campaigns, you’ll be able to reach more donors and keep engaging existing ones to see better fundraising results all around.

Keep reading to learn some excellent advertising strategies that are sure to help your organization gain more exposure!

Take Advantage of Online Affiliates Programs.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Many websites have affiliate programs in place. How they usually work is that the website will donate a portion of their profits to your organization in exchange for helping them advertise their services or run research. The format of each program will vary, but generally your organization won’t have to do much beyond search the web or shop online like you normally do. Joining these programs is an easy way for you to bring in extra funds. You’re basically making money for going about your business as usual!

How It's Done

There are many affiliates programs your organization can join, some of the most popular being: Amazon Associates, EBates, Welzoo, and GoodSearch. To get set up, visit their sites to learn more about the format of each program and to register. While joining affiliate programs isn’t necessarily an advertising strategy per se, these programs take some advertising on your part to be successful. Make sure to share the links with supporters and let them know how they can get involved!

Takeaway:

With online affiliate programs, your organization can raise a little extra cash just by surfing the web as you normally would!

Explore Ad Retargeting.

Why It's A Great Strategy

Ad retargeting allows your organization to show targeted advertisements to people who have visited your website. When visitors land on your site, an invisible piece of script is placed on their browsers. Once they leave your site, this piece of script is read by a retargeting platform that will display ads based on the pages they visited on your site. Ad retargeting is an excellent strategy, because it caters to those that are already warm towards your organization (e.g. already more likely to interact with you!). 

How It's Done

To set up ad retargeting, your organization will need to enlist the help of a retargeting platform. There are tons of different ad retargeting services you could use, and all of them will differ slightly. While some platforms run targeted campaigns throughout the web, others are more social-media-specific. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, so you’ll want to do some research to determine which platform might be the most fitting for your organization. 

Takeaway:

Ad retargeting is a particularly effective strategy because it appeals to your inbound leads based on their preferences. No more missed opportunities here!

Consider Investing in Facebook Ads.

Why It's a Great Strategy

Using Facebook is an inexpensive way for your organization to run targeted ads. You can segment your followers into different lists based on location, interests, demographics, or other data points. For example, if you were hosting a fundraising event, you could adjust your setting so posts about your event would only be shared with supporters in a certain area. Facebook ads allow your organization to better target your supporters’ interests and send them the most relevant content that’s most likely to engage.

How It's Done

For this strategy to be effective, you’ll want to split your supporters up into the most pertinent groups and create relevant outreach strategies for each one. You can simply post to your different segments and watch engagement grow organically, or your organization can pay to “boost” your ads so that they’ll be displayed more prominently on your supporters’ newsfeeds. Facebook gives you total control over cost, so you only pay what you want.

Takeaway:

Through Facebook, your organization can run highly targeted ads that cater to your supporters’ preferences and are thus more likely to engage them.

Advertise Online Fundraising in Offline Outreach.

Why It's A Great Strategy

In order to make the most out of your fundraising, you should establish a cohesive, multichannel outreach strategy. All of your donors have different outreach preferences, so it’s important to connect your offline and online advertising as much as possible. If you don’t include information about online giving in your offline outreach, you could be missing out on donations from a significant percentage of your base. In fact, about 35% of donors who receive direct mail asks choose to follow up by giving online.

How It's Done

This strategy is fairly straightforward; all you have to do is include information about online giving in all of your offline outreach! This strategy mostly applies to direct mail, but can also be relevant to other offline channels as well. Make sure to mention the option to give online and include the link to your online donation page in your direct mail asks. Additionally, you should highlight online giving at events. For example, when you make a live appeal, tell supporters that they can always give online later, too.

Takeaway:

To receive the most donations, your organization should be creating coherent advertising and outreach strategies that incorporate both online and offline channels.

Ready to Get Started?

See how Neon’s fundraising software can help your organization.

Get a free demo of Neon’s online fundraising software.
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