Fundraising is the breath and essence of nearly all non-profits. Fundraising for non-profits is the community investment into your cause after the establishment of trust and the building of the relationship.
Principles of Fundraising – People give to people, not to programs. Giving is driven by emotion not logic. Campaigns are more effective if consistently held rather than one big bang every so often.
By showing gratitude and meaningful impact, the second and subsequent donations are the easiest to get.
Never rely on one particular donor / sponsor or one type of source. Diversify, diversify, diversify.
Strategies of Fundraising –
Individual –
These are usually one time donations as a result of an effective email campaign or website donation forms or recurring donations from monthly giving programs. Make it as easy and painless as possible with one click / tappable buttons so people can donate easily no matter what type of device they are using.
Large Gifts and Legacy Giving –
These are larger ticket donations of usually $1000 or higher. They may be one time donations, or planned donations via wills, endowments, or stocks. Your non-profit can start a legacy program to encourage these types of bigger ticket donations.
Always recognize them with gratitude!!! If the donor does not want a public thank you, then thank them in private. It would be wise to institute a special brand of relationship building with these key donors.
Live / Virtual Events and Peer to Peer Fundraising –
This type of fundraising includes but is not limited to auctions, birthday fundraisers, sales based fundraisers, galas, charity runs, charity competitions, and more.
Often used to support education, churches, veterans, and similar groups and causes. These should be well planned and executed with event / donation software, volunteers with strong networks and well designed compelling social media, videos, email campaigns and flyers.
Social Media and Email Driven Fundraising –
If you have already developed a strong social media presence, take advantage of this and work it! This may be the right approach for your particular non-profit.
Utilize scheduled emails to push events, ramp up registrations, generate donations, etc. Use videos to tell the story, build momentum and add urgency.
Corporate Giving – Sponsorships, Workplace Giving
This type of fundraising is all about support from businesses, partnering with local businesses to sponsor events.
This can be financial support or in kind support from the business. For their generous donation / sponsorship of food, beverages, prizes, space, technical support, and printing, you offer exposure, recognition, co-branded content while building a strong and supportive community goodwill relationship.
There may be terms and conditions. Follow their guidelines. Include data, human stories, emotional hooks in your proposals. Be clear and transparent. Build relationships.
Shake hands at the end of the day and express your gratitude. There’s more where that came from. People like to hear thank you and see / feel the appreciation. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.