Are you looking for new fundraising ideas to grow your nonprofit? Use these 10 creative fundraising strategies to boost donations for your charitable organization.
10 Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofits
Organizing new fundraising campaigns each year can be a challenging task for board directors and staff. It takes time and careful planning to pull off a successful fundraiser. To maximize your fundraising efforts, you need to develop creative strategies to bring in new donors. It may seem daunting to come up with unique fundraisers each year, but the best fundraising ideas can have a major impact on attracting and retaining donors.
To help inspire your next fundraiser, we have created 10 fundraising ideas for you to consider!
- Donation Pages Fundraising Ideas
- Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Ideas
- Charitable Giving Fundraising Ideas
- Social Media Contest Fundraising Ideas
- Corporate Donor Memberships Fundraising Ideas
- Email Campaign Fundraising Ideas
- Product Fundraising Ideas
- Giving Tuesday Fundraising Ideas
- Fitness Charity Run/Walk Fundraising Ideas
- Pledge Drive Fundraising Ideas
Learn more about our Fundraising Strategies
Donation pages are essential for collecting funds from donors on your organization’s website. Every nonprofit should have the ability to accept one-time or recurring donations online. Donation pages provide people with a convenient way to contribute right from their mobile or desktop device! Donation pages provide the following benefits for your organization:
- Immediate engagement opportunities
- Improved security
- Access to donor information
Typically, nonprofits create donation pages with the help of an online nonprofit software. The best nonprofit platforms include features to help maximize your fundraising efforts! They should include online donation forms, donor memberships, website templates, automated giving, email campaigns, and many other features to help raise money for your cause. The ideal nonprofit solution should attract new donors, engage with your current donor circle, and increase your donor retention. Ultimately, nonprofit software should help bring your fundraising ideas to life!
Peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P) is a method in which individual supporters collect donations from family, friends, and colleagues on behalf of a nonprofit organization. This fundraising method can either be implemented in-person or online, it’s completely up to you and your organization!
For this fundraising idea, nonprofit organizations recruit volunteers among their supporters to reach out to and collect donations from their family and friends. They can raise money through a variety of activities, such as exciting events or selling branded merchandise. The ultimate goal of P2P fundraising campaigns is to organically expand your nonprofit’s reach to networks of all kinds. Below are the key benefits of peer-to-peer fundraising:
- New audience reach: Not only do these campaigns empower existing supporters, but they are the perfect opportunity to spread the word to a wider circle of individuals.
- Improved supporter relationships: The supporters who volunteer to fundraise will deepen their connections for your cause, leading to positive, lasting supporter relationships.
- Efficient fundraising: By taking full advantage of P2P fundraising, you’ll improve the overall quality and efficiency of your campaign.
Build a network of local merchants and donors to help boost donations for your cause. By bonding with diverse businesses and individuals in your community, you can develop long-lasting relationships and continued support for your organization. A charitable giving network is the perfect way to harness the true power of the community and increase donations. When it comes to running a nonprofit organization, forming long-lasting, deep relationships is vital to your success! Building a charitable giving network is the perfect fundraising idea for your nonprofit.
With Rhino Nonprofit, start building your charitable giving network in no time!
Our DonorBoost program is a no-cost service designed to help nonprofit companies build a network of merchants. Imagine being able to give back to those local businesses you rely on over and over. Refer them into your DonorBoost network and everyone wins, your donors, your merchants, and your organization!
In the digital age, social media contests are beneficial fundraising ideas. Launching a social media contest is more than just staying “trendy.” It is a strategic way to advertise and expand your nonprofit brand! Learn about 3 popular social media contest ideas:
- Hashtag Contest
Hashtags have taken over the social media landscape! A hashtag challenge is an advertising campaign where participants post content with a specific, brand-related hashtag. Simply develop a unique hashtag that reflects your organization, encourage creative submissions, promote your challenge across all platforms, and engage with participants (likes, comments, shares).
- Photo Contest
In a photo contest, competitors submit themed photos that feature any aspect of your nonprofit organization. After selecting a theme, establish clear guidelines, create a specific hashtag, set a submission deadline, and showcase participant entries!
- Giveaway Contest
Who doesn’t love a free giveaway? A giveaway contest is a time-sensitive contest that can drive heavy traffic to your website or social media pages. It is easy to implement a giveaway contest. You must first create an attractive and urgent offer. Be sure to outline the terms and time limit clearly and incorporate attractive visuals and calls to action. Whether you’re giving away branded merchandise or a free meal at a local restaurant, this will likely drive a diverse audience to your organization!
Even the biggest nonprofit organizations can struggle to be recognized. Thankfully, there’s a solution! By working with private companies, you can generate interest, brand awareness, donations, and sponsorships for your organization. Simultaneously, the corporate partner will see benefits as well.
Corporate memberships are a partnership with a business or corporation in which both parties work together toward a charitable cause. Often, it is a business. There are many benefits to partnering with a corporation:
- Increased brand awareness
- Financial feasibility
- More donations
- Stability
Effective fundraising emails can greatly increase the chance that donors open, click, and give to your fundraising campaign. It is one of your organization’s most effective channels for collecting donations and fostering relationships. Email is an effective method for educating your audience on your mission, recruiting volunteers, and asking for donations. Below are 8 steps to create an email fundraising campaign:
- Review your email database
- Organize your donor list
- Plan an email sequence for each segment
- Write a dynamic subject line and compelling story (keep it short and sweet)
- Add a call-to-action
- Make it simple to donate on your website
- Express gratitude to your donors
- Track your campaigns performance
Selling nonprofit merchandise is a popular fundraising idea for organizations of all kinds! There is a variety of custom merchandise you can sell: t-shirts, hoodies, hats, water bottles, and so much more! Selling merchandise is an effective idea because donors will receive something in return for their contribution.
Product Fundraising is an effective marketing strategy and a great way to boost donations. When supporters use or wear your products in public, they’re passively promoting your nonprofit! The donor becomes a true partner for your nonprofit.
Your organization can create compelling designs that represent your brand or commemorate an event. You may even take it a step further and post the merchandise on social media or your website to spread the word!
Giving Tuesday is a global day of generosity that happens every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. Families, businesses, and charities all join together to celebrate this day and give back to their communities. This fundraising idea is the perfect way to foster generosity, create positive change, empower your nonprofit, and build community!
So how can your nonprofit organization stand out amidst all the noise? Follow the guidelines below:
- Plan and prepare early: The more you prepare and spread the word beforehand, the more money you’ll be able to raise!
- Set a clear goal: Set a reasonable but ambitious donation goal for your organization.
- Create a communication schedule: Set a plan for sending out emails to supporters in the weeks leading up to Giving Tuesday. Make them as eye-catching and engaging as possible! Be sure to send an email and stay active on social media on the day of the event.
- Express your appreciation: Make sure your donors understand how much your organization values and appreciates them. Send them automatic thank you messages after they give. You may even want to send out a more detailed email after Giving Tuesday is over.
A walk for charity can be a win-win for everyone involved! Participants can enjoy an interactive day of exercising while supporting their community. Nonprofits can gain awareness, increase donations, and connect with people excited about your charity! In a walk-a-thon, participants gather donations by encouraging their supporters to pledge a fixed amount for each unit of distance they go. After everyone completes the walk-a-thon, your organization collects all the donations that were pledged.
You want your fundraiser to run smoothly! Before you begin planning, make sure you identify your cause. A defined cause will catch people’s attention. Determine your goal and how much you want your participants to raise. Perhaps, you may even want to encourage competition among individuals to see who can raise the most donations! Use social media to spread the word. The more people involved, the better. A charity run/walk fundraising idea is the perfect way to leverage the popularity of online giving, promote leadership and teamwork, and get people motivated to work toward a meaningful cause!
Pledge drive fundraising is when a donor promises to make a gift of money, goods, or services that will be delivered to your organization at a later date. Donors can make pledges that are conditional, meaning payments will only be made once a condition is met, or unconditional, meaning there are no strings attached. You may be wondering, why accept pledges instead of donations? That is because pledges:
- Provide flexibility: Pledges don’t have to be donated immediately. Flat rates appeal to donors who know what they want to give while pledges can be better for those who can’t or don’t want to give immediately.
- Increase donors’ capacity to give: Not all supporters can afford to donate large amounts all at once. Pledge donations give them the ability to pay toward a larger sum over a few months. Although your organization won’t receive the full amount up front, these small donations add up!
- Provide more opportunities to show gratitude towards supporters: Whether it is when a donor makes a pledge or when they donate, you’re provided with more opportunities to show your gratitude! Send them heartfelt thank-you messages and let them know what a great impact they have made.
Fundraising Made Easy with Rhino Nonprofit
Rhino Nonprofit management software is an online giving platform used by nonprofits (501c3) for managing donors, fundraising campaigns, and donations. Our software can help support your charitable organization and maximize your fundraising efforts.
Our nonprofit management software includes many features to help you maximize your fundraising efforts! Attract new donors, engage with your current donor circle, and increase you donor retention with our software platform. Our nonprofit solutions include online donation forms, donor memberships, website templates, automated giving, email campaigns, and other online fundraising solutions to help raise money for your foundation. Our software system also supports contactless payments for accepting Apple or Google Pay. This way you will never miss a potential donation again!
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10 Fundraising Ideas and Strategies
Are you looking for new fundraising ideas to grow your nonprofit? Use these 10 creative fundraising strategies to boost donations for your charitable organization. 10
