You’ve set a fundraising goal. You know your timeline. As a skilled nonprofit development director, you know your donor network, and you believe they have the capacity. Now it’s time to move them to action.
As a communications and design firm working for nonprofits, we’ve helped with hundreds of fundraising campaigns. Here are the communications tactics we recommend to help you meet the moment and activate your network.
Set a Theme. Fundraising campaign themes are a lot like a dress code. When everyone knows what to wear, they all show up ready to party. The best themes are specific, timely and connect with your audience. In fact, the title of this blog – Meet the Moment – is a good example of a theme. It allows you to easily show your donors how their gift will help do something RIGHT NOW. This case study shares more about how we used this theme to help The Action Center raise more than $50,000 in a just over a month.
Get Segmented. Rarely do I use the same words when I talk to my kiddo as I do when I talk to my best friend. They require different messages to keep our relationship strong. Your audiences are the same. The fundraising message you send to a long-time volunteer should be different from the one you send to a new donor. Organizing your messages and calls to action by audience can set you up for success.
Make it Pretty. While I may be a huge word nerd, I also appreciate an eye-catching graphic, photo or video. The good news? Bringing your message to life doesn’t have to cost a lot of money or take a lot of time. Make Canva your BFF – just make sure you mind your brand guide (hot tips from our designers here). We’re also huge fans of short videos filmed via cell phone and posted on social media or embedded in an email. Keep them 30 seconds or less, consider using captions and don’t worry about being too polished. Need inspo? This case study about our work to build engagement with Civic Center Conservancy will get the creative juices flowing.
Send It. As the kids say, don’t think about it—just send it. One of the biggest barriers to successful fundraising campaigns is overthinking. You can spend weeks trying to tailor your message or get your graphics just right, but in the end, the only campaigns that raise money are the ones that get out the door. This is why we LOVE mini campaigns. Think about running a campaign for a week or two, see how people respond and incorporate those lessons learned into your next campaign.
Make Donating Easy. Our final tip will have the fundraisers in the room whooping it up—don’t hide your ask. Donors need an easy button. We recommend putting a link to donate at the top, middle and bottom of an email. Use a QR code directly to your donation page on fundraising letters. Link to the donation page versus the learn more page in your social posts. Put that donate link in your bio. All of these will help move someone from awareness to action. Another thing that makes donating easy? Asking more than once! I promise. You can up that volume of emails and social posts during your campaigns. Remember, you take up a small part of your donors’ worlds. Make sure you cut through the clutter by telling them once, twice, three times or more.
We have mad respect for the professional fundraisers out there. Your work powers nonprofits. Our job is just to make it a little easier and a little more colorful. If you are looking for support with your next fundraising campaign, give us a shout!
