A charity fundraiser is a great way to get awareness around your cause and also gather donations. While you can plan a great event, and market it in the best way possible, your fundraiser won’t be successful unless you get generous donors. Even if numerous people attend the fundraiser, you need to attract donors who will make all the difference to your cause.
Essentially, this involves the right kind of marketing and audience targeting. Once you have the hang of this, you’ll get the donors you want on board for your fundraiser. Here are a few ideas you should use to attract these donors.
Share information about your cause
This is the most important part of your marketing, but is often overlooked. So, make your cause clear and transparent. Put up your whole vision and what you do on your website, and give a summary in the fundraiser description as well.
In addition, talk about how the donations are used in your organization. For example, if you provide housing to the unhoused, give a general picture of what your process is and how many people you have helped till date.
Send out email campaigns to your leads
A more direct way to target donors is to send them emails. Start an email campaign which has a series of emails to attract donors. Start off with an introductory email about your cause, then go on to more specific emails like where to donate, and how the email recipients’ donations are used.
Use the charity email templates on PosterMyWall to create these emails, and stick to a similar theme and color palette for a professional look.
Utilize photos and videos to appeal to the audience
Of course, you can write all you want about the contributions you’ve made to the cause you’re raising funds for, but pictures can have a huge impact. Get pictures and videos made of the work you do, and of the problems you are solving, so that donors feel more connected to your cause.
Visual content is an easier way to invoke empathy, and will help donors see that they are contributing to something worthy. Make sure these photos and videos are taken in a well-presented manner, and share them with potential donors and all over your marketing mediums as well.
Incentivize high-value donations
Encourage people to make larger donations by incentivizing high-value contributions. You can either reward donors by giving them token prizes like merchandise related to your cause, or by giving them exclusive access to expertise or events related to the cause. You can even give naming rights to these donors. For example, if you’re working on forest conservation, you can get high-value donors to have small areas or even trees named after them.
These incentives should not be luxury items worth higher than the donations, as that would not fit with the spirit of a charity fundraiser. Instead, they should be related in some way or the other to your cause itself.
Make donation options convenient
This is one of the most important things you should keep in mind. People will not be motivated to give money to your cause if you don’t make it easy for them. In this era, do not stick to conventional bank deposits or cheques. Instead, make sure you have a convenient and secure online donation portal linked to multiple payment methods like Venmo and PayPal.
When people use these portals to donate to your cause, make sure they receive receipts as well. This will also incentivize them to contribute, as the receipts will help them get their tax deductibles.
Use social media to promote your fundraiser
Utilize your social media platforms to promote your charity fundraiser to more people. After all, the more people you get on board, the more money you’ll collect. Do your research into which audiences are more likely to donate and then target the platforms they use.
In addition, platforms like Facebook and Instagram also let people donate directly to your cause from your social media pages. Make sure you have this option enabled, complete with a description of your fundraiser and the goals you have in mind.
Make sure your donors know where their money is going
This is the best way to inculcate trust in your donors, and have them regularly contribute to your cause. When someone donates, let them know where the funds have been used, and how they’ve made lives better. This will also make donors feel proud, and be motivated to donate more to your fundraiser.
This transparency is also important for your organization, and will cement your reputation as a reliable place to donate to.
In conclusion, the key to getting donors for your charity fundraiser is awareness and transparency. You just need to incorporate these elements in a few different ways.
