Video transcript ↓
With nonprofit fundraising, it’s not always clear what to do next. We get it! In this video, we’re looking at four fundraising tactics that you can implement right away.
I’m Joseph with Anedot, and let’s get to it!
1. Update and optimize your website
The first thing you’ll want to do is consider updating your website.
The reason why is because your website serves as a digital storefront to your brand. It’s often the first impression donors will have of you, and your website’s design directly affects the experience they will have as they donate.
So if information is hard to find, the donation process seems clunky, or if it looks like it’s from 2003, donors may get frustrated and skip out on helping with your great cause.
Here’s another reason, search engines, like Google, love fresh and high-quality content. If these engines crawl your site and see updated content, they may reward it with a higher search engine ranking, which will ultimately boost your website traffic.
If you’re still on the fence about updating your website, ask yourself the following questions:
- Is my website design outdated?
- Can I improve the website with better images?
- Can I improve the website with a better overall user experience?
- Can my website benefit from additional content and pages?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, maybe it’s time to update your website.
A good place to start with updating your website content is to research your peer’s websites. Figure out what content they may have that you can adopt onto your website.
The purpose of this exercise is not to simply copy another organization’s website, but simply to compare your nonprofit website to see if it may be missing helpful information - and to also find design and content inspiration.
Once you have done your research, it is time to make those updates!
Here are some things to consider when making those changes:
- Make sure you have an easy-to-navigate website that keeps your visitor engaged and informed.
- Be sure your website is filled with useful and up-to-date information to demonstrate that your organization is legitimate and an industry expert.
- Optimize your website for mobile. This will keep your visitors and potential donors on your page, no matter what screen size they are viewing it from.
- Have multiple calls-to-action on your website to increase donation and support.
- Use high-performing and relevant keywords in your written content so that your pages can rank higher in search engines.
- Use up-to-date images that are high quality. And if possible, try to stay away from stock photos that may appear too general or cliche’. Think about using photos that represent your organization authentically.
- Make sure all links, plugins, and features are not broken.
- Make sure to have consistent branding and colors.
Wow, that was a lot. But ultimately, updating your website can help you bring more visitors to your website who will use it regularly, establish the authenticity of your organization, and bring in more donations.
2. Utilize email marketing
Now that we’ve established a home base for donors to come and learn more about you, it’s time to talk about email.
According to M+R’s 2021 benchmark report:
“Email fundraising performance improved by just about every metric for every kind of nonprofit. For every 1,000 fundraising messages delivered, nonprofits raised an average of $78. That marked a 35% jump from the previous year.”
Simply put, email marketing is one of the most cost-effective and reliable tools for nonprofits.
With so many free email marketing tools available out there, you can run an email marketing campaign without spending a single penny.
On top of that, because you’re reaching people who already expressed some level of interest in your organization (I mean after all, they’ve given you their email address for a reason right?), there is a high return on investment.
Also, email is a communication method that is more personal in nature. This can help you cultivate better relationships with your donors, which will ultimately inspire them to donate repeatedly.
And, with nonprofit organizations having one of the highest open rates and click-through rates across all industries, using email marketing is a no brainer.
All in all, email marketing allows you to reach a lot of people without sacrificing the personal touch. And, if executed correctly, you will be able to build strong relationships with donors and see an increase in online donations.
3. Get found using inbound marketing
Chances are, your nonprofit is currently utilizing outbound marketing. Direct mail, phone calls, radio ads, print ads, and digital ads are all examples of outbound marketing.
But, does your nonprofit utilize inbound marketing?
In contrast to outbound marketing, inbound marketing pulls in potential donors with interesting content. Social media, email newsletters, and videos are all examples of inbound marketing.
One of the best forms of inbound marketing is search engine optimization (SEO). And some of the best forms of SEO content are blog posts, podcasts, and videos.
Alright, let’s talk about blog posts first.
Nonprofit blog
Utilizing a blog is one of the best ways for nonprofit organizations to stand out from the crowd.
After all, your website alone can’t communicate everything.
Don’t know how to get started with writing blog posts? I’ll give you some examples of topics you can write about in your blog.
- Posts about your mission statement, which will spread awareness of your cause.
- Writing about industry specific topics that establishes your nonprofit as an industry expert.
- Any relevant organizational news or exciting updates.
- Inspiring case studies or testimonials that provide real-life examples of how your nonprofit is making a difference.
- Behind-the-scenes of your organization through employee spotlights or volunteer testimonials.
Also, be sure to add calls-to-action throughout your blog content. Whether it is to donate to your nonprofit, or to sign up for email updates, you should always include ways for a reader to take the next step of supporting your nonprofit.
As I talked about earlier, you always want to be collecting email addresses so that you can build your email lists.
Nonprofit podcasts
Now, about nonprofit podcasts. Podcasts are very much high in demand these days.
It’s a brilliant way of offering entertainment and information to listeners without disrupting the flow of their day.
All the listeners have to do is open their favorite podcast app and listen while working, eating, cooking, driving, and lounging around. It’s a non-intrusive form of inbound marketing!
As for podcast content in your context, talk about topics related to your nonprofit’s mission.
You can also produce interview-style podcast episodes where you talk to people who have positively benefited from your organization, talk to your volunteers as they talk about their experiences, or you can talk to specialists in your specific field.
Nonprofit video content
Last up on the list...video content! Video is a powerful way to tell a story and communicate your nonprofit’s mission through emotionally engaging visuals.
And because of the high ROI of video communication, the percentage of organizations that use video continues to grow year after year.
Your nonprofit video marketing should educate your audience on the importance of your nonprofit’s mission, share inspiring stories that create empathy for your cause and trust towards your nonprofit, showcase stories about your volunteers that add a human touch to your nonprofit, and much more!
By utilizing inbound marketing like blog posts, podcasts, and videos, more people will find your organization online, which will help you generate more funds organically.
4. Increase donations with recurring giving
Let me ask you a question: Which is better?
A one time donation of $150 or a monthly donation of $15 over the course of 2+ years? The second option right? You’re comparing the one time donation of $150 to the $360 you will receive in two years. That’s a 140% increase in donations in just two years.
So, the next tactic to take your fundraising to the next level is to offer recurring giving options to your donors.
Offering recurring giving has four benefits.
One, as mentioned earlier, recurring giving can allow your organization to get more donations. There is more value in recurring donations than a one-time donation because recurring donations add up in time.
Two, because of the donations coming in on a monthly basis, recurring giving helps your organization properly plan initiatives throughout the year. If you’re relying on the generosity of one-time donors, revenue can be sporadic and pretty difficult to plan around.
Three, recurring giving provides your donors with a less financially straining way to give to your organization. Although they will not give in large amounts, the smaller amounts make it more manageable for your donors to support your organization.
Four, recurring giving makes it very convenient for your donors to support your organization. If your donors opt in to give on a recurring basis, their giving will be automatically processed. This makes it easy for your donors to support your nonprofit without manually completing each donation.
If you’re not using recurring giving yet, you need to get started with it right away. Utilize an online giving platform like Anedot that allows you to accept recurring donations. Then, identify a small group of your most committed donors and ask them if they want to become monthly donors.
You want to use this small group of donors as a soft launch to your recurring giving program. Once you get feedback and learn from the soft launch experience, then you can scale it to the rest of your donor base.
Closing thoughts
Well, that’s it! I hope these four nonprofit fundraising tactics can help you improve your fundraising strategy, which then will result in more donations!
Be sure to like the video and subscribe to Anedot on YouTube!
80 Community Service Ideas for Nonprofits
