As a nonprofit event coordinator, you’re always busy planning your next event, which means you’re probably thinking about how you’ll incorporate fundraising into the experience. After all, strengthening donor relationships and raising money are among the top reasons for hosting nonprofit events.
Luckily, there are plenty of ways you can use digital donation tools and strategies to keep fundraising at the front of your supporters’ minds throughout your event. Whether you’re hosting an in-person, virtual, or hybrid event, you can use digital donation best practices to maintain fundraising momentum from the moment you start promoting the opportunity to when your final thank-you email goes out.
Make giving a central part of your event and streamline the process with these digital donation tips:
- Gather donations alongside event registrations.
- Incorporate text-to-give throughout your event.
- Make your online giving page mobile-friendly.
- Ask attendees to promote your digital giving opportunities.
As Donately’s virtual fundraising guide explains, digital fundraising opportunities provide supporters with a convenient way to contribute whenever and wherever they want to. Let’s take a look at how to optimize online donation channels as you ramp up efforts for your next nonprofit event!
Gather donations alongside event registrations
If you’re hosting an event where giving is infused throughout the experience (such as an auction or peer-to-peer fundraiser), you’ll need to make it as easy as possible for participants to donate. Collecting donations via your event registration page provides a convenient, natural way to incorporate fundraising right off the bat.
With a platform like Event Smart’s Advanced Event Editor, you can set up your event ticketing process and include donation options as well. Set suggested donation amounts, such as $100, $250, $500, and $1,000. To determine these amounts, take a look at the level of donations made during past events. Then, set your suggested gift amounts incrementally higher than your average gift size. This gives supporters an idea of the type of donations you’re looking for and encourages them to give in those amounts.
By offering donation opportunities alongside your event registration, you can get your fundraising started quickly and make early progress toward your goals.
Incorporate text-to-give throughout your event
Text-to-give is a software tool that allows nonprofits to gather donations via text message. Donors text either a dollar amount or keyword to a dedicated number and receive a link to your online donation page in response.
Incorporate text-to-give into your next event by reminding donors of your text-giving number. Schedule a few strategic reminders where your emcee encourages supporters to pull out their phones and use your text-to-give platform. You can even set hourly fundraising goals and urge supporters to donate until each goal is reached or until time wraps up.
This strategy also works if your event is virtual or hybrid—throw your text-to-donate number up on the screen every so often to keep virtual participants engaged in giving.
Make your online giving page mobile-friendly
In today’s world, smartphone use is ubiquitous. Plenty of people conduct the majority of their internet browsing using only their mobile devices. Plus, if you’re hosting an in-person event, attendees will likely only have their phones on hand.
When you make your page mobile-friendly, it can become an incredibly powerful fundraising tool to put to use throughout your event. You can send out your giving page in your text-to-give campaign as well as on your social media pages.
Boost your event engagement with social media by sharing your mobile-optimized online fundraising page throughout the experience. For example, if your organization has an Instagram page, you can post photo and video updates on your story throughout the event. Just be sure to include the link to your giving page so supporters can swipe up and give right away.
You can also create a hashtag for your event to spread awareness. Include the hashtag in posts that promote your digital giving page, and encourage your supporters to use the hashtag each time they post about the event.
Instead of designing a separate online giving page specifically for mobile devices, design it on an online platform that allows you to create a responsive page that automatically adjusts to fit any screen size. Then, supporters can view your donation page on their mobile devices without facing any formatting issues.
Ask attendees to promote your digital giving opportunities
Enhance the peer-to-peer element of your fundraising events by encouraging participants to share online giving pages throughout the experience.
If you’re hosting an a-thon style event, such as a walk-a-thon, bowl-a-thon, or dance-a-thon, remind participants to share their giving page several times leading up to the event to reach their personal fundraising goals.
Before they begin fundraising for your event, equip participants with the information they need to be successful by sharing a peer-to-peer fundraising guide with them. Include best practices such as the best platforms to connect with prospective supporters and the best way to word their fundraising requests.
In this process, you can empower your most engaged supporters to become fundraisers on behalf of your organization and equal partners in your fundraising success. This can encourage even greater loyalty and a stronger relationship with your supporters.
Conclusion
The right fundraising tools paired with smart strategies can help you streamline your event fundraising processes and earn more for your cause. Be sure to investigate your options for event registration tools and online fundraising software ahead of your next event. Happy fundraising!
Leave a Reply