How to fundraise | 7 methods for raising money and maximising donations for nonprofits

Are you just starting a nonprofit and scratching your head about how to build revenue streams? Are you an existing nonprofit, and wondering how you can give your fundraising efforts a major shot of adrenaline? However long you’ve been in the nonprofit game, we’ve got 7 methods for raising money specifically for this sector.

How do you run an organisation purely on the good will and support of others? You know from your own experience that this isn’t an easy task. While our 7 top methods for fundraising listed here are actionable and distinct, they all ultimately boil down to 3 key principles: user experience (UX), organisation, and compelling communications.

You’re trying to win hearts and minds to support the greater good, and you need to be utterly tenacious in your approach.

1. Make sure your website is optimised to make donating easy and seamless

Simplifying the donation process on your website is step one. People aren’t often in the mood to give away money, and that mood can disappear quickly – if that occurs while they’re trying to figure out how to donate, you’ve literally just lost money because your website wasn’t up to snuff.

A good way to test this is to get your most technologically inept relative and see if they can figure out how to donate by navigating from your homepage. This sounds hyperbolic, but think about the diverse array of people who might donate – you need to make it as easy as possible for all of them. The people who literally work for your nonprofit or volunteer for your nonprofit and know the process inside and out aren’t in a position to audit your site’s UX.

Secondly, if you’ve not already done so, you should also create a dedicated landing page highlighting the impact of recurring donations, as these are the key to creating long-term revenue streams for your non-profit.

2. Create a fundraising roadmap or action plan

You should develop a comprehensive strategy that focuses on multiple revenue streams. Look ahead and identify opportunities, be they particular seasons or holidays, or events that are related to groups or businesses that support your cause.

If they’re doing something to raise money for you, how can you help them? You could also look at specific times of the year when the public are actively encouraged to be charitable, like “Giving Tuesday.”

You need a diversified approach to hit fundraising targets, but remember that diversified doesn’t mean diluted. You might not be relying on content marketing to generate all of your funds, but you need to approach it as if you are for it to make an impact and generate a significant contribution. There can be no half measures.

3. Gamify your communications to illustrate the more complex issues of your cause

Transparency is a huge motivator when it comes to both individuals supporting your nonprofit, and businesses who work with you as part of their CSR campaign. The more ambiguity you can iron out, the more social cache there is in associating with (and supporting) your mission.

A good way to do this is by creating gamified experiences that explore some of the issues you support to create greater understanding, and show what your organisation does to improve the situation, and capture the hearts and minds of your target audience.

For example, everyone has an understanding on some level of droughts, famines, dictatorships, or war zones. However, when you actually read a well-written book, or watch a well-made documentary on the subject, that almost transports you there; you realise how little you knew. It can connect you emotionally to a cause you have no worldly link to.

It might seem an odd concept to gamify such serious topics, but it’s something that was actually pioneered in the early 2000s to quick success, called “newsgames.” It’s quicker than more traditional media, allowing you to impart knowledge through videos and text, and intersperse these with Quizzes and mini-games that reinforce learnings, and allow users to apply what they’ve learned to simulated scenarios to broaden their understanding.

Pro tip: This can help with repositioning your brand to appeal to younger donors, who are more likely to play gamified content or Quizzes than read pamphlets or answer their doors to fundraisers.

As well distributing such games across social media, you could also take this message (in this format) to the streets. Put 1 or 2 people in specific areas and have them offer your gamified experience on tablets or at a booth. You can include contact forms at the start or the end of the games to generate leads for your mailing list, and encourage donations through a call to action button (CTA). This final screen would be a great place to put a video that demonstrates how donations are used by your organisation.

4. Partner with relevant influencers or celebrities who can act as your nonprofit’s ambassadors

The more people hear about your work, the more opportunities people will have to donate. It’s the same principle as merchandising a product in a shop, the easier it is to find, the more units are sold.

Influencers aren’t just silly dances on TikTok or pretend boxers either – you have a lot of highly knowledgeable people trading on their integrity and their story, with an enormous amount of influence over nearly every segment of the population. You just need to identify the influencer who’s right to work with for your nonprofit.

If you advocate for veterans, look for an influencer with values that align with your own who’s got a military background. If you’re in a more political sphere, look for a more intellectual sort of influencer. Every culture, every interest, and every aspect of human activity is catered for somewhere in the influencer ecosystem, and they all come from different backgrounds.

Pro tip: Aligning with the right influencers is another way you can help appeal to a younger audience of potential donors.

5. If you’re not already, launch a crowdfunding campaign

Consider starting a crowdfunding campaign. It’s not just for personal causes and for funding indie movies anymore…

In short, crowdfunding involves creating a page on purpose-built sites to generate capital. You could use this to further your brand to expand your audience, and as a platform for your content marketing efforts.

Crowdfunding is relatively fast, cost-effective, and enables you to tap into a really wide network of potential donors. Crowdfunding campaigns lend themselves to short-term campaigns, so can really come into their own if your nonprofit is providing emergency aid or relief when a disaster strikes, or in the run up to a milestone or specific time of year.

6. Ensure you have an earned income fundraising strategy

It’s prudent as a nonprofit to explore revenue sources beyond donations.

You could offer consulting services in your field of expertise, sell related products, or provide value-added services that align with your nonprofit’s mission.

For example, if you work for a nonprofit protecting the rainforest, and you work a lot in the field, and have the resources, you could run tours in the habitat, and teach people bushcraft and survival skills. This would both carry a high price tag as you’re offering a once in a lifetime experience to people, and the people that could afford such a trip will leave as bigger advocates of your cause than they were before.

Diversifying income streams can make your organisation more financially sustainable.

7. Make sure you’re working hard to retain recurring donors

The classic saying in business is that it’s easier to retain an existing customer than to attract a new one. Well, the same is true when it comes to donors.

Focus on retaining recurring donors by offering valuable content through marketing newsletters and your various online channels.

Utilise cost-effective video content to showcase the impact of their contributions, and strike a balance between communication frequency and not spamming donors. If I donate £5 a month, I don’t want you to tell me about it twice a week.

Key takeaway

Nonprofits, like any organisation, are playing a numbers game, so employing a number of these methods, tailored precisely to your nonprofit’s goals and audience is the key to success.

Keep your messaging clear, compelling, and focused concisely on the positive impact donors can make to your cause.