Coronavirus Doesn’t Need To Interrupt Your Year-End Fundraising
For nonprofits, 2020 has been an incredibly volatile year. The good news is that many donors are, in fact, giving more money this year. Fidelity Charitable found that this year donors stepped up to support organizations providing daily care like food and shelter. Despite the hardships many have encountered, there has also been an outpouring of support, solidarity, and generosity.
While a lot has changed or been put on hold this year, funding your nonprofit’s mission cannot come to a halt. As we approach Giving Tuesday and end-of-year fundraising, start preparing early to ensure a strong fall fundraising performance, despite uncertainty.
Here are a few ideas your nonprofit can implement to survive end-of-year fundraising and Giving Tuesday this year:
Convert Your Year-End Fundraising Events To Virtual Giving Days
Just because in-person events are on hold this year, it does not mean you have to put your end-of-year fundraising campaign on hold too. Convert your fundraising campaign into a virtual giving day.
Take a leaf from the book of organizers of annual meetings and small conferences and throw an online fundraiser. If you typically host a fundraising gala, then hold a virtual conference party instead. Presentations can easily be done online with video conferencing software such as Zoom, or Google Hangouts can help you turn your in-person concerts into an online event.
Looking For Fun Online Conference Ideas?
Get creative and hire a mixologist to teach attendees how to make cocktails from items they already have in their pantry. Whether you bring on a special guest or have an open-mic discussion, give your donors a chance to meet and mingle with each other this year from the comfort of their homes. Remember, you don’t have to cancel your events nor blanket-refund attendees’ tickets to an event, but provide them with the option to convert their tickets into a donation. Make sure to stress that donations are still tax-deductible.
Refresh Your Digital Presence and Tell Your Pandemic Story
A substantial digital presence has always been vital for charities and organizations. Like any other marketing effort, you need to build a presence and a brand and ensure that you are positioned as an expert in your field. Now more than ever is the time to go over your nonprofit digital presence and make sure everything works. Ensure your organization’s website is mobile-friendly, verify your donation page is functional, and that your donor management software is properly setup.
Once your donation page is live, make sure to include direct links in your newsletters, email blasts, and promote it on social media. Be more active on social media, and make sure to share stories of your donors and recipients.
The pandemic and its economic fallout have caused social isolation for many. Reach out to your donors and ask them to reflect on something positive within your community. Likewise, share positive, impactful stories with your donors, reminding them how their donations help those affected by COVID. Put a human face on what people have been going through and how donations are helping. Double down on positive stories; everyone needs them right now, and it will remind your donors you are still out there advocating for those you’re helping this year.
Keep The Personal Touch
Nobody wants to feel as if they’re being treated like a number. Fundraising events are how charities keep in touch with their donors, and you need to make sure that you keep doing that through this period. Personalize everything and look at your donors’ giving history to know what approach to use with them.
Make sure that they know you are still there and doing the excellent work that attracted them to you in the first place. Also, while many people have increased their giving, others have been forced to tighten their belts. If somebody can’t give right now, then take off the pressure, but keep in touch against better times.
Invest in the Right Online Fundraising Tools
Although COVID-19 is temporary, online fundraising is not. If you don’t already have all of the tools you need to conduct an online campaign smoothly, now is the time to invest in them.
This is where EveryAction comes in. We offer nonprofits a Donation Page that provides a simple donation process. With one-click donations, you’ll achieve a higher level of conversions and save time for your donors.
Use EveryAction to create a streamlined Donation Page for your nonprofit that will help you retain and attract donors now and long after things return to something resembling “normal.”
Looking for more detailed information — including the latest strategies, tools, and trends — on how to effectively fundraise during #GivingTuesday and Year-End 2020? Read our free, in-depth guide, “Your Guide to a Successful #GivingTuesday and Year-End 2020: Strategies and Tools for Fall Fundraising in Uncertain Times” for keen insight from four of our fundraising experts at EveryAction.
