Follow Fundraising Trends 2019 Style!
Adding a personal touch. It’s no longer enough to use one generic marketing strategy and try to appeal to a very divers base of donors. Do your homework and specialize your approach, know who your audience is. AND make it fun, remember gamification!
- FOCUS ON E-MAIL:
E-mail, used effectively, can be extremely effective in communicating to donors. Take Eblast for an example, what is an Eblast; simply an email campaign. A standard industry term used in email marketing to describe the act of “blasting” a message out to a group of hundreds or thousands of people simultaneously, similar to the act of “blasting” a verbal message out with a loud speaker. But be careful to avoid sending too many, or messages that require more than 30 seconds to get your message across. The last thing you want to do is have potential donors think you are “spamming” them.
2. CAPTURE BIG BUSINESS:
Big business versus non-profit is a love/hate relationship. However, corporate sponsorships can be a boom to any fundraising campaign. it is a payment by a business to a nonprofit to further the nonprofit’s mission, that is generally recognized by the nonprofit with an acknowledgement that the business has support the nonprofit’s activities programs, or special events.” (councilofnonprofits.org)
Yes, it can be all about sponsorships. A little more into my background, I am an Arabian horse enthusiast and breeder. Competing in Arabian horse shows worldwide, these shows can and will not exist without major sponsorships, nonprofit is no different. Simple, maximize on companies wanting to assist their workforce, they want to help, use this to your benefit and of course your CAUSE.
3. MAXIMIZE REGULAR GIVING:
This is referred to as recurring gifting. Referencing back to Understanding Generational Donation, the largest donation base of the Baby Boomer Generation prefers this method. Optimize a system like Donorbox to promote recurring donations and use email marketing as a great form of communication.
4. REACH OUT TO COMMITTEES:
Nonprofits should embrace different committees and appreciate the causes they support. Together, committees with missions similar to yours can broaden your donor and volunteer base. Be accessible to your donors, bridge that gap between the organization and the donors, make it personable. Also, by increasing your brand you increase your community that will result in victory for all.
5. UNDERSTAND AND USE TECHNOLOGY:
Allow technology to work for you! While you may need to find and recruit tech-savvy folks to help, you can develop a messenger app, much like Facebook Messenger or a chatbot to instantly connect with your Generation Z potential donor base. Communication is everything, and you can also use technology for data analysis.
6. BE TRANSPARENT:
Donors want to know how their hard-earned, generously given dollars are impacting. Don’t hesitate to be transparent about what you collect regularly, thus being fully accountable to you donor base.
7. UNDERSTAND AND EMBRACE CHANGING TECHNOLOGY:
Social media is not going away, but platforms continue to grow and change. Recognize those changes and identify how to adapt accordingly. It might seem redundant, or you may feel as if you can’t ever catch up, but Generation Z’s won’t appreciate a stagnant platform.
8.ENGAGE DIGITAL PAYMENTS:
Straightforward, everyone wants to donate the easiest way possible – two, maybe four clicks at most. Look to apps such as PayPal to facilitate digital donations.
Influence The Cause
Influence the Cause 
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