Starting Your Fundraising Campaign: 3 Ideas to Make it Successful

Do you want to know how to start fundraising campaign successfully for charities? As a charity or nonprofit, fundraising is one of your most important jobs. Without the proper funding and resources, you won't be able to support the causes you stand behind, nor can you begin to make that global impact you're aiming to achieve.

The fact of the matter is, running a successful fundraising campaign can be difficult. In addition to all of the details related to planning and logistics that need to be ironed out, you also have to handle the marketing and outreach aspect of it all. How will you put your fundraising campaign in front of as many eyes as possible? How will you convince them to donate and take part? More importantly, how can you get them to act now, while it's relevant, and before it falls out of sight and out of mind?

These questions are likely some of the hardest you'll face when planning a new campaign. Fortunately, we have some tips that can help:

Fundraising Through Storytelling

Great storytelling helps you succeed in any business. A story is a basic building block for a Nonprofit. Great story telling for fundraising is not only in the form of text, but an image or a video story can be thousand times more effective than a text story.
What a great storytelling can do for a Charity:

• Acquire Sponsorship for campaign
• Motivate Donors
• Raise funds for campaign
• Give a better understanding of your campaign

Understand the Donor

People want to contribute to the welfare of society, upliftment of poor, a community in dire need of money, and/or empowerment of women. They donate the money because it makes them happy and helps them stand out from others. A successful campaign understands what the target audience wants and how to reach them. To make the campaign successful, you must ask yourself:

*Where are the people who care about your cause?

*How can you share the message with them?

*Are you exploring all the channels where the audience is available?

Utilize Multiple Social Media Channels

Don't just focus all your efforts on one platform. Use a combination of all available channels to get the word out to as many potential donors as possible. This should include social tools like Twitter, Facebook , and Instagram, as well as more traditional ones like email marketing, blogging, paid advertising, and even direct mailing if it fits your donor base.

Just make sure to stay consistent in your marketing and message across these channels. Opt for the same fonts, colors, and imagery, and be mindful of using the same language and voice. You want your campaign to feel consistent and authentic across the board.

Portray a Sense of Urgency in Fundraising Campaign

Stress the importance of your cause and how acting quickly will be crucial to creating real change. Set a deadline for donations and keep the timeline short. It's easy to think that longer donation periods mean more cash, but in reality, it just ends up falling off peoples' radars.

If a potential donor thinks they have 6 months to take part in your campaign, they might delay donating — perhaps they're waiting for that next paycheck, after rent is paid, or after tax season — whatever it may be, more often than not, they don't remember to act on those plans, and your campaign loses not just its momentum, but also some serious cash in the process.

Make Fundraising Campaign Easy

Remember that people are giving you their hard-earned money for little, if any, personal return, so don't let roadblocks stand in their way. It's not only for the money but it raises awareness about fundraising campaign. So, once they decide to donate, the process needs to be as fast and easy as possible. Make sure your website is optimized for multiple browsers and devices and set up payment processing for as many sources as possible – credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and anything else your donors might want to use to send payment.

Think about using social media and widget donation tools (Facebook, iConnectX) and go ahead and set up an email drip campaign for that moment they do sign up or donate. You want to touch base and connect with those donors immediately to thank them, praise them, and keep them in the loop about what their dollars are doing for your cause.

Using a tool like iConnectX can also help you get your campaign in front of more potential donors. Sign up for the platform today or contact us to learn more about becoming a nonprofit iConnectX partner.