Historically, the path to nonprofit growth has been ill-defined. In fact, according to Tracy Palandjian of Social Finance, “of the 200,000 or so nonprofits that were created between 1975 and 2008, only 200—that’s 0.1 percent of these nonprofits—have reached 50 million in annual revenues.”
But the tides are turning. An increasing number of nonprofits are shifting from traditional approaches, adapting to changing donor preferences and technology, and adopting modern techniques.
While it takes a concerted effort to grow an organization, there are many ways to expand that don’t involve new hires or back-breaking investments. To help you identify your next fundraising win, here’s a list of relatively low-lift tactics that drive high-lift results.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
With the right fundraising software, you can empower your organization’s biggest supporters to leverage their personal networks on behalf of your cause. Below are four tactics to try that can quickly yield serious results.
1. Encourage Birthday Campaigns
When The Honor Foundation presented their community with the opportunity to dedicate birthdays to the cause, they quickly raised $80,000.
Feature this option on your website and highlight it in your communications. You could even dedicate an entire campaign to its launch to raise awareness.
2. Provide Educational Materials
Team Rubicon found that when they sent a group of fundraisers a tips sheet, that group was able to raise three times more than those who did not receive the resource.
Grab our customizable fundraising tips sheet, slap your branding on there, and send it off to your supporters.
3. Encourage Teams and Captains
On average, captains receive larger donations, and multi-year captains tend to raise 2 to 3 times more than brand new captains.
Reach out to dedicated supporters and ask them to start a fundraising team. Make sure to provide these captains with the advice they need to help their teammates crush their goals.
4. Empower Fundraisers to Throw Third-Party Events
Do your supporters have what they need to host a successful third-party event? Dedicate time to create a strategy and resource kit, and your community can host their own fundraising events on behalf of your organization.
Recurring Giving
A recurring giving program provides sustainable revenue you can depend on. And the more you can depend on, the more freedom you have to test new strategies. Try these two tactics to grow this revenue stream.
5. Highlight Perks
To attract new monthly gifts, let visitors know they’re joining a special group that is critical to your success—and that that special group gets special treatment! Whether you offer exclusive communications or branded swag, make sure your appeal language spotlights what’s unique about this level of support front and center.
6. Up Your Ask
Whether it’s through marketing automation, a phone call, or an email campaign, take the time to ask for an upgrade on an annual basis. Even if your donor only increases their contribution by $5/month, that’s $60 extra dollars a year that can add up quickly across a large donor base.
Events
Events may be a staple of your annual revenue, but are yours built to grow and scale? Here are four ways to raise more revenue within the same physical restraints.
7. Add Fundraising
Automatically create a fundraising page for event attendees upon registration. The Y in Central Maryland increased their event revenue by 46 percent when they adopted software that made this possible.
Establish a sense of urgency and build a narrative that encourages your supporters to raise a certain amount before the event in order to unlock day-of prizes.
8. Incorporate a Virtual Component
Don’t let geography stop you. Incorporate a virtual component to your event and make sure that supporter in Alabama has a way to feel connected to the happenings in California.
One example is a virtual 5K. Send registrants a thank you pack and set them up with a fundraising page so they can share the experience from afar. That pack could include a bib and other gear so they can run along in their own town.
9. Conduct Volunteer Training
Volunteers are valuable assets for your organization, especially when they become fundraisers. Corazon de Vida asks their volunteers to raise money in order to participate in their orphanage day-trips. With individual fundraising pages, it’s easy for the volunteers to support their own efforts.
In addition to the right tools, be sure to give your volunteers the education they need to knock it out of the park. Their positive experience will enhance your events and lead to more positive word-of-mouth, and ultimately, more support.
10. Make It Competitive
Establish a healthy sense of competition at your event by clarifying your goals and intended impact. Outline what’s at stake, the specifics driving your goals, and incentives for “winners.”
Crowdfunding
A well-designed crowdfunding campaign strategically employs language, timing, and technology to drive conversions. Here are three ways to take it to the next level.
11. Have a Matching Period
To double the impact of your next major gift, use it to set up a matching period within a crowdfunding campaign.
Let your supporters know that for a limited time, their gift can mean twice as much. The sense of urgency combined with the opportunity to do greater good will have donors scrambling for their wallets.
12. Use Mobile-Responsive Pages
Make sure your fundraising software offers mobile-responsive pages that let your donors easily give on the go. Forty percent of the people who visit the Classy platform do so from a mobile device.
13. Design Pages for Conversions
Gather only must-have information and keep your page free of distractions that might deter someone from converting on your page.
Small tweaks to your email strategy can go a long way. Use these tactics to resonate with supporters and grow and retain your subscriber list.
14. Segment Communications
Divide your audience into smaller groups based on certain behaviors or preferences. For example, you might designate your supporters by gift size, or by interest. This allows you to send targeted messaging that has a higher chance of inciting action.
15. A/B Test Subject Lines
If your subject lines aren’t on point, your messages will fall on deaf ears. To improve conversions and drum up support, take the time to set a strategy, and regularly test iterations and apply key learnings.
16. Create and Promote Original Content
Regularly produced, quality content has the power to draw in more support for your organization. Maintain a blog to build your brand, provide valuable information for your audience, and improve your search rankings and discoverability.
Social Media
A well-established social media community can bolster your fundraising efforts throughout the year. Try these tactics to expand your reach.
17. Run a Contest
People love free stuff. As long as your contest is clearly connected to your cause, this is a great way to introduce more people to your work. Advertise a gift bag of branded swag and ask entrants to follow your account, answer a question, and tag three friends in their comment to win.
18. Leverage YouTube
Video is a powerful medium to raise awareness, and an active YouTube presence will support your organization’s ranking in search results. Set your channel up and optimize your videos to ensure you’re getting found.
More Growth Tactics
In addition to the strategies we’ve listed for peer-to-peer fundraising, recurring giving, events, crowdfunding, email, and social media, you can also employ the following concepts to grow your organization.
19. Set the Default for Supporters to Cover Fees
To take advantage of this small tweak, make sure your fundraising software allows donors to cover transaction fees when they make a donation.
20. Optimize Your Website for SEO
If potential supporters are searching for phrases related to your work, and you’re not ranking in Google’s search results, it’s a lost opportunity. Stay up to date on SEO best practices to organically raise awareness for our organization. The right website structure and small adjustments have the power to seriously impact results.
21. Invest in Digital Advertising
Digital advertising can feel like its own world, but once you know the lingo, you can make good use of strategic opportunities for your nonprofit. Organizations that leverage Google’s $10,000 in ad grants can garner over 5,000 new website visitors per month.
22. Connect Your Offline and Online Worlds
With the advent of online fundraising, it’s more important than ever to marry your offline strategies with your online presence. Use your direct mail to point to your online campaigns to stay consistent and provide options for donors to give in their preferred method, whatever it may be.
23. Leverage Holidays and Pop Culture Trends
Pop culture references, humor, and clever ties to the holidays are great ways to appeal to a larger audience and introduce people to your cause.
Your nonprofit is doing serious work, but it can be just as powerful to inject light-hearted themes into your campaigns that delight supporters and are relevant to their day-to-day lives.
This article was originally published on Classy.org