7 Ways to Motivate Supporters for Fundraising

May 1, 2017

You’re beginning your next fundraiser (e.g., a 5K fundraiser). But you know success depends on how you motivate supporters. Meaning, you have to engage and get them excited about your campaign. Further, you have to maintain the enthusiasm throughout your fundraising campaign. And, in today’s world of social media, you need them to care enough about your fundraiser. So, you want the to like, comment, and especially share your posts and updates.

Assign a point person responsible for planning and executing your fundraiser.

This person will also be responsible for ensuring that your organization is actively promoting your fundraiser. Remember, someone has to be in charge and accountable for the success of your fundraiser. Even if you operate your nonprofit in a team environment, make one or two people responsible for planning and execution. It will help guarantee that the job gets done. If your charity is small or only operates with volunteers, then assign one or two volunteers the responsibility for overseeing your fundraiser.

Feature your top donors and supporters across digital media.

Ask them to write a guest post for your blog or do a Q&A with them and post their answers in your article. Alternately, you can interview them on video, which in today’s world is a great way to go. Create a small series of videos and help others see why and how supporters become actively involved with your nonprofit.

Treat your top donors like MVPs to motivate supporters.

If you have some top champions, keep in touch with them. Call them personally to thank them; don’t just send them a canned acknowledgment via email or in the mail. Ask them to become involved in your fundraiser if they haven’t yet gotten involved. If you have a small critical mass of donors and supporters, why not create a volunteer committee and ask them to help you with your fundraiser so they can create energy and momentum? People who engage with your organization actively do so because they are passionate about it. These people can become the best voices for your organization in the community.

Ask supporters to support your charity as teams.

Team fundraising events raise more money for organizations than non-team events. The reason is simple. People enjoy collaborating, and they push each other. Often, there’s also an element of healthy competition within teams. To make fundraising fun, engaging and different, ask your supporters to create groups. Give each team a financial target toward the overall goal, general guidelines and let them loose. Support their efforts and foster team spirit in your digital marketing.

Offer your supporters an incentive for becoming involved.

In business, one of the key operative words is “innovation.” The public wants something new and different. Younger generations, in particular, don’t care how you did things in the past. You have to be flexible. A fresh way to engage people is to ask them to support your fundraiser and be entered to win a prize. When you reach a milestone, announce a winner. You can also create a winner during a series of key milestones. Incentives can be as small as Amazon gift cards.

Update your supporters and donors regularly.

Fundraising is not something you can build and expect people to show up. You have to get the word out. Let people know why you’re raising money. What’s the money going to do? Then, once you’ve started the fundraiser, update your supporters regularly, meaning at least weekly. Be active on social media and use multiple techniques to get your message out regarding how you’re doing and what you need from supporters in relation to your goal.

Create social events within your fundraisers.

You don’t have to have expensive events, but make sure you have team meetings and some get-togethers for your fundraisers. Remember that social fundraisers work best and to keep people motivated. There should be an opportunity or several chances, for fundraisers and volunteers working to help you raise money to talk and share what’s working and what isn’t working with each other.

Fundraising can be a fun activity, but to motivate people, you have to make an effort. These seven strategies for how to motivate supporters will go a long way toward helping you engage and sustain fundraising enthusiasm. Learn more about marketing and fundraising with our free resources.

 

© 2017 Funds2Orgs. All Rights Reserved.

© 2024 Funds2Orgs. All right reserved.| Terms of Service | Privacy Policy | Powered by Elsey Enterprises

Get this free resource by entering your information below.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.