Engage Your Community: 25 New Ideas For Your Fundraiser

Funds2Orgs Marketing Team

Schools, Nonprofits, Churches, Fundraising, Community, Tips for Success!

We know for your nonprofit, school, church, or civic group, fundraising is essential. And, that means that it’s necessary to engage your community in your efforts. Further, with social media and peer-to-peer fundraising, you can allow your champions to help you broaden your reach.

Nevertheless, engaging the broader community beyond your everyday supporters is not easy, and it’s tough to raise money in challenging economic times. Still, with a concerted effort and creativity, it can bring your organization great benefit. Done right, you can get new people on board and find new places for support.

Our team developed a list of the top 25 ideas you should pursue for community engagement. All in all, it can take your fundraising efforts to the next level!

25 Awesome Community Engagement Ideas

Support from Corporations, Local Government, and Small Businesses

1. Apply for a Google Grant to allow you to get more advertising dollars for your digital marketing, which will help engage your community!
2. Ask your local mayor, chamber of commerce, city council, or other community officials to draft up a resolution. Alternatively, they can give you a letter of support for your cause, which you promote.
3. Get local businesses to support your fundraiser. In exchange, promote their businesses in all of your promotional and marketing materials. After, watch as community engagement drives up for you and them!
4. A creative way to engage with your community is to sponsor community events. For instance, you can sponsor banners or contribute to efforts that involve your local neighborhoods. Remember, these provide opportunities for promotion.
5. Create a speakers’ bureau of professional business supporters and donors. Who better than your board or champion supporters to serve as experts regarding social good in your community?

Engage Your Community With Events

1. Ask your board members, major donors, or even local companies and foundations to host a private event. For example, they can host an exclusive breakfast, cocktails in a private home, or at a board room.
2. To engage your community, have you ever looked to college groups? Ask your local college groups, such as sororities or fraternities, to help you in your fundraising and marketing efforts.
3. Get your board of directors and team members to do a thank-a-thon event and call donors to simply say, “Thank you.” Clearly, acknowledging people is an excellent way to drive up community engagement and raise more money.
4. Make a presentation at your local chamber of commerce and community organizations. In short, businesses understand they need to be involved in social good to stand out. So, let them look to support your nonprofit.
5. If you are doing a community event, make sure to have a tablet handy, such as an iPad, so that people can make on-the-spot donations.

Social Media and Social Networking Increases Community Engagement

1. Ask your most loyal supporters to share quick video testimonials about the work you do, and also tag you on social media. Go one step further and ask them to ask their followers to share your great work as well to amplify the message.
2. Give your supporters an incentive to share your content to increase community engagement. Ask them to share something humorous on Instagram or YouTube, tag you, or use a particular hashtag, and then share it as well.
3. As your supporters and donors give to your campaign. But, as with Giving Tuesday, they can take a picture of themselves supporting your work by donating or giving of their time. When they tag you, make it a point to thank them.
4. Develop a group of social media ambassadors who will help engage your community. Accordingly, provide them the messaging for posting and engage with them on social to keep them motivated.
5. Make sure your “Donate Now” button is on your website, prominently. But, it’s also essential for your social media to appear on your site and in your marketing materials. Make that one of your top nonprofit marketing ideas!

Expand Your Fundraising Efforts and Engage Your Community

1. Get a press release out about your fundraiser. And while you’re at it, pitch your fundraiser to your local reporters for a community engage story.
2. In-kind support is valuable. So, get marketing, fundraising, and finance pros on board to work with you and lend their expertise. They’ll love giving their time, and in the process, they help you broaden your community engagement.
3. Allow your supporters to create their personal fundraising pages off of your site. As a result of doing so, it will expand your brand and fundraising reach to bring more revenue.
4. Create a “Story” page on your website. Then, share with others stories from your donors about why they’ve gotten involved in your nonprofit. And, don’t forget tag any donors you’re featuring in stories!
5. Hold contests for your fundraiser. Contests will help you increase community engagement, raise awareness, and get more people interested in your work.

Get Back to Basics for Community Engagement

1. Tell people why you’re doing a fundraiser, and why their support is critical. And, make any explanation brief and think of it as your elevator pitch. As a result, you can engage your community by helping people understand why you need them.
2. If you have any groups or teams raising money for you, encourage them as they hit fundraising milestones. And, when they succeed, increase community engagement by thanking them publicly. Everyone loves a winner!
3. Reach out to bloggers who align with your work. For example, ask them if they would write a piece (or accept a guest post) about your fundraiser.
4. Ask for a specific amount from donors. Notably, many times nonprofits don’t ask their donors—specifically—how they can help. Consequently, they get less money. So, ask your prospects for a specific amount.
5. Have a clear call-to-action (CTA) always for your donors, supporters, and the broader community. When you have a clear CTA, community engagement increases because if someone is curious, they can get more information or help.

Finally, fundraising is vital for every nonprofit, school, religious group, and believe it or not, raising funds is a way to engage your community. That’s why we want to also share with you 80+ Unique (And Easy!) Fundraising Ideas!

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