5 Tech-Savvy Fundraising Ideas for the Moderns Nonprofit

Now more than ever, donors are going online to interact with organizations and support causes. That’s why your nonprofit should incorporate technology into your fundraising ideas so that you can reach out to your online donors and raise more funds.

With so many different fundraising ideas, it can be difficult knowing which ones will be the most effective and well-suited for your nonprofit.

We’ll cover five ideas that incorporate technology to engage with your donors online:

  1. Build optimized online donation forms.
  2. Create a crowdfunding campaign.
  3. Use text-to-give
  4. Start an interactive video fundraiser
  5. Host an online auction.

Let’s get right into the ideas!


1. Build optimized online donation forms.

One of the most straightforward ways to raise money for nonprofits, as well as faith-based organizations and schools, is by creating online donation forms.

Having access to an online donation form means that your supporters can give without having cash or checkbooks. Plus, donors can give whenever it’s convenient for them.

Monthly online giving has increased by 32% from last year (source), and it’s become common practice for nonprofits to have an online donation form.

The real question you need to ask yourself: is your form optimized to reach its full potential?

While having an online donation form is a great step in the right direction, it’s not the only thing your nonprofit needs to ensure that donors make a contribution. You also need to make sure that your donation form is optimized so that donors complete the giving process. After all, if your form is unclear or frustrating to fill out, donors may abandon the process halfway through.

You can improve your online donation forms by implementing the following tips:

  • Limit your donation form to one page.
  • Add preset donation buttons because they make the donation process go faster and encourage donors to give more. 
  • Don’t require donors to create an account before giving. 
  • Design donation forms that are mobile friendly.
  • Keep your form simple by only including information that’s necessary to complete the transaction.

By implementing these best practices, you can optimize your online donation pages to create a better experience for your donors and, hopefully, get them to make a contribution.

2. Create a crowdfunding campaign.

Crowdfunding uses the power of social sharing to raise awareness and money for your cause. It’s one of the simplest fundraising ideas, and it’s cost-effective too.

Your organization can create a campaign by setting up a fundraising page on one of the many crowdfunding websites. All you need to do is set a goal, tell your story, and share your campaign via social media and email.

Donors will come to your page to donate and share your campaign with their peers.

Crowdfunding campaigns generally have a time limit, but that can be used to your nonprofit’s advantage. When you create a sense of urgency, your supporters will be more compelled to give before the campaign ends.

One part of creating a successful campaign is making your page shareable (and hopefully viral) to reach the most supporters possible.

You can achieve this by:

  • Writing a captivating description to explain why you’re raising funds.
  • Incorporating images and videos into your description to engage donors.
  • Sharing your campaign at strategic points (like a week and 24 hours before the end of your crowdfunding campaign).

In addition to the following tips, you can also incorporate your crowdfunding campaign into other fundraising events to raise even more funds.

3. Use text-to-give.

One thing that you can always depend on is that donors will have their phones handy. In fact, they’re constantly using mobile devices to connect with nonprofits on their websites and social media accounts.

That’s why text-to-give can fit in nicely with your fundraising ideas. Having the ability to accept donations via text messages offers your donors a convenient way to give.

Here’s how it works:

  • Donors can make contributions to your cause by texting a donation amount or short code to your text-to-give specific number.
  • Donors will receive a text message that will lead them to a pre-written confirmation email with their desired donation.
  • If donors are contributing via text message for the first time, they will input their information and confirm their gifts.
  • Once donors fill out their information, they can send the email to confirm their donations.

That’s it! Your supporters can go back to whatever they were doing before they decided to make a gift.

If you want to start a text-to-give campaign, the first thing you’ll need is to find a software provider that can set up a number for you to receive your text donations.

Once you have your number activated, make sure to share your new giving method with your donors and educate them on how to use text-to-give.

You can share your text-to-give campaign by:

  • Posting your number and short code (if you have one) on social media with instructions on how to donate.
  • Adding information about text-to-give in your email newsletter.
  • Creating a video or a series of images that illustrate the text-to-give process.
  • Announcing text-to-give donations at your other fundraising events.

Use text-to-give to create mobile campaigns, or incorporate your new giving method into your other fundraising ideas to provide donors with another convenient way to give.

4. Start an interactive video fundraiser.

An interactive video fundraiser is a creative and unique idea that builds on your supporters’ participation. A fundraiser like this has the potential to go viral and reach a lot of supporters (and even some new donors!).

You’ve probably heard of the very successful ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. Supporters would record themselves dumping an ice-cold bucket of water over their heads to raise awareness and funds for ALS treatment research. The campaign was so successful that the nonprofit raised $115 million dollars.

With the right strategy, you can use an interactive video fundraiser to reach your goal.

To start your own video fundraiser, encourage your donors to film an activity that’s relevant to your nonprofit’s mission.

You should choose an activity that’s not too difficult to complete. For instance, in the ALS challenge, dumping an ice-cold bucket of water on yourself is not only intriguing to watch, but also a task most supporters can complete with ease.

Make sure that a few of your nonprofit staff complete the challenge and post the results on your website to motivate your supporters to do the same!

Since starting an interactive video is a social event, you should create a hashtag to track the conversation that surrounds your fundraiser.

Creating a video fundraiser is not only a great way to raise money, but it’s another way to engage your supporters. Ideally, your donors will contribute after creating a video, but creating the video is another way they can support your cause without having to go into their wallets.

5. Host an online auction.

An online auction is a fantastic fundraising idea for modern nonprofits, and your online donors will appreciate the opportunity to contribute to your nonprofit by conveniently bidding on items.

Essentially, online auctions are digital silent auctions. Instead of hosting an auction at a venue, online auctions happen entirely online.

For an online auction to work, you’ll need superb event software to create your catalog and accept bids. Your catalog will be where you’ll place pictures of all the items in your auction and include a description of each one.

If you want to host an online auction, you’ll need to procure items to auction off. Without items, what will your donors bid on?

You should create a procurement team to focus on asking for in-kind donations from supporters, businesses, and other sources. Make sure that you find rare and unique items that your donors will be interested in.

For instance, you can include items like:

  • Trips to an exotic location.
  • Tickets to the museum.
  • Collectible items like sports memorabilia.
  • A chance to go backstage at a concert.

The list goes on. Just be sure that your items will speak to your donors’ interests and hobbies. When your guests are interested in the items up for auction, more supporters will bid on those items, driving up the prices.

Announce your auction items in advance to generate excitement about your auction and let people register for your online event in advance.

Another part of planning your charity auction is sharing the event details with your supporters. Share your event registration page and details about your auction on social media or send invites to your event via email.

Before the event, make sure that your donors know how to participate in your online event and place bids on auction items.

From online donation forms to viral video fundraisers, these ideas incorporate technology in a way that helps engage your supporters and raise more funds.

Try all of the ideas mentioned above or pick the one that best fits your nonprofit’s mission, and start fundraising!

John Killoran
CEO
@Pay

John Killoran is CEO of @Pay, an exciting new fundraising technology that makes it easy for people to donate in two clicks from text, email, web and social media sites. John pioneered SMTP payments and has been a major innovator in the mobile payments space for the past 5 years. When he is not running a company, he is cooking food for his family and telling his dogs to stop barking.