Nonprofits: Virtual Fundraising
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There are so many ways to make the world better and your nonprofit organization is doing just that! We’re proud of your leadership and want to encourage others to support causes improving the lives of humans, fighting for animal rights and protecting the environment. The future is what we make it. However, to carry out great ideas, maximize impact and make a change often money is needed.
The great thing is that you don’t need to ask for a lot when many people share the same mission. All you really need is strong social marketing to drive people to your virtual fundraiser! If 500 people each donate $5, suddenly you have $2,500. If you partner with an influencer who shares your fundraiser with millions of people, even if less than 1% click the link and donate $1, that’s still thousands raised! Let’s make the change we want to see in our communities together.
Fundraising Ideas
Before you choose a platform for your fundraising, be clear about what type of campaign or event you want to host. You can have a passive crowdfunding campaign on social media or you could host a birthday fundraiser for your nonprofit’s five-year anniversary. However, there are many other ways to keep your crowd active and engaged with your organization while raising money.
Consider hosting a virtual walk or run or teaching a class or webinar related to your organization’s cause and area of expertise. Depending on your audience and donors, an online gala dinner or auction could also be a good fit. Through activities, you’ll help people further connect to your mission and feel like they’re actively participating. Good fundraising, like good marketing, is about building connections.
Source: Dakota Corbin on Unsplash
Fundraising Platforms
With your fundraiser campaign theme defined, your next consideration is the platform to host your fundraiser. Each option is a little different so make sure you’ve evaluated the possibilities. We want you to have as much success as you possibly can!
1) GoFundMe Charity
GoFundMe is a leader in crowdfunding and is continually innovating on behalf of charities and nonprofits. It’s a great option for small and large organizations and has a network of hundreds of millions of donors. With GoFundMe, it’s easy for your nonprofit to control and customize your brand experience for donors and you’ll have unrestricted access to your data. In addition, the platform makes selling tickets and collecting registrations simple. Their team is currently elevating the charity fundraising experience, so stay up to date with their latest news here.
While GoFundMe Charity is free, the Free plan still includes 2.2%+$0.30 in processing fees and the Flex plan adds a 3% platform fee to that. Keep in mind you can check a box for donors to cover fees, and a guaranteed net rate of 97.5% on a very user-friendly platform under the Free plan does not sound like a bad deal.
2) PayPal Donations
PayPal Donations has a range of options for organizations of every size and they’re the choice of over 950,000 nonprofits, schools and global campaigns. The credibility and trust in PayPal is a big advantage of using this service and nonprofits receive discounted rates where the only fees paid are when donations are received. The platform is very secure, it’s easy to track donations and within minutes funds are available from transactions.
Also, PayPal is a great choice for organizations utilizing in-person and online fundraising. For in-person donations, PayPal offers free and paid options for credit card readers. With a tablet or phone, fundraising is easier than ever. Online, major cards and PayPal are accepted, there’s a box to participate in monthly donations and it’s easy to share about the campaign with QR codes, social media integration and URLs.
3) Snowball
As snowballs do, this platform is gaining momentum and serving nonprofits with several unique services. If you’re thinking about hosting an auction, Snowball has your nonprofit covered for in-person or virtual events. Like the other platforms, you can fully customize your mobile-friendly donation page and your supporters can donate one time, through pledges or with recurring gifts. Like GoFundMe Charity, it makes ticketing and registration for events simple, too. Last, the platform even provides a simple CRM and Text-to-Give.
Snowball is fast and effective, used by 15,000+ nonprofits and growing. The Essential plan is free with a 2.9%+$0.30 donation fee annually and all plans allow organizations to ask donors to cover the processing fee. If you’re interested in unlimited campaigns and text-to-give trigger words though, you’ll need to upgrade to a different annual subscription.
4) Chuffed
With Chuffed, your team will get 100% of what you raised through your online crowdfunding campaign. This is a great option for your fans to donate without platform fees, which is very sought after and sometimes uncommon on crowdfunding platforms – take advantage of it! If you stick with the Keep 100% plan, you’ll still need donors to pay processing fees of 2%+$0.20 but this is the lowest of our roundup.
Chuffed offers a wide variety of resources to your team to spread the word about your campaign and even has in-person training events and an online academy. We love Chuffed because like The Good Camp, building a fairer world is at the core of their vision. In fact, when we helped save the CatCafe Lounge from COVID-19 closure, Chuffed powered our efforts!
5) Bonfire
Bonfire is a different type of fundraising platform: t-shirt fundraising! I worked as a campus t-shirt sales rep for a year in college so I’m a little biased, but apparel is a great way to fund-raise because you’re creating a connection with everyone who wears your logo or mission statement and as your fans go out in public, they’re advertising for you! You can also combine your t-shirt fundraiser with another fundraising event you’re hosting, like a 5k or community clean-up, or start an online store with Bonfire to share your custom products in one place.
For this type of campaign, you’ll need to design a shirt or upload shirt art and then launch your campaign or fundraiser page. When the campaign ends, shirts will be printed and sent to your donors and you’ll receive the profits. As a verified nonprofit organization your processing fees will reduce to 3.5%, too. Alternatively, you can buy a supply and sell shirts. One tricky thing about this type of fundraiser is that you’ll need to strategically price the shirts. Bonfire wants you to succeed though and has a helpful pricing guide and calculator.
If these five platforms don’t seem like the right fit for your conscious nonprofit, keep exploring! Here are a few others to consider:
Off To The Races
Create a strong campaign that shares your organization’s story and mission. Communicating your values will be essential throughout. Allow time to create a content plan and strong messaging to communicate to your audience. Our marketing blog has plenty of resources to help you get started and crush your inbound strategy. Now is the time to utilize your website, social media and network! It’s off to the races to make this world a little brighter through your meaningful work.
Explore fundraising platforms today!
