When disaster strikes it can cause extreme devastation. The world’s nonprofits are true heroes in these catastrophic situations. At Donorbox, we’ve developed powerful fundraising tools and resources to empower nonprofits and individuals to send aid to vulnerable, affected communities. Take a look to see how you can raise money and make a difference during disasters.
When disaster strikes – whether natural events, global pandemics, or any other number of emergencies – it can cause extreme devastation.
The world’s nonprofits are the true heroes of these catastrophic situations, stepping in and stepping up, especially when support is needed most. At Donorbox, we exist to serve you and to make it possible for you to help others, especially in times of crisis, through effective disaster relief fundraising.
We’ve developed powerful fundraising tools and resources to empower nonprofits, and other organizations and individuals, to send aid to vulnerable, affected communities and ensure they can quickly recover. Give a listen to this story of fundraising success that Maya’s Hope has achieved with their relief campaign for Ukraine through Donorbox’s tools –
In this article, we’ll share how you can make a difference during disasters, covering:
Disasters of all kinds, from earthquakes and hurricanes to illness and war – and beyond – have an extreme effect on those affected and their communities.
Many are left without homes or access to food or quality medical care. Others may lose loved ones. This means that there are often physical needs, like building materials, temporary housing, or medical equipment, as well as needs for other services, like blood donations and grief counselors.
This is where nonprofits – and others – can make a difference for those affected. But it’s certainly easier to act quickly and effectively if organizations plan in advance for potential emergency situations.
True, it is impossible to plan for the unknown and unexpected completely, but there are still things you can do now to make taking action easier at the moment.
What you can do in advance is create a disaster relief plan (here’s a helpful resource) that covers who in your organization will be in charge of fundraising, communications, volunteer management, and more; as well as things like chain of command, ideas for obtaining needed supplies or resources, and more.
Pro tip: You can also plan in advance for how you will raise funds to support your critical disaster relief efforts. Find the tools you may use – and learn them now – so that you can quickly launch an emergency fundraising campaign as soon as possible when disaster strikes.
Need ideas on how you can jump in and help in times of great need?
Whether you are a nonprofit organization, a for-profit business, or an individual, there are many ways you can give back and help communities affected by disasters.
Nonprofit organizations can make a big impact on disaster relief efforts. They often already have the infrastructure in place to act quickly. They also have the know-how, tools, and existing donor base needed to raise funds, access donated materials, and more.
As a nonprofit, you can host a disaster relief fundraiser to capture critical donations. These fundraisers can range from online campaigns – such as crowdfunding or peer-to-peer – to events big and small. Learn more about these tactics and the tools you need to execute them below.
While we have added a number of good examples later, here’s one more that will give you an idea of what other organizations are doing for disaster relief.
Start a Disaster Relief Campaign
Nonprofits can also use their existing communication channels to help spread awareness about the disaster and the needs of the affected communities. Post on social media, send email campaigns and share details on your website about how your audience can help.
There are many ways for-profit companies can step in and help. Businesses can donate to an organization that is working to provide disaster relief or send a team of volunteers made up of employees who’d like to get involved.
For-profits can also host a fundraising event, like a donation drive, a trivia night, or fun run, and invite clients, partners, and community members to participate. All proceeds should go towards an organization – or multiple organizations – providing disaster relief.
Individuals can also offer support during disastrous events. Donating funds is always appreciated, but you can also reach out to nonprofits to see if any physical items, like clothes, personal items, or food, are needed.
Volunteering your time, whether by cleaning up, rebuilding, or helping at a fundraising event, is also a great way to give back. One unique way to volunteer is by becoming part of a peer-to-peer campaign, where you can create your own unique fundraising page to share.
Finally, you can always spread awareness about the disaster and how others can help on social media or by talking with your loved ones.
There are several tools you can use to quickly boost donations. Best of all, you can put these tactics to use during your standard fundraising campaigns as well, giving you more time to become acclimated with them before emergency strikes.
Online giving forms and donation pages are a must for organizations today, and not just during emergency situations. They offer a quick and convenient way to give, as well as room for you to include powerful images, stories, and a call to action, all in one place.
You can create unique online giving forms specifically for each fundraising campaign, including those for disaster relief. This assures donors that they are giving directly to the cause of their choice, and it helps you track the success of your efforts.
At Donorbox, we give you the option to create unlimited Donorbox-hosted fundraising pages or forms. You can embed these forms on your website or use as popups. Both pages and forms are customizable, from branding to gift options. We also offer UltraSwift™ Pay, allowing donors to use digital wallets to give in just a few clicks.
The Community Foundation of Northwest Florida has embedded the Donorbox recurring donation form to accept donations for Hurricane relief.
Pro tip: Many giving platforms, including Donorbox, provide you with the ability to offer the option to make tribute gifts. This is especially useful for emergency fundraising, as many may be looking to give in memory of victims of the disaster, or in honor of a volunteer.
Take your fundraising form to the next level with a crowdfunding campaign! Crowdfunding unites donors toward a common goal, such as funding your disaster relief needs.
With Donorbox Crowdfunding, you can share impact stories and photos, post critical updates, add social sharing buttons, and encourage donors to post their gifts and messages to a donor wall. You can even ask your supporters to subscribe to your campaign so you can email updates directly to their inboxes!
Here’s an example of a crowdfunding campaign created on Donorbox to provide relief to the victims of an earthquake in Haiti.
Crowdfunding campaigns also enable you to express the urgency of your needs with a goal meter, showing both the progress you are making and how much you need to raise. They also give you the social proof you need to attract new donors.
Pro tip: Social proof is essential to building awareness. When people see how others are acting, they have proof of what is the right thing to do and are thus more likely to donate themselves.
If you’re looking to really build up that social proof, a peer-to-peer campaign may be the way to go for disaster relief fundraising. Peer-to-peer fundraising turns your supporters into advocates, spreading awareness beyond your current audience.
Peer-to-peer works because these advocates – or fundraisers – create their own pages as part of your overarching campaign. They then share these pages with their friends and families and ask them to give, further expanding the reach of your organization.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer makes it easy to set up your own peer-to-peer campaign. You can either invite your top supporters to become fundraisers, or you can include a button on your main campaign page that encourages people to sign up. These fundraiser pages can include stories, photos, and updates written by the supporter themselves.
The below example shows a disaster relief peer campaign on Donorbox. The main campaign is created by the International Aid Charity (IAC) for its Turkey Earthquake Emergency Appeal. It has raised over $400,000 in donations already. Many of their supporters joined in and helped them turn this campaign successful by raising funds. The below screenshot is from one of their top peer campaigns. Do have a look by clicking here and check out the original campaign here.
Create a Peer-to-Peer Campaign on Donorbox
Pro tip: Be sure to set your peer-to-peer fundraisers up for success by providing fundraising tips, templates, and more that guide them through the process.
Text-to-give or text-giving is one of the quickest and easiest ways to donate. When a donor texts a short code or keyword to the designated phone number, the link to your donation form is sent straight to their phone. This eliminates the need to remember or type in website addresses.
With Donorbox Text-to-Give, it’s even faster for supporters to give again. All they have to do is text that same number and their gift will be repeated! Here’s how easy it is –
Pro tip: Text-to-give is ideal for events, church services, and other times when typing in a URL isn’t ideal. They also work well for television – if your organization appears on the news to talk about disaster relief, it’s easy to share the phone number and keyword to text.
Events also work well for disaster relief fundraising – people typically want to come together during difficult times, whether to feel supported by each other or to give support to others.
You can host either in-person or virtual events of any size, depending on your budget and capacity. Large benefit concerts can bring in a lot of awareness and donations, but so, too, can blood, food, or clothing drives. Your organization could also host a memorial or prayer circle for those affected by the catastrophic event.
If you’d like to offer tickets (even free ones!), Donorbox Events offers a simple way to set up an online ticketing form. With these forms, you can calculate tax-deductible amounts, as well as ask for additional donations, set ticket sales deadlines, and more.
The below event ticketing form is from an online event page created on Donorbox to support the relief work in Haiti. Have a look –
Pro tip: Consider the season when planning your disaster relief event. There are many fun and seasonal activities you can create to bring in donations.
You can make a powerful impact with disaster relief fundraising. Here are 4 examples of successful campaigns that brought in much-needed donations during critical times.
When the war started earlier this year, Maya’s Hope jumped into action to raise funds to support families in need, as well as children with disabilities, in Ukraine. They have seen success with a powerful peer-to-peer campaign – so far, 38 individual fundraisers have helped raise more than $30,000 for the nonprofit’s Ukraine Emergency Fund.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Feed the Frontlines NYC delivered delicious, nutritious meals from local restaurants to essential workers and New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity. Their emergency fundraising campaign benefited both those in need of food and New York City restaurants and raised more than $1.6 million.
Imagine Water Works, a program of Project South, set out to raise $50,00 to provide disaster relief to the people and areas affected by Hurricane Ida in 2021. Through thoughtful updates that shared exactly what the funds raised were being used to accomplish, they surpassed their goal with the Hurricane Ida Relief & Recovery campaign, raising more than $534,000.
In 2021, wildfires raged through California, and one of the most affected areas in the state was Whitman County. Countless people were displaced by the fires, and the United Way of Whitman County set out to help by creating the Whitman County Fire Relief Community Fund.
Wanting to brush up on your fundraising knowledge, or learn new skills, before you need to use them in a disaster situation? There are several resources available at your fingertips to prepare you for anything that may come your way.
Check out the new Donorbox Resource Library for multiple free downloads that cover a variety of topics, from thank you letter templates to digital fundraising guides, and much more.
Donorbox Academy takes your education a few steps further with a host of carefully curated courses designed to make you the best fundraiser you can be. Crafted by experienced nonprofit pros, you can find detailed lessons on peer-to-peer, year-end fundraising, and appeal writing, with more on the way.
And if you’re looking for one-on-one assistance, whether now or during a disaster relief fundraising campaign, take a look at Donorbox Premium. With Premium, we’ll create a custom plan just for you that includes needed add-ons, a dedicated account manager, and one-on-one or group support with Fundraising Coach Cara.
The key to disaster relief fundraising is acting fast – but you still need to build effective campaigns to truly make an impact. That’s why it’s important to prepare by creating a disaster relief plan as well as finding and testing out the tools and tactics you may use ahead of time. By educating yourself in advance, you’ll give yourself a leg-up when an emergency situation arises.
And, when it comes to creating powerful disaster relief fundraising campaigns, Donorbox has all the tools you need to ensure you can jump in as quickly as possible. With the lowest platform fees in the industry and easy-to-use and effective products and services, Donorbox is ready to help you help others, even when times get tough. Sign up to get started now!
Read insightful blogs, fundraising ideas, tips, and best practices, and get free templates and checklists on the Donorbox Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive a collection of our best resources in your inbox every month.
Kara has several years of experience in communications and marketing for nonprofit organizations. Her love for serving others began while fundraising for and attending mission trips. She then worked with multiple local nonprofits through various marketing agencies and volunteer opportunities before becoming a communications manager at Variety the Children's Charity of St. Louis for more than four years. Kara now specializes in writing and enjoys sharing her experiences and knowledge with others on this platform.
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Kara Schmid