It’s an age-old question – how do you increase donations for your nonprofit? More donations mean more resources available to help you do your important work. In this article, we’ll walk you through six easy tactics to help you bring in more donations by working smarter.
More donations for your nonprofit are out there. Last year in America alone, donors gave $499.3 billion to charities. Are you doing everything you can to bring some of this money to your nonprofit?
If you’re not sure where to start, we have six tried-and-true methods to increase your donations so you can support your mission.
Remember, although donations show up as a monetary value, the potential donors you are targeting are real people.
You should appeal to their emotions and experiences by creating compelling, relatable content.
Instead of explaining the logistics behind your organization, focus on telling the story of how you were able to help a single individual. This will allow you to showcase the impact your organization has already made, and make it easier for potential donors to understand the impact their own donations can make.
Check out our guide to telling the perfect fundraising story for a more in-depth look at how to craft a story that will bring in more donations.
Although you can tell an engaging story in writing, we recommend creating videos, which have been proven to be the easiest form of content to consume and understand, as well as the most effective method for telling an organization’s story.
You should post your story-based videos on social media, your website, and your donation page.
We love how Tapestry shared their compelling fundraising story right on their Giving Tuesday Crowdfunding campaign page. They surpassed their goal because their donors were able to see their mission in action!
Bonus Resource: Watch this webinar to know how to utilize visual storytelling:
As we just mentioned, in order to get more donations, you should help potential donors understand how their own donations can make an impact.
As such, you should make sure that you are clearly indicating how your organization is utilizing its donations.
You can do this easily using your Donorbox donation form by inputting explanations of what recommended donation amounts can provide.
Check out how Water Warriors clearly illustrates the impact of each donation level on their donation form. This encourages donors to give more because they can see what those additional dollars can do!
While you should be putting in your own marketing efforts in order to promote your organization, there is no harm in encouraging your donors to do some of the work for you. There are two main ways to do this.
By allowing donors to share their contributions on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or other social media platforms, not only will you reach an extended audience, but you will also gain credibility.
Individuals are more likely to donate to an organization if they know someone that has gone through the process of donating to them before and believe it is legitimate and secure.
After someone donates through your Donorbox donation form, they can easily share your campaign with the click of a button.
If you have top supporters who want to help you fundraise, they can easily use Peer-to-Peer fundraising functionality to do so – and bring in even more donations for your organization.
Donorbox Peer-to-Peer is super easy for you and your supporters. Simply enable the feature on your campaign and either invite supporters directly via email or allow anyone to sign up to fundraise on your behalf. Then your supporters will receive an email linking them to their fundraising page, which they can customize to tell their own compelling story.
From there, they share their fundraising page with their network and begin collecting donations. Any donations they receive automatically flow into your Donorbox account – meaning you don’t have to lift a finger to bring in even more money for your campaigns.
Check out this step-by-step guide to learn more about Donorbox Peer-to-Peer.
Pro-tip: Create more momentum by featuring your top fundraisers right on your Donorbox fundraising page, like Stepping Stone did here. This encourages some friendly competition and brings in more donations for your nonprofit!
Launch Your Peer-to-Peer Campaign
All things considered, if your donation interface is too complicated or your checkout takes too long, potential donors might opt out halfway through the donation process.
To not lose these donors, your donation checkout process should be fast and user friendly.
For example, Donorbox’s optimized donation form can be embedded into your webpage so that your donors can checkout faster without having to leave your website.
In fact, with a quick time test, we were able to determine that the Donorbox checkout process is thirty seconds faster than that of a competitor’s, whose donation buttons redirect donors to a separate donation page.
Donorbox’s advanced customization options also allow you to make your donation forms as simple as possible, all while ensuring you get all the information from your donors that you deem necessary (email address, phone number, etc.). Plus, enable UltraSwift™ Pay on your Donorbox donation form so donors can check out using their preferred digital wallet. This saves them from having to input their contact information, making the checkout process even quicker. Then they can easily repeat their donation by logging into their Donorbox donor portal with QuickDonate™.
The best way to increase your donations is to allow donors to make automated, recurring donations.
And this can pay off in a big way. Think about it – your donor may not be able to donate a large sum, but they can give several smaller donations that add up. In fact, recurring donors give an average of 42% more than one-time donors per year.
With Donorbox, accepting recurring donations is easy. Simply choose the donation intervals that make the most sense for your organization and add them to your donation form. You can also choose a default interval and a preferred interval, which is marked with a heart.
For example, check out how The City highlights recurring donations on their donation form, with monthly set as both the default and preferred interval.
Start Accepting Recurring Donations
Once a donor makes a recurring donation on Donorbox, they’ll receive an email prompting them to set up their own Donorbox account. From there, they can edit or cancel their recurring donation at any time – saving you time and effort!
Getting new donors is great – getting them to donate again and again is even better. Once somebody has submitted a donation to your organization, you should send them a thank-you message to show appreciation for their contribution and validate their decision to donate.
Donorbox allows you to customize an automated thank-you email that is sent to all of your donors. A tax-compliant donation receipt is attached to this thank-you email so your donors have everything they need come tax season.
You can then follow up with a more personalized thank-you letter so your donors know how much you appreciate them.
Pro-tip: Stay in touch with your donors to demonstrate how their donation has made a difference. You can do this by sending an annual or impact report, or even simply reporting in your newsletter.
Remember, your donors want to know that their contributions are making a difference. This encourages them to keep giving!
Your nonprofit needs resources to keep doing its important work – but sometimes it can be hard to bring in the necessary donations. Increasing your nonprofit’s donations involves careful strategy, planning, and some experimentation.
But you don’t have to do it alone! We’ve shared six powerful ways to bring in more donations by connecting with your donors and getting them to give again and again.
Donorbox has the tools and features you need to maximize your donations. From easy tools that help donors give again and again to powerful fundraising features like Crowdfunding and Peer-to-Peer, Donorbox has you covered. Plus, sell tickets to fundraising events to further boost your revenue with Donorbox Events and conquer in-person giving with the Donorbox Live™ Kiosk app.
For more fundraising tips, check out our Nonprofit Blog. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the best collection of our resources every month in your inbox!
Raviraj heads the sales and marketing team at Donorbox. His growth-hacking abilities have helped Donorbox boost fundraising efforts for thousands of nonprofit organizations.
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Raj