With online and mobile fundraising becoming more popular each year, it’s no surprise that traditional fundraising methods are starting to see exciting changes. But while online and mobile fundraising certainly offers a variety of benefits for your cause, setting up and organizing your first non-traditional fundraiser can be a challenge.That’s why we created our top three things to avoid at your first non-traditional fundraiser. Please use this as a guide to understanding the benefits of online/mobile fundraising, and as a starting point for your next fundraiser! Brief disclaimer: When we mention online or mobile fundraising, we’re referring to everything ranging from online donation pages to mobile and online silent auctions/raffles, and even social media campaigns.
One of the biggest advantages of non-traditional fundraising is that it is extremely effective at increasing your donor base. Through tools such as online fundraising pages, online and mobile silent auctions & raffles, and Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns, fundraiser organizers can now reach more potential donors than ever.This brings us to our first tip - Avoid restricting your donor base to those present at your fundraiser event. Instead, take advantage of your network-at-large to spread awareness for your cause, increase your donor base, and ultimately raise more money!The best way to do this is to utilize online fundraising methods, so that you not only reach more people, but make it possible for them to donate to your cause without being physically present at your event.
Another common problem we see with traditional fundraising events is that attendees often think that they can only submit donations on the day or night of your fundraising event.Our second tip is to encourage you to avoid restricting your fundraiser donation period to the day or night of your event! Instead, expand your fundraising window by allowing donations before and after your fundraising event.Modern online fundraising tools make it extremely easy for donors to submit donations from anywhere at any time. What does that mean for a fundraising event organizer? It means that you can begin accepting donations before (and after) your event!As an example, let’s imagine that you are including a silent auction as part of your fundraising event. Using traditional methods, you would probably have paper bid sheets, and collect cash or checks, meaning your donors can only participate if they are present at your event.With online fundraising, on the other hand, this event host could share the link for their online silent auction to their list of attendees and supporters of their cause. This method would elicit additional support and awareness for the cause, as well as early donations for the silent auction!
As you may have figured out, the key to non-traditional fundraising is taking advantage of online and mobile tools to remove potential barriers for your audience to donate.Which brings us to our final point - Avoid total reliance on yourself and your volunteer staff to raise money for your cause. Instead, utilize your strongest supporters in order to turn them into your fundraiser’s best advocates.Online fundraising has led to a new movement known as Peer-to-Peer fundraising. The basic premise here is that fundraising hosts and organizations should begin engaging their best donors in a way that turns them into their organization's biggest advocates.These individuals will then be empowered to raise funds for your cause, instead of only donating to it!By enabling your donors to become your best fundraisers and advocates, you will be leveraging a much larger group in order to create more awareness, a larger donor base, and a long-term increase in your proceeds!
