How to Get More Donations for Your Nonprofit
Imagine for a moment...money isn’t a barrier to getting your work done. If you had all the money in the world, what would be different for your business?
What would you be able to get done that you haven’t yet?
What would be incredibly easy that’s been difficult in the past?
It shouldn’t be the case, but nonprofit organizations, like yours, are often prevented from reaching their goals because of a lack of financial resources.
How many times have donations fallen short?
You do the most important work in the world.
How is that fair?
You’re protecting wildlife, you’re making sure that we don’t sacrifice ourselves to climate change, you’re leading us into the future where we can coexist with wildlife and our natural resources sustainably.
Money, unfortunately, is a resource that we all need to do anything. And it’s a struggle.
But not anymore.
Your supporters want to support you. They believe in what you do. So how do you amp up your nonprofit fundraising strategy so you can get more donations that will fund that project you’ve been holding onto for when you have the funds needed?
Check out these fundraising tips for nonprofits below!
Nonprofit Fundraising Ideas and Best Practices
Make it Easy
Today, people are busy. They’re constantly on the go. If you want them to do something, you need to make it as easy as possible. This is the most important thing. You need to guide your supporters through an easy process that allows them to donate. As soon as it becomes complicated or confusing, they’re going to click away. Make it simple and make it short! The fewer steps the better.
Here’s how to make it as easy as possible for your donors:
Ask for a Specific Amount – Offer several options of different amounts so they can easily pick which amount they’d like to give to you.1
Mobile-Friendly is a Must – Most people view things on their smartphones, especially when they’re out and about. So make sure that your donation page works on smaller screens, is easy to read, and easy to click.2
Direct Them – If you’re asking people to donate in an email, make sure you link right to the donation page. Make it clear that you want them to donate. Lead them right to where they need to be in order to do it.2
Be Obvious – Make your “donate” button big and clear. This goes for your emails and your website. If people have to search for it, they won’t stick around. Put it right where people can see it and click on it easily from any device.3
Recurring Donations – When they can set up a recurring donation every month or every year, they don’t have to think about it or worry about it.3 This makes it easy for people over the long term. Plus, those who set up a recurring donation end up giving 42% more annually than those who don’t.2 That gives you support throughout the year, especially during non-holiday seasons, where donating isn’t at the top of people’s minds.
Make it Match
There are two things here – match your donation page to your brand and match your donations.
Match Your Brand
Matching your donation page to your brand means that it matches your website. Make sure you have your logo, similar colors and fonts, and everything that lets people know that this is from your organization. If it looks different, they may worry about being on the wrong website, or that they’re about to get scammed. So make sure everything matches. This consistency pays off because these pages end up with 6 times the donations that an unbranded page does.2
Your website is like the storefront of your business. You want everything to be on brand and under the same theme. It gets confusing when one page sticks out because it doesn’t follow suit with everything else.
Your donation page should match your website and the branding that your supporters see all the time. Think of it as another way to make their lives easier. Color, font, and logos are all easy things that people pick up on when they’re on a website. When you change things, something feels wrong and people might think they’re on the wrong page.
Match Your Donations
Matching donations is a great way to increase the amount of money you’ll receive from donors. 84% of people who donate are more likely to give if it’ll be matched.3 People want to feel like they’re making a difference, and so if the amount they donate will be matched, they feel like they’re making an even bigger and more positive impact on the world.
Donation matching can be done by a donor’s employer. Another option is making it a team effort between your organization and another company or a single donor. Many people don’t know that their employers will match donations – so be sure to point that out. Usually, all they need to do is submit a request and if your organization qualifies, the employer will match the amount their employees donated.4
Alternatively, your organization can reach out to work with a company of your choosing and have them match the donations.4 NPR does this all the time while they’re fundraising. They’ll have a set goal of say, $10,000 to be raised in 12 hours. If they achieve that goal, the donor (who may be anonymous or not) will match that amount.
Make it Matter
This is where knowing your audience becomes really important. If you know what their lives are like and what is important to them, it becomes easier to connect with them. This influences how you write your emails, your donation pages, your website, even what projects you want to focus on, everything.1
When asking for donations, there are some hurdles you have to overcome. These are pain points. Essentially they are what might stop a potential donor from donating. It usually makes them hesitate while they hover over the donate button and then come up with an excuse to not donate or to go back to it later, which they may never do.
Common pain points are:
Time – Do I have time for this? Will this waste my time?
Money – Will this be a waste of money? My dollar doesn’t mean anything…
Trust – Do I trust this organization and what they’re doing?
Tackling these is important if you want more donations. So how do we handle these?
Time – This is where making your donation process quick and easy comes into play. Get them all set and donated in just a few steps. Deadlines are also important. Set deadlines for donations to get people to act more quickly and donate right away.
Money – Explain to people what difference their dollar makes. Make it clear what each donation does. For example, it’s common you’ll see on animal rescue websites that a certain amount of money feeds the cats for a week, while a higher donation covers a vet bill. Connect with their passion for the environment, tell them what they will be funding and why it’s important.
Trust – Transparency is key here. Break down exactly where funds go. You don’t have to do this in an email, but you can link to the page on your website where you break everything down so people can see. Also having a secure donation website is crucial so people know that their information isn’t at risk.
Pain points will be different for each audience. So, reflect on who your ideal donor is, what might make them hesitant to donate?
Tackling pain points is an absolute must. You need to make sure that nothing stands in the way of someone donating to you. This can also be a way to share your story, your mission, and your goals so people resonate with what you’re doing and want to help out.
Need Help Getting More Donations?
Check out my blog here on How to Connect With Your Audience to get a better sense of what you can do to understand your audience and plan your content accordingly. If you want to have a discussion, email me and we can set up a consultation call to find the solution you need!
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