How to Offer Your Supporters a Platform to Create Fundraising Campaigns

Fundraising campaigns might be the most underestimated donation channel at your disposal. They are easy to offer, quick to launch, and you can even actively manage them to ensure their success.

Contents

Why fundraising campaigns are so useful

Fundraising campaigns with the FundraisingBox

• Create a fundraising campaign
• Manage fundraising campaigns
• Mobile-ready: Fundraising campaigns on the go

How to support your fundraisers in their campaigns

• Encourage sharing of campaigns
• Motivate your supporters to start fundraising campaigns
• Use strong communication during the campaign

9 expert tips for fundraising campaigns

Fundraising campaigns with the FundraisingBox

Now we’ll show you how quickly you can set up fundraising campaigns using our FundraisingBox, allowing you to raise more donations and develop this channel into a significant resource for your nonprofit organization.

Create a fundraising campaign

Fundraising campaigns are initiated by your supporters. To enable them to start a campaign in your name, you typically need to embed a widget on your website that allows campaign creation.

It’s important for your supporters to be able to enter individual titles and descriptions, making their campaign highly personal and unique. The option to upload photos is essential nowadays, as visual elements create a personal connection and elicit a more emotional response.

Here’s an example of what this might look like:

1. Campaign Title: Name of the fundraising campaign.
2. Public Name: Displayed on the campaign (e.g., a company name).
3. Donation Goal: Shouldn’t be set too high for personal campaigns and can be adjusted later by the fundraiser.
4. Category: Choose an appropriate category.
5. Campaign Image: Fundraisers should upload a personal photo to significantly enhance the success of the campaign.
6. Campaign Description: Should be direct, personal, and signed by the fundraiser.
7. Thank You Message: Shown in the browser after a successful donation, signed by the fundraiser. You can also send a thank-you email on behalf of your organization.
8. Personal Information: Details not displayed publicly but used for communication with the organization.

Manage fundraising campaigns

When multiple supporters start campaigns simultaneously, it’s crucial to keep track of them. You’ll want to monitor which campaigns are performing well and which might need additional communication with the fundraisers to gain traction.

A CRM system for nonprofits that clearly displays fundraisers and their campaigns is state-of-the-art. It allows your community management to quickly access key details (e.g., contact information, communication history). All incoming donations can be assigned to a project, and all data is stored in one place.

Donation form and online payment

To collect donations for a campaign, you need a donation form. Supporters should have the option to donate online on the device of their choice, using their preferred payment method, and wherever they are.

The FundraisingBox supports all common payment methods out of the box.

Mobile-ready: Fundraising campaigns on the go

When providing supporters with the option to create their own fundraising campaigns, ensure the campaigns are optimized for mobile devices. Shared content on social media is often accessed on the go.

The campaign should be fully functional on smartphones and tablets, with clearly displayed content, especially the donation button and form, to ensure a seamless donation experience and high conversion rates.

How to support your fundraisers in their campaigns

A fundraising campaign can only be successful if it reaches as many people as possible. The fundraiser, their network, and strong communication are your most powerful tools.

Encourage sharing of campaigns

The first step to spreading awareness about a campaign is inviting family, friends, and colleagues to contribute. Equally important is encouraging these people to share the campaign further. The more viral a campaign becomes, the more successful it will be.

Supporters need easy ways to share the campaign, such as social media share buttons or email forwarding options. Providing a code snippet that allows supporters to embed the campaign on their own website can also be helpful.

Motivate your supporters to start fundraising campaigns

To inspire as many supporters as possible to start their own campaigns, they first need to know about the option. Use all available communication channels to promote campaigns—email newsletters, social media, and events. Feature particularly exciting campaigns prominently on your website. You could even celebrate the best campaign by crowning a “Hero of the Month” on your homepage!

Use Strong Communication During the Fundraising Campaign

As an organization whose supporters are fundraising on your behalf, you don’t need to sit back and hope some campaigns take off while others struggle to gain momentum.

You can actively support the campaign creators on their journey. Regularly provide your ambassadors with updates, especially during the initial phase of their campaign. Help them make the most of the available tools, encourage them to stay active, and guide them with tailored content, motivational messages, and tips to ensure their campaign succeeds.

For this, consider using a system that automatically sends support emails to fundraisers at regular intervals. Trigger these emails based on specific events, such as “10 days before the campaign ends.”

On Your Website

• Provide contact details, including email and phone numbers, for support.
• Offer an info PDF for download.
• Showcase videos explaining how to start a campaign easily.
• Add tooltips to explain features.
• Link to helpful resources, such as tips for creating compelling images, catchy campaign titles, or ideas to make campaigns more creative.

Emails

• Use automated emails and templates to maintain efficient and personalized communication with fundraisers.

Personalized Support

• Use a system that continuously tracks the status of ongoing campaigns and automatically generates tasks when it’s time to reach out to a fundraiser.

9 expert tips for fundraising campaigns

1. Don’t show zero balances: Encourage fundraisers to make an initial donation to avoid the barometer showing zero.
2. Feature only the best: Display the most successful or creative campaigns on your website.
3. Hide completed campaigns: Avoid showing campaigns that have ended.
4. Don’t Display Empty Campaigns: Only showcase fundraising campaigns on your site that have reached at least 30% of their donation goal. Campaigns with lower progress or no donations at all are less appealing to potential donors.
5. Focus on campaigns with stories: Highlight campaigns with compelling stories.
6. Show fewer options: Display 4–6 campaigns to make selection easier for visitors.
7. Use personal photos: Encourage fundraisers to upload personal photos to increase engagement.
8. Create campaigns if needed: Start a campaign yourself to set an example if no one else has.
9. Don’t forget gratitude: Recognize fundraisers’ efforts with thank-you letters or gifts.

Fundraising campaigns are an underestimated way to sustainably increase your donation volume while engaging meaningfully with donors. They can also provide creative insights into presenting your projects.

Learn more about how we approach fundraising campaigns at the FundraisingBox on our website.