Soapbox Engage Blog

Have you ever seen a fundraising campaign that feels like, well, it’s just kind of sitting there? You know it’s an important cause, but there isn’t any "there" there in the messaging. Nothing is compelling you to take action, bringing together a coherent story.

It can all feel a bit, well, empty.

Launching your fundraising campaign without a theme is almost as tragic as having a cute cuddly puppy without a name, or a house with no foundation. Sure, the puppy is still adorable and cuddly, and the house might have some great features. If there's no way to introduce your puppy to your friends, and no firm foundation to keep the house stable, people have this missed connection that they can’t always point to, but they can feel.

We hope you haven't committed this fundraising faux pas yet, but even if you have, all is not lost. We gathered some of the industry best practices and recommendations by fundraising experts to help you come up with an exciting and effective theme for your next fundraising campaign.

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Why are themes essential for fundraising campaigns?

One of the ways you can raise more money with your fundraising campaigns is to have a compelling theme. Just like your organization, successful fundraising campaigns need a brand. Your theme is meant to help you tell a story and entice potential donors and volunteers to get involved.

When we talk about themes, we don't mean catchy slogans or the colors and design features you use (though that's certainly part of it). We are talking about a whole communication strategy and consistent branding that includes talking points, case studies, and even a promise of what you will accomplish with the funds.

All your fundraising campaigns should have a good theme. A quality communication theme and strategy can literally be the difference between reaching your fundraising goal or not.

A great campaign theme will capture the interest of potential donors and describe who your organization is and what you will accomplish with the money. The campaign theme will also set the tone or emotion of your fundraising efforts. It will also help you integrate keywords for your online marketing that make your fundraising campaign easier to find.

Imagine a birthday party without a guest of honor. Sure, it's still fun to eat cake and play birthday games (I call dibs on the skeeball), but it's a lot more fun and productive when there's someone (or something) specific to celebrate. A fundraising campaign without a compelling campaign theme can often feel like a birthday party for no one in particular. It might have great elements, but there's just something missing that takes away from the outcome expected.

Key ingredients to effective fundraising campaign themes

There are a few key ingredients that go into crafting a compelling fundraising campaign theme, so it’s worth taking a moment to break this down and dissect the best practices.

A specific fundraising campaign goal

Your fundraising campaign should have a particular outcome in mind. If you are raising money to replace the roof on your church or community building, the specific desired outcome is that you raise enough money to cover the cost of a new roof.

Every fundraising campaign should also relate to your broader organizational mission. To continue with the roof example, your fundraising efforts to purchase a new roof will help you to serve the people in your community by providing a safe, healthy building where your activities can continue to take place.

A clear donor audience

Start by defining your audience. You might be tempted to think, "my audience is anyone who will give us money." But that's not actually true. Even if your organization is desperate to raise money from anyone and everyone, you need a much more specific audience. The goal is to create a fundraising campaign with content that speaks directly to your ideal donor.

You need a deeper understanding of your target audience.

• What makes them tick?
• What are their age range and average income?
• What are their concerns, and what will cause them to get involved in your fundraising campaign?
• What do your ideal donors want to know when you follow up with them about the outcome of the campaign?

Understanding these things will help you create a theme, messaging, and an appeal that will speak directly to your target donor audience. If you don't identify and understand your ideal donors, your message will fall flat. You'll be speaking too generally, so nobody will read your campaign and think, "they're talking to me!"

A "why" to be answered by prospective donors

Your campaign should quickly and easily answer the question, "why?"

• Why must this campaign succeed?
• What will be the positive outcome?
• What might happen if it fails?

Don't fall into the ever-tempting trap of merely listing what your organization will get or do. Focus on the bigger picture!

If your organization is launching a campaign to raise money for school supplies for children at the start of the school year, explain how this might change each child's life trajectory. How will having the right school supplies set them up for success in and outside the classroom? How will this address social and economic inequalities?

Your "why" will also draw in potential supporters and make them want to learn more about your specific fundraising campaign and your organization as a whole. It can also help current donors better understand what your organization does.

Some of your "why" content might just be for internal use. You don't want to overwhelm your donors with a 52-point manifesto. But, putting the time into answering the "why" question will help you create a fundraising theme and provide better, more compelling content.

A compelling call to action

A critical piece of every fundraising campaign is a direct, tangible, and time-specific call to action. Avoid general calls to action like "Donate Now.", because, honestly, they don’t move the fundraising needle.

Instead, craft calls to action like, "Your gift of $50 will provide one 5th grade student all the resources they need to thrive academically." This call to action tells people what action you'd like them to take and what the outcome will be.

A sharable and memorable message

In today's social-media-driven culture, your fundraising campaigns should include a shareable, memorable message. What is the one thing you want people to remember after reading your fundraising appeal? This is the "crux" of your theme.

This central theme should be no longer than a sentence and be as simple as possible. Ideally, you'll be able to carry this theme sentence throughout all your content (emails, subject lines, donation forms, flyers, images, etc.), and it should set the right tone for your campaign.

Some themes are short tag lines. Well Aware is on a mission to provide safe water to people in East Africa. One of their main fundraising campaign themes is, #ShowerStrike. They encourage people to give up showers to raise money. If one of your friends shared a post about going on a shower strike, you would probably click to learn more! It's surprising, memorable, and shareable.

Whatever you come up with should avoid industry jargon or insider language. It should be easy for your volunteers, supporters, and staff to remember and repeat. Simple is usually better when crafting your message. Don't be afraid to ask a few trusted volunteers and supporters for their feedback.

Once you narrow down your potential themes, don't forget to search the wild wild web to make sure no other organization is currently using that theme. Don't forget to search for the hashtag, too. It would be a shame to roll out a fantastic fundraising campaign, only to raise money for a different organization.

Consistent visual elements and nonprofit brand

Your theme should include visual elements that match your broader organizational style. Choose the font, typeface, colors, and other visual elements that will tie your entire campaign together. Consistent visual elements help your donors follow your campaign. It ties together your emails, letters, social media content, donation page, and all the other content connected to the campaign.

Some experts recommend adding an image to your fundraising theme to help tell the story. It doesn't have to be elaborate, but it can help tell the story of the campaign. For example, if you are fundraising to replace the roof on your community center or church, you might add a roof image to the top of your existing logo for your campaign image.

Avoid these nonprofit fundraising campaign theme mistakes

Some organizations sabotage great fundraising campaign themes with mistakes that are easy to avoid. Here are a few common mistakes we see in fundraising campaign themes.

Starving your theme building by not providing it a budget

Have you heard the saying, "you have to spend money to make money"? It doesn't apply exclusively to the business world. Fundraising actually costs a little money--and great fundraising campaigns should include a budget.

Think of all the elements of your fundraising campaign theme. What will everything cost?

• Will you need to hire a graphic designer for any of the campaign theme elements?
• How much will you need to spend on printing?
• How much will you need to pay for postage to mail all the letters?
• Do you plan to host events as part of the fundraising campaign? Each event will cost money.
• Are you planning to spend money on social media campaigns or other forms of advertising?

All these are worthwhile things that nonprofits should be spending money on. Still, each fundraising campaign needs a budget.

Deviating from your theme

Once you create the theme for your fundraising campaign, don't deviate! Varying your campaign theme can cause confusion or mixed messages. In extreme cases, it might even lead to your donors losing trust in your organization! It's best to stick to the theme and the campaign message.

Forgetting to create memorable talking points

Some organizations create amazing fundraising campaigns with all the right elements, but forget to equip people with the right talking points to communicate effectively about the campaign. People who will be representing your organization need to be able to give an "elevator pitch" about the fundraising campaign--a 30 to 60-second explanation about the campaign.

Think about how to communicate the "why" of the campaign. What stories should you share to help your donors imagine and understand the impact they could make? Preparing talking points and training your staff on how to communicate effectively about your fundraising campaign is time and energy well-spent.

In conclusion, launching a fundraising campaign without a theme is like a birthday party with no guest of honor, or a house with no foundation. You can get started quickly, but everything tends to fall apart over time or be significantly less effective than it could be. But, taking these steps to create a compelling campaign theme will help draw in new supporters, mobilize your donors, and reach your fundraising goal.

Are you looking for more ways to improve the effectiveness of your fundraising efforts? Here are three more excellent resources.

• Is Your Nonprofit Making These Common Crowdfunding Mistakes?: Does your organization include crowdfunding in your fundraising efforts? We want to help you avoid some of the common mistakes so you can get the most out of your crowdfunding efforts.
• 4 Steps To Crushing Your Year-End Fundraising Goals: With millions of dollars potentially at stake, it's essential to create an effective year-end fundraising campaign. Here are some practical ways to improve your year-end fundraising efforts.
• Nonprofit Fundraising: Complete Guide for 2020 + Checklist: Nonprofit fundraising has always been challenging. It takes the right tools, strategies, and tactics. We curated this complete guide to help you take your fundraising to the next level in 2020!