Over the last two years, there's been lots of talk about virtual fundraising amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of us shifted to online events and various virtual fundraising strategies (seemingly ages ago), while in-person gatherings weren't safe or feasible.
During the initial rush to incorporate virtual fundraising strategies, many people believed it was just a temporary shift. However, there are incredible benefits to this type of fundraising. From building stronger relationships with donors who live far away to diversifying your fundraising events and attracting more people, the advantages of virtual fundraisers are significant. Many experts indicate that virtual fundraising is here to stay, regardless of what happens next with the pandemic.
If you're relying on a network of temporary systems and strategies for your virtual fundraising solutions, it's time to find some long-term solutions and upgrades that work for your nonprofit.
We gathered some wisdom and insight from virtual fundraising experts to help you thoughtfully create a more permanent strategy for successful virtual fundraising in 2022.
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Virtual Fundraiser Basics
You're probably pretty familiar with virtual fundraising, but let's do a quick recap of the essentials.
What is virtual fundraising for nonprofits?
Virtual fundraising is any kind of nonprofit or fundraising campaign or event that takes place exclusively online. These events and campaigns allow your supporters and followers to engage or participate from anywhere.
What are the top benefits of virtual fundraising for nonprofits?
While there are many benefits to incorporating virtual fundraising strategies into your overall development plan, perhaps the most significant long-term advantage is the ability to engage your supporters from anywhere.
Imagine being able to expand your core audience to other states, countries, or continents and having your supporters from all over the world enthusiastically engaged in your fundraising campaigns! That's what virtual fundraising can do!
Virtual fundraising allows you to offer more cost-effective and successful engagement opportunities to all your supporters (since virtual events are usually cheaper).
6 Nonprofit Virtual Fundraising Best Practices
Virtual fundraisers can take many forms, from online silent auctions and charity fitness challenges to webinars and live Q&A sessions. Regardless of the types of virtual fundraising events that you're planning for 2022, some best practices apply across the board.
Implementing these strategies and tools will help you create an effective strategy for incorporating virtual fundraising into your annual plan going forward.
1. Optimize for "on-the-go" mobile operations
While this "best practice" isn't necessarily specific to virtual fundraisers, it will help improve your overall fundraising performance. Since some virtual fundraising strategies are more long-term and constantly running (like a virtual charity fitness challenge), your team must have all the essential information at their fingertips.
Most of us were thrust into remote work rather unceremoniously in 2020, and many nonprofits and businesses are just now hitting their stride. Mobility and optimizing for virtual work will serve your organization well, even if you're back in the office full-time.
Imagine giving your staff access to critical information and data about your fundraising campaigns straight from their smartphones or tablets! This will equip them to prioritize and track progress from anywhere and better manage virtual (and standard) fundraising campaigns.
For example, if you've got a major virtual fundraising event running for several days in a row, your team probably doesn't want to sit at their desktops on weekends to track campaign progress. However, having access to the CRM system and campaign metrics from their phones allows your staff to track essential metrics from anywhere. Some mobile tools will enable you to check the activity feed for your nonprofit from your phone or take online donations from anywhere.
Incorporate tools and resources that equip your fundraising team for remote work success, even if you're primarily working from the office. The flexibility will certainly come in handy.
2. Add virtual fundraising to your development plan
A good development plan outlines the fundraising strategies to accomplish your financial goals. Include virtual fundraising strategies in your 2022 development plan (and beyond).
Online revenue for nonprofits increased by 23% over the past year. Another key statistic is that the number of donation transactions completed through mobile devices increased by 50%. In comparison, the number of donations made from a desktop decreased by 10%.
These statistics indicate how crucial online fundraising strategies are for today's donors. It's not enough to just have an online giving option now. Supporters want to stay informed and connected and even participate in virtual events throughout the year.
Adding these types of strategies and fundraisers to your overall development plan ensures you're getting the most out of these activities. It also aids in shifting away from a "temporary fix" mentality about virtual fundraising and cultivating a "long-term strategy" mindset.
3. Use engaging, mobile-friendly donation pages for virtual fundraising
It's critical to have engaging, streamlined donation pages to help potential donors complete the giving process.
As the statistics previously indicated, more people than ever are using mobile devices (phones and tablets) to complete donation transactions. Additionally, 50% of all nonprofit website traffic came from a smartphone or tablet, while the share of desktop-based traffic decreased by 9%.
The most effective virtual fundraising pages include:
Mobile-responsive features: Mobile-responsive pages automatically adjust the size and font of your website content so that people viewing on a mobile device don't need to zoom, scroll, or pinch in order to read or make a donation from their smartphone. Many people get frustrated with that process and abandon the donation page before completing the transaction.
Only include the essentials in your donation forms: Only ask for the most essential information in your online donation forms. A virtual fundraising page isn't the ideal place to gather a lot of information from people. Shorter forms typically have a higher completion rate. You can follow up and gather more details at another time.
Include your logo and branding: Use a virtual fundraising platform that allows you to customize pages with your logo and branding. This reassures supporters that they're in the right spot when making a donation. It's also more professional looking and helps build trust.
Make sure you link to your online donation page in all your communication–website, social media posts, newsletters, emails, and other interactions with supporters. Make sure your virtual fundraisers are easy to find from any of your platforms and content.
4. Include compelling storytelling in your virtual fundraising
Whether a supporter arrives at your donation page through a social media post, email, website, or something else, they are probably responding to a compelling story.
You can include storytelling elements in your virtual donation page and other online forms, too. Whether it's a photo or a simple impact statement, people appreciate being reminded of the story that led them to click through. Add details to your suggested donation amounts to help people understand what their gift will accomplish. This will also help them mentally comprehend exactly how their financial contribution connects to the story that drew them in.
Instead of using words like "donate" and "give" on your donation page, use phrases like "Equip a Child" or "Provide Clean Water." Use an impact statement that's most suited to your campaign.
5. Use an effective, customizable online fundraising software
Whether you're planning a virtual walk-a-thon or a virtual holiday gala (and anything in between), every virtual fundraiser requires an online donation page and other fundraising tools that help drive participation.
Every virtual fundraiser requires different features and tools. A virtual gala might need an event registration page, a separate donation page, and a platform like Zoom. On the other hand, a peer-to-peer virtual fundraiser requires dozens of custom individual fundraising pages for people to direct friends and family to give.
Choose an online fundraising platform that is versatile enough to accommodate all the types of virtual fundraisers you're planning to host. The Soapbox Engage app suite is versatile and fully customizable, so you can select the tools and features that you need.
It's also critical to choose an intuitive fundraising platform for your team and supporters. People want a donation page or event registration page that is simple, user-friendly, and easy to navigate. Many people also want social sharing features.
Your team wants tools and apps that are easy to customize, intuitive, and allow them to track real-time progress throughout every virtual fundraising campaign (and make changes along the way).
Soapbox Engage apps are designed with "accidental techies" in mind. No need to write code or navigate complicated set-up processes. Every app is fully customizable, so you can add your logo, branding, stories, and other details and features for one or dozens of fundraising campaigns.
6. Include a recurring donation option in your virtual fundraising campaigns
Recurring donors usually give more throughout their relationship with you than one-time donors. They're also much easier to retain. Don't forget to add an option to help recruit recurring donors through all your virtual fundraising campaigns.
Include language and options on your donation form that highlight a sustaining gift's potential impact. Make sure this recurring gift option is visible on your donation form.
Consider offering a range of suggested donation amounts for one-time gifts and slightly lower donation suggestions for recurring contributions on your donation pages.
A $100 gift might feel like a reasonable one-time donation, but that's a tall ask for a monthly gift. One strategy is to find the average gift amount for your current recurring donors and start with that suggested amount.
No matter what kind of work your nonprofit, organization, or group does, if you are planning fundraisers for 2022, it's almost certain that you should include virtual options and opportunities. With these six strategies, you'll set yourself up for greater virtual fundraising success.
Here are three more resources to boost your virtual fundraising strategies.
- Write A Fundraising Plan That Converts More Donors: Unfortunately, it's not enough to just plan to ask as many people as possible for money and expect to reach your fundraising goal. What happens when you exhaust your network? How do you expand your fundraising efforts? Every nonprofit needs a fundraising plan, and this blog offers the six critical elements of an effective fundraising plan.
- 4 Excellent Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Tips for Schools: Schools need creative fundraisers to reach their financial goals. You want ideas that keep your students interested and ready to participate. Peer-to-peer fundraising strikes the perfect balance for raising money and keeping your community interested. Check out this blog to get some great tips and insights on how to plan an excellent peer-to-peer fundraising campaign for your school.
- How to Retain and Engage Donors After A Virtual Event: When you start crunching numbers, it's actually more cost-effective to focus on keeping your current donors than it is to constantly bring in new supporters. That's why this blog takes a dive into donor retention after virtual events. It offers some best practices and strategies you can incorporate to boost your donor retention.
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