5 Ways to Diversify A Nonprofit's Fundraising Strategy
Nonprofits play a crucial role in addressing social issues and creating positive change in our communities. However, for these organizations to thrive and make a meaningful impact, they need a sustainable source of funding. Over reliance on a single funding source can be risky, as economic downturns or changes in donor priorities can disrupt an organization's financial stability. To mitigate this risk and ensure long-term success, diversifying your nonprofit's fundraising strategy is essential. Here are 5 suggestions you can use to complement your existing fundraising strategy.
Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
Creating a peer-to-peer fundraising program is a great way to diversify your fundraising strategy and raise significant revenue. Peer-to-peer fundraising is when your organization’s supporters set up a fundraiser to benefit your nonprofit and ask their family and friends to make a financial donation. The average amount raised online for participants who set up personal fundraising pages is $391.
Peer-to-peer fundraising can also help increase the awareness of your non-profit. 39% of Americans have donated to a charity based on a request from a family or friend. These donors represent a great opportunity for stewardship and future fundraising.
Here are a few common types of peer-to-peer fundraising:
DIY fundraising: Created by an individual that chooses to fundraise for a nonprofit, often dedicating a birthday or other personal milestone.
Fundraising campaign: An event created by the nonprofit where you ask your supporters to join it. These tend to run for a fixed period of time and have an overall fundraising or impact goal.
Peer-to-Peer events: Supporters fundraise in support of events such as runs, walks, golf outings, etc.
There are several platforms to support your organization with peer-to-peer fundraising.
Facebook Fundraising
Facebook offers several free tools to make it easier for your nonprofit and its supporters to raise money on Facebook. These tools have raised billions of dollars for charities. If your nonprofit uses Facebook’s payment platform to process donations, then there are no fees involved - 100% of the donations go to your nonprofit. Facebook’s giving tools include the following:
Donate button - The donate button is an easy way for supporters to give to your nonprofit without leaving Facebook. You and your supporters can add the donate button to your page, posts, and live video, making it easy for supporters to donate. Donors can choose to give a one-time or monthly recurring gifts.
Page fundraisers - Verified Facebook Pages can create fundraisers for their nonprofit. This allows you to promote your mission and inspire others around a fundraising goal.
Fundraiser sticker - The Facebook sticker for Facebook stories allows your nonprofit’s supporters to add a fundraiser sticker to their Facebook stories.
Live video donate - You can add a donate button to Live video on Facebook. This is a great opportunity to give your supporters an inside look into your nonprofit and share the impact you’ve made in real-time.
You can learn more about the charitable donation tools that Facebook offers here.
To complement your fundraising, your nonprofit can leverage Facebook ads to help you reach new people who may be interested in your organization. Facebook ads can be extremely affordable and can be a highly effective way to expand your reach and drive results. For example, many nonprofits have found success with using Facebook ads to target supporters who have upcoming birthdays to set up a birthday fundraiser to support the charity. Here is some additional information on Facebook ads.
Monthly Donor Programs
One of the best ways for you to diversify your revenue is by developing a monthly donor program. When it comes to stabilizing your revenue, monthly donor programs are one of the best tools in your arsenal. A monthly donor program (sometimes called recurring giving) is when a donor chooses to give a pre-determined amount on a monthly basis and the funds are automatically collected from their financial account. Creating a monthly donor program can have a long-term benefit to the health of your nonprofit. Here are some of the benefits:
Donor retention: The average donor retention rate for single-gift donors is 23%. However, monthly donor programs often see retention rates of over 80%. Meaning, having a monthly donor program can triple your retention rate.
Higher levels of giving: Monthly donors generally give more money than single-gift donors. The average monthly online donation is $52 ($624/year) compared to the average one-time gift of $128. Many monthly donor often give additional single gifts throughout the year for special appeals and during the holiday season.
Reliable stream of income: Monthly donations are funds your nonprofit can rely on and can help normalize some of the revenue fluctuations that many nonprofits encounter. Having a reliable source of income also allows you to spend more time on other fundraising activities to help further your mission.
Convenient donor experience: Monthly donor programs are extremely convenient for your donors since they can “set it and forget it” and feel good about supporting your cause all year long.
Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a great opportunity for your nonprofit to attract new donors and raise money. Giving Tuesday, which occurs the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is the biggest giving day of the year around the world. In 2022, 37 million adults participated in Giving Tuesday, raising $3.1 billion dollars (15% increase from 2021).
The Giving Tuesday organization provides many free resources that nonprofits can leverage to develop a Giving Tuesday campaign and many companies provide matching funds to nonprofits.
More information on Giving Tuesday can be found here.
Corporate Partnerships
Collaborating with businesses can be a mutually beneficial approach. Companies often have resources, expertise, and marketing reach that can boost your nonprofit's fundraising efforts. To foster successful corporate partnerships:
Identify Compatible Partners: Seek businesses whose values align with your nonprofit's mission.
Craft Win-Win Proposals: Create partnerships that provide tangible benefits for both parties.
Recognize Corporate Supporters: Acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of your corporate partners in your outreach and marketing efforts.
Need help with your nonprofit’s fundraising strategy? Contact us for a free 30 minute consultation.
About Market Me Consulting
Market Me Consulting (www.marketmeconsulting.com) is a consulting firm that develops marketing, strategy, and fundraising solutions for nonprofits and socially conscious small businesses. We combine analytics with creativity to build strategies, campaigns, and programs that help our clients achieve their goals. With over 15 years of experience in driving results for nonprofits, universities, local governments, and small businesses, our team has the skills and experiences to deliver results for our clients.