Check out these 7 ideas from Stacey Wedding to boost your Big Give strategy.
Creative and Collaborative Fundraising Strategies: Your Lucky 7 List
by Stacey Wedding, Founder, Certified Governance Trainer & Chief Strategist
Professionals in Philanthropy
#1 – While online Giving Days may be virtual, many nonprofits find it valuable to hold a live event. This can be as simple as holding an ice cream party at your offices/headquarters or an open house to see your mission in action. Connecting with people in person helps you bring your story to life in a visual, tangible way while forming a deeper connection with your supporters.
#2 – Piggybacking off of #1 above, consider gathering a group of nonprofits complementary to your mission or that partner with you throughout the year. Hold a larger event and each recruit your own donors, volunteers, board members, and staff. It’s a great networking opportunity, opportunity for further collaboration, and it can result in more donations and awareness for all—whether on the Giving Day or beyond. This also helps reduce expenses when a group shares costs or each has a role in the event.
#3 – Utilize your Giving Day to garner financial support from your internal supporters— volunteers and staff. One example of this was a Boys and Girls Club that challenged each of their Clubs (they had several in their local area) to see who could raise the most money for the organization during the Giving Day. Clubs got creative with some friendly competition, and the winning Club got to choose how to use half the proceeds raised for something to benefit their Club.
#4 – GiveGab, a nonprofit fundraising platform, shares that social media contests or challenges are a great way to engage with your current supporters and use their own social networks to expand the reach of your organization. You can have your supporters participate in an “unselfie” challenge and share photos after they’ve made a donation on the day of, or you can create a contest more personalized to your organization.
#5 – Engage with local restaurants to establish a deal for donors who show their donation receipt. Local retail shops are another option and can offer a small free gift (or a discount) while generating traffic that will help their business. It’s a win win for you and the local business!
#6 – Tap into local celebrity talent—this may be an athlete from your professional sports team or a news anchor or favorite DJ. Engage them to be your ambassador and to spread the work through their networks, media outlet and social media.
#7 – And last but certainly not least are matching gifts, which can be one of the most powerful tools to leverage additional support for your organization. Some organizations partner with a corporation that has supported them in the past, asking for a matching grant up to a certain dollar amount. This can generate tremendous publicity for the corporation and your organization.