Youth Group Fundraisers: 4 Simple Ideas to Maximize Success

A church youth group is a powerful way for your church’s teens to find mentors, establish self-confidence and social awareness, and become more deeply rooted in their faith. 

To unlock these social, interpersonal, and moral benefits, youth groups can engage in all kinds of activities, from volunteering and Bible studies to purely social gatherings. However, some of the most enriching programming like camps and mission trips can be expensive

While some members may be able to pay for these activities with help from their parents, you want to ensure everyone in your group has an equal opportunity to participate regardless of socioeconomic status.

By holding a youth group fundraiser, you can expand opportunities to more teens while also demonstrating the importance of a strong work ethic.

Creating the right fundraising strategy for your youth group may feel challenging, but we’re here to help. At ABC Fundraising, we’ve helped more than 10,000 churches across the country to raise millions of dollars in support of their work. With this experience, we’ve seen firsthand the tactics youth groups are using to fundraise successfully.


Consider one of the following fundraiser recommendations to generate needed revenue for your youth ministry: 

  1. Sell branded merchandise.
  2. Hold a “yard” sale.
  3. Host a 5k or walk-a-thon.
  4. Sell gourmet food items.

By implementing one (or more!) of these ideas, your youth group will be able to secure the necessary funds for your next trip—and have fun while doing so. Let’s dive in. 

1. Sell branded merchandise.

With a branded merchandise fundraiser, you can design an item with your church’s (or youth group’s) own logo. Or, you can customize it even further with a meaningful bible verse or ministry slogan.

The premise is simple: you partner with a vendor to design the item; gather orders from your congregation, community, friends, and family; then place a bulk order with the vendor. You’ll only pay a wholesale price for the product, leaving the difference from the resale as profit for your group. 

A few common examples of branded product fundraisers include:

  • Travel mugs
  • T-shirts
  • Flip flops
  • Keychains
  • Water bottles

And these are just a few ideas—the options are practically endless. For the easiest approach, try to find a vendor that won’t charge you upfront for the products. That way, you’ll only need to pay for what has already been sold, eliminating any financial risk.

One branded product that’s perfect for our current circumstances of social distancing is a custom face mask. To see what this looks like in practice, check out this example from a recent ABC Fundraising custom face mask fundraiser:

In addition to the obvious monetary benefits, a branded product fundraiser is also advantageous because it can raise awareness for your church. Each person who uses or wears your item is essentially providing free advertising!

2. Hold a “yard” sale.

With this fundraising idea, you’ll hold a rummage sale in your church’s parking lot or green space. It doesn’t have to be a conventional yard to make a great yard sale!

To do this, seek donations of gently used items from your community. Some desirable categories include clothing, shoes, books, kitchen items, furniture, or even handmade products like quilts or knitted hats. Many of your members’ families will be glad for the motivation to clear out a crowded attic or disorganized garage space.

Then, once you’ve gathered all the items, pick a sunny weekend day to hold your sale. Try to set the items up in an organized and visually appealing way to make it easier for potential buyers to find interesting items.

As you set prices for the items, keep in mind that the profits are going towards a good cause. In other words, don’t be afraid to charge a little extra than you might normally see at a typical garage sale. Members of your congregation will still be thrilled to find some new treasures while supporting your group.

Finally, be sure to advertise your yard sale far and wide. Promote your sale in your church announcements, on bulletin boards, or on social media. 

Hopefully, you’ll get enough traffic to sell all of your items. If not, you can donate the leftovers to a local thrift store. If you happen to have a surplus of used sneakers at the end of your sale, this guide can help you repurpose running shoes to earn even more money.

3. Host a 5k or walk-a-thon event.

A 5k, walk-a-thon, or similar race event can help your youth group raise funding while promoting a healthy lifestyle. This can be a good fit for youth of all ages and interests, but it works particularly well for teens who have a competitive spirit.

For a charity race like this to be successful, you’ll need active participation and enthusiasm from both participants and supporters. When everyone is on board, you’ll be well-equipped to reach your fundraising goals.

On that note, how do you actually raise money with a race or walk-a-thon? There are two main options:

  1. Charge a registration fee for participating in the race, then put the proceeds towards your youth ministry.
  2. Ask your members to raise pledges in a peer-to-peer style fundraiser. As described in the 99Pledges guide to walk-a-thon fundraisers, Each participant will share the fundraiser with friends and family, asking for donations that correspond with the distance of the race. Once the race is over, you’ll collect the donations.

Either of these options can help you raise the money you need for your next mission trip or other youth group activity. 

If it’s not feasible or safe to hold your race in-person, this fundraiser can easily be made into a virtual event. All of the fundraising elements will be the same, but instead of gathering in one location to run or walk, participants will join from their own neighborhoods and log their progress online. 

4. Sell gourmet food items.

One of the most popular fundraising ideas for churches and youth groups is to sell a tasty food item. Your community members will be able to satisfy their sweet tooth while also helping your group reach its fundraising goal. 

For an upscale approach, consider partnering with a product fundraising provider to sell gourmet food items. A few in-demand ideas include:

  • Popcorn
  • Cookie dough
  • Cheesecake
  • Snack mixes
  • Auntie Anne’s pretzels
  • Chocolate bars

There are many food fundraiser items on the market, so you should be able to find something that aligns with the tastes, preferences, and budget of your congregation. If buyers end up finding a new favorite, they may even beg you to bring the fundraiser back as an annual event!

Alternatively, you can opt for a homemade route and do a traditional bake sale. If you go this way, make sure each product is well-packaged and displays allergen information to keep everyone safe. 


Your youth ministry depends on the generosity of your congregation to run important programming and engage teens. With these fundraising ideas, you’ll have the money you need to cultivate a strong community and give members new opportunities to explore and commit to their faith. Best of luck!


About the author: Debbie Salat

Debbie Salat is the director of fundraising activities and product development at ABC Fundraising(r) – Debbie joined ABC Fundraising(r) in 2010 and is responsible for launching over 6500 fundraising campaigns for schools, churches, youth sports teams and non-profit organizations all across the USA. With over 20 years of fundraising experience, Debbie knows the path to success for fundraisers which she shares with groups on a daily basis so they can achieve their fundraising goals.

Read More

Poor Donation Forms Losing You Revenue? 7 Changes to Make

Online donation forms don’t just offer a convenient avenue for donors to support your mission. These pages anchor your nonprofit’s entire online fundraising presence. Donation forms are used in all online fundraising drives, from crowdfunding and peer-to-peer campaigns to annual events like Giving Tuesday. In other words, they’re one of the most utilized points of connection between your nonprofit and your supporters. 

As technological advances and social-distancing restrictions force nonprofits to find ways to connect with supporters using modern tech tools, you can’t afford to have a messy, confusing, or poorly-designed giving page. Streamlining and optimizing your donation forms attracts more supporters to your cause and encourages donors to give more, increasing your online fundraising revenue. 

At Donately, we’ve helped plenty of nonprofits improve their online fundraising strategies using our dedicated donation pages. We’ve identified several improvements to make to your organization’s online giving page, so you can maximize your revenue. To optimize your donation forms, be sure to: 

  1. Share your story.
  2. Optimize your forms for all devices.
  3. Improve user accessibility.
  4. Adhere to your organization’s branding and style guidelines.
  5. Add suggested donation amounts.
  6. Include recurring giving options.
  7. Reassure donors with a secure giving process.

With just a few relatively simple adjustments, your digital donation forms can be transformed to drive your organization’s online fundraising. To help make these adjustments, be sure to start with an online donation platform that makes it easy to create a well-designed donation page, even without any coding experience. Let’s jump right in!

1. Share your story.

The heart of your nonprofit is your mission’s story. Since your donation form is one of the most visible donor-facing aspects of your online fundraising strategy, be sure to share your organization’s story in a concise yet powerful way to appeal to both long-term and casual supporters alike. 

Work with your team to construct a compelling description of your nonprofit’s mission that captures the essence of your organization, commands reader attention, and motivates supporters to give. Place this summary alongside or above your donation form fields to catch readers’ attention as soon as they click your form. 

The best nonprofit donation forms capture the attention of not only dedicated donors and volunteers but also those donors who encounter your site via a peer-to-peer or social media crowdfunding campaign. They might not have as much information on your organization’s purpose and work, so your donation page can be an effective gateway to get more people on board with your cause. 

2. Optimize your forms for all screens. 

These days, supporters aren’t just reaching your nonprofit’s website on their desktop computers. They’re using phones, tablets, and other devices to browse the internet and their social media feeds. In fact, according to Double the Donation’s nonprofit fundraising statistics page, half of last year’s nonprofit website traffic came from people using a mobile device or tablet. 

Therefore, you must take critical steps to optimize your organization’s donation forms with formatting that’s responsive to all digital screens. Plenty of donation page platforms allow you to view how your page will look across desktop, mobile, and tablet screens. Take a look at these different versions to ensure everything looks normal and that the formatting is correct for each screen. 

When you optimize your donation forms for all screens, you’ll improve:

  • Responsiveness. Your donation page will be responsive and automatically adjust to fit mobile, tablet, and laptop screens. This allows you to avoid any frustration from your supporters when they attempt to navigate your donation forms. Otherwise, their frustration could lead to less support for your mission. 
  • Convenience. When donors can quickly give to your cause from their favorite devices, it enhances the convenience of your donation forms and ensures donors won’t abandon the form because they can’t read it or because the formatting is wonky on their device. 
  • Shareability. In addition to donating, you want to make it as easy as possible for supporters to share your donation pages as well. Optimizing donation pages so they can be shared on any screen and any digital platform (such as social media and email) ensures supporters can easily spread the word about your mission.

Today’s donors are increasingly on-the-go and will appreciate being able to support your cause from wherever they are. By taking the necessary steps to optimize your forms, you’ll also ensure you aren’t excluding anyone who wants to give to your organization online, which boosts digital fundraising revenue. 

3. Improve user accessibility.

Not only is it important to improve your donation form’s responsiveness to ensure people using any device can read your page, but it’s also important to improve accessibility all-around. That way, people of any ability can access and use your donation forms. 

Improving the accessibility of your online donation forms and pages ensures your website is inclusive and can be used by everyone. To boost the accessibility of your donation forms and ensure your website complies with the specifications of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), there are a few design improvements you can make right now if you haven’t already:

  • Give the page a clear title, and ensure form fields include proper instructions or labels.
  • Provide alternative text options for any images on your donation page so those using screen readers can understand what’s being displayed.
  • Avoid low-contrast color palettes that make it difficult or impossible for users with visual impairments to interpret your page.
  • Organize your page logically using a hierarchical structure with heading tags.

This is just a brief overview of everything that goes into website and web page accessibility, so be sure to check out DNL OmniMedia’s overview of nonprofit web accessibility for more information. According to the guide, “the single biggest benefit of creating a compliant website is that accessibility and usability go hand in hand.” In the process of creating a more inclusive website, you improve the user experience for all supporters by making your website easier to navigate and interact with. 

The more you focus on inclusiveness and accessibility, the more people will be able to interact with your forms, and the more useful your forms will be for soliciting online donations. 

4. Adhere to your organization’s branding and style guidelines.

Your volunteers and other long-time supporters are already familiar with your organization’s brand specifics such as your logo, font styles, and colors. Use this familiarity to your advantage by designing your online donation page with your nonprofit’s brand guidelines in mind. 

This reassures supporters that their donations are going to the right place. Plus, it creates a uniform, professional page to draw in a wider audience. Casual supporters or people who encounter your site on their social media feeds will be more likely to interact with your donation page if it’s streamlined and polished. 

When creating your donation page, make sure that: 

  • Your page uses the same font styles as your marketing materials or other communications. 
  • Your introductory paragraph includes eye-catching, useful images or graphics that illuminate your mission and use your organization’s brand colors. 
  • Any copy is written in your organization’s tone/voice. 

Paying attention to these details ensures your page is primed to appeal to both long-time supporters and those who randomly encounter your page in the course of their internet browsing. 

To maximize your donation page for online fundraising success, there are a few simple tips and tricks that influence donors to give more. One tip is to add suggested donation amounts to your online form. 

5. Add suggested donation amounts.

According to Donately’s online fundraising guide, including suggested donation amounts within your donation page form fields streamlines the process for donors and boosts fundraising support.  

Without suggested donation amounts, supporters won’t have a good idea of what kinds of donations you’re looking for, which can lead to a wide range of donations that mostly fall on the lower end. It also can discourage supporters from giving in larger amounts. On the other hand, adding a few pre-filled suggestions to your form encourages donors to give in those exact amounts. 

Be sure to also include a custom donation field so you don’t discourage those who can’t give as much right now or those who’d like to make an even larger donation. These small changes to your forms speed up the giving process for donors, encouraging them to stick around and follow through with their donation.

For example, you could allow supporters to choose a donation amount of $25, $50, $250, or $1,000. Here’s what your form could look like (image to the right):

6. Include recurring giving options.

Another way to maximize the impact of your donation page is to make it easy and convenient for donors to sign up for your monthly giving program. Recurring gifts provide your organization with a more reliable revenue stream and give donors more flexibility in how they choose to give to your organization. 

Use your donation form as a jumping-off point to introduce donors to the program and encourage them to get involved. Create a section on your form that allows donors to turn their one-time donation into a monthly, quarterly, or yearly donation. Don’t forget to include a brief description of your monthly donation program, including information on what the donations go toward (whether it’s a specific program, project, or your organization as a whole). 

Be sure to also provide supporters with a way to manage and update their monthly donations themselves to save your staff time and effort. In turn, you’ll strengthen your relationship with supporters by making it as easy as possible for them to deepen their commitment through your monthly giving program. 

7. Reassure donors with a secure giving process.

According to this page of fundraising statistics, 63% of donors in the U.S. and Canada prefer making an online donation using a credit or debit card. That means you must facilitate a secure process for donors to input their payment information and reassure them that their information will remain safe. 

To help in this process, invest in dedicated nonprofit payment processing tools that streamline the process on your end and protect donors’ information. Find a system that:

  • Offers flexible payment processing options.
  • Handles data securely and generates reports for your staff to review.
  • Is simple to start up and operate. 

Your payment processor will protect donors’ credit and debit card information via a payment gateway. Donation processing tools can optimize these donor-facing aspects of your fundraising process to ensure your donation form is equipped to facilitate a greater fundraising effort. 


Don’t let a poor donation form slow down your fundraising efforts. Bring better fundraising practices into this year with an effective donation page that drives revenue to your nonprofit and ultimately enables you to help more people through your organization’s work. And remember, a strong giving form starts with the right technology and a dedicated platform to take your online fundraising efforts to the next level. Good luck!


About the Author: Andrew Berry

Andrew is the head of marketing and customer success for Donately. After getting involved with nonprofits at a young age, he discovered a passion for helping the organizations that are making the world a better place. Knowing how vital online fundraising has become, his goal is to help nonprofits raise more money online each year! In his spare time, you will find him cooking up dinner, playing with his dog or cheering on Boston sports teams.

Read More

5 Reasons a Well Maintained Nonprofit Website is Essential

Almost 4.66 billion people in the world are active internet users. As the core pillar of modern information, the internet is now your greatest asset when it comes to furthering your nonprofit mission and improving your fundraising efforts. With more people online than ever before, it’s a no brainer that a well maintained website should be top priority. But what does this mean for your organization?

Let’s take some guidance from top experts in web design and development at Kanopi: “In order to have a well maintained website, you need regular website maintenance.” 

However, a well maintained site doesn’t just mean a working one. Along with conducting security and plug-in/module updates, regular website maintenance involves ensuring you comply with accessibility standards, that your site values user experience (UX), that you tell a story through your site content, and that it is the focal point of all of your online engagements.

To learn more about what makes a well maintained website, let’s walk through the following benefits this can bring to your nonprofit: 

  1. Increases fundraising revenue
  2. Teaches new audiences about your mission
  3. Leads to better search engine result ranking
  4. Acts as a source for supporters to engage directly 
  5. Improves relationships with current supporters

How does a well maintained website accomplish the above? Let’s dive into each benefit and the optimizations you can make to your site to achieve them. 

1. Increases online fundraising revenue

Your nonprofit website is where supporters make online gifts to your organization. Without a dedicated site and online donation page, it’s likely that prospective donors won’t know where to look and possibly skip out on giving altogether. When you take the steps to maintain your website and make it the best it can be, you’re also directly affecting your online fundraising revenue. 

The easier it is for supporters to navigate your site, find the information they’re looking for, and fill out the online donation form, the more likely it is that they will continue to give to your cause and support your mission.

If you want your own nonprofit site to continue driving increased fundraising, make sure to implement these strategies:

  • Include clear buttons and links to your online donation page
  • Streamline the giving process with an optimized donation form that only asks the essentials
  • Use an integrated and secure payment processor to keep donors on the same page and protected
  • Make sure your online donation tool is working and integrated with your website
  • Ensure your online giving process is mobile optimized

Additionally, the way your online donation page is laid out can make a huge difference in how likely someone is to complete their gift. If the form takes them to a third-party page, if the donation tool has errors, or if the form just takes too long to fill out are all reasons why users decide to click away and not donate at all.

Unsure if your website and donation page are up to standard? Use these top donation page examples in this iATS Payments resource from real nonprofits for guidance. 

2. Teaches new audiences about your mission

Did you know that 27.5% of individuals have reported discovering new nonprofits through the internet and technology? 

Kanopi-VolunteerLocal-5-Reasons-a-Well-Maintained-Nonprofit-Website-is-Essential_extra.jpg

According to this graphic depicting the donor journey, the next step after awareness is research. And, it’s likely that the first place prospective supporters will go to learn more about your organization is your nonprofit website.

With a well maintained nonprofit website, you’re able to welcome new audiences, introduce them to your mission, and showcase why you’re a worthwhile cause to support. In fact, many people actually have little patience for poorly maintained websites.

One survey conducted on millennials stated that top pet peeves on nonprofit sites include mobile-unfriendliness, missing information, and the inability to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. If this is something your own site lacks, you’re missing out on a whole scope of potential supporters.

To ensure that your website meets the needs of new audiences, make sure to:

  • Consistently update site content so that it showcases recent success stories and nonprofit accomplishments
  • Check your mobile-optimization status with this free Google tool
  • Optimize image and other media content size so that the website loads quickly (the Google recommended time is under 2 seconds)
  • Include a navigation menu with clear links to content to help people learn more about your organization, like your mission statement, about us page, event calendar, and community testimonials from those you’ve helped
  • Design your site with accessibility in mind and full compliance with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), ensuring that users can engage with it despite location, language, ability, or device

Your nonprofit website is the most valuable way to market your organization online, and by taking the steps to properly maintain it, you can appeal to new audiences and turn prospects into full-time supporters.

3. Leads to better search engine result ranking

Along with optimizing your site to act as a reliable research tool for new audiences, you can actually take specific steps to increase your own search engine result ranking. 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of tweaking and updating your website to make it easier for search engines like Google to read and determine its value. When someone looks up a keyword related to your mission, you want Google to pull up your organization— otherwise, you’re buried by other similar content and possibly even other nonprofit sites. 

Nonprofit website maintenance should also include actions that support search engine optimizations. Here are some easy ways to ensure this:

  • Publish website content that with keyword phrases that your supporters are most likely to search for
  • Use a specific heading structure with H1s, H2s, and so on to make it easier for search engines to crawl and read your site
  • Include metadata into your website to include specific information that search engines read
  • Use alternative text for media types like graphics and videos so search engines know what they are about

These are only some of the optimizations you can make to your website for improving search engine ranking. Explore qualified resources like Moz.com, a professional source for SEO tools, to learn more about what you might need to do for your own website. 

4. Acts as a source for supporters to engage directly 

In the end, the best nonprofit sites are the ones that act as the focal point of all important online engagements. From facilitating online fundraising to being the core research tool that supporters use, your website should be the first place people turn to support your organization in any way.

To explain this idea, let’s walk through a few scenarios: 

  • A supporter wants to contact your nonprofit to learn how they can get more involved — Your website should have clear contact information, including email and phone numbers.
  • An individual wants to volunteer for an eventYour website should have a dedicated page listing all your volunteer opportunities and how to register for them.
  • A supporter wants to follow your social media pages to have more frequent and casual updates — Include clear connections to all of your social media accounts through prominent links, widgets, or with an embedded running social feed.
  • A supporter wants to attend a fundraising event to give to your cause and meet others — Create an event calendar for your upcoming events and campaigns. Be sure to have links that lead users to the registration page. 

No matter how someone wants to engage with your organization, your nonprofit website should be their first instinct. If you don’t properly maintain your website, these needs are not met.

Make sure you consistently update your website navigation menu so that it connects users to their most desired actions. Not only does this present your site as a reliable resource, but also builds the positive relationship you have with supporters

5. Improves relationships with current supporters

Not only can your website help you attract new audiences and increase your online fundraising revenue but it can also provide insight into your current supporters.

As the focal point of the majority of your online engagements, the data that your website collects is extremely valuable to your nonprofit digital strategies. 

Use your content management system (CMS) to track data on which pages are most popular, how different users interact with your site, and the types of content they engage with the most.

With this information, you can even create different user or donor personas based on the typical habits of your various audiences. Then, create targeted marketing content and website optimizations that appeal to those groups. 

However, this is almost impossible to do with a poorly maintained website. It’s critical that your CMS, any plug-ins or modules, and software integrations are consistently updated for full site functionality. This way, you can accurately track those key data points and learn more about what your current supporters value and how you can better meet their needs. 

Conclusion

Most modern nonprofits have some sort of website to facilitate online engagements. But not every organization truly takes the time to make sure their own site is the best it can be. With limited time and resources, nonprofits often make the mistake of deprioritizing their website over more urgent tasks. 

However, your website is the focal point of many of your important engagements, and without a well maintained one, you’ll miss out on several valuable opportunities. Remember to conduct consistent maintenance and keep your audience’s needs top of mind to reap the benefits. Good luck!


About the Author: Anne Stefanyk

As Founder and CEO of Kanopi Studios, Anne helps create clarity around project needs, and turns client conversations into actionable outcomes. She enjoys helping clients identify their problems, and then empowering the Kanopi team to execute great solutions.

Anne is an advocate for open source and co-organizes the Bay Area Drupal Camp. When she’s not contributing to the community or running her thoughtful web agency, she enjoys yoga, meditation, treehouses, dharma, cycling, paddle boarding, kayaking, and hanging with her nephew.

Read More

Integration Announcement: VolunteerLocal Chooses Double the Donation for Integrated Volunteer Grant Solution

A warm thanks to Julia Beltran and our integration partners at Double The Donation for this guest post!


Double the Donation is proud to debut its integrated partnership with VolunteerLocal, one of the most powerful volunteer management platforms. This duo has come together to offer 360MatchPro to nonprofits, event planners and volunteer coordinators of all types through its seamless integration.

“Our volunteer grant integration with 360MatchPro will take the mystery out of volunteer grant submissions,” said Brian Hemesath, Founder of VolunteerLocal. “Volunteer coordinators can expect a simple way to contact eligible supporters and encourage them to submit their grants – leading to more funds for qualifying organizations.”

Through this new and innovative solution, organizations can now use 360MatchPro to identify volunteer grant-eligible supporters and guide them to their employer’s volunteer grant guidelines and submission steps directly after a volunteer shift. This technology helps organizations take advantage of corporate volunteer grant programs, which are offered by 40% of Fortune 500 companies.

“VolunteerLocal offers a range of features that are essential to an effective volunteer management strategy, and we are so excited to add volunteer grant outreach to their platform.” said Adam Weinger, President of Double the Donation. “This robust solution will help organizations everywhere take advantage of corporate volunteer grant opportunities.”

While volunteer grant opportunities are significant, many organizations miss out on these funds because of a lack of donor awareness and outreach. This solution can now educate supporters and help organizations take advantage of this revenue stream.

“Our organization is so excited to integrate 360MatchPro with our VolunteerLocal account,” said Lin Lu, Web Developer at AnitaB.org. “We now have a simple way to tailor volunteer grant outreach to eligible supporters. This valuable integration will help us raise more without any extra effort.”

With around 63 million Americans volunteering each year, the value of volunteerism is worth an estimated $175 billion annually. Using 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal, organizations can educate their supporters and guide them to submit a volunteer grant application.

Start raising more from volunteer grants!

Activate in Seconds and Start Raising More from Volunteer Grants!

The 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal integration process is simple, allowing your organization to quickly enhance your volunteer grant fundraising initiatives. To get started, just enter your API keys within your VolunteerLocal account to activate the integration, and then add the 360MatchPro search field to your event or application forms.

This process allows your volunteers to enter their employer information as they sign up for a volunteer shift. The search tool provides suggestions as the user types, ensuring the volunteer enters their correct employer. This tool even takes spelling errors, parent companies, and subsidiary companies into account. 360MatchPro then automatically checks to see if this volunteer could be eligible for a volunteer grant through their employer’s corporate philanthropy program. This means your supporters can identify themselves as volunteer grant-eligible simply by entering employment information during their natural sign up process.

VolunteerLocal sign up form

Your organization can then sync this information into 360MatchPro to kickoff automated outreach streams. These messages are completely customizable, and they allow your supporters to learn more about their volunteer grant programs alongside actionable instructions to submit a volunteer grant request. Using 360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal, you can learn valuable volunteer insights and encourage your supporters to submit volunteer grant requests, leading to greater revenue for your organization without any unnecessary effort!

Drive More Volunteer Grant Submissions to Completion with 360MatchPro!

Drive More Volunteer Grant Submissions to Completion with 360MatchPro!

360MatchPro and VolunteerLocal use their innovative solution to fuel support for your organization.

With these features, you can:

  • Identify more volunteer grant revenue opportunities: 360MatchPro enables you to automatically collect volunteer grant eligibility from supporters using email domains, within donation forms, on confirmation screens, or by email. The more volunteer grant opportunities 360MatchPro discovers and shares with donors, the more volunteer grant requests your donors will successfully submit.
  • Drive more grant requests to completion, from form submission to corporate payment: Direct supporters to their volunteer grant submission process after their volunteer shift is complete. Then, provide the right information to the right supporters at the right time with custom emails based on eligibility. Target follow-ups drive more completed submissions than ever before, bringing exponentially more volunteer grant checks from companies through your door.
  • Reallocate your time from routine follow-up to your top opportunities: Your time is valuable, so why spend it chasing volunteer grants? Let 360MatchPro automate your volunteer grant outreach while flagging your highest-value opportunities, allowing your team to personalize follow-ups to the most valuable volunteer grant-eligible supporters. Rest easy knowing that 360MatchPro can handle the rest.

Ready to learn more or get started? Schedule a personalized demo to see how 360MatchPro can fit your organization’s needs and drive donations through company gift matching.


About VolunteerLocal: VolunteerLocal is a user-friendly volunteer management platform used by nonprofits, event planners and volunteer coordinators of all types. This powerful software is designed to help your organization schedule volunteers, recruit groups, collect supporter data and more to ensure your volunteer management system is both efficient and effective. Interested in learning more? Check out their website.

About Double the Donation: Automate your matching gift and volunteer grant fundraising with the industry-leading solution from Double the Donation. The 360MatchPro platform provides nonprofits with tools to identify match-eligible donors, drive matches to completion, and gain actionable insights. 360MatchPro integrates directly into donation forms, CRMs, social fundraising software, and other nonprofit technology solutions to capture employment information and follow up appropriately with donors about matching gifts.

Read More

4 Ways to Effectively Use Your Nonprofit CRM

Your organization’s constituent relationship management software (CRM) is the backbone of your fundraising and outreach efforts. Without it, you’d lack crucial data that will help drive your mission forward and make the most considerable impact possible on your community. After all, your CRM is the nonprofit database that stores all essential contact information, engagement data, and fundraising analytics. 

Once you’ve chosen your CRM software, you’ll want to make the most of the tools it provides. At Lumaverse, we’ve seen how a nonprofit’s donor database is used to efficiently engage members, volunteers, and donors to inspire action. Based on our direct experience with mission-based organizations, we’ve put together a guide to help nonprofit professionals make the most of their resources. Don’t strategize your efforts based on assumption; instead, use the data you already have.

Here’s how you can accomplish this with a few easy considerations:

  • Make sense of your data.
  • Contact your supporter base effectively.
  • Optimize your pre-existing software. 
  • Develop stronger donor relationships.

With these essential items in mind, you’ll get the most out of your CRM software investment. Let’s jump in!

Make sense of your data.

If your database contains a sizable amount of supporter data to sift through, consider a CRM that offers machine learning capabilities so you can make the most sense of your data. This way, you’re able to pull insights and put them into action for various growth strategies. 

You can make the most of your fundraising CRM information by walking through the donor’s journey and using the data to help identify major donor prospects. Let’s take a closer look at each of those.

Look into your donor’s journey.

When thinking through your average donor’s giving journey, your data tells a story. First, your donor will initiate contact with your organization online. This can be through your website, social media, or even an email. In terms of physical outreach, be sure you’re keeping track of which direct mail recipients are seeking out your online presence.

After they interact with your site or social media profiles, they’ll choose whether or not they’ll donate. You’ll be able to use your data to see where they navigate when deciding their next move. Use this information to consider which touchpoints are crucial during this process for your donors.

Finally, analyze how they are giving. Are potential donors using your online payment tool or choosing to mail in their donation envelope after finding out more information from your site?

Understanding where your donors stand at each step of the journey is crucial. At the very least, you’ll be able to track their time spent and navigation from when they first interact with your organization to when they donate or not.

Identify potential major donors.

A crucial aspect of your CRM is making inferences based on your donors’ giving history data. Your team can take into account all of the contributions made to your cause by donor profiles. This way, you’re able to ask for different donation amounts based on what they’re most likely to give. In terms of fundraising, this helps you:

  • Avoid missing out on funds by making a larger ask.
  • Not overwhelm donors with big asks when they’re more likely to contribute smaller amounts.
  • Increase your donor conversion rates overall.

Your outreach strategies will take on more personalized approaches by acknowledging the critical differences in your donor network. Not only will you get the most out of your asks, but you’re also likely to discover prospective major donors you didn’t realize existed, which can make a significant impact on your fundraising! After all, around 88% of all nonprofit funds come from about 12% of donors, those being your major donors.

By taking the time to understand the data you’ve worked hard to capture, your outreach and fundraising efforts will be smarter than ever before.  

Contact your supporter base effectively.

As we mentioned above, your data gives your team insight into your network’s outreach preferences. The information you retain in your CRM gives you details that can be leveraged when refining your communication strategy. If you feel like you can’t draw enough conclusions from your data, be sure to ask the right questions on your donation and volunteer forms or surveys in the future, such as:

  • How they prefer to be contacted.
  • Which outreach efforts have led to their contributions.
  • How they like to give: by donating, volunteering, etc.

Imagine your team needs to ask supporters to spend their time helping out at your next walkathon. You’ll want to sift through your CRM to find contacts who have previously worked with your organization at your past events. Whether they participated or volunteered, it’s your best bet for finding the right people to help. 

Then, you’ll take this segment of people and determine which prefer direct mail appeals over digital outreach. This practice can help increase your outreach ROI and help you contact the right people at the right time.

Optimize your pre-existing software. 

Consider how your nonprofit database software works with the rest of your tech stack for optimal results. When you initially choose your software, it should seamlessly integrate with the other tools your nonprofit already uses. Consider whether your team already uses the following software, and check to make sure they work well with your CRM to optimize your efforts all around:

  • Fundraising software- Because one of your main goals is to optimize your fundraising, you want a CRM that captures data from your fundraising software. Be sure the one you choose tactfully organizes your data and is easily accessible.
  • Volunteer management- Be sure to capture your volunteers’ information and sync it with your CRM so you can make inferences such as those mentioned above. Use these contacts for your future fundraising efforts.
  • Event registration tools- Those who attend your events, in the physical or digital setting, have exposure to your efforts and already care enough to learn about your mission. Be sure your CRM captures the information of those who register to participate in any type of event you host.
  • Outreach technology- Your communications are a massive part of your success as an organization. Ensure that your CRM works well with the programs you’re using to reach supporters. This can include direct mail, social media, email blasts, newsletters, and more. Again, if these two tools integrate seamlessly, your team can eventually automate your communications based on recipient engagement data.

When you’ve connected your existing software with your CRM, you can easily collect data and make inferences accordingly. To accomplish this, all you have to do is assess your existing software and find the right CRM for your organization.

Develop stronger donor relationships.

Finally, your nonprofit CRM can strengthen your donor relationships, which are the most crucial connections your organization has. While your supporters are already backing your cause, you can use your donor data to take your relationships to the next level. This is especially crucial during times when your organization can’t engage with them face-to-face.

It may seem overwhelming at first to leverage data when reaching out to each of your supporters. Still, there are a few best practices to consider when using your CRM data to strengthen your donor relationships. Here are a few tips to get started:

  • Offer support during trying times. We’ve seen giving fluctuate during COVID-19 as the economy stabilizes throughout the changes. Because we experience trying times so often, be sure to show donors that you care about their well-being. This outreach is crucial to deepening your relationships with them and conveying genuine gratitude. To illustrate further appreciation for your donors and what they may be going through, check out Lumaverse’s effective volunteer appreciation ideas
  • Provide them with opportunities to get involved. Getting your supporters engaged with your efforts of all kinds develops healthy and multifaceted relationships. Encourage them to interact with your organization further by inviting them to events, providing volunteer opportunities, and hosting webinars where you talk about your work.

Giving your supporters more ways to get involved just furthers your relationship with them. The more they contribute their time and money, the more they resonate with your mission and want to see it succeed.

  • Initiate conversation with your donors. Don’t be afraid to reach out to your donors via text, email, or phone call. Merely opening the door to having a conversation with your supporters helps them feel connected and heard. In this outreach, you can ask about their experiences with your organization, talk about events, or ask how they’re doing. Be sure to use information from your CRM for talking points.
  • Ask them for their input. Donors can give your team a fresh perspective on how you’re doing as an organization. After all, they support your cause because they care about your work. Be sure to ask for your supporters’ opinions to improve your events, outreach, and everything in between. This is effective for strengthening your relationships with donors because they’re able to have a say.
  • Thank your donors. Most importantly, thank your supporters. They’re the reason why your organization can achieve its goals and drive your mission forward. For ideas about how to show your appreciation, explore this comprehensive guide, which dives into several suggestions that’ll help you overcome the distance. Just make sure the approach you take aligns with your donors’ preferences by double-checking their data in your CRM.

However, you engage donors, be sure to use information from your CRM to personalize your communications. Then, follow up and update their donor profile with how they interact with your outreach of any kind. You’ll be able to build out donor profiles with information about input, engagements, and interests. Being intentional about your data organization will ultimately guide your organization toward more meaningful relationships that will last. 


There are a multitude of ways your CRM can benefit your organization. When used effectively, the information that your database houses can lead to a more substantial support base, and above all, it can guide your outreach and fundraising efforts so that you are strategizing based on hard data versus assumptions. 

Now that you know how to leverage your CRM for good, put your data to use and optimize your nonprofit’s strategies. Good luck!


About the Author: Mike Barros

Mike Barros is the President and CEO of Lumaverse Technologies. Before joining the Lumaverse, Mike was the President of Education Brands at Community Brands, the CEO of Diamond Mind, and the Chief Revenue Officer at JackBe. He resides in the DC-Metro area. 

Read More

4 Things Nonprofits Need to Know About the Google Grant

Many nonprofits are intimidated by the process of getting and maintaining the Google Ad Grant, which provides $10,000 of Google Ad money to the benefit of your nonprofit organization. However, acquiring the Grant is simple enough, and to maintain the grant, your organization must only meet Google’s basic requirements. However, to make the most of the grant, you’ll need some more information. 

As an agency that specializes in the Google Ad Grant and its management, Nonprofit Megaphone has expertise useful for any nonprofit. Our clients are diverse, representing all kinds of missions from across the country. 

Based on our wide range of experience, we’ve identified the top ways in which any nonprofit can use the Google Ad Grant successfully. Whether you’re an animal advocacy organization or a food bank, consider using the Ad Grant to expand your reach and build your organization for future success. Keep the following tips about the Grant: 

  1. Keyword Research Is Essential
  2. Clicks Are The Main Goal
  3. It Requires Maintenance
  4. Suspension Is Possible, But Reversible

Keep reading to find out everything you need to know about the Grant! Let’s dive in. 

Keyword Research Is Essential 

Much of the Google Ads infrastructure is governed by keywords. Ads will only appear if they’re attached to relevant keywords that people are searching for. Therefore, one of the most important aspects of Google Grant management is keyword research.

The first thing you’ll need in order to do keyword research are the right tools. Since so many organizations are working in digital space, there are now a plethora of free and paid tools you can use. At Nonprofit Megaphone, we often use sites like Spyfu and Moz to determine what people are searching for and how. In addition, sites like Answer The Public help spur your creativity and inform how keywords fit within various search queries.

As you’ll learn once you begin your Grant management, not all keywords are equal. Some will perform much better than others. Part of Grant management is modifying your ads so that only the successful keywords are used. Too many impotent keywords will drag down your statistics and threaten your compliance. Keep track of your data and analytics in order to stay compliant.

Finally, when you’ve found keywords that work well, it’s important to integrate those keywords into the ads and the ad copy. This ensures that both the searcher and Google know that the ad is relevant to the search.

Clicks Are The Main Goal

By running ads on Google, your organization will be able to reach a whole new audience. However, this won’t translate into anything meaningful if that audience doesn’t engage with your organization in any way. Therefore, one of your early goals with the Google Ad Grant is to generate clicks. Clicks are a basic metric that demonstrate whether your advertisements are successfully drawing people to your website. Further, clicks are integral to ensuring that you are compliant with the Google Ad Grant standards.

Google requires that all accounts maintain at least a 5% Click Through Rate (CTR). CTR is a metric calculated by the number of clicks divided by the number of times the ad appears. So, if your ad appears 100 times on searches, you’ll need at least 5 people to click on the ad in order to remain compliant. Doing this is one of the keys to proper grant management. In general, a good CTR is maintained by managing your keywords and ensuring that they are relevant to the queries that users are making in Google.

It Requires Maintenance 

One of the reasons why many nonprofits choose to outsource their Google Ad Grant management to an outside agency is because of the maintenance. Maintaining Google’s minimum standards isn’t complicated, but it does require that one person or team diligently manage and keep track of the organization’s Google Ads account. Regular maintenance is required to stay compliant, but also to achieve the goals you want with the Ad Grant. 

There are few strategies that don’t require at least some maintenance, and any organization will benefit from responding to the data in their Google Ads account. Whether you’re simply trying to stay compliant or achieve ambitious goals, here are some essential facts about account maintenance:

  • Login Requirements. One of Google’s simplest compliance standards is the login requirement. Google requires that you log into your account at least once a month. This is done to ensure that your organization is using the Google Ad Grant in a minimally-effective way. After all, if your account is dusty and floundering, Google may decide that their grant funds are better utilized with another organization. As such, ensure that whoever is in charge of your Google Grant management is taking some time once a month to log in and do some maintenance. 
  • Tracking. Tracking involves using the various data points within the Google Ads interface to make informed decisions. Using tools like Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager, you can directly link aspects of your website to your Google Ads. The most important metric to track are conversions, which largely determine the success or failure of an ad. A conversion is an important action that a user takes on your website. As long as it’s not trivial, you’re free to make a conversion out of nearly anything on your website. Most often, highly sought after conversions include donations, newsletter sign-ups, and video plays. With conversion tracking, you can regularly see which ads are performing well and which need to be modified.
  • Tweaking. Tweaking is a general term that describes the process of responding to the data you’ve collected and making changes in order to improve the performance of your Google Ads account. Regular tweaking involves things like removing or pausing low-quality keywords. This ensures that your keywords are always relevant to your ads. Further, too many low-quality keywords will affect your CTR and your overall compliance. Tweaking also involves making changes to improve your ads, swapping out words, trying new things, and evaluating trends.
  • A/B Testing. Related to tweaking is the concept of A/B testing. This approach gives you a proven way to evaluate whether your ads are working or not. A/B testing is the process of creating two similar ads for the same page and keywords and evaluating their performance. If one clearly outperforms the other, then you’ve learned valuable information about that ad. You can then tweak the underperforming counterpart and see if it performs better over time. This aspect of maintenance requires diligence and attention to detail, but is part of what sets expert managers apart from amateurs.

Suspension Is Possible, But Reversible 

While employing these tips will help your organization avoid having its Grant suspended, it still may happen to you. Many organizations don’t have the time or resources to commit to the Google Ad Grant which can lead to a temporary or long-term suspension. Whether it’s a slight lapse or a revival, suspension is reversible and easier than applying in the first place.

Reversing suspension first involves identifying which policies were violated. Perhaps your CTR was too low. In that case, you’ll need to go back into your account and do some maintenance. Once you think the problem has been addressed, you’re free to petition Google for reinstatement. Just make sure you learn from your mistakes and integrate your knowledge into your new maintenance routine!


Getting the Google Ad Grant is a fantastic opportunity for any nonprofit organization that wants to jumpstart their digital marketing efforts. While acquiring it can be a time-consuming process, it’s important to remember to utilize it effectively. Maintaining compliance is easy enough with routine maintenance, and even a monthly management plan can help you achieve some of your organization’s goals.

Consider all of the effort your nonprofit puts into its web presence. Having a top-notch website is important and will help nearly anything you do online. But having great web content doesn’t reap any benefits if no one sees it. Using the Google Ad Grant is a great way to affordably share your organization with a wider audience.

Beyond pure exposure, resourceful organizations can use the Ad Grant to jumpstart their programs. Whether you want to drive donations, get volunteers, or increase attendance at your event, the Google Ad Grant has a part to play in reaching your goals successfully.


About the author: Grant Hensel

Grant Hensel is the CEO of Nonprofit Megaphone, an agency focused 100% on Google Grant Management for nonprofits. NPM is honored to manage the Google Grant for 370+ leading nonprofits worldwide and to be an inaugural member of the Google Ad Grant Certified Professionals community.

Read More