fundraising

Capital Campaign Marketing 101: Crash Course for Nonprofits

Andrea Kihlstedt

Every ten years or so, organizations often find themselves needing to make significant investments that allow them to grow their fundraising capacity and operate more effectively. Especially amid today’s challenges, the ability to serve more constituents and reliably raise support efficiently could be game-changing for your nonprofit’s mission.

For many nonprofits, capital campaigns are the answer. These major undertakings are complex, intensive, and high-stakes, but the payoff from a well-planned and -executed capital campaign can be immense.

One of the most critical aspects of capital campaigns is relationship-building. Connecting with donors, volunteers, and partners in meaningful ways is essential for success at every stage of your campaign. This means that communication, messaging, and marketing have extremely important roles to play at different points in your strategy.

For instance, once you’ve completed a capital campaign feasibility study and have outlined concrete plans, you’ll need to spend the majority of your campaign focusing heavily on personalized outreach to your prospective major donors. However, broader marketing strategies will be essential in the later kickoff and public stages of your campaign. 

If your organization has never conducted a capital campaign before, it can be difficult to know exactly how these marketing strategies should differ from your typical approach when promoting fundraising campaigns and events. We’ve got you covered with this crash course. We’ll discuss these essentials:

  • The Team
  • The Timeline
  • The Materials
  • The Tools

For the best results (and fewest headaches), these elements all need careful attention long before your campaign reaches its public stage. Having a clear understanding of what you’ll need ahead of time will help ensure you’re ready to connect with your broader community and show them how their help will take your campaign over the finish line.

The Team

As you get started planning a campaign, go ahead and form a dedicated marketing committee. This team should consist of board members, staff, and volunteers. Although many of your broader marketing efforts won’t come into play until the last stages of your campaign, your team will need ample time to prepare. 

Clearly designate what this committee’s responsibilities will be, and delegate tasks to specific individuals whenever possible. Outline in advance the different points at which they’ll need to work closely with other campaign teams, like getting sign-off from the steering committee on major strategic decisions or collaborating with the kickoff committee to promote your virtual kickoff event. 

With these guidelines in place, you’ll then need to actively prepare and equip your marketing team with the right tools and strategies for the job. For example, consider these core areas where they’ll need initial guidance and support:

  • Templates and style guides. We’ll walk through specific types of marketing materials you’ll need below, but it pays to put some thought into them early in the process. This gives you plenty of time to refine the templates, visual branding, and core messaging of your public phase marketing long before it’s time to roll them out.
  • Tech guidance. Make sure your marketing team is familiar with the different tools they’ll need to promote your campaign effectively. For instance, does everyone (or at least one point person) know how to create segmented mailing lists in your CRM? Think about the tech-related tasks on their plate and provide training and documentation as needed.
  • Meeting etiquette and cadences. How exactly will your different teams and committees interact? Set some standards early about meeting etiquette, drafting agendas, and follow-up processes. Then, clearly document and communicate these protocols to your various teams to start them off on the right foot.

Capital campaigns are complicated and long (often lasting upwards of two years), so it definitely pays to take an organized approach. Although many of your marketing efforts won’t ramp up until your campaign’s later phases, your marketing team will still need time to refine their strategies and prepare relevant materials. Give them a head start by clearly outlining their responsibilities and providing additional guidance! 

The Timeline

With your marketing committee formed and initial guidelines and responsibilities in place, you’ll then need to ensure they actually understand the bigger picture of your campaign. 

If this is your organization’s first capital campaign, it’ll be useful to start with the basics. This Capital Campaign Toolkit guide walks through the seven core phases of successful campaigns:

  1. Pre-campaign planning
  2. The feasibility study
  3. Campaign planning
  4. The quiet phase
  5. Kick-off 
  6. The public phase
  7. Post-campaign activities

Once everyone has a solid grasp on the overall trajectory of your campaign and its timeline, it’ll be helpful to put some thought into the exact roles that each committee or team will play during the different stages. For your marketing team, these roles might be broken down like this:

  • Planning Phase – Preparing marketing materials and outlining marketing strategies
  • Public Phase – Creating and sharing relevant materials needed for discussions with prospects, including the campaign’s website or project renderings
  • Kick-Off – Promoting your campaign’s kick-off festivities to a broader audience of smaller donors and the community as a whole
  • Public Phase – Using the prepared materials to market your campaign to the entire community using social media, email, your website, and any other relevant outlets that are part of your overarching digital strategy

This is a fairly basic example, but the main idea is that more preparation and clearly outlined guidance are always better than less. Try taking an extremely detailed approach, listing out the specific activities, milestones, and KPI goals that need to be accomplished at each stage. This level of detail will give your marketing team solid footing and a concrete plan of action to continually refer to and refine as needed.

The Materials

As mentioned above, you’ll need a wide variety of marketing materials ready to roll out at different stages of your capital campaign. Preparing many of them in advance is definitely a smart move and can prevent backlogs and logistical confusion between teams once the campaign is fully underway.  

Common types of marketing collateral that you’ll need during a capital campaign include:

  • A case for support document. While your actual case for support is a much broader concept than a single brochure, having a visually-appealing document that distills your argument into its essentials can be very helpful. This Capital Campaign Toolkit overview walks through the critical questions that your own case for support must answer before it can be translated into a brochure or packet. 
  • Campaign logo and style guide. Your capital campaign will likely have its own unique brand and theme separate from your nonprofit’s main brand. Start gathering these resources and guidelines in one central location for easy reference during the campaign.
  • Donor discussion guide. This resource likely won’t be donor-facing, but giving your development team an organized document that details your campaign’s case for support, goals, and relevant contextual details can be invaluable during their conversations with prospects.
  • Renderings and other design collateral. If your capital campaign is funding a physical project, like a new building or renovations, professional renderings will show your prospects and the broader community exactly what their support is going towards.
  • A dedicated campaign website. Create a microsite (or even just a dedicated page on your main website) to host all relevant materials for your capital campaign. This can be an extremely effective way to anchor all of your digital marketing strategies and gives you a central location to point supporters towards during the public phase.
  • Email and social media templates. Having ready-made templates for announcements, event invitations, and fundraising appeals can save your team a ton of time during the broader last stages of your campaign. Create a library of these resources in advance, and be sure to link them to the most appropriate landing pages on your campaign’s site.
  • Training materials for volunteers. Chances are some (if not most) of your team will be working on a capital campaign for the very first time. If you’re recruiting dedicated volunteers to help with any aspects of your campaign, you’ll need to set them up for success. Although not directly related to marketing, you should still take the time to gather or create relevant training materials as needed.

Compiling and creating materials like these before you need them will be a smart move. Take time during the campaign planning process to outline the types of marketing and communication resources that you’ll want, and have your marketing committee start crafting them right away.

Pro tip: It’s a common misconception that capital campaigns need to rely on glossy brochures from the very start. You’ll definitely want to prepare these types of materials in advance to ensure you’ll have them on hand when the time comes. However, don’t start heavily using them until the later stages of your campaign. Your conversations with prospective major donors should be highly personal and one-on-one, not handled by a brochure alone!

The Tools

We’ve already touched on the importance of technology and web design for modern capital campaigns, but it’s worth diving into more deeply. In today’s digital age, a variety of tech tools are needed for effectively marketing a capital campaign during its public phase. These include:

  • A dedicated website builder tool, also called a content management system (CMS). Your organization likely already uses a professional-grade CMS to manage its main website, so see how easily you can create new campaign pages or microsites.
  • A database or constituent relationship management (CRM) platform to receive incoming engagement data and generate segmented mailing lists. Your database will also be an essential tool for your development or fundraising team, so make sure it’s in good shape before the campaign begins.
  • Email design and scheduling tools for streamlining your email marketing efforts. Free platforms like Mailchimp are a popular choice for smaller organizations, but your CRM may also include built-in email tools.
  • Social media profiles to promote your campaign to the public and direct readers towards your campaign’s main page or site. If you don’t yet have dedicated profiles for your nonprofit on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, now is the time to set them up!
  • Design software for creating digital and physical marketing materials. The Adobe suite of design tools is a reliable choice, but there are other free options online that may work for your organization, as well.
  • Google Grants for free advertising to promote your mission and campaign. Just be sure to study up on these opportunities and then apply for them well in advance of your campaign’s public phase.

Even beyond marketing tools, you’ll need to ensure your nonprofit is well-equipped to handle various aspects of your capital campaign in an organized way. For example, explore prospect research tools and volunteer management software if you don’t yet have reliable systems in place. 

Revenue-boosting tools like corporate philanthropy databases can be a great idea as well! The right options can help you secure matching gifts for individual donations and volunteered time, laying the foundation for larger corporate sponsorships in the future. Plus, you may even choose to promote matching gift opportunities as part of your public phase marketing. In that case, giving donors an easy way to check their eligibility will be essential.

Although broad marketing efforts won’t come into play until the later stages of your capital campaign, it definitely pays to be prepared. An organized team, coherent timeline, library of marketing collateral, and the right tools for the job will all be critical pieces of the puzzle when it’s time to start spreading the word about your campaign to the larger community.

Step-by-Step Campaign Checklist & Guide

This intuitive guide breaks down each step of your campaign, and the timeline allows you to visualize your whole campaign from start to finish! Download this free campaign checklist now!

Amy Eisenstein, ACFRE, and Andrea Kihlstedt are co-founders of the Capital Campaign Toolkit, a virtual support system for nonprofit leaders to run successful campaigns. The Toolkit provides all the tools, templates, and guidance you need — without breaking the bank.

About the Author: Andrea Kihlstedt

Andrea Kihlstedt is a Co-Founder of the Capital Campaign Toolkit.  She is the author of Capital Campaigns: Strategies that Work, now in its 4th edition, as well as How to Raise $1 Million (or More) in 10 Bite Sized Steps, in addition to other books. Andrea has been leading successful capital campaigns for more than 30 years. To learn how the Capital Campaign Toolkit can support you through a capital campaign, visit capitalcampaigntoolkit.com. 

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4 Ways to Effectively Use Your Nonprofit CRM

Guest Blogger

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. 

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4 Sustainable Models to Strengthen Your Nonprofit

Isabel Reed

Nonprofit teams have a lot on their plates. First and foremost, there is the mighty task of carrying out the organization’s mission. Plan events, gather feedback, keep the community engaged! Volunteer coordinators hustle to organize their volunteers, and fundraising directors dance circles around monthly and yearly fundraising goals.

As with any busy, passionate team, it can be difficult to work as one cohesive unit. Or, perhaps, it might be challenging to maintain the overarching perspective of the organization’s goals. The work nonprofit teams do is important and impressive, so we organized a list of 4 sustainable models that could serve to simplify the complicated and facilitate organic growth.

Volunteer Leadership Roles

A common assumption in small nonprofit teams is that the volunteer coordinator must assume all the weight and responsibility of volunteer program. Volunteer coordinators truly make magic happen each day on the job, but there are ways to responsibly and sustainably distribute the weight of the work. Doing so will lead to a more impactful volunteer coordinator, a more empowered volunteer team, and better outcomes for the organization as a whole.

Let’s examine the details of volunteer leadership roles. You might wonder what it means, how it works, and how to establish such a structure. While everything can (and should) be adjusted to meet the unique needs and available resources of your nonprofit, here are some ideas to get started.

Volunteer leadership roles might include:

  • Recruiting new volunteers
  • Leading volunteer orientations
  • Conducting volunteer evaluations
  • Supervising daily volunteer programs/groups

Volunteer leadership roles are best reserved for volunteers who:

  • have shown excellent performance and dedication over time
  • have professional experience/expertise in a skill that is relevant to the volunteer program at large
  • have shadowed or worked closely with the volunteer coordinator in the past

Implementing a volunteer leadership model:

  1. Identify a few volunteers who might fit the bill. Introduce them to the idea and gauge their reaction. If the reaction is positive, time for step two!
  2. Outline the scope of their role in writing, and share that document with them. The document should include what is expected of them, what is not expected (aka, what they are not allowed to do), the duration of their role, and who they should report to.
  3. Express the benefits of taking on this responsibility, and be accountable to them. For example, college student often need examples of leadership in their resumes and CVs. Express that as a benefit and ensure them that you’ll advocate for them when they look for jobs if all goes well.
  4. Introduce this leadership structure to the volunteer program at large. This will keep everyone on the same page, ensure that everyone knows what to expect and from whom, and maintain an appreciated level of transparency. This program might even inspire other volunteers to work diligently towards the opportunity for themselves, over time.

Free Public Events

With fundraising at the mental forefront of most nonprofit teams, there certainly must be a cautious balance between free services/events offered and paid services/events offered. However, there are vast benefits of free public events, and they shouldn’t be overlooked. Rather, examine them more closely to understand how to get the greatest return on investment. You might just find that it becomes a sustainable model for fundraising, community engagement, and growing your volunteer program.

Benefits of free events/services:

  • Increased and sustained positive perception of your nonprofit by the community as a whole. You put goodwill out, you’ll get goodwill back. This is a longterm investment in a positive relationship with the community.
  • Increased and sustained brand/nonprofit awareness. It might be hard to track, but free public events draw larger numbers and more diverse crowds. Over time, this translates to a larger volunteer program, more donations, a larger audience to serve, and more interest in involvement of all kinds (you might receive more job applications or even valuable networking opportunities/introductions).

Safeguards for sustainability:

  • Free events should not put a dent in the organization’s budget. Think “lean but lovely”.
  • Free events should not take much time to prepare for. Think “rinse and repeat”.

Strategies for even bigger impact:

  • Let the local press and media know about these events! Keep them in the know, and be ready to loop them in every time.
  • Get yourself a hashtag. If your event happens in any repeated fashion — weekly, seasonally, or annually — create a catchy hashtag! This will make it easier for the community to share their experiences at your event and, in a way, advertise for you at no cost (a savvy term known as “user generated content”).
  • Offer ways to donate and/or submit an interest in volunteering.

Donation-Matching Partners

Fortunately for fundraising coordinators, philanthropists orbit the nonprofit space closely. To strengthen the financial model of your nonprofit, pull those philanthropic entities close and develop genuine relationships with them.

This relationship can flourish beyond simple, one-time donations. With each of your donors – especially the larger ones – consider how you might ignite more excitement (and therefore, more funds) from the partnership. A great example of this is by establishing a donation-matching partnership with one or more of your larger donors.

Donation-matching is as straight-forward as it sounds. For each donation received from the public, this chosen partner/donor would match the amount. For example, if your neighbor donates $50 to your organization, this donation-matching partner would match that donation and also commit to a $50 donation.

Depending on the comfort level of this partner, you can decide together on an appropriate donation-matching ceiling (the maximum dollar amount they’ll match) and/or floor (the minimum dollar amount they’ll match). You can also decide the duration of this initiative — whether that is over the course of one fundraising weekend, or even a whole year.

Before inviting a donor to be a partner in this initiative, consider the following:

When will the donation-matching initiative start and end, ideally?

Reflect on the psychology of your audience – the people who you’d like to encourage to donate in various quantities (not the donation-matching partner). What conditions will make this most exciting for them?

  • Start this initiative during a fundraising event. It could end at the close of the event, or continue on in perpetuity.
  • Close this initiative at the year end. People love reaching year-end goals together. Consider leveraging the holiday season from November-December to reach your year-end fundraising goals.

Will your donation-matching partner need (or perhaps appreciate) anything in return?

Even if it is a symbolic gesture, acknowledgement of the partner’s gift could go a long way. In addition to recognizing them in the public announcement of this initiative, you could also send them a special thank-you note or symbolic gift.

Recurring Donation Options

When collecting donations, encourage recurring donations! Although one-time donations are appreciated, recurring donations make a much larger impact.

Why donors like it:

  • With various websites available to facilitate recurring donations, donors won’t run into any hassles getting set up. (Check out ActBlue, GivingFuel, DonorBox, PayPal)
  • It works behind the scenes, collecting funds monthly/yearly without effort from the donor.
  • Even if the donation is only $5/month, recurring donors have skin in the game and will feel like a more integral supporting member of the organization.

Why organizations like it:

  • Organizations can generate more accurate financial forecasts when recurring donations can be accounted for in advance. Better forecasting = better management of funds.
  • Reach funding goals more easily and predictably. By knowing how many donations can be expected each month, organizations can prepare fundraising initiatives accordingly to fill in any gaps.

Let us know if there are other sustainable strategies and program models that you’ve discovered along the way. We would love to add them to the list!

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Inspiration From Fellow Fundraisers: Crowdfunding Through the COVID-19 Crisis

Laura Bucher

This guest blog post was brought to you by DonorPerfect. Read the full article here.

Feeding Long Island’s residents and raising awareness about hunger for nearly thirty years, Island Harvest Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization on Long Island. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, the team at Island Harvest Food Bank knew that it was up to them to rally residents to combat the ever-growing need for food.

Island Harvest staff members needed to act fast and temporarily modify their business model to meet Long Island residents’ immediate need for food support. Their traditional model of generating and distributing donated food was not sustainable in the new climate, so they pivoted to a purchase-based model to feed as many families as they could right away. The hunger just couldn’t wait.

Island Harvest initially ordered $250,000 of specially designed meal boxes to distribute to families, seniors, veterans, and the immunocompromised who couldn’t leave their homes. When the time was right, Development Manager Ryan Haugstatter created a crowdfunding campaign with an initial goal of $250,000. To the delight of their entire organization, a community of 103 crowdfunding fundraisers joined with nearly 6,000 online contributors to raise an overall total of $955,712 in web-based donations (and counting!) in a matter of just three months!

7 Actions for Nonprofit Crowdfunding Success

You too can leverage crowdfunding to find similar success. Here are seven actions Island Harvest took to empower their community to support them through one of their greatest challenges.

Start with a small goal. Then build on it.

The team at Island Harvest set out with a clear and manageable goal of raising $250,000 to support the organization’s immediate response to their community’s hunger emergency. Ryan warns that setting the bar too high may discourage those who are unable to give large amounts from donating. He suggests, “Start smaller, and when you reach that particular goal increase it if you find the need is still there. Just explain where you can, the reason you’re upping your goal.”

Each time you increase your goal, you have another chance to promote your mission. In addition to spotlighting your crowdfunding campaign via social media and email, Ryan suggests updating your organization’s crowdfunding page, “What we do is we change the verbiage on the crowdfunding site, and we always make sure that we’re reflecting that the money that was raised is just as important as what we’re trying to raise right now. In our outreach, we always spoke about the need to raise funds with the need to support the organization’s mission and programs.”

Over the course of their campaign, Island Harvest adjusted their goal four times, from $250k to $500k to $750k to $1 million to $1.5 million. With the promotion of new, increased goals, Island Harvest even gained some repeat donors, coming back to give for their fifth time! The growing needs of Long Island’s residents required a continued appeal for the community’s help.

Be transparent about how you allocate crowdfunding dollars.

At Island Harvest, more than 94% of expended resources go directly to programs and services that support more than 300,000 Long Islanders facing hunger.

Knowing this builds contributors’ confidence in the organization. Ryan recommends that other nonprofits share this information with their constituents and be clear about what donors’ dollars are funding. “Twenty-five dollars was the amount that was able to purchase one family meal pack, which feeds a family for three to four days. I think also by breaking it down and letting [constituents] know what amount will go towards the purchase of these family meal packs, that also played a part in how much people were willing to give.”

Empower people to support you however they can.

Crowdfunding was an effective way for Island Harvest to fundraise because it enabled their entire community to participate in some way. Even if individuals were unable to donate money or could only contribute a small amount, they could feel connected to the mission by creating a peer-to-peer fundraising page to share with their network to raise money on the organization’s behalf.

Ryan explains, “Even if you can only give $5 but were able to create your own crowdfunding page and put it on your social media channels, that is just as much support as giving us $5. This can actually turn a $5 contribution into a much larger gift through multiple gifts from the crowdfunding effort. Because really, the advocacy and letting people know about the work that we do and our mission, that is what has also served as a motivator for others to give.”

Recruit corporate fundraisers.

Corporations are a great place to start when aiming to quickly build a network of fundraisers. Many businesses have corporate social responsibility programs that encourage their employees to give back to their community. This strategy is especially beneficial because employees can double their donation through their employer’s matching gift program. And in the workplace, we all know there are lots of opportunities for friendly competition for a good cause.

Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Island Harvest didn’t want to immediately reach out to individuals, knowing that many of them may have lost their jobs. Instead, they reached out to corporations and local businesses they knew were still operating and successfully gained their partnership.

Invite news coverage and creativity.

Island Harvest established a relationship with the NY Metro and Long Island’s media outlets with the help of their public relations consultant who tuned local media into all the wonderful work that Island Harvest is doing. If you aren’t currently in communication with your local news networks, reach out because they are often looking for stories about social good, especially during these trying times. Even without an established connection, Island Harvest’s individual fundraisers found ways to contact local news stations to reach a larger audience with their individual fundraising pages.

A former employee of Island Harvest made headlines when she raised 1,000 lbs of food and $500 on behalf of Island Harvest in honor of her birthday. She placed boxes at the end of her driveway to collect food and monetary donations, inviting friends and neighbors to stop by. A parade of cars lined the street to support her cause.

Another individual inspired others to give and to stay healthy from home. He reached his goal of $5,000 by committing to 5,000 push-ups in 24 hours. Staying tuned in to their crowdfunders’ creative fundraising strategies gave Island Harvest the opportunity to pitch to local reporters and share their fundraisers’ awesome promotional ideas on their social media feeds.

Involve your board and executive team.

Your board members and executives are likely well-connected in your community and can serve as effective solicitors of major donors. Ryan suggests leveraging their stewardship skills by encouraging them to support your crowdfunding campaign. He explains, “We asked [the board] to contribute towards [the campaign], and additionally, we encouraged them to create their own crowdfunding pages and just reach out to their own network that they found appropriate to reach out to.” Ryan suggests encouraging board members, friends, and staff to use their own social media platforms, as well, to share special stories about the work of the organization, program goals, and funding needs.

Ryan also recommends hosting discussions with your supporters through virtual meetings to update them on your organization’s progress. He shares, “Our CEO and president scheduled several virtual meetings with top contributors to give updates and reports on our work. Also, our crowdfunding fundraisers were established to encourage others to create their own crowdfunding pages. We reached out to a targeted list of higher level contributors to participate and expanded it when we could accommodate additional participants.”

Island Harvest gained more fundraisers and strengthened the passion for fundraising in existing crowdfunders by hosting these meetings. Ryan attributes this success to the president’s ability to share about the organization’s past progress in a way that inspires their donors. Maintaining contact with supporters to report on your established programs, the need at hand, and how successful you’ve been thus far motivates them to get involved in all the good you’re doing.

Watch the power of crowdfunding go to work.

When you give your network the tools they need to fundraise on your behalf, you enable your supporters to be your ambassadors. Passionate about your mission and bringing their own stories to the table, fundraisers can rally their networks on a very personal level and reach a much broader audience. Ryan shares, “We started to see so many more individuals creating crowdfunding pages and having their friends and colleagues reaching out – even securing support from across America – to donate to their [pages]. It was really, really powerful. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

Ryan believes that fundraisers were drawn by the ability to create their own pages because they could:

  • Easily set up their own crowdfunding project
  • See their name in a list of fundraisers on Island Harvest’s main crowdfunding page
  • Create their own page with a personal story and goal
  • Watch Island Harvest’s progress bar, along with their own, and know that they were a part of something important

Ryan explains, “I think it encourages contributors to help us when they see the goal. Every time they put even $5 or $10 in, they get to see the bar increase and be able to have their name on [the page] with a little note, it makes them feel even more important to the mission. That’s why I love the feature of the crowdfunding page on DonorPerfect.”

Ready to Get Started with Crowdfunding?

Here’s how to get started, step-by-step.

Thank you to Ryan Haugstatter and Island Harvest Food Bank for sharing with us this inspiring story of how they brought their community together and for answering the call when their most impacted residents needed them most through COVID-19. We wish the team and their fundraisers our very best as they push forward to see their community through the crisis.

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