5 great tips to help you grow your funds

Earning more for your cause is a must. Without this you can’t grow your organization, or do even more of the great work that you do. So, here are 5 great ways to help you do just that.

STEP 1

Influence extra donations with influencers

Partner with an individual on social media who has a large following, and let them use their platform to put the word out about you and your cause. It’s a powerful ‘word of mouth’ marketing tool and a fantastic way to gain extra supporters and all-important donations.

How influencers can promote your donation page

All relationships should start with a small and easy ask. Especially if you are working on a pro bono basis.

• Share a Facebook and Instagram post about your mission with a link to your donation form. This is a fantastic opportunity to talk about your monthly giving program
• Include a link to your page in their Instagram bios encouraging their followers to donate
• Include the link using Instagram’s “swipe up” feature in stories, which is available to accounts with over 10,000 followers
• Host a giveaway to win swag that includes a QR code to your donation page on it
• Put the link in blog posts, newsletters, or other subscription materials

How to find your influencer

Start by thinking about the impact you’d like to have on social media. Once you have identified your goal you can start to search for the right person. What demographics does your mission focus on? Are you trying to reach a specific gender? What’s important to your cause? By answering these questions, you can start to search for the perfect influencer.

Here are a few ways you can find your influencer

• Social media. Look at who follows you or likes your posts on Instagram and Facebook. See if there’s anyone (verified or unverified) that fits what you’re looking for. You can also search through Instagram or Twitter hashtags related to your cause or the types of people you want to reach. If you find an influencer you like, use the ‘Suggestions’ feature (the arrow next to the follow button) to find people with similar content.
• Google search. It might seem time-consuming but searching for your influencer on Google is a great way to start, especially if you have a specific audience you’re targeting.
• Email lists. You may have influencers who have donated to your cause in the past. Look at your email or mail out list and try to identify if any of these people fit the goal you are trying to achieve. These people are already aligned with your cause and would be more inclined to share content for you.
• Agency. If you’re new to influencer marketing and are tight on resources, there are agencies dedicated specifically to this field. By outsourcing to an agency, you can not only speed up your search for the right influencer, but also have expert advice on hand regarding finding the right influencer for you and how to most effectively partner with them.

STEP 2

Cash in with QR Codes

What’s a QR Code you probably ask? It’s an image that can whiz people through to your website donation page when they’re scanned by a device. What’s more, these versatile little squares are really catching on. 1 billion smartphones will access QR codes in 2022 and 59% of people believe that they will continue to use QR codes over the next year (Statista), so they’re the perfect way to increase donations for your cause.

Where you could use QR codes

• Direct mailers
• Brochures
• Promotional materials at events, concert venues, local baseball games, and other gathering spaces willing to promote your organization
• Flyers
• Business cards

How to create a QR Code

Our new Giving Checkout™ online tool lets you create a QR code in seconds. So, not only is it fee-free (you get 100% of every donation) it also makes setting up QR Codes frustration free too. If you want to set up Giving Checkout, check out Tip 5.

STEP 3

See more donations through social media

You don’t need to be a social media guru to know the power of social, particularly for organizations like yours. It’s not only a great way to promote your fundraising campaigns, you can also use it to promote your donation page for free throughout the year. You just have to incorporate a link to take people to your donation page (see below). Now, that’s one opportunity you can’t afford to swipe away.

There are a few different ways you can incorporate a link:

• List your link in your social media profile bio
• Create a post on your page centered around your link
• Use a link in your Instagram or Facebook stories

But there’s one great way to create a link for free:

Our new online tool Giving Checkout does it again. It allows you to simply create a custom donation form for your campaign, and for free. You get 100% of the donations, can select one-off or recurring donations, change the suggested amount at checkout, and add a donation prompt to ensure your supporters know the true impact of their donation.

Social media resources

There are lots of free resources available on social media. Our friends over at Hootsuite have helpfully identified the top social media resources for nonprofits into a concise list, sorted by platform.

Facebook and Instagram nonprofit resources

• Take Facebook Blueprint Free Online Training courses, especially Nonprofit Marketing
• Follow Nonprofits on Facebook to stay on top of upcoming tools and training

Twitter nonprofit resources

• Twitter’s Flight School
• Take a look at the Campaigning on Twitter Handbook
• Follow Twitter Nonprofits for training, news, case studies and opportunities

TikTok nonprofit resources

Inquire about TikTok For Good account management and analytics assistance.

STEP 4

Get the most out of your staff communications

Why not ask your staff to include a link to your donation page on their external communications? They could include the link in their email signatures, LinkedIn pages or social media bios. It’s really easy to do and completely free.

STEP 5

Set up our new Giving Checkout tool today

So, you’ve already heard a bit about Giving Checkout through some of the tips above, but let’s fill you in with what else you need to know. It’s our newest innovation for individual giving, it’s easy to set up, it makes receiving online donations through your website, emails and mailers really simple, and perhaps most importantly, it’s fee free.

How is it fee free?

Giving Checkout lets the donor choose if they want to contribute to the processing costs. But the really crucial bit is, if the donor doesn’t cover the fees, we will. This means you get free processing, whether the donor uses PayPal, Venmo, credit card, or via any other payment through Giving Checkout. This saving will benefit your organization and the great causes you help.