Raising awareness about your organization is the first step to creating a successful, meaningful fundraising campaign. To increase donor retention and loyalty to your cause, your nonprofit needs to design a positive experience. Staying abreast of market trends, methods, and fundraising tactics is an excellent way to keep donors in touch with your organization.
If spreading the word about your campaigns feels challenging, consider new ways to put your organization or charity on the radar. We did our research and identified the top 8 fundraising trends shaping modern giving.
Social Media’s Influence
Compared to other avenues, social media is a low-cost, high-impact outreach tool for nonprofit organizations and charities. In our research, questions about communication media that influence respondents to give to charity showed that the percentage of people who said social media was more effective in influencing them to donate was considerably higher than for any other method, including email, mail, text messages, and phone calls.
Social media has always been an excellent marketing tool, and has continued to grow. About 80% of the public says they use at least one type of social media. This research indicates that social media marketing is a trend with staying power, as organizations can share news and promote their mission online even on a shoestring budget.
Here are the top benefits of implementing social media outreach for your nonprofit:
- Building a connection with your target audience and demographics who find value in your cause
- Prioritizing platforms that meet your goals and needs
- Simplifying your fundraiser’s reach through comments, likes, and shares at no cost
- Creating content with a focus on personalization
- Attracting new donors and maintaining engagement for existing donors
- Enabling participation from the entire community
- Growing your network with interactive content
- Choose from several platforms to raise awareness of your fundraiser and attract potential long-term donors, including Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, and Clubhouse.
Consider which tools will offer the most effective reach with the relevant demographic you are trying to appeal to. It’s a good idea to keep an eye on emerging platforms that can offer fresh opportunities to market your fundraiser and your organization’s mission.
You’ll want to set aside enough time for each platform and to communicate with users, so try to keep your social media accounts limited to the apps and websites that truly fit your organization.
Personalized Experiences for Donors
Consider why donors care and give generously. Every donor has a passion and purpose for remaining a part of your mission. However, it’s easy to treat donors as a bank without considering their reasons for giving. Raising awareness about your organization through fundraisers is a perfect opportunity to educate new and existing donors on how they can support your cause.
When crafting communications, focus on the donor’s experience. Why are they interested in supporting your cause? What opportunity do you have to open their hearts? Instead of creating fund-focused messages, communicate in a way that connects donors to your organization.
This shift in your approach to reaching out and connecting with donors can take the focus off money and place it on your appreciation for their involvement. With a personalized experience, donors can choose how they prefer to engage and communicate with your organization.
For example, you can include opt-in permissions for subscriptions and other services that allow donors to choose their communication preferences. While some donors want instant updates and text-to-donate capabilities, others may prefer less frequent program updates or only want to hear about specific events or fundraisers. Donors who are adept at social media navigation may engage entirely on your organization’s platform.
Customize interactions with your donors, sponsors, and supporters based on their intent, lifestyle, and communication preferences. There’s much to learn by looking at your specific donor base.
Supportive Work Atmosphere
Every organization should focus on keeping its staff happy. A well-rounded organization includes flexible hours and reasonable compensation for those who bring your mission to life. A hostile work environment can adversely affect your ability to maintain success and see your desired growth, so treat your employees, volunteers, and staff as precious resources.
Your organization may see greater productivity when staff members feel comfortable coming forward with concerns and suggestions as they advance and develop their skills. Try to provide support in any way you can, such as holding regular meetings, creating a suggestion box or separate email for comments, and maintaining regular check-ins with your devoted workers.
Ensure your staff has access to wellness and mindfulness resources to set them up for success as they work toward new goals. Your team may even present you with the latest trends or ideas that other organizations follow to boost your productivity and donor engagement.
Diverse Teams
As with any company or organization, diversity is essential. While diversity itself is not a trend–it is an integral part of any nonprofit’s success–your team makeup reflects your organization’s values. Renew and invest in your efforts to best mirror your constituent base and community.
Diversifying your team will help diversify your donors and supporters. Show how inclusion and equity are a priority for your mission. Ensuring your team embraces diversity will empower your staff and make them feel valued members of your organization.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies can change your overall organizational structure. Many donors will appreciate your commitment to diversity and feel connected to your cause, helping you access new donor communities. As a nonprofit, it’s your job to serve your community and ensure your workplace represents everyone, which is essential for attracting and retaining team members and donors alike.
Here are some ways to implement diversity to succeed in your nonprofit.
- Connect visitors and donors to your cause through research, data, and success stories.
- Enhance your commitment to DEI by setting new diversity goals aligned with your community.
- Regularly remind your supporters of the importance of diversity and authenticity.
- Allow donors of diverse backgrounds to shine and support them within your organization.
- Empower your team with tools that track diversity initiatives and outcomes.
- Use data and other resources to uncover the diversity of your donor base.
- Be aware of holidays across all backgrounds and customize your communication to fit those celebrations.
The Importance of SEO
Strong SEO is invaluable for any organization, especially for online awareness and fundraising. Many donors conduct independent research to find events, campaigns, or organizations that match their passions and personal giving goals, and many say they are most inclined to give to a charity after their own research. It was the most influential medium.
Even if your website content aligns with what relevant donors are looking for, they may never even come across your campaign. With SEO, your nonprofit will rank higher in search results for both generic and specific keywords. For example, if your animal organization is in Chicago, a donor could find you through a “Chicago nonprofit animal rescue” search.
Improved SEO is an excellent way to boost your engagement and participant interaction, particularly for online donations. When your social media platforms and website description cover the SEO bases relating to your mission, donors can easily find you and connect with your campaign.
Combine SEO with optimized technical features to ensure a smooth navigation and donation experience. A well-designed, easily visible website will be more effective at raising awareness of your nonprofit.
Here are some added benefits of SEO on your websites and platforms.
- Helps you raise awareness: People who later become donors will often search for a social cause to learn more about it. If your website is among the first results, you will gain more visibility and attract relevant traffic. Nonprofit SEO effectively spreads your message and aligns your online content with your organizational goals.
- Increases traffic: Ranking higher in search engine results means more visitors will see and share your website. This increased traffic will put your nonprofit on the map and bring in more donors who are searching for a cause like yours.
- Boosts your credibility and reputation: Regularly improving your website content provides a perfect opportunity to implement evolving strategies within your organization. Your SEO content will reflect any updates in your campaign, keeping the public informed and building your nonprofit’s reputation. Publishing authoritative, well-researched links relevant to your cause can answer any questions donors and visitors might have. Sharing your knowledge will demonstrate your nonprofit’s expertise.
- Extends your campaign’s run: SEO offers a cost-effective way to advertise year-round if you have a regularly recurring fundraising campaign. For example, you might run a Giving Tuesday campaign each November. SEO can put your page at the top of search results when donors start their research, which may begin days, weeks, or even months in advance.
Positive Relationships with Current Donors
Successful fundraising encompasses more than increasing your participants and donors. Remember, donor retention is more relevant than the number of donors you acquire. You must maintain donor loyalty with the same vitality and clear communication they received when they first signed on to your organization.
Another trend we’re seeing continue to grow is shifting the focus toward ensuring your existing donors feel inspired and engaged with your organization, rather than focusing solely on gaining new donors.
While it’s crucial to use different strategies to attract new donors to your cause, steady gains of loyal supporters are more meaningful than fleeting donations.
Think about how vital it is for donors to form long-term connections and relationships with a cause they are passionate about. Donors who want to understand your mission will start conversations and make significant contributions to the purpose that drives them to invest their time and energy in your nonprofit.
One way to help maintain positive relationships with your donors is to periodically review their files and information to identify which donors can give and which may be experiencing challenging situations. Some donors may continue to give regardless of their economic circumstances, so you must reciprocate that commitment and show them you value their partnership.
Here are some ways you can boost your donor relationships:
- Take every opportunity to emphasize your nonprofit’s mission and show that you are making progress toward impacting change.
- Customize and optimize your donation platforms to allow opt-in options for sharing sensitive information and subscriptions.
- Offer peer-to-peer fundraising events, virtual volunteering programs, and other means for donors to participate in your campaigns.
- Invest in nonprofit tools, such as fundraising software, to help you gain insights into your participants and donors.
- Create automated emails to ensure donors only receive essential, relevant updates and information.
- Enhance the security capabilities of your data collection tools and other platforms that hold donor information.
No matter how you decide to enhance your relationship with your donors, focus on creating an experience they’ll want to share with others. Encouraging your donors to talk about your campaign by word of mouth is one of the best ways to spread the word, as our research shows it is the second-highest preferred method.
Organizational Agility
Organizational agility is similar to the idea that businesses need to stay competitive. The inability to adapt to a constantly changing environment is detrimental to your nonprofit’s success. Renewing your traditional methods and transforming your usual outreach to align with new fundraising trends can help sustain your mission’s growth and engagement.
Preparing for the unexpected is perhaps the most important skill to implement this upcoming year. If you have many exciting events, raffles, galas, or meetings scheduled, develop contingency plans in case of potential changes. It’s also wise to keep participants, donors, and supporters in the loop by clearly and promptly communicating any plan changes to your attendees.
Being prepared for anything also includes developing new strategies, tools, and revenue streams to empower your team regardless of circumstances. After all, organizational agility requires everyone’s participation — including leaders, board members, donors, and executives — to ensure long-term stability.
Here are some ways to implement organizational agility and remain nimble in the face of challenges this upcoming year may bring:
- Regularly remind your team members and donors about your organization’s goal and mission.
- Invest in fundraising event management software that offers the right solutions for your goals.
- Confirm your online donation forms have multiple flexible payment options.
- Stay proactive in your plans and strategies to combat unforeseen challenges.
- Consistently evaluate which processes work and look to the past to see which have failed.
- Ensure all events, meetings, and communication channels remain accessible to all attendees.
- Gather insights about your website traffic, donors’ preferred fundraising types, and giving methods.
Staying one step ahead can help ensure your sustainability even in the most challenging times, so don’t be afraid to adopt new trends to become more flexible. Feel free to embrace change if what you’re doing right now isn’t guiding your organization down the right path.
Virtual and Hybrid Events
Over the years, many meetings and events have shifted to rely on technology. Creating virtual or hybrid meetings, events, and activities is a great way to get donors involved in multiple ways. In virtual meetings, everyone connects via an online platform.
With hybrid meetings, some people may prefer to stream from home, the office, or another location, while others attend in person. Either way, both options enable donors to engage with your mission however suits them.
Many donors may have a busy schedule but still want to support your organization, so giving them several ways to get engaged shows them you understand their needs. While some donors can still attend in person, others may prefer to hold meetings from the comfort of their homes. Hybrid events let you support donors who need or want to join from home while taking advantage of the current interest in ticketing, raffles, and live auctions.
Implementing livestreaming platforms also allows you to connect with donors wherever they are, keeping communication open and nurturing their interest in your cause. While it may take an adjustment period, this trend will show its value. Enhancing live events, lunches, galas, committee meetings, and fundraisers with virtual and hybrid options for donors and organizational staff will provide many benefits over time, such as:
- Increasing ease and means of access and reach for donors.
- Reducing costs associated with booking venues, hotels, catering, and travel.
- Widening geographical limits to allow organizations to interact with new sponsors and donors.
- Enabling more efficient design, creation, and scheduling of virtual fundraisers, marathons, and raffles.
Artificial Intelligence and ChatGPT in Fundraising
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the nonprofit sector has been on the rise. Nonprofits are turning to these solutions because they have the potential to amplify fundraising campaigns. Predictive analytics, for example, can help set your organization on a path toward sustained, long-term success by enabling strategic, data-driven decisions that strengthen your fundraising programs.
Predictive AI uses historical data, algorithms, and machine learning to predict outcomes based on past and ongoing patterns. Doing so empowers nonprofits to make data-driven decisions, strengthen donor relationships, and enhance fundraising effectiveness, maximizing impact and advancing their mission.
Modeling donor behaviors is an effective way to predict how your audience will engage with your organization in the future based on their past interactions. When you understand these patterns, you can feel more confident in your outreach efforts, knowing they are tailored to your donors’ interests and predispositions, which can foster trust and reassurance.
The right predictive AI tools for your nonprofit’s needs could become a core component of your fundraising strategy. Developing predictive models can be complex, so working with a company that’s well-versed in all things fundraising can ensure that your strategies are well-informed.
As for ChatGPT, there are more than a few ways you and your team can use ChatGPT to make your experience with GiveSmart’s fundraising and event management software even more efficient. You can use it to brainstorm or draft:
- A text message series encouraging peer-to-peer donors to upgrade their recent gift and increase their impact with a recurring gift
- An emotionally charged impact statement for use on an event or campaign homepage
- An engaging auction item description
- An event description that creates excitement and outlines your impact and mission
- Social media posts to share with peer-to-peer team captains for sharing with their social networks
- Different messages that cater to specific demographics, age groups, communication preferences, giving levels, etc., to create more effective donor segmentation
ChatGPT is already having a significant impact across industries, but not always for the better. Undeniably, it is an increasingly popular place people are turning to for support at work.
Your nonprofit can rely on ChatGPT as a tool to improve efficiency, analyze data, and brainstorm. The core of what you do at your organization is to better your community, and this AI language tool can help you in the day-to-day so you can best engage your donors and volunteers.
Shifting Focus
Charitable giving starts with an emotional response, from a sense of duty to a need for belonging to the desire to make a difference. Those emotional roots can make donor behavior challenging to predict — charities might experience shifts due to anything from the news cycle to personal life events.
Enhance Your Fundraising Campaigns with GiveSmart
Regardless of your nonprofit’s mission, it’s essential to monitor emerging trends to identify areas for improvement. As an organization that serves your community, you can access various tools and resources that help get your campaign off the ground and in line with donors who share your passion.
With GiveSmart, you can host virtual and hybrid fundraising events, manage your campaigns, and gain insights into your supporters and your nonprofit’s performance, helping you adapt to donors’ ever-evolving expectations.
When you’re ready to implement these trends in your organization successfully, GiveSmart can help you along the rest of the way. Schedule a demo today to see how our software can make your organization’s online platform a seamless experience for your participants.
