Fundraising and donation software simplifies everyday tasks like:

• Keeping track of donor information
• Accepting online donations
• Building social campaigns
• And more!

However, there are hundreds of nonprofit software solutions out there, all with unique specialties. That’s why we’ve pulled together a list of the top fundraising software for nonprofits, highlighting each tool’s functionality and price points.

From extensive donor management CRMs to simpler platforms focused on one aspect of fundraising, there’s something here to suit any nonprofit’s needs. Let’s find what works for you!

Leverage the fundraising software you invest in to host the standout events you learn about in this eBook

What is Fundraising Software?

Fundraising software refers to the tools nonprofit organizations use to manage different aspects of the fundraising process, like processing donations and building relationships with supporters.

Fundraising software platforms have features that can help nonprofits with tasks like:

• Collecting donations
• Reaching new supporters
• Managing recurring donations
• Stewarding relationships with existing donors
• Hosting fundraising events
• Gathering donor information
• And much more!

There are several types of fundraising software, each intended to help organizations in different areas of fundraising.

For example, if you have a lot of records to keep straight, donor management software might work better for you. However, if you’re just looking to build fundraising campaigns online, a generic fundraising platform will serve your purpose just as well!

1. WildApricot

Best for Membership-Based Nonprofits

WildApricot is an membership management software that combines membership, fundraising and event management all in one cloud-based database. It allows nonprofits to save hours on administrative tasks by automating everything from emails and event promotion to invoices and donation receipts.

When it comes to fundraising nonprofits rave about WildApricot’s ease-of-use. Building donation pages to promote your cause is simple with a drag-and-drop website builder. Pair that with other features like custom forms, online payment processing and robust CRM capabilities, it makes fundraising a breeze.

WildApricot’s other standout fundraising features include:

• Reporting and financial analytic tools
• Event management tools with registration and attendance tracking
• Integrated email and SMS communication
• Online store with secure payment processing
• Mobile app for admins and members

WildApricot Fundraising Software Pricing

WildApricot offers a 60-day free trial, so you can see exactly how our technology can change your fundraising strategy. Pricing starts at $63 per month for 100 contacts and is scalable for your organization as you grow. 

2. Givebutter

Best for All-in-One Fundraising

Givebutter is a free, all-in-one fundraising platform that combines donation forms, events, auctions, peer-to-peer campaigns and a nonprofit CRM in one easy-to-use system. It helps organizations manage all fundraising and donor engagement in a single place, without juggling multiple tools.

Givebutter makes it easy to:

• Create branded online donation forms and fundraising pages
• Run peer-to-peer and team fundraising campaigns
• Host events, auctions, or livestream fundraisers
• Manage donor relationships through a built-in CRM
• Use the mobile app and Tap to Pay for in-person donations

Givebutter is known for its quick setup, intuitive design, and transparent pricing. Its mobile-first experience keeps fundraising simple for teams and donors alike.

Givebutter’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Givebutter is free to use when optional donor tipping is enabled, allowing your organization to pay $0 in platform and processing fees. For nonprofits seeking advanced workflow automation, reporting, and integrations, Givebutter Plus starts at $29 per month.

3. Bloomerang

Best for Donor Retention

Bloomerang markets itself as donor management software, empowering you to keep a database of all of your donors and track their activity with your nonprofit.

Its primary focus is donor retention and management, and its intuitive, user-friendly software includes features like:

• Timelines and reports to track donor history, engagement and website activity
• Embedded online giving and event registration forms
• Email marketing and social listening features
• Secure payment processing
• A Bloomerang mobile app

Overall, Bloomerang is the all-in-one solution for any organization looking to grow its database and foster those long-term relationships!

Bloomerang’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Their pricing is broken into tiers depending on how many donor records you have. The lowest tier starts at $40 per month as a bundle with their CRM (which starts at $125 per month).

You can book a free demo to learn more about Bloomerang’s fundraising software, CRM and volunteer software.

4. Bonfire

Best for Custom Apparel

Bonfire is the industry leader in custom t-shirt fundraising. Their fundraising platform enables your nonprofit to create premium custom apparel with a design that exemplifies your brand and promotes your cause.

You can upload your own custom design or use one of their free t-shirt templates that you can customize to your liking in their design tool. Then, you can launch your campaign to start raising money for your cause! Supporters can even launch their own Giving Campaigns on your behalf, so they can encourage friends and family to support your cause, too.

Verify your nonprofit on Bonfire, and you’ll gain access to a suite of tools and features designed specifically for nonprofits, including:

• Direct payouts from t-shirt fundraisers launched on your behalf.
• Customizable organization profile pages to tell your story and highlight active campaigns
• Peer-to-peer t-shirt fundraisers for events and special occasions
• Downloadable supporter lists with the contact information of all your campaign supporters
• Reduced donation fees from 8% to 3.5%

Bonfire’s Fundraising Platform Pricing

Bonfire is free for anyone to use, and you keep 100% of the profits you earn from your campaigns. The only fee that Bonfire will collect is an 8% processing fee for additional donations, which is reduced to 3.5% for verified nonprofits.

5. Causeview

Best for Salesforce

Causeview is a fundraising app built on Salesforce’s NPSP platform, which enables organizations to manage their entire gift journey in one place.

Its app which gives you access to tools like:

• Custom online donation forms for fundraising
• Event registration pages
• Volunteer management software
• Payment processing
• Real-time reporting and dashboards

If you’re already using Salesforce, the Causeview team will install the app on your instance of Salesforce so you can easily track, manage and grow your supporter relationships.

Causeview’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Causeview has three different pricing plans: fundraising for nonprofits, advancement for higher education and gift processing. Free demos are available for nonprofits, and you can speak to their sales team for a custom quote.

6. GoFundMe Pro

Best for International Fundraising

GoFundMe Pro (formerly Classy) is a must-have nonprofit fundraising software for organizations collecting donations across the globe.

Their software offers products that help you:

• Build event pages and a donation website
• Host auctions and enable mobile bidding
• Report on customized fundraising campaigns
• Manage crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising

GoFundMe Pay has all of Classy Passport’s international fundraising features which eliminates geographical barriers and enables nonprofits to collect donations through more than 130 currencies. It also has more of a crowdfunding focus than other platforms, so if you want your supporters to set up fundraisers on your behalf, it could be a good choice—especially given its ease of use.

GoFundMe Fundraising Software Pricing

Demo is available upon request to gain pricing information. GoFundMe Pro offers flexible, custom pricing to fit your nonprofit’s unique goals.

7. ClearView

Best for Mobile Donor Management

ClearView is a robust all-in-one CRM solution that specializes in donor management. Their flexible nonprofit fundraising software features a variety of tools to help with moves management, reporting and business intelligence, donor journey management and even data validation.

They make it easy to clean up your database so that you have the right information for all of your donors!

ClearView is one of the more versatile tools on this list, with multichannel fundraising capability that expands your toolkit with:

• Online forms
• Text-to-give
• Peer-to-peer campaigns
• Volunteer and member management
• Event registrations
• And even direct mail!

ClearView also puts a heavy emphasis on mobile usage. Streamline on-the-go fundraising by managing your fundraising from anywhere with mobile-friendly design and a suite of mobile apps.

ClearView’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Reach out to ClearView for a demo, as well as a custom quote based on your organization’s needs.

8. DoJiggy

Best for Events

DoJiggy provides a complete line of fundraising software for the most popular types of nonprofit fundraising campaigns, like peer-to-peer fundraising events, walkathons, golf tournaments, charity galas and more! Their event tools empower nonprofits to build positive brand recognition and offer an unforgettable experience to attendees—whether virtual or in-person.

Their fundraising solutions include:

• Mobile-responsive event website templates that include fundraising thermometers and social media integration
• Functionality for virtual, hybrid and in-person events (such as live streaming and custom sponsorship packages)
• Secure donation processing and text-to-give tools to drive donations throughout your event

The DoJiggy fundraising platform offers functionality geared specifically to each type of fundraising event. For instance, the peer-to-peer crowdfunding package has personal fundraising pages for individuals and teams, as well as fundraising thermometers and leaderboards. Schools enjoy the per-unit-of-effort pledge feature, allowing for pledges by mile, kilometer or lap.

DoJiggy’s Fundraising Software Pricing

DoJiggy has no startup or subscription fees. They offer a range of packages for different types of fundraising initiatives, so you can choose the exact software you need. Organizations can either select to pay a percentage of credit card sales or enable donors to cover the platform fees via optional tips. Check out their fundraising software pricing page for a complete rundown.

9. Donately

Best for Online Fundraising

Designed specifically for digital fundraising, Donately is a user-friendly donation software platform that empowers you to connect with donors online.

Provide a seamless donor experience and earn more revenue online with:

• Customized donation forms that embed into your website and are mobile responsive
• Recurring donation options to inspire long-lasting support
• Donor reporting and donation insights to determine your most active donors, popular donation amounts and more

Donately bills itself as the “simplest donation platform out there,” making it a solid choice if your nonprofit wants to get started quickly and easily. It also integrates with a lot of other fundraising software, meaning if you already have them in place, you don’t have to worry about duplicating your systems!

Donately’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Donately offers 3 pricing tiers based on the amount you raise online:

• The Free plan is $0 per month with a 4% platform fee, making it a great option for fundraising software for small nonprofits.
• The Starter plan is $19 per month with a 3.5% platform fee.
• The Team plan is $69 per month with a 2% platform fee.

Custom, enterprise plans are also available, based on your estimated fundraising (over $1M a year). For a custom quote, reach out to Donately.

You can watch Donately’s demo here, or sign up and start using their fundraising software for free until you make a fundraiser.

10. DonorPerfect

Best for DonorTracking

DonorPerfect is a donor management CRM platform that gives you a comprehensive view of your members and donors. Given its main CRM functionality, DonorPerfect is the top choice if you’re looking for extensive reporting and donor tracking to help optimize your fundraising efforts. You can gain insight into your supporter base with more than 100 nonprofit industry reports, intuitive dashboards and unlimited custom reporting!

It also includes various features such as:

• Online fundraising tools
• Donor engagement and retention tools
• Fundraising events software
• Automated gift receipting and recurring donations

They also have a variety of specialized add-ons, like crowdfunding capabilities, so you only pay for the functionality you need.

DonorPerfect’s Fundraising Software Pricing

DonorPerfect offers several different price packages based on the functionality you need. Contact them to get a demo and custom quote for your nonprofit!

11. Double the Donation

Best for Matching Gifts

Double the Donation allows nonprofits to tap into the world of corporate philanthropy with its robust matching gift software. Matching gifts are a program where companies offer to match their employees’ generous donations to eligible nonprofits in hopes that it will deepen employee engagement and make a positive impact on society.

Trusted by more than 8,500 organizations, Double the Donation is the industry-leading matching gift automation software, with nonprofit fundraising software that enables you to:

• Identify matching gift opportunities by leveraging a database of more than 24,000 company records and nearly 27 million employee records
• Deliver matching gift forms directly to donors
• Drive matches to completion with customized automated reminder emails
• Keep donor data safe with industry-leading security features like two-factor authentication, data encryption and more

Double the Donation’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Double the Donation offers multiple pricing plans depending on your annual revenue. Sign up is free with payments based on usage, and is best for nonprofits making less than $500,000/year. Paid plans start at $999 per year and is recommended for organizations raising more than $5,000/year in annual matching gift revenue. Reach out to their team to get a free demo.

12. ExceedFurther by Arreva

Best for Automating Data

No one likes manual data entry. That’s why Arreva has connected all your information within their all-in-one donor management platform: ExceedFurther. You can use it for anything from peer-to-peer fundraising and microgiving to donor relationship management. Which means that you’ll never have to go back to the days of endless data entry again!

Other features include the ability to:

• Send outreach tailored to your supporters
• Manage your fundraising website
• Launch online donation pages
• Host and collect registrations for engaging events

ExceedFurther’s Fundraising Software Pricing

ExceedFurther offers pricing upon request and you can request a free demo to find the right plan for your nonprofit.

13. Giveffect

Best for Medium to Large Nonprofits

Giveffect is designed for medium to large nonprofits looking to streamline their online fundraising systems. It’s an all-in-one platform through which you can launch peer-to-peer fundraising, auctions, ticketed event campaigns and instant donation reconciliation. It also includes features for prospect research, so you can improve your targeting.

It offers nonprofit fundraising solutions including:

• Web hosting and website building for fundraising campaigns and beyond
• Marketing and administrative management features
• Donor analytics tools

Giveffect’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Giveffect’s offers 3 different pricing plans based on your contacts and needed functionality. Book a demo today to see what your best option would be!

14. GivingFuel

Best for Customizable Giving

GivingFuel is a highly customizable nonprofit fundraising platform that comes packed with features and tools to accelerate your fundraising, including:

• Recurring donations support
• Text-to-givecapabilities
• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Social sharing
• App giving
• Mobile compatibility
• Customized branding and webpage design

Not to mention, it integrates with 4,000+ other great nonprofit fundraising software, like Double the Donation and Bloomerang, to expand the platform’s functionality even further.

GivingFuel Fundraising Software Pricing

GivingFuel offers 3 different plans with their Starter package beginning at $9 per month with a 2% platform fee. They also charge a 2.9% +$.30 credit card fee per donation. You can get in touch with their sales team to find the right plan for your nonprofit.

15. iWave

Best Fundraising Software for Donor Prospect Research

iWave by Kindsight differs from other nonprofit fundraising software tools on this list in that it’s not aimed at building online fundraisers, but rather at performing donor research. It empowers your organization to access billions of wealth and philanthropic records with features like:

• Customizable donor profiles
• Donor management system integrations
• Real-time donor data insights
• Advanced modeling and analytics

Basically: iWave is designed to help you get more information about potential donors and determine if they’re the right fit for your organization.

Read more: Prospect Research Guide for Nonprofits

This is done primarily through data collection, and can also be used in conjunction with other, campaign-focused fundraising software, allowing you to boost their effectiveness by learning more about your prospects beforehand.

iWave’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Pricing for this fundraising software isn’t available online. Instead, request a demo to get a personalized look at the solution and pricing information.

16. Mightycause

Best For an Easy-to-Use Experience

Mightycause is built for small to medium-sized nonprofits. Designed with the user experience in mind, it helps your organization engage donors and further your mission with easy-to-use features like:

• Online fundraising, including peer-to-peer and team fundraising tools
• Volunteer management
• Detailed fundraising analytics to optimize the giving experience
• Branded donation receipts and widgets

Mightycause bills itself as a simpler, less overwhelming alternative to other donor management and fundraising software. If you’re looking for something simple, it might be right for you!

Best of all, it makes it easy for supporters and teams to create their own fundraising pages connected to your event. Like many crowdfunding platforms, Mightycause’s fundraising pages show a leaderboard and an activity feed of your donors’ activities. This means it’s a suitable option if you’re planning on hosting events that involve peer-to-peer fundraising.

Mightycause’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Mightycause is completely free to start with a demo available upon request to learn more about all their features. They’re committed to low processing fees with no more than 1.99% + $.30 per donation.

17. GiveSmart

Best for All Sizes

GiveSmart, formerly known as MobileCause, provides comprehensive nonprofit fundraising software for organizations of all sizes. The platform comes equipped with everything from online donation pages to event registration and peer-to-peer campaigns.

You receive all the fundraising tools you need in one easy-to-use solution, such as:

• Online donation management, including branded forms, recurring donations, social fundraising and text-to-donate
• End-to-end event software that offers registration, guest check-in and live thermometers
• Donor-facing outreach like automatic fulfillment reminders and thank you emails with tax receipts
• Volunteer management capabilities
• Robust analytics to understand campaign effectiveness and donor behavior to increase engagement
• Communication tools like texting capabilities to create lasting donor relationships

GiveSmart is a great solution if you are looking for all-in-one fundraising software with versatile communication tools and strong customer support. Their customer support team is available at extended hours to assist with their fundraising software whenever you need it.

GiveSmart’s Fundraising Software Pricing

This fundraising software has different packages available depending upon the features and functionality you need. Reach out to GiveSmart for a demo so you can figure out which one is right for your nonprofit.

18. OneCause

Best for Online and Hybrid Events

Originally created for nonprofits to plan and manage charity auction events, OneCause has since expanded to provide a more holistic software. Its fundraising software solutions have helped over 6,000 nonprofits with events, peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns, and online and mobile donations.

They are a great one-stop resource for planning, executing, and tracking the progress of both physical, online and hybrid fundraising efforts.

It can streamline small to major fundraising campaigns with tools for:

• Integrated ticketing
• Advanced social media functionality
• Best-in-class auction software
• Text-to-give campaigns
• Virtual streaming
• Customizable branding and webpages

Not to mention, it integrates with many existing donor CRM databases and gives you access to the professional expertise of the OneCause support team.

OneCause’s Fundraising Software Pricing

OneCause offers a variety of flexible plans to meet your organization’s needs. No matter what type of solution you need, you’ll need to request a demo for custom pricing.

19. Panorama by Fronstream

Best for Branded Donation Pages

Panorama, built by Frontstream, is a one-stop fundraising software platform that provides you with tools to raise more money and build stronger donor relationships.

Highlight your branding and amplify your cause every step of the way with:

• Custom donation forms that exemplify your mission to rally supporters around specific projects and campaigns
• Fundraising activity data to better manage your organization’s mission and raise more for your cause
• Fundraising event and auction features that prioritize preparation

Panorama also has some volunteer management features, such as direct communication through their platform, to help you plan and host fundraising events without a hitch.

Panorama’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Panorama’s pricing isn’t on a tiered system by number of supporters like others on this list, meaning you can increase your number of records without having to pay more. Instead, choose from three plans based on the features you need. You’ll need to reach out for a quote.

20. Raiser’s Edge NXT

Best Cloud-Based Fundraising

Created by Blackbaud, Raiser’s Edge NXT is a comprehensive, cloud-based donor management and fundraising software platform built specifically for the nonprofit community. Some of its features include reporting, batch gift entry and donor management.

With access anytime, anywhere, and on any device, this fundraising software empowers you to:

• Find untapped potential in your existing donor database with cultivation tools
• Deliver timely messages using integrated multichannel techniques
• Understand what motivates your donors with clear reporting on campaign performance
• Spend more time on your mission and save money by consolidating processes, communications and data into one system

If you’re interested in Blackbaud’s fundraising software but are worried your nonprofit isn’t large enough to take advantage of its features, they also own eTapestry, a donor management software that’s made for smaller nonprofits.

Raiser’s Edge NXT’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Pricing information for Raiser’s Edge NXT isn’t available online. Instead, you’ll need to request pricing from their fundraising software team. Demos are also available.

20. Bonterra

Best for Marketing and Fundraising

Bonterra offers a complete fundraising software solution for nonprofits looking to centralize their online fundraising and marketing efforts.

Trusted by more than 10,000 nonprofit users, their powerful fundraising software includes:

• Advanced donor management with custom reports
• Online fundraising, including peer-to-peer fundraising and custom donation forms
• Advocacy campaign tools, helping you send targeted messages and online petition builders
• Digital marketing tools, including email marketing, social media management and Facebook Ads integration
• Corporate social responsibility tools for your matching gift programs

Bonterra’s Fundraising Software Pricing

Pricing information for Bonterra isn’t available online. Instead, you’ll need to request a demo from their team.

Choosing Your Perfect Nonprofit Fundraising Software

We hope you found this comprehensive list of fundraising software helpful. If you’ve used any of these, feel free to comment below so that other readers can get an idea of which one will best suit them!

Need more resources on fundraising? Check out these great articles:

• How to Promote a Fundraiser: Tips to Boost Awareness and Donations
• The Nonprofit’s Guide to Donor Wealth Screening
• The Ultimate List of 40 Virtual Fundraiser Ideas for Your Nonprofit
• Fundraise with Flavor: 24 Creative Food Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work
• Effective Nonprofit Fundraising: How to Ask for Donations Like a Pro
• Recurring Donations For Your Nonprofit: The Ultimate Guide

Looking beyond fundraising and into long-term growth for your membership organization?

WildApricot‘s award-winning membership management software is here to help you turn first-time donors into lasting members. From nonprofit websites to member directories to rich databases, we’re here to support you every step of the way.

Sign up for our 60-day free trial today to see what we have to offer!

The post The 20 Best Fundraising Software Options to Power Your Nonprofit in 2025 appeared first on WildApricot.

With a simple hashtag and some marketing creativity, you can spotlight your organization and bring in a heap of donations FAST.

Here’s your all-in-one FAQ about Giving Tuesday—and some key tips to rock your campaign for #GivingTuesday 2025!

What is Giving Tuesday?

Giving Tuesday is a global movement dedicated to charitable giving. On the first Tuesday after American Thanksgiving, people are encouraged to donate to nonprofits and charities all over the world. If you search online, you’ll see the hashtag #GivingTuesday across social media platforms!

Nonprofit organizations build special Giving Tuesday campaigns to boost visibility and bring in those end-of-year donations. Participating in #GivingTuesday2025 shows your nonprofit’s dedication to being part of a worldwide commitment to philanthropy!

What’s the history behind Giving Tuesday?

The history of Giving Tuesday began in 2012 at the 92nd Street Y in New York, in partnership with the United Nations Foundation. Director Henry Timms notices the surge in spending (and overspending!) holidays after Thanksgiving—Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the recent Small Business Saturday. In order to capture the spirit of holiday generosity, he helped launch Giving Tuesday as a dedicated day for charitable giving.

The founders intentionally kept Giving Tuesday uncopyrighted and encouraged nonprofits and charities to use the branding and hashtag all over social media. The movement caught on like wildfire! Within a few years of Giving Tuesday being launched, organizations including Facebook, Paypal and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were offering to match massive donations.

In 2019, GivingTuesday became its own organization, with co-founder Asha Curren acting as CEO. While the organization became official, not much changed logistically—Giving Tuesday is still celebrated and promoted across the nonprofit sector and raises millions of dollars each year. In fact, in 2021, 2.7 billion dollars were donated in the US alone!

In May 2020, GivingTuesdayNow was launched as an emergency response to needs caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the financial uncertainty of the time, $503 million dollars were raised that day. 

Since its creation, GivingTuesday has generated more than $18.5 billion in the US alone!

Now THAT’S the spirit of generosity!

The highlights from last year’s Giving Tuesday? For it’s 12th anniversary, over $3.6 billion was raised during the 24 hours of global generosity – that’s a 16% increase from the previous year! It’s estimated that 36.1 million U.S. individuals participated, proving this event is constantly growing and inspiring everyone to give back. But GivingTuesday is more than just monetary giving. In 2024 there was an increase of 32% of participants who volunteered, totalling 9.2 million US individuals who gave their time.

Is GivingTuesday an American thing?

No, Giving Tuesday is a global movement that currently involves more than 85 official partner countries around the world!

Which countries celebrate Giving Tuesday? Too many to list here! You can read the full list of countries on the GivingTuesday website.

In 2022, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, North Macedonia and Zimbabwe joined as official GivingTuesday country movements.

When is Giving Tuesday 2025?

Giving Tuesday 2025 will take place on December 2rd, 2025. Mark your calendars with the hashtag: #GivingTuesday2025!

How does Giving Tuesday work?

If you’re working with a nonprofit organization, think of Giving Tuesday as a day when your fundraising efforts get a power-up! 

The movement is driven primarily through Giving Tuesday social media posts, and is a great example of hashtag activism. By using the #GivingTuesday hashtag across platforms, people can discover your nonprofit and donate with the click of a button.

In this article from GivingTuesday, they mention the most used keywords on the global day of giving. Be sure to use words like “support”, “donate”, “consider” and “donation” to get your campaign in front of the most people.

While GivingTuesday has become its own organization, it does not have any part in promoting your campaign or collecting your donations online. What they do is:

• Promote Giving Tuesday as a movement
• Calculate the total amount of money raised (donations are all public record!)
• Offer in-depth resources for nonprofits that get involved

Because the organization is so hands-off, you have full control over how you’d like to manage your Giving Tuesday campaign! You can choose to fundraise for a specific project, or simply get more eyes on your nonprofit’s overall mission. Just be sure to take donor intent into consideration.

You can trust that people are already going to be primed to give, so Giving Tuesday is also a good time to get creative with your marketing. You might be surprised by which strategies end up working best!

How long does Giving Tuesday last?

Giving Tuesday is a one-day event scheduled for the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. However, promotion usually builds up through November (if not earlier!) to get the campaign on peoples’ radar in advance. 

The GivingTuesday campaign from the Canadian Cancer Society is a great example of this! They match gifts of up to 50k all the way through December 3rd, which gives individuals and organizations extra time to donate. The campaign builds right up until Giving Tuesday itself—and then offers one extra day for people who might’ve forgotten!

If your Giving Tuesday campaign is successful, the energy can also be carried through into an end-of-year fundraising campaign.

How to Sign Up for Giving Tuesday

There’s no need to sign up for anything in order to participate in Giving Tuesday 2025. Like we said, the organization is simply a hub of resources and information. If you want to participate all you need is to build your own campaign and use Giving Tuesday hashtags. Check out their website here to stay up to date on all things GivingTuesday.

If you’re looking for how to sign up for Giving Tuesday in your own community, check to see if there’s already a local movement set up. This is another way to find support for your campaign!

How to Create a Giving Tuesday Campaign: 16 Simple Tips! 

Now that you know all about Giving Tuesday, you might be wondering how to create a Giving Tuesday campaign that really stands out. The majority of nonprofits will be fundraising on this day, so it’s important to make sure your organization gets noticed in a sea of great options!

Here are 16 simple tips for taking your Giving Tuesday campaign to the next level:

1. Conceptualize Your Campaign (Be Creative!)

What are the best ways to raise money on Giving Tuesday? It starts with getting strategic!

Visualize your Giving Tuesday campaign beyond the hashtag. How do you want this campaign to be different from your other fundraising campaigns? What is the heart of the message you want to send on this high-visibility day of giving?

While you don’t want to copy another organization’s strategy, research Giving Tuesday campaign examples from similar nonprofits. With a few tweaks, you can make those strategies perfect for your organization’s specific needs.

We mentioned earlier that Giving Tuesday is a good time to experiment with your marketing strategy—and it’s true! Work with the innovative ideas you’ve been floating with your team. A little creativity can go a long way.

Looking for some help brainstorming your campaign for Giving Tuesday 2025?

Check out these 28 unique Giving Tuesday ideas for campaigns and marketing strategies, including:

• Peer-to-peer fundraising
• Fundraising thermometers
• Text-to-give campaigns
• Connecting with ambassadors
• Creative video design
• And more!

2. Seek Out Gift Matching

One of the most powerful strategies you can use for Giving Tuesday is calling for matching gifts. 

Reach out to companies (especially ones with ties to your nonprofit’s mission!) and ask if they would be willing to match a donation amount. This is a fast way to double the amount of donations that you receive while building partnerships!

Asking for gift matching isn’t an unusual thing—large companies often have charitable incentive programs in place. Don’t be afraid to reach out to small businesses too. If they’re just coming off of Small Business Saturday, being involved with your Giving Tuesday campaign will give them an extra boost.

Matching gifts are also a huge incentive for prospective donors. A survey from Double the Donation shows us that 1 in 3 donors say they’d give a larger gift if it was being matched, and 84% of people surveyed said they’re more likely to donate if a match is offered.

Encourage donors to check in with their employers about matching gifts! Your supporters want to feel involved with your organization, and this lets them go the extra mile.

3. Choose Your Team

A Giving Tuesday campaign is not your typical fundraiser. It connects to a larger movement, and requires energy and creativity to really kick off! This means you want to assemble a dream team to really make a splash.

The people you might want on this campaign include:

• The “ideas guy” who always brings something fresh to meetings
• The person who is super online and knows the latest trends
• The seasoned marketer who’s seen it all
• The passionate teammate who breathes your mission
• The community organizer who seems to know everyone

A variety of perspectives will help you take your campaign to the next level! And once Giving Tuesday 2025 is over, you’ll have even more ideas for your next fundraiser.

4. Decide on Your Platforms

When it comes to launching your Giving Tuesday social media posts, there are tons of platforms to choose from. Each hub has its pros and cons, so be sure to consult your social media experts on where they think your message will land the strongest.

Here are some of the best ways you can use four of the biggest current platforms:

• Facebook: Facebook fundraisers are simple and effective! Here’s a simple guide for how to set up Giving Tuesday on Facebook as a nonprofit. Plus, you can encourage your donors to set up fundraisers of their own to bring in some peer-to-peer fundraising. 
• Twitter: The best tweets are snappy, concise and have two hashtags at most. This platform is made for interaction, so be sure to engage with comments and quote tweets.
• Instagram: This is where your branded visuals can really shine! Unlike Twitter, Instagram is made for a bunch of hashtags—choose the ones that will reach your ideal audience.
• TikTok: Videos bring in some of the most engagement on social media. Work with the latest TikTok trends (and reach out to some influencers!) to make waves with Gen Z.

This is also a time to check in on your analytics! Who is your target audience, and which platforms have helped you reach them best so far?

5. Set SMART Goals

SMART Goals are designed to help you reach your goals to the fullest extent possible. Saying “we’ll raise money” might be true, but it doesn’t set you up for success.

Here is an example of how you can follow the acronym for your Giving Tuesday campaign:

• Specific: There’s a lot you could aim for with a Giving Tuesday campaign! Keep your focus with a goal that is specific to this campaign.
• Measurable: Decide how much you aim to raise for Giving Tuesday 2025. You can also measure things like audience engagement on social media or the amount of new people on your email list.
• Achievable: Have high goals, but keep them reasonable—it’s better to blast through a modest goal than be disappointed when you don’t reach an unrealistic one.
• Relevant: Choose a goal that serves your larger mission as an organization. This will keep you on track for the rest of the year.
• Time Bound: Is this goal for Tuesday itself? The month of November? Make sure your plan is clear!

6. Choose How You’ll Measure Success

Speaking of measurable… how do you plan on gathering that data? You can measure how much money you raised pretty easily, but you also want to know where your strategies worked best for your Giving Tuesday campaign. With your goals and targets set in advance, all you have to do is read the data.

Search for information such as:

• Which channels brought in the most donors
• Which demographics were most responsive
• What time of day got you the most clicks
• How long people spent on your website
• How far your social media posts reached

Google Analytics is your best friend here. It’s free, gathers your data and pulls together reports on all sorts of information. In order to improve your strategy, it’s important to know how things are currently looking!

7. Build a workback schedule and content calendar

Creating a workback schedule is a surefire way to hit all of your deadlines! Before launching your Giving Tuesday campaign, it’s essential to decide on your milestones. A workback schedule will help you visualize your goals and keep you on track.

Scheduling all of your Giving Tuesday social media posts (as well as your email campaigns!) will show you the flow of your campaign. This is where a pre-planned content calendar can make all the difference. Each step in your campaign should highlight your mission and goals, but not end up being redundant.

If you’re looking to share your success with your donors, try scheduling public check-ins where you share how much you’ve raised so far! This is one way to build momentum and encourage people to be the heroes who finish off the campaign.

8. Write your messaging

Look, there’s probably a lot you can say about your organization. Along with a central mission, many nonprofits have child campaigns that get shared throughout the year. Remember that a Giving Tuesday campaign is its own creature, and it needs clear messaging.

Start with highlighting the basics:

• Who are you?
• What are you raising funds for?
• What is your fundraising goal for Giving Tuesday 2025?

It can be tempting to try and add more to your campaign as you go, but do what you can to stay focused. This will help you stick to your goals!

9. Design Your GivingTuesday Images

A picture is worth a thousand words, especially in marketing! It’s important to write strong copy, but nothing grabs a donor’s attention quite like a compelling image. 

When you’re designing your Giving Tuesday images, try using pictures of who or what donations will go towards helping. You can also share images of your team hard at work in the field or enjoying themselves at a community event. While heavy or difficult imagery can elicit an emotional response, most people respond best to positive messaging.

Giving Tuesday graphics are also a fantastic way to share the numbers at each fundraising milestone. This gives the casual scrollers a quick look at your campaign, and might even inspire them to donate themselves!

Brand your images with the Giving Tuesday logo clearly visible, and then use them for banners, cover images and Giving Tuesday social media posts. If you can make a frame for Facebook images, your supporters can share their own pride in donating.

10. Create a Giving Tuesday Donation Page

Your nonprofit website should have a donation page year round—but it should also have a donation page especially designed for Giving Tuesday 2024. 

Stick to your donation page best practices, but also be sure to include a Giving Tuesday logo and other distinct branding. Remember to have a big bright button that directs right to your form on the main page!

The best Giving Tuesday donation pages:

• Make donating quick and easy
• Have suggested donation amounts
• Note where peoples’ donations will go

If you want to build a donation page nice and easy, check out WildApricot! Our website builder comes with mobile-friendly site construction, advanced customization options, easy integration with tools like WordPress and more.

Plus it comes with a 60-day free trial!

11. Write and Schedule Your Giving Tuesday Social Media Posts

Have we talked enough about social media yet? Seriously though, optimizing your social media platforms is your greatest asset for winning Giving Tuesday!

Pre-write and schedule your Giving Tuesday social media posts in advance with tools like Hootsuite. With everything set, you can spend your time organically engaging and troubleshooting as necessary. Plus, you can check out your analytics in real time.

Keep your messaging strong and consistent without getting too repetitive, and follow each platform’s best practices for your Giving Tuesday graphics. Each platform is good for something different, so use their individual quirks and specialities to your benefit!

12. Create Your Giving Tuesday Email Campaigns

Email campaigns continue to be one of the strongest tools in the box when it comes to fundraising campaigns. Where social media brings in an influx of new supporters, emails reach the people who are already invested in your mission.

Think of it this way: if someone is on your email list, you can trust they already know and care about your nonprofit. A strong email campaign can be what motivates them to donate for Giving Tuesday specifically.

Explore some Giving Tuesday email examples to get ideas for how to make your campaign shine in peoples’ inboxes, including:

• Opening with snappy subject lines
• Keeping things mobile friendly
• Avoiding text walls with Giving Tuesday graphics
• And more!

13. Start Advertising Early (Months!)

Giving Tuesday might only be one day long, but your campaign should be going months in advance. Remind people that Giving Tuesday 2024 is coming early on, and people will already know where they want their money to go. Plus they’ll have time to tell their friends!

An early promotion period can also help you test how your messaging is being received. Try a few different campaign strategies and check what the analytics say. Table the strategies that aren’t getting much response, and invest more into the ones that are really reaching people.

14. Use Content from Supporters

Using content from your supporters is key to reaching a broader audience. It also makes your donors feel more involved with your organization, which helps you foster donor stewardship. Better yet, it’s free!

Encourage people to take a photo with #GivingTuesday2024 and a message about why they donated to your nonprofit. A personal touch goes a long way in getting prospective supporters’ attention. Those Facebook profile frames we mentioned earlier also let people show their pride in donating!

Along with calling for donations, encourage your supporters to do random acts of kindness. Giving Tuesday isn’t just about raising money—if people can’t afford to be donors this year, that doesn’t mean you can’t build a relationship now.

Make sure you comment on, like and share all of the content your supporters make. You can even check in about using their Giving Tuesday quotes in future campaigns.

15. Launch!

What’s a campaign without a launch? Before you kick off in full, hold a soft launch specifically for your board members, staff, volunteers and trusted longtime donors. Along with early donations, you can get valuable feedback on your campaign.

With this information, you can go full speed ahead on Giving Tuesday! Keep your energy high as you execute all of the ideas you’ve planned. If surprises come up, stay flexible—you can always shift your strategies if you need to.

As your campaign works its magic, be sure to focus on building relationships with new donors ASAP. Being prepared with donor management software will help you keep up with those connections post-campaign.

16. Give a Big Old Giving Tuesday Thank You

The name of the game is gratitude! Send out your first thank you emails the moment you receive a donation, and then follow-up at the end of your campaign with a specific Giving Tuesday thank you.

This is also an opportunity to update donors on the success of your campaign. This lets them immediately see the impact of their donation, which emphasizes that their donation really meant something.

Did you know that WildApricot can send out automated thank you letters? You’ll have a lot of thank yous to send once your Giving Tuesday campaign is done—it’s helpful to have a time-saver in place.

How do I win Giving Tuesday?

By contributing to this global day of giving, you’ve won Giving Tuesday already. But it’s certainly a personal win when you also achieve your goals!

Once your campaign is over, focus on building donor stewardship. From the initial welcome package to your regular follow-ups, it’s important to keep fostering your relationships with your donors. If you take the time to build trust, they’ll be sure to stick around come next campaign.

WildApricot has all the tools you need to manage your relationships with donors new and old. Build a website, gather donor information in a database, and streamline communication all in one place.

Sign up for your 60-day free trial to get ready for Giving Tuesday!

Rocking Giving Tuesday 2025

So let’s review—why is Giving Tuesday important? It gives your nonprofit a burst of fundraising visibility, connects you to new people and (most importantly!) raises billions of dollars for good causes worldwide. Who wouldn’t want to get involved?

The post Giving Tuesday 2025: FAQ + How to Create a SMASH Campaign in 16 Steps appeared first on WildApricot.

Social media fundraising for nonprofits presents a huge opportunity to boost awareness, reach a wider audience and ultimately make a bigger impact on your mission. However, it’s hard to know which platform to use, what kind of content to share and how to maximize your campaigns to gain the most engagement.

Combine those questions with the ever-mysterious algorithms that change daily, and you can become lost in the noise, even for the most experienced marketing professionals.

Don’t let this keep you from leveraging social media in your nonprofit organization’s fundraising efforts. We’re here to help you get started. In this blog, we’ll show you:

• How to choose the right social platform for your nonprofit
• Real-world examples of online fundraising
• 20 social media fundraising ideas
• Best practices for seeing success

What is Social Media Fundraising?

You may think social media fundraising is the same as online fundraising. While social media is online (and giving online is the main way donors prefer to contribute), social media helps you reach more than just the visitors to your website. The world of digital communities can connect your mission to people across the globe – if your posts can grab their attention.

Social media fundraising, essentially, is when an organization utilizes online social platforms to raise money for its cause. This could be Facebook, LinkedIn or even TikTok. By sharing your fundraising goals, impactful stories and links to support, viewers of your content can easily contribute to your organization.

But why is social media so vital for online fundraising?

The actions taken on social platforms can be more impactful than just a monetary donation. Often, a supporter may not have the funds for a donation (although they want to help), and this is where the social aspect of social media comes into play. Sharing, liking, commenting and reposting your organization’s content gets you in front of a wider audience, reaching more people who resonate with your cause.

As we know, a larger audience = more awareness = increased donations.

How to Choose the Right Social Media Platform

Just as not every person has the same style or aesthetic, not every social media platform will be the best fit for your organization.

Here’s a quick glimpse at the most popular social media networks available:

• Facebook: A widely-used platform across generations, Facebook is a great host for event updates, images, longer-form text and easily shareable fundraising campaigns.
• X (previously Twitter): This platform is limited to 280 characters per tweet, so it’s best used for quick and timely updates or to keep an eye on what the media is up to in your area.
• Instagram: The land of the “influencer,” Instagram is perfect for impactful images, storytelling captions and live-streamed video updates.
• LinkedIn: A professional platform, LinkedIn is a helpful solution for discovering top talent for your nonprofit and connecting with high-impact corporate givers.
• YouTube: The classic video platform where long and short-form stories are told. This is a great platform to use for evergreen pieces of content and deep dives on your organization’s cause. They have a YouTube for Nonprofits program for eligible orgs.
• TikTok: A newer, video-based platform that’s widely used by teens, in which users record short video clips, consumed quicker and more easily than YouTube. Their TikTok for Good page lists various challenges that users have contributed to and nonprofits have received donations from.

Take your donor demographics into consideration when choosing your social media networks as well. You’ll want to choose a channel that the highest majority of your donors are using (or the donors you wish to reach). For example, consider Instagram or experiment with TikTok for a younger audience, and use Facebook for a more generation-spanning audience.

20 Social Media Fundraising Ideas for Your Nonprofit

Now, the part you’ve been waiting for: here are some ideas to get donations rolling in from your social networks.

1. “Why I Give” Donor Spotlight

Ask your previous donors to record a short video or write a brief testimony sharing why they give to your organization. Everybody’s “why” is different; seeing someone’s “why” can be a great motivator for others to support. This can either be posted directly on your nonprofit’s social account or on the donors’ accounts, then reposted on your official page.

2. Birthday Dedications

Instead of asking for gifts on your birthday, invite others to contribute to your nonprofit! Supporters will be able to easily share this on platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

3. Virtual Auction

Using your social platform of choice, host an auction of donated items. This can be done live to spark excitement from supporters or on your regular newsfeed, allowing the bids to rise higher each day of the event.

4. Donation Stickers

Donation stickers are an easy-to-use tool in Instagram stories, TikTok livestreams and videos. When someone clicks on your sticker, they are directed to the donation page of your nonprofit organization, making it a simple, one-click donation.

5. Influencer Partnership

Influencer marketing is extremely popular in today’s advertising. Partner with someone who has a large following; they can spread the word about your fundraiser and the impact your organization makes.

6. “Sponsor a ____”

Focus on a specific need your organization has and make that the donation request of your followers. For example, “$40 covers the adoption cost of a cat at our shelter.” This provides supporters with a tangible example of the impact of their donation.

7. Daily Post Challenge

Encourage supporters to post daily on their social media networks for your cause. This could be a week-long challenge where you post a daily act of kindness inspired by your nonprofit’s mission. This raises awareness and helps you reach a wider audience. The more people who participate, the more it helps.

8. “Day in the Life”

Let one of your donors, volunteers or staff members take over the social account for the day and share what life is like for your nonprofit. It allows your followers to get behind-the-scenes and see an advocate of your org’s perspective.

9. Donor Appreciation

Showing gratitude is one of the most effective ways to enhance donor retention. Make this day of social media posts all about the donors and appreciating their contributions. Highlight the impact made, and it just might encourage others to follow suit.

10. “Mission in Action”

Similar to “a day in the life,” take your followers along and show them how their donations make a difference. For example, if your focus is on children’s education, you could share videos and photos of bringing books to a local classroom, allowing donors to be connected beyond their gift.

11. Virtual Talent Show

Livestream fundraising is always a hit and promotes engagement from your viewers. Ask your supporters to participate in a talent show streamed live on your social channel. Viewers can donate while they watch and vote for their favorite act.

12. Hashtag Challenge

Create a simple, photo-friendly action tied to your nonprofit (such as walking a mile, posting a pet adoption photo, or sharing a “volunteer moment”) and encourage participants to donate and tag friends using a branded hashtag. This could look like #WalkForWater #AdoptedAtAsheboro #CharlotteGiveBackChallenge.

13. “Then and Now” Impact Showcase

Share before-and-after photos that highlight how donations made a difference. This is especially impactful in a photo carousel where followers can easily swipe through and see the success.

14. Trending Audio and Photos

Particularly popular on TikTok, trending audio and corresponding dances gain a lot of traction. Utilize this for your organization and showcase your mission in a fun way to grab the attention of younger audiences.

15. Vote for the Cause

Use Instagram or Facebook polls to let your followers vote between two initiatives (“What should we fund next — playground or garden?”). At the end of this campaign, share which project won and how much was raised.

16. “Pass the Purpose”

Remember those chain emails where you had to forward the message to 5 other people for good luck? Pass the purpose works similarly, but it encourages followers to make a short video and share one reason they support your cause, then tag another person to do the same.

17. Instagram Story Templates

Make sharing your fundraiser easy for your donors with pre-made templates. Create ready-made Instagram Story templates with “I donated because…” or “Join me in supporting…”. Donors can repost this with their pictures, easily promoting your organization and adding some cohesion to the content.

18. Matching Gift Countdown

To build a sense of urgency and encourage action from donors, set a time limit for your fundraiser. When you pair this with a corporate partner or a major donor match, the results are even more impressive. For example, “Every dollar donated in the next 72 hours will be doubled!”

19. Milestone Donation

Celebrate a milestone (such as your anniversary or serving your 1,000th member) with a special campaign — “Help us reach $10,000 for 10 years of service.”

20. “Give it Up for Good”

Challenge your followers to give up one small daily expense (such as coffee, a streaming subscription or dinner out) for a short period and donate that money instead. Small expenses can really add up and help make a difference.

Read more: How to Promote a Fundraiser: Tips to Boost Awareness and Donations

4 Standout Social Media Fundraising Examples

#GivingTuesday (Ongoing Annual Campaign)

Platform: All! Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, you name it!

Everyone is inspired by GivingTuesday. The Global Day of Giving contributes to billions of dollars in donations every year, with over $18.5 billion raised since its inception in 2012.

Why it works:

GivingTuesday is universally recognized – you don’t have to be a specific organization to participate! Since there are already large numbers of charitable people looking to give, many nonprofits can leverage the momentum and find new supporters.

Betty White Challenge

Platform: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter

This organic fan movement in 2022 raised over $12.7 million for animal shelters and rescues. In memory of Betty White, a lifelong animal advocate and beloved actress, individuals are encouraged to donate just $5 or their time to a rescue, carrying on her legacy.

Why it Works:

This social media campaign was easy for anyone to participate in by sharing posts with #BettyWhiteChallenge. This fundraiser showcased how empathy-based marketing has incredible potential to go viral – people love animals, and people loved Betty White. Plus, this gave opportunities for donation matching, amplifying the impact for animal shelters all over.

St. Jude PLAY LIVE (Annual)

Platform: Twitch, YouTube Gaming, TikTok Live

Gaming is a tried-and-true pastime for many individuals; combining charity with nonprofit fundraising was a no-brainer. Since its launch, they’ve raised over $45 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital.

Why it works:

Influencer marketing has become increasingly popular. By connecting fundraising with gamers and live streaming, nonprofits are reaching an audience they may never have with traditional fundraisers. Bonus, many of these streaming platforms have easy-to-use fundraising tools and overlays like donation stickers, buttons, leaderboards and milestones to encourage donor engagement.

#TeamSeas

Platform: YouTube, Twitter/X, TikTok, Instagram

Already viral YouTubers MrBeast and Mark Rober came together with the goal of removing 30 million pounds of trash from the ocean. Partnered with The Ocean Cleanup and Ocean Conservancy, they raised over $34 million, with more than 400,000 creators contributing.

Why it works:

This online fundraising campaign gave supporters a clear and measurable goal, equating $1 donation to 1 pound of trash removed. They utilized their massive online community and video storytelling to gain viral traction across multiple social platforms. Plus, their donation page is incredibly engaging with tons of video content and leaderboards that highlight “most trash” and “top teams”

Best Practices for Social Media Fundraising

Ultimately, when it comes to fundraising on social media, you might not go “viral,” but these tips we’re about to share will put you in the best position possible.

Use Storytelling to Turn Followers into Donors

Storytelling is one of the main pillars when it comes to fundraising. People need to have an emotional connection to your cause in order to donate their hard-earned money. The stronger that connection is, the easier it is to encourage supporters to back your mission.

Emotions drive decision-making. The more compelling a story you tell about your nonprofit’s goals, the more likely someone will want to act. Are you sharing the joy your organization brings? Are you rallying supporters to solve an injustice in your community? Is there a heartbreaking situation that you can fix with the help of donors? Figure out how to relate to your followers in a way that motivates their personal giving.

Keep in mind that your story needs to be authentic to your mission; you’ll risk losing credibility and supporters by overexaggerating or putting on a facade.

Read more: Mission to Messaging: The 2025 Nonprofit Branding Playbook

Effective nonprofit storytelling also inspires others. In the great examples we shared above, the factor that made them so successful was the sense of shared purpose. When posting on social media about your fundraising goals, it’s important to highlight the impact each and every person has made. Even if someone can’t contribute monetarily, their efforts are still felt through actions like sharing on Instagram stories or texting the donation link to friends.

Encourage Your Supporters to Spread the Word

One of social media’s biggest uses in fundraising is that you can engage donors to work on your behalf.

These options amplify your campaign’s fundraising ability while also exposing you to potential supporters you may not have reached otherwise. Here are a few examples:

• Viral Challenge Videos: Create a viral video challenge (such as the ALS “Ice Bucket Challenge”) and encourage supporters to participate and post evidence on social media. Like a phone tree, participants take the message to their greater networks — spreading your cause and encouraging more donations.
• Brand Ambassadors: Appoint your most passionate supporters (maybe those with significant social network followings) as brand ambassadors. This can also be considered influencer marketing. Incentivize them to spread the word about your organization on their own profiles with nonprofit merch and experiences. For example, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America’s YouTube channel and their Start Something web series.
• Peer-to-Peer Fundraising: Many of the examples we’ve shared today are peer-to-peer fundraising, but encouraging your supporters to set up a dedicated page on your website is a step you won’t want to miss. On this page, they share their story and why they are a champion of your organization. This allows them to easily highlight their experience in their own words, then post it on their socials and collect donations on your behalf. For example, check out the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life peer-to-peer advocacy page.
• Crowdfunding: Create a crowdfunding campaign and encourage supporters to share it on their personal social networks. Their friends and families donate directly to your campaign, so it’s a bit different than peer-to-peer fundraising. Think of crowdfunding as a single donation page with one story, and peer-to-peer as individual stories that are tied to the same cause. Check out these 3 great examples of crowdfunding success from GoFundMe.

Group fundraising ideas like these are incredibly impactful. Bringing together passionate individuals on your behalf makes it easy to raise more for your org and social media makes it even easier. It was practically made to rise to the challenge!

Blend Live Events with Digital Fundraising Moments

Some people criticize social media for causing the decline of in-person interactions, with instant messaging replacing spoken conversations and video sharing replacing live experiences.

However, it doesn’t have to be that way — instead, use social media to amplify in-person experiences.

Here’s how socials can boost attendance at your live events:

• Facebook Events Listing: Create an event-specific page that holds all of the important information surrounding your fundraising event. People can RSVP accordingly and easily share the page with their friends and family.
• Pledge Campaigns: If your event includes a challenge for attendees, such as a walk-a-thon or a 5K run, consider creating a pledge campaign. Attendees create personal pledge campaign pages in conjunction with your overall fundraising page and get pledged donations (gifts promised for a later date) to be collected once they complete the event.
• Live Video Sharing. Some may view this as a replacement for the live event — if you can stream it, why attend in person? However, for multi-day events, this can be the excitement that convinces people to join. Bonus: if you stream an event across the county, you might inspire donors from all over. Double bonus: if you record the event, you can upload it to your website and share clips on social platforms to gain more supporters for future fundraising efforts.

Read More: The Ultimate List of 40 Virtual Fundraiser Ideas for Your Nonprofit

Tip: Add a donate button to your organization’s Facebook or Instagram page, allowing supporters to give in the moment as they scroll through their newsfeed.

Track, Measure and Pivot as Needed

Social media provides a wealth of insights on what your donors like and dislike, based on how they interact with your nonprofit. If you’re not tracking these insights, you might be missing out.

Track these key performance indicators to get a better view of your online fundraising success:

• Web traffic statistics
  • Number of donors reaching your website from social media links
  • Organic search traffic
  • Direct traffic
• Follower demographics
  • Age
  • Location
  • Gender

This clear view of the audience your campaign reaches will allow you to perfect your social media strategies.

Use a nonprofit CRM to investigate your data and gain deeper insights. An effective CRM integrates all your systems (digital giving platform, website and social networks) into one database. If you notice a decline in traffic or donations, it’s time for a change in your marketing initiatives.

Try WildApricot free for 60 days!

It’s important for your fundraising software to make everything easier. From managing donations and analyzing donor data to simplifying the giving experience and automating messaging. WildApricot (that’s us!) is an all-in-one management software that can streamline your fundraising efforts. Here are a couple of highlights:

• Build donation pages with features like a fundraising thermometer
• Process payments and enable auto-pay for recurring donations
• Automate emails highlighting your fundraising campaign and initiatives
• Create and manage events with donation options upon registration

Start a 60-day free trial today and optimize your next fundraising campaign.

Keep the Connection Going After Your Campaign Ends

Even after using these strategies for your social media fundraising, your job isn’t done. It’s crucial to follow up with donors and participants in your campaign.

This could be thank-you posts showing impact, overall donations raised, the work you’re doing with the help of those gifts or even personal thank-you messages to supporters.

While social networks amplify the reach of your fundraiser and expose your organization to a wider audience, this doesn’t mean you can get lazy with gratitude. A casual social media donor now could become a lifelong supporter down the line, and the difference will be your gratitude and stewardship post-share.

Read more: Go Beyond the Thank You Note: Donor Recognition 101

Overall, remember these key factors when it comes to social media fundraising:

• Simplicity: Your fundraiser should be easy to participate in
• Emotion: Connect with supporters on a deeper level for the most impact
• Storytelling: Show people why they should care about your cause
• Appreciation: Say thank you and highlight the difference the supporters made
• Shareability: Visuals, hashtags and challenges spread fast

Trust us, you’ll see the difference it makes.

The post How to Boost Donations with Social Media Fundraising: Ideas, Examples and Best Practices appeared first on WildApricot.

A virtual fundraiser is an online fundraising event where nonprofits, schools and community organizations can raise money and engage with supporters without gathering together in person. 

Organizations can skip the hassle of booking venues, arranging catering and paying for expensive rentals. Instead, they can host engaging virtual fundraisers using livestreams, video calls, social media and peer-to-peer fundraising tools. 

Supporters can join from anywhere, making participation more accessible and inclusive. 

A virtual fundraiser can be many things, such as: 

• Interactive games or competitions 

• Online watch parties or performances 

• Digital auctions or raffles 

• Virtual walks, runs or fitness challenges 

• Live trivia or theme nights 

With lower costs and the ability to reach a wider audience, virtual fundraising is now one of the most effortless ways to connect with donors and make a bigger impact. 

Let’s explore the benefits of virtual fundraising and then look at 40 creative ideas, complete with practical steps, to make your next event a success. 

Why Nonprofits Choose Virtual Fundraising 

That popularity is not just about convenience. Virtual fundraising offers several advantages that help organizations raise more money and engage more people: 

• Budget Friendly: No venue rentals, catering invoices or travel expenses means more of every dollar raised can be spent on your mission. 

• Greater reach: Because people can participate from home, your events are accessible to everyone, locally, nationally or globally. 

• Creative flexibility: Organizations can either host a quick one-hour livestream event, a multi-day challenge or extend a campaign for an entire month.  

• Digital insights: Online platforms give real-time data for attendance, engagement and donations, and organizations can use that data for future improvement and strategy.  

With these key benefits in mind, you’re now ready to explore 40 virtual fundraiser ideas that can take your impact even further. 

40 Virtual Fundraiser Ideas to Engage Donors and Drive Results 

1. Virtual Gala or Benefit 

Recreate the atmosphere of a black-tie fundraising event online with a virtual gala. Offer a keynote speaker, entertainment or a silent auction. Encourage guests to dress up at home and share their photos on the event night. Send participants a “gala-in-a-box” kit with snacks or branded items. This format suits nonprofits that traditionally host large-scale events such as galas.

2. Online Silent Auction 

Digital auctions allow donors to bid on items and experiences from anywhere. Use mobile bidding software and run the silent auction for several days to build momentum. Promote top items with targeted emails and social media highlights – Instagram and Facebook stories can help create a sense of urgency for your auction. Auctions are effective because donated items create significant revenue with low costs. Platforms such as Bidding for Good, OneCause and Silent Auction Pro can make setup and bidding seamless. 

3. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Challenge 

Motivate supporters to set up their own fundraising pages to share with friends, family, coworkers etc. Come up with fun challenges, such as walking 50 miles a month, or baking something once a week. Peer-to-peer fundraising has the potential to increase your reach and build community through friendly competition and sharing on social media – everyone loves a good rivalry!

4. Livestream Concert or Talent Show 

Work with local musicians or performers to host a livestream show. Broadcast it on YouTube Live or Facebook Live and share donation links during the event. You can offer VIP meet-and-greet experiences for top donors. This type of event blends entertainment with giving, and is even more powerful when you include stories about your mission. 

5. Online Cooking Class 

Partner with a chef to host a live cooking demonstration where guests can cook for your cause from the comfort of their own home. You can prepare ahead by sending the ingredient list out in advance or selling pre-packaged ingredient kits to enhance the experience. Stream through Zoom, Crowdcast or a similar platform. You can also add a live Q&A so the chef can engage with guests directly! After the event, participants can receive a digital recipe card as a takeaway for attending.  

6. Crowdfunding Campaign 

Launch a campaign with a clear financial goal and a compelling story. Use videos and testimonials to connect emotionally and add features like countdown timers, fundraising thermometers and donor walls to build urgency. Platforms such as GoFundMe Charity, Classy or WildApricot let you quickly launch a campaign, share it widely and securely process donations. Crowdfunding works best when tied to a tangible project, such as scholarships or facility upgrades. 

Read more: Fundraising Thermometers: Gain Traction & Donations! (+ Free Template)

7. Giving Day or 24-Hour Challenge 

A Giving Day builds excitement by focusing fundraising into a single day. Promote it early and share updates every hour to keep the energy up. With WildApricot, you can accept donations throughout the day, track progress in real-time, and automatically send receipts and thank-you notes. 

8. Virtual Raffle 

Sell digital tickets for prizes like electronics, gift cards or experiences, and offer multiple prize levels to encourage broad participation. Utilize tools like RallyUp or OneCause to securely manage sales. Draw winners live on Zoom or Facebook Live to build excitement and share results on your social media platforms. The anticipation makes raffles fun, engaging and easy to promote. 

9. Online Art Show or Exhibit 

Host a virtual gallery featuring digital submissions from artists or students. Donors can bid on or purchase artwork directly. Incorporate virtual artist talks or behind-the-scenes studio tours to enhance interaction and engagement. This event format not only raises funds but also fosters creativity. Platforms like ArtSteps or Kunstmatrix enable the creation of interactive online galleries. 

10. Virtual Book Club 

Charge supporters to join a monthly book club. Select books tied to your mission or broader themes of community and resilience. Invite authors for live Q&A sessions. Bonus: Book clubs foster long-term engagement and generate recurring donations! Consider using platforms like Goodreads Groups or Zoom to facilitate discussions and track participation. 

11. Gaming for Good 

Looking to get the attention of younger supporters? Gaming marathons are a perfect match for Gen Z and Millennial donors. Stream your gameplay on Twitch or YouTube, and encourage donations during milestones and challenges. This connects you with a global audience and can help your nonprofit reach new supporters. Try using Twitch or platforms like Tiltify that are designed for fundraising through gaming. 

12. Virtual Dance-a-Thon 

Invite participants to dance for hours and livestream their moves. Donors pledge per hour danced. Highlight top fundraisers with leaderboards. End the event with a virtual DJ party. This high-energy event is especially well-suited for youth groups. Platforms like Zoom combined with Mixcloud Live can help create a festive online atmosphere. If you have an audience with a social media preference, consider using TikTok and having challenges to their viral dances.

13. Online Fitness Class 

Partner with instructors to host yoga, Pilates or Zumba online. Attendees donate in place of a class fee. Offering beginner and advanced sessions makes it accessible for everyone. Record classes to sell later for additional revenue.  

14. Virtual Escape Room 

Escape rooms are interactive and fun. Partner with a vendor like Escape Experience that offers virtual versions or create your own. Teams pay to participate and race against the clock. This idea is perfect for corporate groups or schools. If you’re hosting a themed fundraiser (such as a Spooky event in October or a Winter Wonderland in December), you can design the escape room to match!

15. Digital Movie Night 

Host a group screening of a film that aligns with your mission using a platform like Kinema. Sell tickets and optional mailed snack boxes, then follow the movie with a live panel or Q&A session. This format combines entertainment with education and creates a shared experience for your community. 

16. Social Media Takeover 

Invite an influencer, supporter or board member to manage your Instagram or TikTok for a day. They can share stories, create content and encourage giving. This expands your reach and brings fresh energy to your social media for a day. Encourage your current supporters to share on their socials as well to reach an even wider audience for this fundraiser.

17. Virtual Wine or Beer Tasting 

Collaborate with local breweries or wineries to provide tasting kits or recommend pairings with food. During the livestream, an expert guides participants through each sample. Ticket sales and donations make it profitable and memorable. 

18. Webinar or Workshop Series 

Offer educational workshops tied to your mission or donor interests. Topics might include leadership, health, community or professional skills. Charge for attendance and record sessions to offer on your website later. This positions your nonprofit as both a resource and a cause. 

19. Virtual Pet Show 

Ask supporters to show off their pets in categories like funniest costume, best trick or cutest overall. Collect entry fees and utilize online voting tools like SurveyMonkey or Google Forms. Stream the event on Zoom or Facebook Live and share highlights on social media to reach more people. Whether you have a pet or not, this event brings everyone together – who doesn’t love seeing pictures of cute animals?

20. Birthday Fundraisers 

Encourage donors to dedicate birthdays to your cause. Provide easy-to-use toolkits with graphics and sample text. Platforms like Facebook Fundraisers make setup simple and effective, and tools like GoFundMe Charity or Classy allow supporters to create personalized birthday pages they can share with friends and family. 

21. TikTok or Instagram Challenge 

Launch a branded challenge tied to your mission. Ask participants to donate and post videos. Highlight standout entries to keep momentum going. Social media challenges spread fast and often attract new donors. 

22. Virtual Walk-a-Thon with Teams 

Organize teams for your virtual walk to make it a competitive event. Families, companies or schools can participate together. Track progress digitally and share leaderboards to keep momentum going. Peer-to-peer fundraising pages amplify results. Use platforms like MoveSpring or Charity Footprints to track miles, host leaderboards and integrate fundraising tools. 

23. Storytelling Night 

Invite staff, volunteers or beneficiaries to share meaningful stories during a virtual event. This fundraiser not only raises money through ticket sales, but also emphasises your mission. Add a live Q&A to make it interactive and give supporters the chance to engage directly. Host on Zoom or StreamYard and consider recording highlights to share on social media.  

24. Virtual Karaoke Party 

Karaoke is a lighthearted and fan-favorite activity. Let participants donate to sing or to request songs from others. This creates laughs and builds a sense of community. Use platforms like KaraFun or Smule to host the singing virtually and combine with Zoom for live reactions and donation tracking. 

25. E-Card Fundraiser 

Create custom digital greeting cards for holidays, birthdays or thank-yous. Supporters can send them with a donation, making this an easy, low-cost fundraiser you can run all year. Design cards with Canva or Adobe Express and share them through Paperless Post or your nonprofit’s website. 

26. Online Marketplace 

Open an online store to sell donated items, crafts or nonprofit-branded products. Promote your store during holidays or special campaigns. With WildApricot’s online store, you can quickly list products, track inventory and customize your shop without extra software. This is a simple way to raise funds all year and give supporters something special. 

27. Virtual Volunteer-a-Thon 

Invite people to pledge hours for virtual volunteering, such as mentoring, writing letters or even translating if your supporters have the skills! Donors can give money for each hour completed. Use a platform like Catchafire to match volunteers and keep track of hours. 

28. Virtual Costume Party 

Is your fundraiser during a holiday like Halloween? Ask supporters to dress up and join a virtual costume contest. Charge an entry fee and give prizes for the most creative costumes. This is great for themed events beyond holidays, too. Host the contest on Zoom or stream it on Facebook Live and use tools like SurveyMonkey for online voting. Encourage everyone to share photos on social media to reach more people. 

29. Virtual Bingo Night 

Run online bingo games with digital cards. Sell entries and provide donated prizes to motivate more people to participate. Bingo is simple, nostalgic and appeals to all ages. Try tools like My Free Bingo Cards or Bingo Maker to generate digital cards and host games over Zoom. 

30. Virtual Comedy Hour 

Hire a comedian or host a showcase of local talent. Livestream the performance and ask for donations during intermissions. Laughter and generosity go hand in hand. Partner with platforms like Laugh.Events or use Eventbrite’s livestream tools to book talent, sell tickets and stream the show. 

31. Home Concert Series 

Invite local musicians to stream mini concerts from home and collect donations during the show. Host on platforms like YouTube Live, Facebook Live or Stageit with donation links included. Rotate different artists on a weekly basis and promote upcoming performances to keep supporters engaged and coming back. 

32. Virtual Craft Fair 

Organize a digital craft fair where artisans sell their creations online, with a portion of each sale supporting your nonprofit. Leverage platforms like Etsy, Shopify or Bonfire to set up a storefront and manage transactions. Promote the fair heavily around the holidays or special occasions and feature artisan spotlights to attract more buyers and donors. Bonus: This is an excellent opportunity to promote local businesses and connect your community.

33. Virtual Scavenger Hunt 

Make a list of challenges for people to complete at home or in their local neighborhoods. Charge an entry fee and give prizes to the winners. Use tools like GooseChase, Scavr or Actionbound to create interactive hunts, track progress and share results. This family-friendly event is fun, interactive and easy to share on social media. 

34. Virtual Talent Show for Kids 

Host a kids-only virtual talent show where children perform live while families and friends donate in support. Use Zoom, StreamYard or Facebook Live to broadcast performances and include donation links. Add online voting or small prizes to boost participation and excitement. This family-friendly format builds community and strengthens donor engagement. 

35. Pay-to-Play Challenges 

Let donors pay to see board members or staff complete funny dares once goals are met, like wearing costumes, doing silly dances or eating spicy foods. Stream the challenges live on Zoom or Facebook Live, and share pledge updates in real-time to build excitement. Humor keeps the energy high and motivates people to give more. 

36. Digital Cookbook Fundraiser 

Everyone has a favorite meal or dessert that their family makes – share it with others for a fundraiser! Collect recipes from staff, volunteers or donors and compile them into a digital cookbook. Design it with CreateMyCookbook or Canva, then sell the e-book through your nonprofit’s site or an online shop like Etsy. Highlighting contributors makes it feel personal and community-driven. 

Read more: Fundraise with Flavor: 24 Creative Food Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work

37. Virtual Open Mic Night 

Give poets, writers and musicians a virtual stage to share their work. Charge a small entry fee for performers and encourage audience donations. Host the event on Zoom or StreamYard and keep the atmosphere relaxed and community-focused. 

38. Auction Naming Rights 

Let donors bid for the chance to name a scholarship, classroom or another part of your program. Utilize a fundraising platform like Classy to manage the auction and showcase the lasting recognition donors will receive. 

39. Virtual Coffee Chat Series 

Host informal online conversations with your executive director or program staff to give donors a behind-the-scenes look at your mission. Keep groups small to encourage authentic dialogue and make participants feel valued. Use Zoom or Google Meet to host and consider adding light touches like sending discussion prompts in advance or offering tiered donation levels for VIP access. 

40. Virtual Holiday Gift Fair 

Run a holiday campaign where donors can ‘shop’ for gifts that directly support your programs, like school supplies, meals or scholarships. Each gift comes with a digital card explaining its impact, which donors can share with family and friends. Use Bonfire, Shopify or your own website to host the campaign, and promote it during the holiday season. 

How to Plan a Virtual Fundraiser 

After you have identified the right idea from the list of 40 above, the next step is to plan the event. The good news is that planning a virtual fundraising event is significantly easier than planning an in-person event, like a gala. 

You will not be setting up 200 chairs or coordinating with a catering team. Instead, you can focus on creating a clear event plan, setting goals and promoting to your audience. 

Read more: How to Plan a Fundraising Gala: 12 Planning Tips + 5 Elegant Ideas

Another piece of good news: you don’t need to be a tech wizard. Simple, user-friendly software can still deliver great results for your virtual fundraiser. 

At its core, planning a virtual fundraiser is just like planning any other event. You start by establishing your goals, organizing your team, considering your budget and creating a master event plan. Then, you’ll set up the logistics, promote your event and host it. 

All the things you would prepare for in-person event can be repurposed for an online format, which makes the transition easier than most people expect. 

To help support your plan, choose reliable tools for each part of your event. Here’s some recommendations: 

🎥 Streaming: Zoom, Facebook Live, YouTube Live 

🛍️ Auctions: Givebutter, OneCause, Bidding for Good 

🏃 Races & Walks: RunSignup, Racery, Charity Footprints 

🎮 Games & Activities: Jackbox Games, Kahoot, My Free Bingo Cards 

Once your tools are set, your next focus should be outreach and preparation. Promote your event widely across email, social media and your website. Always test your technology before going live and follow up quickly with thank-yous and results. Check out our blog on fundraiser promotion to dive deeper: How to Promote a Fundraiser: Tips to Boost Awareness and Donations

Best Practices for Virtual Fundraisers 

Beyond logistics and tools, these best practices will help you keep donors engaged and inspired: 

• Keep your mission front and center
• Encourage interaction with polls, chat and Q&A
• Create urgency with deadlines and matching gifts
• Keep programs concise and engaging
• Thank donors promptly and share the impact

Examples of Virtual Fundraising Success 

Tech Dump’s Stay-at-Home Gala: Tech Dump hosted a playful “Thanks For Not Coming” gala where donors bought tickets for a non-event. Supporters stayed home but still gave generously. The humor and originality helped them exceed their fundraising goal. 

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Virtual Walk: In Las Vegas, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network shifted its PurpleStride walk online with only 12 days of preparation. Participants walked in their own neighborhoods while raising funds digitally. The event raised more than $172,000, showing that virtual formats can deliver impressive results even with very little lead time. 

Together, these examples highlight how creativity, clear messaging and a sense of urgency can drive fundraising success at any scale. 

3 Steps to Launch Your Best Virtual Fundraiser This Year 

With these examples in mind, here is a simple framework you can follow to get started: 

Step 1: Pick the right idea. Review the list of virtual fundraiser ideas above and select one or two that align with your audience, resources and goals. If you have a younger audience, consider a social media challenge or gaming marathon. If your donors value tradition, a gala or auction may be the right fit. 

Step 2: Set clear goals. Decide whether your main objective is to raise a specific amount of money, gain new donors or build stronger engagement. Defining success at the beginning will guide how you design and measure your virtual fundraiser. 

Step 3: Promote and follow through. Spread the word across every available channel, including email, social media, your website and peer networks. After the event, send thank-you notes, share results and show the impact of donations. Consistent follow-up turns a one-time participant into a long-term supporter. 

Read more: How to Write The BEST Thank-You Letter for Donations (+ 3 Templates & Samples!)

The most successful virtual fundraisers combine creativity with mission-driven storytelling and donor engagement. By starting small, testing different formats and building on what works, you can create online fundraising events that are both effective today and sustainable for the future. 

You now have 40 virtual fundraiser ideas to inspire your next event! WildApricot makes it simple to put those ideas into action with built-in tools for registrations, donations and communications. Start your free 60-day trial of WildApricot’s nonprofit fundraising tools today and bring your virtual fundraiser ideas to life. 

The post The Ultimate List of 40 Virtual Fundraiser Ideas for Your Nonprofit appeared first on WildApricot.

You might think this is a simple concept, but telling your nonprofit’s story – the right way – is more complex than you may think.

What is Nonprofit Storytelling?

Nonprofit storytelling, at its core, is the stories your nonprofit shares to promote its mission and initiatives. But it’s more than just laying out the facts. Effective storytelling is filled with emotions and details – this is what brings the story to life – giving the reader something to connect to, something that is memorable.

Pulled from interviews and real-life experiences of volunteers, supporters, donors and recipients; the narrative your nonprofit shares should build an emotional connection. Emphasizing the impact you make and stressing the importance of continuing your work.

Why Does Storytelling Matter for Nonprofits?

Your nonprofit’s goal is to make a difference for your community or area of interest. Your mission is your purpose and storytelling is how you get others on board; how you encourage someone to become a supporter.

Storytelling is done across all channels of your nonprofit’s communication. From simple headers on your website and verbiage used in emails to the more complex content you share, like articles on social media and fundraising events you execute – storytelling is prevalent.

Connects Your Mission to Emotions

Have you ever seen a commercial or short video with emotional music in the background and powerful visuals? Did it tug on your heartstrings a little bit? You probably thought about it for the rest of the day. Perhaps you even donated or signed up to support their cause. Whether it was an ASPCA commercial asking you to help animals or a video about a child’s fight with cancer, you felt empathy.

Empathy is feeling with, as opposed to feeling for, which is sympathy. Empathy is the point the where the story is resonating on a deep level. Someone can relate to that story through life experience, emotional experience or something else. No matter what that point of relatability is, it makes the story memorable.

If you’re able to cultivate empathy through your storytelling, your message will have that much more impact. Our emotions drive our decision making, so connecting your mission’s story to an emotion – joy, sadness, fear, gratitude, guilt, pride, anger, interest, inspiration – you can increase someone’s investment in your cause.

Read more: Mission to Messaging: The 2025 Nonprofit Branding Playbook

Think of nonprofit storytelling as making a new friend or dating someone new. With each new story or experience you share, you reveal more about you, more about your passions and what makes you tick. The same thing goes for your nonprofit.

Every time your nonprofit shares an impact story, you’re sharing about your nonprofit’s purpose and what you do to make a difference. These stories build a relationship with your supporters. The more they hear about the work you do, the stronger that relationship becomes.

With a strong connection, supporters can advocate on your behalf and increase your reach. With an extensive network, imagine the impact your nonprofit organization can make!

Boosts Your Organization’s Credibility

Impact stories should be told from the perspective of your main character – the volunteer, donor, recipient or a supporter. This is what makes your cause credible.

Real people are sharing their experience from your efforts. After all, don’t you look up reviews from real people before buying something? The stories you share deliver a similar result – evidence that your organization is doing what you say.

Consider this storytelling technique: rather than “our nonprofit’s fundraising efforts benefitted Sarah and her family”, tell Sarah’s story with her experience. “Sarah and her family found housing and hope through our program.” Include direct quotes whenever possible. For example: Sarah shared “I can’t express how much gratitude I have for Habitat for Humanity. They’ve transformed my family’s life after the hurricane devastated our neighborhood.”

Inspires Others to Take Actions

No matter the story your nonprofit is telling, it should inspire others to act. Think of storytelling is a tactic for achieving a goal.

With the emotional impact intertwined throughout your narrative, you’re guiding your audience’s actions. This could be any action, like signing up to become a volunteer or donating to a fundraising campaign.

Effective storytelling will easily inspire your supporters and result in success of any of your marketing campaign initiatives.

Elements of Effective Nonprofit Storytelling

To be successful in your nonprofit’s storytelling, you need to have the proper story structure. Utilizing these elements in all of your impact stories will convey your message, inspire action and expand your nonprofit’s reach.

The Story’s Hero

Every good story has a protagonist – the hero of the tale. This will be the main character.

For the purpose of nonprofit storytelling this person can be:

• A volunteer
• A donor
• The beneficiary of your fundraising campaigns
• The recipient of your physical impact
• A staff member

Keep in mind the story could be written by the main character (first person) or by someone else (third person), but the message will always be focused solely on the hero’s journey and the impact they made/received.

A Clear Conflict or Problem

As every compelling story has, your main character must have a conflict or problem that must be solved.

When it comes to storytelling for nonprofits, the conflict can be something that is happening directly to the hero – like food insecurity, homelessness due to a natural disaster or health struggles due to cancer or illness.

The conflict can also happen to someone/something the hero cares deeply about. This could be situations where your hero is a volunteer or donor: people in positions of support who share their experience seeing the impact your nonprofit has made. A great example is animal welfare, the animals can’t speak for themselves about the problem of shelter or needing food, but volunteers speak on their behalf.

The Journey to Success

As the hero of your story encounters the conflict, great storytelling focuses on the journey. This is the how of your tale.

The journey of your nonprofit’s story should answer these questions:

• How did we succeed?
• How was your nonprofit involved?
• How did the help of donors, volunteers and supporters make it happen?

These answers will not only be the meat of your story, but also help motivate others. The impact made by your organization is done through the help of supporters and the reader of this story will be inspired to join.

Read more: How to Promote a Fundraiser: Tips to Boost Awareness and Donations

Your Nonprofit as the Guide

The guide of your nonprofit’s story will always be your nonprofit. Sometimes acting as the narrator, sharing your hero’s story; whereas other times your nonprofit will the the guiding light, support or tool that the hero will utilize to reach success.

Think of your nonprofit as the Yoda to Luke Skywalker’s story in Star Wars or Mufasa to Simba in the Lion King. If you’re into sports, your nonprofit is the coach and the team is the story’s hero.

Your nonprofit will provide things like the following to aid your protagonist:

• Opportunities: scholarships, internships, platforms to share their story
• Financial Support: grants, rent assistance, subsidized services
• Connections: support groups, training and workshops, networking or mentoring
• Events and Campaigns: fundraisers, donation drives, advocacy or awareness

Emotion-Driven Details and Visuals

The most important part of storytelling for nonprofits will be your emotional pacing. As you share about your main character, the struggles they have and how they found success with your nonprofit – emotion should be at the forefront.

To truly connect to your protagonist, the reader needs to feel for them and want to advocate for them. Part of your storytelling tools will be in the visual content you pair with your narrative. Photos and video clips can make the big difference between an effective story and a forgettable story.

We’ll share more examples of great nonprofit storytelling below, but here’s a fantastic case where video storytelling helped convey emotion, the hero’s success and the impact The Princess Margaret Ride to Conquer Cancer makes.

Authenticity

Everyone can appreciate a fictional narrative, but when it comes to nonprofit storytelling, this is not the place.

Any time your nonprofit shares the experience of those impacted by your work – it must be true and factual. This not only reinforces the trustworthiness of your organization, but the mission you’re hoping to achieve. Avoid over-exaggerating or putting on a facade when storytelling.

By combining your authenticity with emotion-driven details and visuals, your storytelling will be much more effective. Ultimately, you’ll raise more, widen your nonprofit’s reach and encourage others to join.

Takeaways and Call-to-Action

Sharing your stories is just the first step in making your mark on your mission. A successful nonprofit story will always call the reader to take another step. You’ve captured their attention and hopefully their hearts, now you make your ask.

The call-to-action (CTA) you include in your nonprofit story will do one of the following:

• Donate Now: ask for monetary gifts to reach a fundraising goal
• Share the Story: ask to repost or share the article to raise awareness
• Volunteer: be a part of our efforts and give your time/services
• Subscribe: stay in the know and become a regular supporter of the nonprofit

These CTAs could be a part of your email marketing campaigns, social media posts, impact reports, direct mail letters or even shared live during an event or meeting.

Read more: Why Your Nonprofit Email List Isn’t Working (and How to Fix It)

Nonprofit Storytelling Examples

Now that you have all the elements needed to successfully share a story, check out these standout examples of nonprofit storytelling.

charity : water

Between Heaven and Earth

In this “story from the field” discover how a teacher, Netra Bahadur Pulami, and the nonprofit, charity : water, changed the lives of students and families in rural Nepal.

This article is full of emotion, compelling visuals and truly tells the story of bringing clean water to make a major impact. Here’s a quote we loved, but check out the story yourself!

“As teachers like Netra began to emphasize the importance of health and hygiene for students, they started having more students to teach. Healthier kids meant fuller classrooms. “When I was little, there was no such thing as dreaming to be an engineer, teacher, or pilot.” Netra shared. “Because the environment didn’t nurture such kinds of ambition.””

World Wildlife Fund

In this article there is a a sense of urgency to the reader around restoring kelp forests. Our main character, Todd, and the nonprofit, World Wildlife Fund, share about Todd’s experience growing up in Maine and the abundance of seaweed. Now, with the kelp forests declining, he and WWF are taking action to combat this.

With the clear story structure and impactful facts about kelp and seaweed, the WWF delivers a compelling story to call the reader to support the science, take action and support conservation.

Doctors Without Borders

Sharing the story of multiple individuals in one piece really helps deliver your message. In this Doctors Without Borders blog, Faces of Resilience, you can learn about the experiences of Fatimah, Karimeh, Ovileya and Sakineh, refugees now living in greece.

With powerful imagery of each woman and direct quotes, you can really feel connected to their stories. The nonprofit, Doctors Without Borders, just sets the stage for them, allowing their experience to be heard.

Wrapping Up: Storytelling Techniques & Tips

Define the Goal of Your Story

When writing your story, think about what you want to achieve. Are you trying to raise money? Do you want more people to hear about your cause? Are you wanting to expand your email list or social media presence?

When you define your goal before the story is written, you can guide the narrative to that CTA. It might be helpful to have this goal in mind before you interview anyone you might quote. This will allow you to tell a story strategically and purposefully.

Make it Human

We’ve said it before, but we wanted to really emphasize the importance of humanity in nonprofit storytelling. These are real people, real experiences and real powerful results.

Clearly Structure the Story

Storytelling structure is crucial to delivering your message properly. Clearly set up your hero and their challenges, then introduce your nonprofit as the guide, celebrate the journey to success and prompt the reader to take a next step. Fill in the rest with compelling visuals and quotes; you’re sure to have an engaging and memorable nonprofit story.

Utilize Direct Quotes

Authenticity is important for your nonprofit when sharing a story, so direct quotes are a must! The real words from people who support or are positively impacted by your nonprofit are more powerful than anything. If you can, provide video testimonials in your articles so readers can see the person sharing their experience.

Support Your Story with Visuals

Visuals are arguably more memorable and influential when it comes to storytelling. They allow the reader to see people and places that have benefited from your nonprofit’s work, rather than just imagining it. Take pictures at volunteer sites, fundraising events and of the individuals you interview. But be sure to gain permission from anyone in your photos or videos!

Make it Easy to Share

At the end of the day your nonprofit’s story is one of many that exist online. Standing out is hard to do, but can be simple if you make a couple adjustments. To reach a wider audience, make your stories easy to share.

Integrate your blogs to your social media accounts and provide one-click links for readers to post on their accounts. Don’t forget to include them in your email campaigns, newsletters, annual reports and event communications.

Read more: The 10-Step Guide to Mastering Facebook for Your Nonprofit (In Just a Few Hours a Week)

Overall, nonprofit storytelling is just a way to share what your nonprofit does. Think about the next story you want to tell. Will it be your founding story? Your mission and vision story? Your most recent impact story? The opportunities are endless.

Now go forth and share!

The post Nonprofit Storytelling: Tips, Examples, and Building the Framework appeared first on WildApricot.

A donor persona is a simple profile that represents a specific type of supporter. Besides just demographics, it’s about motivations, behavior and how someone prefers to connect with your cause.

This article will show you how to build donor personas from real data. You’ll learn how to group your supporters by patterns that matter for fundraising, like why they give, how often and what keeps them engaged. We’ll also show you how to use these profiles to run more targeted campaigns, boost retention and align your team around clear outreach goals.

Whether you’re trying to grow monthly giving, land corporate sponsors or re-engage lapsed donors, these profiles can help you make smarter decisions.

What Are Donor Personas?

Donor personas are fictional but data-driven profiles that represent key types of supporters within your nonprofit’s audience. Each persona is based on real trends: demographics, giving habits, motivations, communication preferences and more. Think of them as shorthand for the different kinds of people who support your mission, from loyal monthly givers to one-time event donors.

Instead of treating all donors the same, personas help you understand the why behind each gift. They show you how different supporters think, what moves them to give and how they prefer to engage with your organization.

Someone who donates in honor of a loved one might respond well to emotional storytelling, whereas a corporate donor may care more about impact reports and brand alignment. Building clear donor personas helps you plan an outreach strategy that speaks directly to each group so that your efforts hit the mark more often.

Difference Between Donor Personas and Donor Segmentation

Let’s clear up a common confusion: how do donor personas differ from donor segmentation?

Donor segmentation is about sorting people into groups based on data points, such as age, location, donation amount or giving frequency. It’s often used for organizing mailing lists or creating basic audience filters.

On the other hand, donor personas go deeper. They take segmentation data and layer in behavior patterns, motivations, goals and communication preferences. While segmentation tells you what someone did, a donor persona helps explain why they did it and how to reach them better next time.

Here’s a quick comparison:

• Segmentation: “These donors gave over $500 last year.”
• Persona: “This group gives large annual gifts because they care about local community impact and want regular progress updates.”

So, in short: segmentation organizes your data, and personas make that data actionable. You need both, but personas help you take a more personal and strategic approach to fundraising.

Key Elements of a Donor Persona

A strong donor persona includes more than just surface-level details. It captures who the donor is, why they give and how they prefer to engage. Here are the key elements to include:

• Name and label: Give the persona a simple name and title. This makes it easier for your team to reference and remember.
• Age range: Useful for tone, platform choice and content style.
• Occupation and income level: Helps estimate giving capacity and interests.
• Location: Important for local outreach, event invites or regional campaigns.
• Giving style: Do they give monthly, annually, in response to emergencies or through matching gifts?
• Motivations: What drives them to support your cause? Personal connection? Community impact? Shared values? Tax benefits?
• Preferred communication: Knowing where they prefer to communicate helps you meet them where they are. For example, this could be email, text, phone or social media.
• Engagement preferences: Some want updates and volunteer options. Others prefer a thank-you and minimal contact.
• Pain points: What could make them stop giving? Too many emails? Lack of transparency? Feeling unappreciated?

Each persona should be rooted in real data and actual patterns, not assumptions. The more specific you get, the more useful the profile becomes.

Why Nonprofits Should Utilize Donor Personas

Using donor personas is all about working smarter. When you understand the different types of supporters in your community, you can make better decisions across the board. From fundraising to email strategy to team alignment, personas support your broader donor development strategy instead of relying on guesswork. Let’s break down what this looks like in practice.

Run Targeted Campaigns

Not every donor responds to the same message. Some want a direct call to action, while others want a story that makes them feel something. With clear donor profiles, you can group your audience by motivation and communication style, then build campaigns that connect.

As an example, your younger, cause-driven supporters might respond well to Instagram updates and peer-to-peer campaigns. Your older, long-term donors might prefer direct mail and impact reports. By mapping your message to the right persona, you avoid wasting time and money on broad outreach that falls flat.

Personalization = Increased Retention

When donors feel like you understand them, they’re more likely to stick around. Personalization goes beyond using someone’s name in an email. It means speaking to their values, recognizing their giving style and offering updates that actually matter to them. Donor personas help you do this at scale. Instead of sending generic follow-ups, you can tailor thank-you messages, newsletters and appeals to match what each group cares about. This kind of targeted communication makes supporters feel seen, and that’s what keeps them coming back year after year.

Boost Fundraising ROI

Blanket campaigns waste money. You spend time, design effort and ad dollars reaching people who were never a good match in the first place. With strong donor personas, you can focus on high-potential groups and craft messages that convert better. That means fewer wasted impressions and more meaningful engagement. Whether it’s email, social ads or phone outreach, your fundraising becomes more efficient (and more effective!). Over time, this tighter focus can lead to a stronger return on every dollar and hour you invest.

Team Alignment

When everyone on your team knows who you’re talking to, decisions get easier. Fundraising, marketing, events and volunteer coordination all work better when there’s a shared understanding of your key supporter types. Donor personas give your team a common language and reference point. Instead of debating strategy based on gut feelings, you can point to real patterns and plan accordingly. Personas help keep the focus on the audience instead of just internal ideas or assumptions. That kind of clarity saves you time and cuts confusion.

How To Build Donor Personas for Your Organization

Building donor personas doesn’t require a massive budget or complicated tools. It starts with looking at the data you already have and asking the right questions. From there, it’s about spotting patterns, filling in gaps and organizing what you learn into clear, usable profiles.

The process isn’t one-size-fits-all, but the steps below can help you build personas that reflect your supporters.

Compile Existing Donor Data

Start with what you already know. Look at your donor database, CRM, email stats, event sign-ups and giving history, and if available, donor wealth screening data. Group donors by behavior: How often do they give? What’s the average gift size? Do they attend events? Do they open your emails? Look for shared traits, such as age, zip code, donation timing or response to certain campaigns. This gives you the foundation for each persona.

The more real data you use, the more useful your donor profiles will be.

Survey Current Supporters

Numbers tell part of the story, and your donors can tell you the rest. Send a short survey to gather insights about what motivates them, how they prefer to stay in touch, what issues they care most about and how they first found your organization. Keep it short and focused. Ask questions like “What made you give?” and “What kind of updates do you want to receive?” The answers to these questions can reveal patterns that wouldn’t be so obvious from donation data alone. Make the survey optional, and thank people for sharing. Every response brings you closer to a clearer persona.

Identify Patterns and Journeys

Once you’ve gathered data and feedback, look for common threads. Are there clusters of donors who give monthly versus once a year? Do certain age groups prefer social media, while others respond to direct mail? Insights from prospect research can help confirm these trends. Map out typical donor journeys, from first contact to repeat giving or event participation. You’re looking for behavior patterns, motivation types and engagement styles that repeat. These trends will help you group supporters in a meaningful way rather than randomly. The goal is to spot the types of people you engage most and understand how they interact with your organization over time.

Define Your Donor Personas

Now it’s time to turn those patterns into clear profiles. Start by outlining three to six core donor personas based on real trends. Each one should include a name, age range, giving habits, motivations, preferred communication style and pain points. Keep it simple but specific. “Legacy Linda” could be a retiree who values long-term impact and prefers phone calls over email. Include only details that help guide outreach decisions. Aim for clarity and accuracy, and make sure your team can actually use these personas.

Establish Communication Methods for Each Persona

Each donor persona will have its own preferred way of staying connected. Some might check their email daily, while others may rely on phone calls or prefer social media. Once you’ve defined your personas, map out which channels work best for each one, such as email, text, direct mail, phone, events or social platforms. Also consider the tone and frequency of your messaging. Younger donors usually prefer short, visual updates, while older donors may respond better to direct mail fundraising and detailed reports. Aligning your outreach style with each persona’s habits makes your messages more likely to be seen, understood and acted on. Communication becomes less guesswork and more effective.

Track Donor Data and Adjust as Needed

Donor behavior changes over time, and your personas should reflect that. Regularly review your engagement data, such as email open rates, donation frequency, event attendance and survey feedback, to see what’s working and what’s not. If a certain persona stops responding to your usual approach, look into why. You might need to update their profile or change how you communicate. Personas are tools that evolve with your audience, so build in time every few months to review and revise them. Staying flexible keeps your outreach relevant, which, in turn, helps you build long-term donor relationships.

Classic Donor Persona Examples

To make donor personas easier to understand and apply, here are a few real-world style examples. They’re based on common patterns seen across many nonprofit supporter bases.

You don’t need dozens of profiles. A few well-built ones like these can help you focus your outreach and connect better with the people who power your mission.

Compassionate Christa – Consistent Monthly Donor

Christa gives because she believes small recurring donations make a big difference. She values consistency and transparency. She’ll stay loyal if you show her impact without pushing for more too soon.

Business Bryan – Corporate Sponsor

Bryan is strategic about giving. He’s not looking for emotion, but for partnerships that benefit both his company and the cause. Clear communication, structured proposals and public recognition keep him involved.

Legacy Linda – Planned Giving Donor

Linda cares deeply about legacy and trust. She needs time, information and personal connection before making a big decision. Nurture her relationship over the long term, and she’ll become one of your most impactful donors.

Activist Alex – Engaged Volunteer Donor

Alex sees giving and volunteering as two sides of the same coin. He wants clear ways to take action and expects transparency. Keep communication short, visual and impact-focused if you want to keep him engaged.

Impact Ian – Community-Focused Donor

Ian supports nonprofits that strengthen his community. He’s not interested in global reach; he wants boots-on-the-ground results. Show him the direct link between his donation and local change, and he’ll stay committed.

Sporadic Sally – Ad-Hoc Donor

Sally gives when something moves her. She’s unpredictable but valuable in urgent or viral campaigns. Keep your asks simple, your stories strong and avoid overloading her with follow-ups.

How To Use Donor Personas for Your Nonprofit’s Strategy

Once you’ve built your donor personas, the next step is putting them to work. These profiles should shape your daily decisions.

Fundraising Campaigns

Use donor personas to guide everything from messaging to timing. For example, your monthly givers might respond best to consistent updates and emotional storytelling, whereas business sponsors want clear ROI and impact metrics. Tailor each appeal to the persona it targets, including format, tone and ask amount. This helps boost response rates and keeps donors feeling like the message was meant for them instead of a mass blast. Matching the right message to the right donor can directly improve campaign results.

Content Marketing

Donor personas help you decide what kind of content to create and who you’re creating it for. If one of your personas prefers in-depth reports, you might focus on blog posts or downloadable impact summaries. If another persona lives on Instagram and responds to emotion, short videos or photo stories work better. Instead of guessing what content might land, personas give you a clear direction. This keeps your messaging relevant, increases engagement and builds stronger connections with each type of supporter.

Event Planning

Not all donors want the same kind of event. Some love formal galas, others prefer casual community meetups or volunteer days. Your donor personas help you plan events that appeal to each group’s interests and availability. A younger, activist-type donor may want hands-on involvement, while a legacy donor may value a recognition luncheon. Personas also help you decide how to promote the event (email, phone call, social post) and what kind of follow-up to send after. Matching event style to donor preference makes attendance and engagement more likely.

Volunteer Recruitment

Volunteer recruitment works better when you know who you’re trying to reach. Some donors, like Activist Alex, are already deeply involved and just need a straightforward way to sign up. Others might be willing to help but need a gentle ask or a low-commitment option to get started. Use your donor personas to understand who’s likely to volunteer, what roles they’ll be drawn to and how to communicate the opportunity.

Free Donor Persona Template Download

Download our free donor persona template and worksheet to create clear, practical profiles you can use in your outreach. The worksheet will help you put all your donor persona information in one document and the template will help you make a visual, easy to read donor profile – similar to the ones we shared above!

Download the Donor Persona Worksheet

Download the Donor Persona Template in Canva

Wrapping Up: 5 Top Tips to Remember

Building and using donor personas is an ongoing strategy. The best personas grow with your organization, staying useful and grounded in real donor behavior.

1. Utilize Existing Data When Building Donor Profiles

You don’t need to start from scratch. Your CRM, email analytics and donation history are full of insights. Use what you already have to find patterns in giving habits, communication preferences and engagement history. That’s your foundation.

2. Donor Personas Should Be Relatable

If your team can’t picture the person behind the persona, it’s probably too abstract. Give each one a name, a story and clear traits. The goal is to humanize your data, not complicate it.

3. Quality Over Quantity

You don’t need ten personas. In most cases, three to six solid profiles are enough to guide your strategy. Focus on the most common or high-impact donor types.

4. Align Personas with Fundraising Goals

Each persona should support a clear objective within your nonprofit fundraising plan, like boosting monthly giving or improving event turnout. If a profile doesn’t support a real goal, it’s just noise.

5. Regularly Update Donor Personas

Donor behavior shifts. Check in on your personas a few times a year and adjust as needed. If something stops working, revisit the data and tweak the profile. Flexibility keeps your outreach relevant and more successful – allowing you to make a bigger impact!

The post Donor Personas 101: How Build Profiles for Targeted Outreach and Boost Fundraising appeared first on WildApricot.

Text-to-give campaigns combine the popularity of mobile devices with the human desire to do good in the world. It’s a simple way to empower people to donate—and take an administrative load off your nonprofit or association.

In this guide, we’ll talk all things text-to-give fundraising and give you the best tools to try to make it a breeze.

Before you can start your fundraiser, you’ll need to understand text-to-give basics. Let’s start by briefly defining text-to-give.

What is Text-to-Give Fundraising?

Simply put, text-to-give fundraising allows nonprofits and charities to accept donations via text message. Here’s how it works: A donor texts a predetermined dollar amount or a keyword to a nonprofit’s designated text-to-give phone number.

Some platforms will automatically charge the donation amount to the supporter’s cell phone bill. The phone carrier will then process the donation and transfer the funds to the organization.

Other text-to-give platforms will simply send a confirmation text to the donor prompting them to fill out a donation form on the nonprofit’s website. Regardless of the process, this type of fundraising has become increasingly popular among nonprofits, as it provides an easy, fast and secure way for donors to give.

Read more: 12 Donation Website Templates + Examples to Inspire You

Case Study: A Successful Text-to-Give Campaign

One of the first and most widely publicized text-to-give campaigns occurred after the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010. As part of their relief efforts, the Red Cross advertised “Text HAITI to 90999” across broadcast, print, and online. By providing people from across the world with a swift and easy way to donate, they were able to raise tens of millions of dollars to help rebuild the country.

According to Snowball’s list of top mobile fundraisers, “for an overwhelming majority of people surveyed, the Haiti campaign was the first time they had ever used texting to donate to charity.” Due to its widespread success, it opened the door for other nonprofits to use text-to-give as a viable means of fundraising.

4 Best Practices for Ramping Up Your Text-to-Give Efforts

Although most text-to-give platforms are designed to be exceptionally easy to use, there are a few things you’ll need to consider as you implement this kind of fundraising.

1. Keep It Simple

According to Double the Donation, text-to-give fundraising is popular because it “utilizes a form of technology that most donors use on a daily basis.” Donors are already texting on a daily basis, so this makes giving easy by using “an existing technology that donors are already extremely familiar with.”

As you’re setting up your text-to-give campaign, prioritize simplicity. Some text-to-give software providers will ask you to come up with a customized short code that your donors will use to make a donation. Choose a short and relevant keyword that will be memorable for donors and lessen the potential for typos.

For example, a cat rescue nonprofit might choose “Kitty15” to be the designated number that initiates the donation. This will also give donors confidence that their gift is going to the right cause.

2. Shout It From the Rooftops

Well, not literally. After all, this is a technological solution. But you’ll want to get the word out about your method for accepting donations.

The key to success is to make your new text-to-give function part of your nonprofit’s regular marketing efforts. Some ways you can do this include:

• Posting the number and a short description of the process on all social media channels, newsletters, email blasts and other advertising efforts.
• Including it in board members’ email signatures.
• Displaying it prominently (and permanently) on your website.
• Asking supporters and influencers to share your text-to-give key word and designated number via their social media channels.
• Investing in Facebook ads and online banner ads.
• Sending a press release to relevant trade or community publications announcing a new easy way for donors to lend their financial support.

Taking a multichannel approach to marketing is particularly important in text-to-give campaigns because, without additional context, your donors might not feel a sense of urgency. For your campaign to succeed, you’ll need to make sure they know exactly why they should be donating.

3. Provide a Step-by-Step Guide

You should make your campaign as compelling as possible, but it’s equally important that your potential donors know how to donate. To make the process easier, explain to donors how they can use text messaging to make a contribution.

Provide supporters with a thorough text-to-give guide, such as a video tutorial or step-by-step instructions. When they see how easy it is to give, they’ll be more likely to donate.

4. Don’t Forget to Follow Up

To keep your new text donors engaged, follow up after a contribution is made and explain the impact of their ongoing support.

Some easy ways to thank donors include:

• Quickly shouting out a thank-you to any new donor via social media
• Writing a blog post that explains how donations were put to good use
• Sending a follow-up text to confirm their donation was received
• Having a scrolling list of new donors on your landing page for the campaign
• Adding them to your mailing list (online and offline) so that they stay posted on new initiatives

Most text-to-give platforms allow you to customize a thank-you email or send donors directly to a microsite where their donation is confirmed. Here’s your chance to be grateful. Explain what their money is going towards, celebrate their generosity and make them feel appreciated.

5 Text-to-Give Platforms to Consider

Still feel a little unsure about how text-to-give campaigns work? That’s where a good service provider comes in. Here are some of the most popular text-to-give platforms that you can use to get your campaign up and running.

1. WildApricot

WildApricot‘s text messaging feature makes it easy to run effective text-to-give campaigns and fundraise on the go. WildApricot allows you to customize each message in a campaign with macros, schedule out future texts and track the success of your campaign right in one database.

Why You Might Choose WildApricot:

This is a more than a text-to-give software, WildApricot’s comprehensive membership management software allows you to manage everything your organization needs in one place. Evaluate your fundraising success across all avenues from texts to emails to events for every contact.

Pricing:

WildApricot’s text messaging add on is perfect for organization’s already using our software who are wanting to try out text-to-give without long term contracts. You only pay for what you use and can cancel at any time. There’s an initial $30 start up fee and a $6 monthly charge for a dedicated virtual phone number. You’ll also pay $0.04 per message, billed monthly.

Get your fundraising journey started today! Activate text messaging now on your WildApricot account here or start a 60-day free trial of our all-in-one software to simplify and automate your admin. Here’s just a taste of what WildApricot can do for your organization’s fundraising:

• Integrate with your current website (or build a fresh one!)
• Create and manage forms for donations and membership fees
• Set up recurring donations and membership renewals
• Securely process payments
• Automate emails from a thorough contact database
• Get unlimited support for any questions you might have
• And more

2. Snowball

Snowball is one of the most well-known text-to-give platforms and mobile fundraising tools around. It bills itself as a complete fundraising software that offers online donation pages, secure text-to-give, event fundraising tools and more.

Why You Might Choose Snowball:

This all-in-one solution is attractive because it takes care of a lot of fundraising tasks. The text-to-give component is lightning fast, which is a big plus for a lot of users, donors and nonprofits.

Pricing:

Snowball offers four price packages. Snowball Essential is free and includes an online donation page, transaction and donor data and more—though you’ll pay a standard 2.9% + $0.30 fee per transaction. If you want to amp up your fundraising, invest in Snowball Enterprise for $99/month.

3. OneCause

OneCause is considered one of the best providers of mobile giving support. It helps you create personalized call-to-action keywords for your campaigns, hosts donation microsites with custom looks and donation amounts, and generates automated receipts and donor information reports.

Why You Might Choose OneCause:

Donor information is fully-integrated and secure. You’ll set up a keyword for each giving campaign, which you can use to develop marketing and promotion; people can then text that keyword to easily make a donation with their credit or debit card. This ensures you’ll be able to reach out to donors for follow-up, which can be difficult with some solutions.

Pricing:

OneCause’s TextGgive Standard Package is $495/year.

4. Qgiv

Qgiv’s Mobile Suite makes text-based fundraising simple. Donors can give on the spot by texting a custom keyword to your text-to-donate number, or they can pledge their support and complete their gift later (you can even send reminders!). Outbound messaging and screencasting of fundraising progress offer exciting ways to encourage donors to give—at home or at events!

Why You Might Choose Qgiv:

Some text-to-give platforms have pre-set donation amounts, but with Qgiv you can either tie specific amounts to keywords or leave keywords open for any amount of a donor’s choosing.

Qgiv’s Mobile Suite package also offers reminder messages so you can prompt supporters to complete their pledged donations; outbound messaging so you can send news, updates, event reminders and appeals to supporters; and even screencasting so you can display a fundraising thermometer with real-time updates at your next event!

Pricing:

Qgiv’s Mobile Suite package is $159/month (plus 3.95% +$0.30/transaction) and includes unlimited donation and event registration forms, users, training and support, campaign thermometers, matching gift options, Facebook donation forms and much more!

5. Give Lively

Give Lively’s Text-to-Donate with Live Display is part of its completely free fundraising platform, which also includes peer-to-peer fundraising, event ticketing, fundraising widgets and more. A philanthropist-funded social investment initiative, Give Lively builds free online fundraising technology for nonprofits.

Why You Might Choose Give Lively:

Supporters text your nonprofit’s unique text code to a five-digit short code, 44-321, and can donate in just one tap with Apple Pay or Google Pay, or a few clicks via any other payment method they choose. You can create as many unique text codes as you need for all your campaigns, events, and more, and every fundraising page comes with its own Live Display that updates in realtime each time a donation is made.

Pricing:

Give Lively is completely free: they don’t charge for the use of their technology or take a cut of donations. However, they do use third party services, like PayPal, that charge small financial transaction fees.

The post A Text-to-Give Fundraising Guide: Overview + Top 5 Platforms appeared first on WildApricot.

It’s one of the best ways to support any organization, from schools to nonprofits to teams, so you should always keep a list of food fundraising ideas on hand.

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at why food fundraisers are so effective, various types of events to consider and how to raise the most money successfully. You’ll also get a full two dozen food fundraiser ideas to take back to the team.

From bake sales to food trucks, we’ve curated the ultimate list of fundraising ideas for clubs and nonprofits, so keep reading.

Why Food Fundraisers are Effective

So, why do food fundraising ideas usually get such an enthusiastic response? There are a number of explanations, actually.

First, it doesn’t take much knowledge or experience. You don’t have to know how to fundraise to throw a good bake sale; you just have to get enough enthusiastic people on board, and it takes care of itself. Plus, it’s an excellent opportunity for community engagement.

Second, as discussed, everyone loves to eat. Or at least, everyone has to eat, so an event geared around food usually brings in a decent crowd of folks happy to enjoy a meal or a treat for a cause.

Third, the upfront cost for a food fundraiser is pretty low. At a bare minimum, all you need is, well, food. Of course, you can also opt for additional expenses such as a venue, decorations or a bar, but you don’t have to. A simple cart of baked goods is enough.

Keep in mind that food fundraiser ideas aren’t limited to in-person events.

If you receive in-kind donations of packaged products — think chocolates, cured meats, cheeses, nuts, or wine — then you can run your fundraiser online as well. This reduces costs further. Plus, it’s a great way to avoid big get-togethers inside during cold and flu season, especially if you’re part of a medical organization for the immunocompromised … or simply don’t want to get sick.

7 Types of Food Fundraisers

Before you figure out how to start your fundraiser or pick from the following list of food fundraising ideas, let’s consider the event you want. Some are fairly easy, while some are more complicated.

Similarly, some depend on you doing a lot of moving and shaking, while others allow you to lean on your community more. Let’s take a look.

Bake Sale

The classic bake sale often rises to the top of any list of food fundraising ideas because it’s fun, inexpensive and community-oriented, but it is simultaneously capable of raising a good deal of funds.

Plus, unlike food fundraiser ideas that involve a lot of space, time or donations, a bake sale is super easy to put together. You just reach out to your community to see who’s willing to make a batch of muffins or brownies, and once you have enough people, you set a date and start sellin’ stuff. It couldn’t be easier, with proceeds for items purchased going straight into the coffers.

Restaurant Partnership

Raffle tickets are always popular on the list of food fundraising ideas, and what could make for a better raffle item than a gift card at a restaurant? Everyone loves eating out and trying new places, so this is a great way to go.

Indeed, you could run an entire raffle around in-kind donations from restaurants, and you don’t have to limit it to gift cards, either. Spots at a prix fixe dinner, wine tastings or the Happy Hour works will also appeal to the charity-minded foodie.

Cooking or Baking Classes

This is one of the best food fundraising ideas because people always want to learn to cook. No matter the economy, the time of year or the cuisine, someone will want to sign up for that sushi or cheesemaking class, guaranteed. It’s always a hot item to have in a raffle.

Even better, because you have to sign up for cooking or baking classes ahead of time, you can set up a website or webpage for the event and tell your sponsors and partners about it. That will help you bring in donations online, whether monetary or in-kind. Just make sure that if you’re accepting in-kind items, you use a donation list template to track them carefully.

Bake-Off/Cook-Off

Anyone who loves “The Great British Baking Show” will jump at the chance to try their hand in a tent of your own making. As far as food fundraising ideas go, this one is a bit more high-octane since you’ll have to set up a space to cook, but that’s where a good partnership with a cooking school comes in!

If you can get an entire evening donated by a local restaurant or cooking school, that cuts your costs down to almost nothing. Then you can take home the proceeds from ticket sales, while they get to put a feel-good event on their PR blast.

Cultural Food Festival

Food festivals have it all. Fun, games, music, and of course, lots and lots of grub. Keep in mind this is another approach that involves a lot of effort. You’ll need to source:

• An event space
• Tents, tables and chairs
• Chefs or amateur chefs to man each booth
• A website and/or promotional materials
• Additional staff
• Facilities for handwashing and calls of nature

That said, if you can spread these donations out amongst enthusiastic members of your community, then it doesn’t need to cost that much. Plus, food fundraiser ideas such as this one have the capacity to go big, potentially bringing a lot of ticket sales to your doorstep.

Culinary Experiences

When it comes to food fundraising ideas, nothing beats a culinary experience for a classy appeal. A night at a vineyard, a raw oyster tasting, an evening with a famous local chef or a food cart tour all thrill foodies and lay folks alike. After all, who doesn’t want to be treated like a star?

The proceeds from culinary experiences can come from ticket sales or raffle/auction entries. In the former case, a partner would offer you a certain number of spots in a culinary experience, and people would pay you for them. In the case of a raffle or auction, you would list the experience among the possible prizes on which to bid.

Either way, this has the potential to bring in a lot of money, especially in a blind auction or other event with unlimited bidding. If you’ve got some big spenders on your donor list, bump this to the top of your food fundraiser ideas stat.

Concession Stand

Last but not least, the concession stand! Much like the unassuming bake sale, a concession has the potential to bring in lots of money in a small amount of space. Run by volunteers and stocked with homemade or in-kind goods, this is one of the most cost-effective food fundraising ideas.

Now that you know a bit more about your options, let’s take a look at the specific forms such food fundraisers can take.

24 Food Fundraiser Ideas

Ready to talk turkey? Here are our 24 favorite food fundraising ideas and a rough idea of

• How expensive each event is – Cost ($-$$$$)
• How easy it is to execute – Difficulty (1-5, 5 being the most difficult)
• How much you can expect to make – Expected ROI (return on investment) ($-$$$$)

While we can’t give hard numbers, as each organization and event is different, you can cull through this list to find ideas both big and small that will fit your budget and enthusiasm for any time of year!

Easy-to-Plan Food Fundraisers

Want food fundraising ideas that are easy to plan and don’t cost that much? We’ve got you covered.

1. Lemonade stand

Cost: $

Difficulty: 1-2

Expected ROI: $

The cheapest of food fundraising ideas, a lemonade stand requires only a table, some cups, powdered lemonade and a few volunteers. On the other hand, it won’t bring in much money, but it’s fun for little ones!

2. Guess how many candies

Cost: $

Difficulty: 1

Expected ROI: $

A bunch of hard candies in a jar? And all people have to do is purchase a ticket and write down a number, then win a prize? Cheap, easy, and potentially lucrative, depending on the number of guests at your event.

3. Pizza party

Cost: $

Difficulty: 1-2

Expected ROI: $-$$

Regarding food fundraising ideas, this one is an easy, inexpensive favorite. Get pizza donated and charge by the slice; make pretty good money.

4. Game day concession stand

Cost: $-$$

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$

Most fields already have a concession stand handy, so all you need are baked goods or donations. Easy-peasy, and with a big crowd, you can really rake it in.

High-Impact Food Fundraisers

Sometimes, you have a lot of bandwidth (e.g., for a big annual event) and want to rake in a lot of cash. These high-impact food fundraising ideas are here to help.

5. Gourmet dining experience

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 3

Expected ROI: $$$$

Gourmet dining is a favorite among food fundraiser ideas. You just need a restaurant to donate a night, then charge folks to enter a raffle or purchase the evening. It’s easy, essentially free (if you can find the right restaurant donor) and can get really lucrative results.

6. International food fair

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 3-4

Expected ROI: $$-$$$

Donated food, donated time, in-kind furniture, and grounds: You’ve got yourself an affordable and profitable event, though you’ll have to spend serious time planning.

7. Brewery or Winery Tasting and Tour

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 3-4

Expected ROI: $$$-$$$$

Like gourmet dinners, the brewery or winery donates the tasting tour and you reap the rewards. It’s easy to add to a raffle or auction, and you’ll make good money on it, though setting up such events tends to be complex.

8. Baking or cooking challenge

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 4-5

Expected ROI: $$$-$$$$

Are you into “Chopped,” “Cupcake Wars,” “Is it Cake,” or “The Great British Baking Show”? Then, you’ll love these food fundraising ideas. They’ll take serious planning, but they’re inexpensive if local chefs donate the venue and ingredients, and you can pull in a lot of donations.

Partnership Food Fundraisers

Have partners or corporate sponsors who are standing by to help? These food fundraising ideas rely on partnerships to make them tick, but they have a lot of financial potential.

9. Food truck festival

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 4

Expected ROI: $$$

Food trucks unite! Get a food cart pod to donate free or reduced food, let your community know, do little work, make lots of money.

10. Local restaurant week

Cost: $

Difficulty: 3-4

Expected ROI: $$$

Dine out for a cause! Such food fundraising ideas, like food carts, require food donations, coupons or raffles, little prep work for you and good intake.

11. Pop-up cafe with partnered businesses

Cost: $

Difficulty: 3

Expected ROI: $$

Have some fun foodie partners you’d like to work with? Choose a spot (ideally one that’s already rented by somebody), set up a shop for the day and serve food to paying customers. It’s easy, and you can keep the proceeds!

12. Grocery store round-up

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$

Of all the food fundraising ideas, this one is best at helping people in need. Solicit donations from all your local grocery stores, then combine them into a food drive. Although you won’t make tons of money, you’ll get your name out there and may receive financial donations from the community, too.

Family-Friendly Food Fundraisers

Food fundraising ideas may see a better turnout if they’re family-friendly. That means planning activities that appeal to kids and leaving the grownup pursuits — for instance, fine dining, knifework or alcohol — behind.

13. Make your own pizza kit

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$-$$$

No explanation needed. Have families pay a small fee, and they’ll get all the necessary ingredients to make their own pizzas with donated goods. Plus, it’s an excellent way for families to connect or couples to have a date night. Easy, no-fuss and you get the proceeds.

14. Learn the basics cooking/baking class

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 3

Expected ROI: $$$

Kids need basic cooking skills, so getting a class donated by a local restaurant or bakery is a fun and affordable food fundraising idea. You take home the cover charge and the bakery does good in the world.

15. Favorite recipes cookbook

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$

Everyone sends in a recipe; you bind it into a book using affordable or donated services and then sell it. You can even make this a digital cookbook, saving you the cost of materials for building the book, which is an ideal online food fundraiser idea.

16. Reverse restaurant

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 3-4

Expected ROI: $$-$$$

A fun twist on a dinner-out fundraiser! Kids are the cooks and parents/teachers are the customers. All you have to do is source donations for the food and charge a cover fee to attend, and the school or team gets the money.

Seasonal Food Fundraisers

Some food fundraiser ideas only work at certain times of the year. If your organization has seasonal activities/initiatives, or if you simply want a way to celebrate the holidays you love, these events have you covered.

17. Candy grams

Cost: $

Difficulty: 1

Expected ROI: $$

Valentine’s food fundraising ideas? We’ve got you. Candy grams are a delightful way for donors and participants to send a little love for a low-cost fee. It’s a cheap and easy ongoing event that can make good revenue depending on how many you sell.

18. Gingerbread/cooking decorating contest

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2-3

Expected ROI: $$

As for holiday food fundraising ideas, this may be the most crowd-pleasing, because everyone loves a gingerbread house. Make it a competition? You’ll have interest from people of all ages and backgrounds. Ask for in-kind donations in the form of ingredients/kits and a prize like a gift card to a local business, charge a cover fee and host your event. Medium-range in terms of work and price, but good income.

19. Thanksgiving potluck

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$

This one is hecka seasonal! Have everyone in your church or nonprofit bring a dish, then charge a low cover fee. You won’t make a ton, but you’ll pay almost nothing and it’s so easy.

20. Flower cookie bouquets

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$-$$$

Celebrating spring or Mother’s Day? Flower cookie bouquets are a perfect item to sell in person or online. Folks pay for them at an upcharge in honor of a loved one, so they’re willing to spend, while you pay minimally for ingredients and overhead (especially if you get everything donated).

Unique Food Fundraisers

Want to break the mold? These food fundraising ideas will do just that.

21. Cookie and beer/wine pairing

Cost: $

Difficulty: 3

Expected ROI: $$-$$$

Booze and cookies? Why? It’s one of our favorite food fundraiser ideas and is easy and affordable. Ask local breweries and wineries to donate booze for the cause, then combine it with a cookie tasting. (Girl Scout Cookie season anyone?) Host it at HQ or the winery/brewery to minimize costs and maximize profits.

22. Subscription snack/meal boxes

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 4-5

Expected ROI: $$$-$$$$

Everyone loves online food fundraising ideas, and this is one of the best. It takes some coordination, so it’s a bit difficult to launch. Once you set up your online shop, though, it’s easy and profitable. It can be an evergreen way of making non-dues revenue, if you keep the pipeline of packaged food donations coming.

23. Edible art show

Cost: $$

Difficulty: 4

Expected ROI: $$$

It’s art. And you eat it. Source creative contributions from your community, turn them into a gallery, then charge a cover or set up an auction or raffle. Medium cost, medium work, for decent profits.

24. Reverse bake sale

Cost: $

Difficulty: 2

Expected ROI: $$$

Pay donations to not eat a baked good. How’s that for creative food fundraising ideas? There’s no actual baking involved; rather, it’s a fundraising campaign with a fake menu. Think:

• Fruit cake
• Mud pie
• Burnt brownie
• Super-sour candy
• Mystery cookies

… and other things no one wants to eat. Set prices for each on your “menu,” either online or in person, and collect the donations for a nearly-free and super-easy event.

How to Have a Successful Food Fundraiser

All right, so you’ve got food fundraising ideas on lockdown. Like, seriously, you’re good for the next five to ten years.

But all the ideas in the world are moot if you don’t use best practices to ensure your event goes off without a hitch. That means spreading the word effectively, connecting with the right people in your community, offering digital options for those who don’t have time to make it to an in-person event and using fundraising software wisely.

Spread the Word with Social Media

To paraphrase a “Field of Dreams” quote: If you build it but don’t tell anyone about it, they won’t come, no matter how great your food fundraising ideas are. That’s why promoting your fundraiser is so important, as soon as you nail down the details, of course.

First and foremost, take a social media-forward approach. Make sure the event appears on all your channels regularly, beginning as soon as you’ve figured out the whens, wheres and whyfors.

Ideas for posts include:

• Save the date announcements at the beginning
• Full event details once you’ve got them
• Ramp-up content with behind-the-scenes looks at your event
• Showcases of what will be available in the raffle or auction
• Profiles of important chefs or community members
• Information on digital or hybrid options

And, when all is said and done and your successful event has passed, make sure to send a big social media to your sponsors and donors as well as an individualized donor thank you.

Make sure that you also send these details out on email blasts with the same regularity and information as you’re putting on social media, but with less frequency. People do not appreciate the same timing in their inboxes as on Instagram, so don’t risk being perceived as spam.

Connect with Your Community

Beyond social and email, there are other ways to let your community know about your food fundraising ideas.

Sometime’s it’s just as simple as walking into your local businesses and connecting with business owners and regulars. Talk to those out and about in your community, build relationships and they’ll be more inclined to support your fundraising initiatives. Word-of-mouth marketing is one of the best marketing strategies; we want to help those we trust.

Consider posting a fundraising thermometer online or at organization headquarters to let people know how much you’ve collected over the course of your event (especially if it’s one that uses pre-orders or donations beforehand). These tend to spark donations, ticket sales or orders toward the end of your campaign – everyone wants to see a goal achieved!

You should also leverage every stage of your nonprofit marketing funnel. For instance, you can use the fundraiser to raise awareness for potential donors. If your organization values cultural education, showcase bringing the two together. “Here’s a cool event our org does all the time: We’re hosting an Asian culture food festival!” This will bring in new supporters who are likely to keep coming back for the mission-focused part of your fundraiser.

At the other end of the funnel, where your die-hard ambassadors lie, you can inform them about all your food fundraising ideas upfront so they can start telling people as soon as possible.

Offer Digital Options

Food fundraising ideas only go so far if you limit them to in-person events. There are two ways to take them further:

1. Make some events online-only: Ask partners and sponsors to donate edible packaged goods online, set the item up in your store with the amount of each available item, and then ship it when purchased. You can also do pre-orders this way, to highlight either your own goods or those from in-kind partners.
2. Create hybrid events: Want to give folks a chance to join in on an event from home or anywhere in the world? Make your events hybrid, holding raffles or auctions online as well as in-person so anyone can participate.

Simplify with Software

Last but not least, you have to have good software on your side. The right programs and integrations will help you 

• Automate email promotions
• Build a high-quality fundraising page on your website
• Utilize online shopping technology
• Plan and promote your event

The right software will do two things: replace old or analog systems that just don’t get it done in the digital age, and play nicely with the digital programs you love and want to keep. WildApricot is exactly that, a cost-effective way to update your systems, drive more traffic and see better performance at every fundraiser from now on.

If that sounds pretty good, then it’s time to start a 60-day free trial of WildApricot today.

Best of luck with your food fundraisers!

The post Fundraise with Flavor: 24 Creative Food Fundraising Ideas That Actually Work appeared first on WildApricot.

Or figuring out which of your donors have received a thank-you letter?

Or maybe you just want an easier way to record which items you’ve gotten for a campaign so far so that you know which ones you still need to do outreach for?

Whatever the case, if you’re looking for a donation list template that you can use easily when receiving donations for your silent auction or soliciting in-kind donations, you’ve come to the right place.

I’ve created this donation list template so that your organization never loses track of which donations you’ve gotten, as well as who sent them and whether or not they’ve received a thank-you letter.

I’ve also filled in the first couple of rows so that you can see how it would look for your organization.

Download this template now so that you can keep track of all the donations you receive and the thank-you letters you send!

Best of luck with collecting donations!

The post The Donation List Template Your Organization Needs to Stay on Track appeared first on WildApricot.