Steps to Run a Successful Fundraising Campaign

Whether it’s a nonprofit in need of more financial support or politicians gearing up for the next election cycle, a fundraising campaign can help boost awareness around a specific goal or effort. However, when planning a fundraising campaign, there are hundreds of details to take care of and tasks to tackle. Those in charge of putting together the fundraising campaign plan need to write campaign page copy, send resources to meet fundraisers, segment email lists, collect graphics, etc.

While most campaigns are different from one another, some standard best practices can help make a successful fundraising campaign happen. Use these steps below to learn how to run a successful fundraising campaign.

Start Soft

A soft launch to a smaller, more targeted group of supporters helps build campaign momentum before an official launch to the public. People are more likely to donate to a campaign when there is already some money raised, which helps to gain traction from early adopted audiences. Soft-launching a fundraising campaign ensures groups can work out any errors and present a more polished campaign to the broader public when they’re ready.

Bring Branding to the Forefront

Strong branding helps build trust with supports and serves the much more essential purpose of confirming that a campaign belongs to a particular cause. It can be confusing to potential fundraisers if a nonprofit’s brand and logos aren’t the same. This is especially important when marketing a campaign throughout various channels, including email, social media, and snail-mail.

Groups should create a unique logo and theme for their new campaign that’s different from the group’s official logo but still uses the same colors. When people see this, they’ll more easily identify the drive and the group.

Encourage Recurring Gifts

Recurring donors are more valuable to a nonprofit or political campaign than single donors. Groups should start out every campaign by requesting that donors consider giving consistently, such as monthly donations. In messaging to donors, groups can push to the monthly gift option with calls-to-action, incentives for monthly givers, and detailing how much more of an impact a recurring gift is.

Create a Campaign Video

We all live in a continually evolving digital age filled with apps like Instagram and TikTok, and Snapchat, all pining for our attention through their video content. Groups can capitalize on this by creating video campaigns to supplement their marketing strategies. Videos are versatile and can help most marketing channels, the campaign page itself, or indirect gift requests. From showing the group’s team on the ground hard at work to featuring stories about the impact a donation makes, these videos are vital in giving potential donors a real-life look at why their contribution and support are crucial.

Matching Periods

Matching periods inspire excitement and motivation among supporters. Often matching gifts instills a sense of urgency in donors and supporters to give instantly instead of waiting. Groups can promote their matching gift period at the start of a campaign to boost excitement from the start.

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