The Internet has opened up a plethora of communication opportunities for fundraisers. Here are 5 exciting online fundraising ideas you can try while planning your next nonprofit fundraising campaign.
Selling merchandise
Selling merchandise can be an effective way for nonprofits and charities to fundraise. Get merchandise such as t-shirts, coffee mugs, backpacks, baseball caps, etc designed yourself and sell them online. Go for designs that are funky and quirky such as that of marvel and superhero characters. Selling merchandise is not only a fun and engaging way to raise funds online but is also a win-win situation for both donors and nonprofits. This is because donors make a gift towards your nonprofit while still getting something back in return.
While you do so, do not forget to live up to the spirit of the season. Around special days, holidays and festivals, indulge in merchandise that is tailored to fit the theme of the occasion. For example, you may sell Christmas-themed t-shirts around Christmas, pink and pastel color handbags around women’s day or egg-shaped pen-holders for Easter.
Amazon Smile
Did you know that Amazon donates 0.5% of the total billing amount whenever an eligible AmazonSmile purchaser makes a purchase? Yes, that’s true!
How does it work? Amazon has a list of more than a million nonprofit organizations that fall under the category 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States Code.
Donors who support your charitable organization can select your organization name from the list. Each time your supporter shops on Amazon, your organization has the virtue of receiving an online donation based on their purchase. Until they decide to opt-out, you will continue receiving donations whenever they make a purchase. The donations will shoot up during festivals and occasions such as Christmas, Easter, etc when people tend to make purchases in huge numbers. This is an effortless way of raising funds without you having to do much. The only thing that you need to work on is making your supporters aware of the feature.
Facebook fundraisers
Facebook, the social media giant with over 1 billion daily active users, has its own fundraising tools. The Facebook fundraiser tools, which are cost-free, allow Facebook users to fundraise for a nonprofit, charity or for a personal cause. Users, from a repository of nonprofits, can select a nonprofit organization for whom they would like to raise donations.
This particular online giving tool has certainly made it easier for you and your organization to raise funds on Facebook. What your supporters need to do is select your organization and set up a dedicated page to raise funds from their peers. Nonprofits who use Facebook’s payment platform to process donations will have to pay no fee. This means 100% of the donations go to the charity without any service charge deductions.
Online Auction
Hosting an auction offline comes with its own limitations. The set time and venue might not be suitable for each and every supporter. Weekdays might be convenient for some while for a lot of people, weekends might work. The problem is solved if you run an around-the-clock auction for a week-long time, or for a set duration. That’s exactly where online auctions come into play. The online auction makes it easy, convenient and cheap for guests to take part in and make a bid at a day and time of their convenience. Again, as for any online fundraising method, you must have the knowledge to promote your campaign and approach the right audience for your niche. To auction an autograph of a celebrity, an antique item, etc can be a great idea to start with.
Online Game Tournament
That’s right! The online games you play to kill boredom might sound to be trivial. But it can turn to be a huge opportunity to raise funds for a good cause. Create an online game tournament or a series of challenges for as many supporters to participate. Encourage supporters to form teams with their peers by donating a nominal amount towards the cause. Make it more fun with top scorers winning a prize! Urge local businesses for prize sponsorships, make the event public and fun.
Online giving is a great way to reach your supporters where they already are. Your online asks makes it easy for your donors to respond as they can donate then and there!
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Last modified: March 17, 2020
