10 Mistakes To Avoid When Running an Online Fundraising Campaign

An online fundraiser is an effective way to obtain money your charity needs to grow and thrive. Online fundraisers are more than just putting a big “donate now” button on your website and mentioning it a few times. Online fundraisers take work, and like everything else planning. Here are 10 mistakes you should avoid when running an online fundraising campaign.

Lack of Planning
You can’t just decide to raise money; you have to have a plan set up first.

• You have to have a goal in mind. You can’t just say you’re going to raise some money; you need to know exactly how much you want to raise.
• Don’t go into your online fundraising campaign without a team set up. Gather people who are excited about your charity and that have the contacts to spread the word.
• How will you get people to your site to donate? They won’t just happened to wander on there, seethe donate now button and send you money. You need to funnel people onto your site with social media posts, email campaigns, and blog posts.

Don’t Drop the Ball

Once your online fundraising campaign is in full swing you need to keep the momentum going.

• Don’t just look at the big money goal. Break your goal up into smaller ones. If you break it up into smaller goals you can get people excited about reaching them. Too many charities make the mistake of just focusing on the end result.
• Don’t just announce you’re having an online fundraising campaign and expect the donations to come rolling in. You have to create a buzz about it. Announce it on your website, set up social media accounts and talk about it, post videos showing how your charity has helped people and how you plan on using the money you raise to help more people.
• Get your team excited and have them keep contacting potential donors.

Please and Thank You
Asking the right way and then thanking your donors is important.

• Don’t spam your potential donors. Yes you want to send out emails about your online fundraising campaign, but you also don’t want your email to end up in the trash unread. Time your emails out to around three per week, or at the most once a day.
• Ask everyone. Don’t make the mistake of thinking someone may not want to donate. You can’t receive unless you ask.
• Don’t just take their money, say thank you. Set up a personal autoresponder message to be sent out as soon as someone donates on your website. Also thank all of the people involved with your online fundraising campaign.
• Once people have donated, don’t leave them hanging. Develop relationships with your donors. Use social media to stay connected, use the information you gathered during the donation process to send them emails, and try to recruit them to help with your charity.

An online fundraising campaign is an excellent way to raise money for your cause. But you have to approach it correctly for it to be truly effective. Use these tips to avoid mistakes and you can have a very successful fundraiser to raise money for your charity or non-profit organization.

Read more:

• Online Fundraising Growing Rapidly