Fundraising is not always an easy process. People are getting solicited left and right, and simply asking people for donations at random just doesn’t cut it anymore. People have very short attention spans and there are so many different causes and organizations to give to. This is why you need to learn how to show your value proposition fast, use the right tools, but also avoid some crucial mistakes that could turn prospective donors away. Here are some of the common fundraising mistakes you need to avoid.
Only Using One Approach
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is focusing on only one or two outreach methods. This is often the case with organizations with a more traditionalist attitude. This is also something we tend to see with political campaigns.
Yes, traditional outreach methods still work, but they’re labor-intensive, aren’t as measurable, and leave huge blind spots. You need to start embracing a variety of online and digital marketing tools if you want to stand out in this day and age.
One tool that remains largely underused is SMS marketing. This is easily one of the most powerful tools any non-profit organization can use. If you have a sizable list of contacts, you could get tons of donations simply by sending texts at the right moments.
SMS marketing is particularly powerful for political organizations like Super Pacs. Super PAC fundraising through SMS marketing is extremely simple and allows you to not only attract donations but raise awareness of certain policies and candidates. If you want to learn more about Super PAC fundraising and SMS marketing, Tatango has a great article on the subject.
Using a One Size Fits All Approach
If you don’t have a well-organized and well-segmented donor database and a system to personalize your approach based on who you’re talking to, you’re making a huge mistake.
You cannot send the same message to everybody. People who give thousands to your organization cannot be approached in the same way as casual donors. People who have been actively donating also need to be approached differently than people who may have given big donations in the past but have since drifted away.
This is why you need to have a solid non-profit CRM system in place. This will allow you to keep track of your donors and establish a clear tier system. You’ll get a clear profile of all your donors and be able to not only solicit them during fundraising efforts but show them appreciation as well.
Having a Poor Donation Page
Your donation page needs to be top-notch for it to work and send the right impression. It needs to be professionally made and tell people exactly why they should be giving. It should have as much information about your cause as possible while making the donation process very simple with lots of payment options and donation schemes. It would also be a good idea to A/B test a variety of formats and see which one works the best.
Conclusion
These are all things you need to be careful with during fundraising campaigns. Start with a solid plan and use all the tools at your disposal while keeping a clear view of your objectives and making your donors understand the value of their donations.
