After more than a year of lockdowns, most nonprofits are striving to use virtual fundraising to raise money for their cause. But what is virtual fundraising, and what exactly can you do with it? Keep reading to see our 10 quick and easy virtual fundraising ideas that we curated just for you.
What is Virtual Fundraising?
Virtual fundraising is the act of organizing online fundraiser events for your nonprofit. You can have virtual fundraisers for a specific cause, or to raise money for your organization in general. This allows people to support you from all around the world.
Since the world is changing so quickly, adapting to current circumstances is a must. Most nonprofits are switching to virtual fundraising campaigns to reach more people. Even if you have a small and local community, an online platform would highly benefit your growth.
How Virtual Fundraising Can Benefit Your Nonprofit:
- It’s convenient. You can use a nonprofit fundraising software to build event pages with a few clicks, and collect donations from within your platform. Virtual fundraising ideas can easily help you expand your reach.
- It’s accessible. Supporters can view, join, and donate to your campaigns from wherever they are. You don’t need to limit your reach to your local community anymore — you can reach anyone, anywhere. All you need to do is share the link!
- It builds connections. Most people prefer online communication over face-to-face contact. Because you can create online fundraisers easier and more often, you can also quicken and strengthen in-organization communication. Give your supporters and volunteers an easier platform to bond through.
- It’s diverse. Nowadays, face-to-face fundraisers are getting dull and repetitive. There are many unique virtual fundraising opportunities for you to try.
Check out the list we curated for some fun examples:
10 Quick and Easy Virtual Fundraising Ideas You Can Try Right Now
1- Online Course, Class, or Workshop
Creating online classes is one of the most tried-and-true virtual fundraising ideas. And for good reason: They always get attention if done right.
Online classes allow your supporters to learn new things while supporting you. Invite people who know a lot about a certain subject as guest instructors, and make them give lectures on their area of expertise. Make sure to pick a subject related to your nonprofit, or one you know your supporter base will be interested in. Then, add a certain attendance fee or create limited tickets. You can host these classes using online meeting software like Zoom or Google Meet very easily.
You can also send out completion certificates via email to those who complete the courses. This will increase the sense of importance for your event, and make attendees feel achieved.
2- “Donate Your Day” Campaign
Depending on your nonprofit’s main cause, “donate your day” might be the right choice for you. These are made to encourage people to donate on important personal dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries.
You’ve probably seen couples who donate to nonprofits instead of doing a wedding or going on a honeymoon. These campaigns are similar in nature, only on a smaller scale. You can create an individual event page to advertise your “donate a day” for a limited time, or have it be always available. You can also send out celebratory ecards that include how much people donated, and what date they wanted to commemorate. This is a great way to encourage donations because it adds sentimental value.
3- Virtual Tour
If your nonprofit has an office or a facility, consider hosting a virtual tour of your dedicated place. This will provide a closer look at who you are, what your organization does, and how you operate. It will also make you seem more human to far away supporters who’ve never seen you in person.
Show around your office, explain certain items related to your cause that carry value. You can introduce your staff and volunteers along the way as well.
4- Online Book Club
Organize a virtual book club with monthly or bi-monthly virtual meetings. This is a great virtual fundraising solution for smaller groups looking for an excuse to read more books. These events will help you build a sincere community and have direct conversations with your supporters.
You can pick books based on your nonprofit’s area of interest, or have themed months for diversity. Another option is to read your supporters’ favorite books one-by-one. Don’t be afraid to unleash your creativity to come up with books, themes, or other related ideas.
Some organizations vote against book clubs because they believe they aren’t profitable. Though you can’t exactly ticket them, building strong relationships within your community will surely encourage more donations to come your way. Trying it can’t hurt!
5- Online Movie Night
In the same vein as book clubs, another one of our virtual fundraising ideas is to host virtual movie nights. You can pick out a movie about your fundraising cause for added interest. Ticketed admittance and/or a “donate as much as you like” event will work well with this idea.
Watching a movie together with many people on a platform like Zoom may be difficult for many reasons. Instead, you can try an approach similar to a book club: Everyone can watch the movie on the same day, and have a discussion group session in the evening, for example.
6- T-Shirt Fundraising
Having branded merchandise for your nonprofit is important. It increases bonds between your organization and your supporters, as well as creates a point of conversation outside of your circle. Increase your recognition by creating merch for your organization and selling it to your supporters online. The most popular form of this is called “t-shirt fundraising”, which is done by all reputable organizations today.
7- Merch Design Contest
If you’ve read the previous suggestion and don’t know where to start with your nonprofit merch, look no further. An idea you can implement to fix this is to run a merch design contest among your supporters. This is a fun idea that will increase engagement and create entertainment.
Make sure to contact your sponsors beforehand, so that the winners can get prizes. Then, you can even use their designs as your actual merch! — With their permission, of course.
8- Matching Gifts Program
A “matching gifts program” is when an employee donates to your nonprofit, and their company matches their donation. This doubles the amount you receive, as well as helps corporations and their employees support causes they believe in. It’s a great way to earn more to grow your organization.
If you’re interested in learning more about this program, check out one of our other blog posts that details the process.
9- “A-Thon” Event
“A-Thon” events (also sometimes called “Donate-a-thons”) are like a marathon for fundraising, as the name suggests. It’s a long form of crowdfunding event where you’re trying to reach a certain total of donations. They usually continue until you reach your goal, or are pleased with the outcome.
To make this long process more fun, a-thons are usually accompanied by an activity. Participants either join in on the activity and donate when they reach benchmarks, or simply watch and donate if they’re enjoying the content. Some examples of popular a-thons are read-a-tons, push-up-a-thons, walk-a-thons, dance-a-thons, or even code-a-thons.
10- Virtual Quiz/Trivia Competition
Try hosting a quiz competition for your nonprofit. The questions can be about your nonprofit, your cause, or just general trivia. You’ll see how playing into people’s competitiveness is a sure way to increase your donations. It will give them a reason to want to support your cause.
Of course, to host all of these events, manage attendance, and collect online payments, you will need an extensive nonprofit software solution.
Best Virtual Fundraising Software for Your Nonprofit: Raklet
Raklet’s all-in-one nonprofit fundraising software will help you with all of these virtual fundraising solutions, and do even more. Use our software to streamline all your nonprofit management needs. Our powerful integrations and easy-to-use interface will provide you with the best platform you can use.
Check out how Achilles International uses Raklet to maximize their fundraising efficiency.
Try out Raklet’s robust software with our forever-free plan, then make use of our 50% discount for nonprofits. Create your account now to see how Raklet can help your nonprofit thrive.
Read some of our other related articles below:
