Crowdfunding is a transformative strategy that can be used to harness the power of a large network or group and garner support. 

A crowdfunding campaign is typically hosted when an individual or group needs to raise money for an important cause in a limited time span. Some common examples of causes include medical expenses, nonprofit funds, political campaigns, and even animal welfare missions. 

Once you’ve solidified your cause, you’ll want to select a platform that best meets your fundraising needs. Then, you’ll begin raising awareness and promoting your fundraiser. There are quite a few channels you can use to market your campaign. The most generic route is to utilize digital marketing, but sometimes choosing other channels, like direct mail, can provide for a pleasant and powerful alternative. 

In this article, we’ll discuss how you can utilize direct mail as a marketing tool to spread the word about your crowdfunding campaign. Here are three specific ways that direct mail can support your virtual efforts:

1. Get the word out about your campaign.
2. Break through the digital clutter.
3. Build long-term donor relationships.

Leveraging the power of direct mail is a unique way to promote your campaign, which can lead to increased awareness and immense engagement. But first, let’s answer a common question nonprofits have about direct mail: is direct still a viable marketing method and can it benefit their outreach strategy?

Is direct mail worthwhile for nonprofits?

Before launching a direct mail campaign, nonprofits need to determine if traditional mail will be worth the return on the investment. Compared to email and social media, direct mail can get expensive with built-in costs for printing and postage. 

However, direct mail is far from dead as reports from nonprofit research show:

• Direct mail is the second most popular way to give after online donations.
• When compared to response rates for email (0.1%) and paid search (0.6%), direct mail is the clear winner with 5.3%.
• Traditional marketing channels are generally seen as more trustworthy with 75% of consumers stating they trust direct mail to help them make purchasing decisions.
• Nonprofits often find success when using a mix of direct mail and online marketing as direct mail makes donors three times more likely to make an online donation.
• Direct mail helps nonprofits make a personal connection with 75% of donors stating that receiving a personalized letter makes them feel special.

Of course, whether direct mail benefits your crowdfunding campaign depends on how your nonprofit approaches this marketing channel. Personalize your content, make sure your letters seem trustworthy, and have your online donation page ready to go after mailing out your fundraising appeals. 

1. Get the word out about your campaign

Your direct mail should bring awareness to your virtual campaign and encourage donors to get involved. If you implement this correctly, not only will it create another channel of communication between your organization and your supporters, but it will also raise engagement due to the multi-faceted marketing approach. 

The first step in using direct mail to support your campaign is to leverage your existing donors. If you have carried out direct mail campaigns (or just about any other fundraiser) in the past, you should have donor profiles from existing supporters who already give to your organization. These individuals should be targets for your campaign, making sure they’re aware of your ongoing virtual efforts as well. 

After talking to existing supporters, make sure that your direct mail is also used as a way to follow up and thank top donors for their contributions to your campaign. If you include personal touches like their name and donation amount, it may even encourage them to donate again!

If you implement direct mail to complement your existing marketing efforts, your donors will become more engaged with your overall campaign. This shouldn’t be different than any other marketing campaign for your organization. After all, you already know that direct mail is still one of the most effective marketing channels for nonprofit organizations, so you’d be remiss to leave it out of your crowdfunding strategy.

2. Break through the digital clutter

One of the most sought-after commodities is your supporters’ engagement and attention. They are pulled left and right by competitors and other distractions—especially when it comes to online engagement. So how can you avoid this? Well, the easiest answer is by engaging with them from outside the digital realm by implementing direct mail in your marketing efforts.

This may seem counterintuitive because crowdfunding is a largely virtual phenomenon, so why would you want to pull your donors away from the computer? The answer lies in grabbing their attention. This is where you have to get creative to implement powerful engagement techniques such as personalized letters and calls to action for your donor. 

If you execute a successful direct mail campaign and nail your fundraising ask, you are likely going to rekindle a sense of engagement with your donor. They will not look at your campaign as “another digital ad” but instead a personalized call to action, asking them to contribute to your campaign. This will not only lead to higher engagement but may also lead to increased generosity and a long term relationship with your donor. 

3. Build long-term donor relationships

Speaking of long-term supporter relationships, a direct mailing is more personal than a social media share, and donors will feel more inclined to get involved with your organization in the long run when you put extra effort in. 

Now that we know why we need to use direct mail to support our crowdfunding campaign, the next step is to garner retention with your donors to keep them coming back time and time again. There are three main strategies to begin to build long term relationships and improve donor retention:

• Relate the donation to the mission. When writing your direct mail appeals, make sure to include a clear and compelling mission statement. If your mission is clear, it provides your donor with a tangible idea of where their money is going. Plus, it allows your donors to feel a deeper connection to the overall mission and vision of your organization. 
• Attach each donation with its direct impact. Going a few steps further, you can even communicate the exact dollar amount of a donation with its tangible aspect. Supporting impoverished children is great, but supplying a student with nutritious lunches for a week with a $15 gift is better. In clearly describing their impact, you share the success of their donation with them. This creates a sense of connection between you and your donor and encourages supporters to continue giving to make a difference.
• Express gratitude. Thanking donors should be as important as asking for gifts. After all, showing appreciation is one of the easiest ways to keep them engaged with your organization. It’s also an opportunity to provide an update or remind them of the impact their donation made. This way, they remember the donation and may consider making another one because you made them feel appreciated and a part of your mission. 

Direct mail can immensely improve your donor relationships and bring awareness to your crowdfunding campaign due to its personal touch and ease in building long term relationships. Just remember to continue updating your CRM and thanking your donors throughout the continued donor lifecycle. 

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All in all, direct mail is an immensely important tool that can be used to support your crowdfunding campaigns in powerful ways. When you implement direct mail effectively, you get to see the benefits of a successful crowdfunding campaign and the impact it brings to your mission. 

Remember to use direct mail to spread the word about your campaign, use it to break the digital barrier, and increase your donor retention overall. If you use direct mail and implement these three tips, your campaign should see much more success and engagement overall. Good luck!

This was a guest post contributed by Grant Cobb of GivingMail.

Grant Cobb is a fundraising specialist with over 6 years of experience in the nonprofit space. Currently the head of marketing and analytics at GivingMail, he is a huge proponent of data-driven decision making and the push to bring high-level analytics and fundraising to all.

It’s no surprise that in 2020 alone, the number of organizations hosting virtual events has doubled. With a global pandemic on our hands, nonprofit organizations needed to find a way to step up and get donors to show up— all in a virtual world. 

Based on the Virtual Events Research Report, creating a donation page is one of the most effective donation tactics you can use at a virtual event. Sounds easy enough, right? Shockingly, only 25% of those surveyed were actually following through and creating a page. And even more, only 8% of respondents were using peer-to-peer fundraising or crowdfunding efforts to gain additional revenue. 

This begs the question: Why are so many organizations leaving money on the table? 

But your organization is different, because you’re here and you know what to do for your virtual event’s donation page. At least, you will after you check out these seven best practices for creating a donation page so good it will help your organization raise as much money as possible during your next virtual event. Here’s to 2020 showing us just how adaptable and agile nonprofiteers like you can be. 

Best Practice #1: Tie Your Donation Page to the Event.

You already know that people respond well to content that’s catered to them. This is the reason targeted advertising exists, or email marketing campaigns with your name in the subject line. When it comes to your virtual event, the donations you receive related to your event are no different. They’re special and you should call that out.

You’ll want to create a special event page that ties in donations raised specifically from the virtual event. Take this page as an example from the Teen Kitchen Project. Notice that the page calls out how many donations have been given as a result of this campaign, how far the organization still has to go to reach their goal, and more information about the organization and the fundraiser itself. 

In addition, remember to create a sense of urgency. A great way to do this includes adding pop-ups like the one seen below. This tactic ensures the donate button is front and center multiple times throughout the potential donor’s journey to explore your event page. 

Other examples to create a sense of urgency include adding a countdown showing when the virtual event ends. Tell your potential donors why it’s vital that you get the resources you need right away. Make sure to use language that evokes emotion from your donors. 

Best Practice #2: Make it Shareable.

They say sharing is caring, and your organization should definitely care about your attendees sharing! Amplifying your efforts can happen more and more if you have made it easy for virtual attendees to spread the good news.

One way to do this? Include easily clickable buttons for social sharing. If possible, pre-populate a status that your event participants can quickly edit to make their own. Making it as easy as possible to share increases the likelihood that your supporters will. 

This is also something important to work into your peer-to-peer fundraising. Encourage your participants to share, share, SHARE. There’s no such thing as oversharing here (well, as long as it’s about your organization). The key is to make it easy for your supporters to share the event. 

Then, you’ll want to continue to share your page during the event. Make sure to encourage your event participants to do the same. 

The popup that appears can encourage people to share, especially since social sharing has proven time and time again to be a valuable way to garner support. 

Best Practice #3: Make Donation Levels Clear

Sometimes, lack of instruction can lead to lost donations. If it isn’t easy and it isn’t clear, you’re bound to lose donors quickly. Since things are moving fast during a virtual event, it’s imperative that you outline donation levels and what they mean.

Remember that you’ll want to be as clear and concise as possible about what it is your organization needs and how donors can fill that need. 

Clearly indicating which amounts provide what on the donation page itself, like on this page, can help supporters make up their minds more quickly. As an added bonus, it may even encourage potential donors to give more when they see the needs they’re filling. So not only should you list the amount, but put it into perspective for your potential donor by outlining what that donation means.

Best Practice #4: Add Personal Touches

Don’t forget the essence of what fundraising is all about—the actual cause. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the technical event planning process and forget that the most important takeaway is that you connect with potential donors on the cause. 

There are two aspects to every virtual event and the donations you receive. One is the technical aspect of pulling off a virtual event donation page. For example, how easy is it for your potential donors to get involved, donate, and share. The other is to remember that you have to pull at their heartstrings and relate with them on a personal level to connect in a way that garners their support.

Once you’ve done all of the technical aspects of getting your donation and event page ready, read through as if you’re a potential donor who has never heard of your organization. Ask yourself—would you be compelled to give? Does the message of what your organization stands for shine though? If not, it’s time to go back in and add some love to the page.

Added bonus—as you’re gearing up for your event check out these live streaming tips. Once the streaming is over, add the video to your donation page for a personal touch. Don’t let the fear of technology keep you from hosting your best event yet.

Best Practice #5: Make Donating Easy

We’re asking you to keep it simple. Your donors shouldn’t get frustrated trying to navigate donating to your organization. Sometimes, organizations can be standing in their own way. So make donating online easy. We’re talking easy to navigate, easy to fill out the form, and just plain simple all around. 

Make sure that you’re gathering the least amount of information necessary. If possible, allow payments with popular one-step apps like Paypal or others.

Best Practice #6: Update Your Donors

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it… well, you know the rest. Your donors should always be informed of the larger goal you’re trying to reach. Why? Because they’re interested, they want to help, and they will do anything to keep spreading the word. Your small reminders will help nudge them toward giving again or finding peers that will. 

If you’ve been fundraising prior to your event, keep track of how close you are to your goal. That way, during the event, you can let them know how much is left to raise and ask them to help you to hit your goal. 

You can reach out to your donors via email, social media, or by including updates on the donation page itself like this example. 

Remember that if you never try, you’ll never know the success you could see. According to our 2020 virtual events research report, only 10% of respondents who had already run virtual events said that they were unsuccessful. However, those who didn’t try to engage attendees were 150% more likely to be unsuccessful — so make sure to continue engaging your attendees! 

This can also help build engagement and excitement as your supporters see how they’ve contributed to getting you closer and closer to your goal. 

Best Practice #7: Provide Next Steps

So you’ve followed all of the steps and hosted a successful virtual fundraiser. Now what? It’s easy to forget about next steps with all of the excitement and anticipation surrounding the event. But as a nonprofit professional, you always have to be one step ahead.

Make sure to use your donation page to capture information so you can follow up with attendees, participants, and donors after the event. Simply use an email capture box or pop up to let them know you want to keep them involved in your organization. Somebody may be incredibly interested in your organization, but unable to donate or volunteer at this time. This allows you to cultivate the relationship over time.

You’ll want to let them know the final totals (as mentioned in best practice #6!), but also let them know about additional ways to stay updated and get involved with your organization. Don’t forget to ask all attendees for feedback on how to improve the next event. 

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As nonprofit professionals agree, a donation page for your virtual event is a sure way to increase your fundraising revenue. So what’s standing in your way? Putting in the effort will take your organization further in our increasingly digital world. 

Remember that although donation pages are one of the best ways to fundraise during virtual events, they’re not the only way. For more virtual events fundraising ideas and other virtual event best practices, make sure to check out our 2020 virtual events research report. 

Best of luck with your virtual events!

This was a guest post contributed by Wild Apricot.