Online giving is becoming an industry must. It is not enough to just to have it available, but you must be directing your donors to your online giving form as the top way to give directly to your organization. In a study done by Network for Good on digital giving trends in 2014, 55% of donations came through nonprofit giving pages. In 2015, 60% of donations came through nonprofit giving pages. This does take into account all giving pages: standard online giving, crowdfunding, appeals, employee giving, etc. In a charitable giving report done by Blackbaud in 2014, 6.7% of an organization’s donations came from online giving. In 2015, 7.1% of an organization’s donations came from online giving. The conclusion by both platforms is that online giving continues to grow at a faster rate than overall giving.
With this being said, it must be a top priority for your organization to have a targeted plan for online and overall giving growth in place, especially as Giving Tuesday approaches. Click here to see specific steps toward increasing your online giving. DonorLynk has put together some of our top tips for preparing your online giving for the season of giving.
Tip 1: Dependable Plan, Dependable Platform
First tip in your preparation? Start with a plan! Combine the efforts of your development and marketing teams to build a strategy that makes sense for existing donors and new donors you are working to reach. Partner the right plan with the right platform, providing a portal for increased online giving to pour into.
Tip 2: Personal Appeal, Wide Reach
When crafting your plan, begin with crafting emails for all donors, but that speak more personally to the individual versus the mass. Next, use social media to direct attention to joining your organization’s mission now and planning to give, for the first time or the tenth time, on the last Tuesday of November. Educate, then involve. According to a charitable giving report done by Blackbaud in 2015, 29% of giving for the year is done in December, so truly, Giving Tuesday is just the kick off for the biggest giving time of the year.
Tip 3: Remind, Remind, Remind
Combine the efforts of email and social media appeals with frequent reminders. This gives donors as many opportunities as they can see, hear, and touch to give, and to educate and involve themselves with your organization (mentioned again from above because it is of great value to have donors KNOW what you love to do and need to do before they pledge to GIVE to what you do).
Tip 4: Give This Tuesday, Give EVERY Tuesday
The plan has been put into action and the platform in place, so our final tip? Utilize your strategy for the most popular season for giving in ALL seasons. Take the time to encourage your donors to set up recurring giving when they give, so their gift truly does keep in giving. They have been educated, they are involved, and giving regularly opens up the door for donors to give not just money, but also time and passion to your organization.
Sign up for our DonorLynk platform today, just in time to finalize your #GivingTuesday strategy!
Marianna Woodruff is a Business Development Executive at DonorLynk, LLC. DonorLynk is focused on helping nonprofits increase effectiveness and efficiency.