While there are no hard or fast rules when it comes to fundraising, there are a few general rules of thumb that can make it easier to raise the funds that your nonprofit needs to meet its obligations to its service community while continuing to operate and grow at a sustainable rate. The following guidelines can help ensure that your nonprofit’s next fundraiser is a success!

Review and Adapt Your Fundraising Techniques

Many NFPs experience some initial success with their fundraising efforts, but then fall into the trap of hosting the same types of fundraising events year after year. Periodically, it’s always a good idea to review your fundraising efforts to determine what did, and did not work well, and come up with strategies to increase your fundraising results.

Rather than hosting the same fundraising drives year after year, look for ways to expand your fundraising efforts by changing the types of charity events that you host and diversifying the number and types of fundraising drives that you pursue each year.

Create Goals and Benchmarks to Measure Progress

As you create your fundraising strategies for the year, it’s very important that you set specific fundraising goals for your campaigns as well as set benchmarks that will help you to measure progress as well as to be able to test the success rate of specific messaging and campaigns.

By doing this at the start of your campaigns, you have a way to quickly measure their effectiveness so that you can make improvements and updates that will increase your success as your specific fundraising drive unfolds.

Understand What Motivates Your Donors to Give

When creating your messaging for your fundraising drives, it’s very important to understand who your target demographic or donor audience is, and what motivates them to give so that you can tailor the messaging and storytelling in your campaigns and increase its effectiveness as you appeal directly to your target audience.

Do Your Donors Really KNOW the Difference that their Donations Make?

Most nonprofits face tremendous competition for donations, and you can increase the effectiveness of your appeal by making certain that your donors really know, and understand the difference that their donations make.

In your appeals, try including examples of the impact that is made by specific levels of giving, such as $10, $50 and $100, and also include the type of work that can be accomplished with specific gifts that reoccur on a regular basis, such as monthly giving.

Don’t Forget to Express Your Gratitude

Everyone wants to feel appreciated and acknowledged, so don’t forget to promptly send a thank you to your donors. While a simple thank you donation page may be sufficient, many donors appreciate the extra time it takes to receive a simple hand written thank you on a card delivered by post.

For regular repeat donors and patrons that give large, one time bequests or other donations consider additional ways to show your nonprofit’s appreciation, such as including a list of donors in a literal “honor roll” on your website, or presenting a plaque, certificate or other award to donors that have really gone above and beyond in their efforts to support your organisation.