Mother’s Day is less than a month away. The holiday offers opportunities for nonprofits to raise money and celebrate the mothers in their lives. Read on to learn about five engaging fundraising ideas for Mother’s Day.

iConnectX’s Top Mother’s Day Fundraisers

1. Mother’s Day Brunch

You can elect to host a brunch fundraiser at your site, restaurant, or winery. This is also an opportunity to involve sponsors, like local vendors, allowing for co-branding on all marketing content. Depending on the venue, you can ask local food trucks if they will park outside of the site on the event day. You will probably want to reach out to potential vendors and sponsors right away since Mother’s Day is soon.

2. Coffee Break

Some moms would like to take the day off – so rather than asking them to put on makeup and dress up for brunch, you can deliver the party to your supporters. Organizations like Giving Bean and Grounds for Change offer coffee fundraising options with high-quality coffee, are easy to start and coordinate, provide custom labels and have no minimum fees. Often, organizations earn up to 40% profit. This is a great fundraiser to market on social media – don’t forget to employ peer-to-peer marketing!

3. Mother’s Day Cards

Since Mother’s Day is one of the most significant days for greeting card sales behind Christmas and Valentine’s Day. This is an opportunity for your nonprofit’s marketing and development teams to team up and create unique greeting cards to sell. If your team has a graphic designer, have them incorporate your logo into the design and a heartfelt message for moms.

4. Inspirational Women

Do you know women with impactful stories? How about board members, volunteers and donors? Request they share their stories on video for a marketing campaign and why they work with your nonprofit.

Storytelling is at the heart of your nonprofit. To fundraise, it’s important to share updates, impact stories and news consistently with your followers. During this campaign, request donations of specific amounts and explain why you set the goal. Is it to fund a particular program? Be specific. Also, choose comprehensive fundraising software with secure and versatile donation options like the ones we offer on iConnectX.

5. Breakfast in Bed

Hopefully, your organization has strong connections with local restaurants. This is an opportunity to make the most of these connections to get some Mother’s Day breakfast in bed boxes. Contact a restaurant in your community and ask them to donate (or sell for a reasonable price) a limited quantity of breakfast or brunch boxes. Social media is a great platform to leverage for marketing this event and offer to deliver the packages with a personal touch. Ask staff and volunteers to assist in delivering the boxes on Mother’s Day and have extra boxes available for your volunteers.

The Final Word 

Use these easy fundraising ideas to celebrate moms and help your cause. Plan as far in advance as possible and get the word out. If your timing is right, you have the right tools and ideas, and you can make your fundraiser successful.

iConnectX is a comprehensive fundraising platform that offers everything you need to plan, manage and host fundraisers. We offer text-to-give, and we have an app that makes it easy for you and your supporters to participate from wherever they are. Reach out to us today to get started!

Now that we’re in the second quarter of 2022, it may be time to review your nonprofit’s list of strategies and plans. A review ensures your organization is where it needs to be to successfully carry out its mission. The truth is many charities have to do more work with less funding. It’s a challenge, and there’s no miracle formula to instantaneously make everything perfect.

There are many valid principles, tested strategies, and best practices to count on in terms of resource development. As your nonprofits plans for the rest of the year, be firm in your belief that your organization can effectively promote its mission by relying on fundraising.

Here are steps to put your nonprofit on a path to compelling storytelling, cultivating donor relationships, and raising money.

Look at the mission, vision, and values

Constant change is a certainty. Meet with management, staff and key stakeholders together to discuss your organization’s values, vision and mission. Your discussion’s results serve as markers for your plans going forward.

Mission, vision and values should be reviewed continuously. Remember, donors face choices regarding how to spend their (often) limited resources and time. Supporters aren’t choosing between good and evil; it’s between good and good. Take time to honestly assess your organization’s pros and cons.

Questions to consider include:  

• How is your organization unique?
• How does your nonprofit improve quality of life in a way that other nonprofit organizations cannot?

The charity world is competitive, and now is the time to ensure your key messages empower you to succeed.

Major gifts

Foundations and corporations are lovely, yet your potential donor lists should primarily be of individuals. According to Charitable Giving Statistics, donations from individuals made up 80% of U.S. annual giving (BalancingEverything.com.) Also, individuals make giving decisions quicker than foundations and businesses, so individual philanthropists are worth pursuing. Of course, the bigger the prospect, the harder they’ll be to reach either in person or virtually.

Virtual fundraising

The keys to sustainable virtual development are cultivating and nurturing genuine relationships because it’s critical for your donor prospects to trust you and your organization. One way to accomplish this trust is through video conferencing. Video conferences create inclusion opportunities for people whose schedules and geographic location prohibit them from participating otherwise.

Learning how to communicate directly and create an emotional connection via video requires discipline and practice. Consider aspects of your videoconferences like audio, lighting, background and video quality. It’s best to avoid cost-cutting measures for video meetings and conferences. Furthermore, we suggest you take the time to make sure your donor prospect is comfortable with the technology. A fundraising platform like iConnectX offers a full suite of features to help you create great virtual, hybrid and even live events.

The board

Suppose you’re already part of a nonprofit. In that case, you’re aware that board members are responsible for the organization’s financial well-being. There are many ways for board members to contribute to fundraising without having to request the gifts themselves. A couple of ways board members can participate in fundraising is by identifying potential donors in their personal and professional networks. Moreover, board members can make introductions to those connections. Lastly, you could ask board members to manage fundraiser “thank yous.” Even if it means leaving a voicemail, board member involvement makes a great impression.

Promote monthly giving

This is a win-win. Donors who give monthly tend to be great advocates for nonprofits amongst their peers. These donors cost less on average to retain. There’s better news: a new or repeat donor who converts to monthly giving has a 90% average retention rate (classy.com).

Promote stock and equities as gifts

Many donors hold appreciated assets; if they donate these assets to nonprofits, they can avoid expensive capital gains taxes. Think of it this way: 98% of U.S. wealth is held in real estate and stock assets, not cash (Pew Research.) It may be surprising to learn who has multi-million-dollar portfolios; it could be your neighbor who appears to live a modest lifestyle.

Highlight donor-advised funds (DAFs)

DAFs are a dynamic piece of U.S. philanthropy. For example, Fidelity Charitable donors recommended more than $10.3 billion in grants during 2022– and this is just one fund that helped over 187,000 charities (Fidelity Charitable.) DAFs will grow in impact and relevance, so ensure you promote DAFs on your website, in marketing materials and during gift solicitations.

Start at home

What’s the best way for a nonprofit’s staff, management and board members to have credibility when soliciting gifts? They establish credibility by making personally significant gifts. “Personally significant” means different things to different people, but there should be an element of sacrifice there. Consider: why should the public donate if the ones inside do not?

The Wrap

Trust that it’s possible to do more. Effective fundraisers have big goals, and nonprofit managers believe their programs and people deserve the best. It’s important to remember that enthusiasm is contagious; it’s the passion that connects major donors to charities.

How iConnectX can help

iConnectX ensures nonprofits maximize their fundraising efforts with innovative technology. Our powerful platform helps organizations plan, host and manage fundraisers. Reach out to us to explore your options and schedule a free demonstration today!

As online fundraising grows, it’s the ideal time to revise your fundraising strategy. According to M+R Benchmarks, online giving increased by 32% in 2020 and will continue to rise. If your nonprofit doesn’t have a digital fundraising plan, it’s time to create one.

We’ve collected ten top online fundraising ideas for you to consider – let’s get started!

1. Peer-to-peer fundraising

Did you know that peer-to-peer fundraising accounts for ⅓ of online donations? It’s one of the best fundraising strategies available to nonprofits. Promote the idea across your networks and encourage them to create personal fundraising pages. Peer-to-peer fundraising works exceptionally well for any fundraising event, whether online, hybrid or in person. Your supporters can fundraise by completing a task or challenge, hosting an event, or concluding with an in-person event.

2. A single-day email or social media sharing fundraiser

Fundraising via email constitutes about ⅓ of online donations. So even if your organization held an email fundraising campaign this year, we suggest you consider a one-day email fundraising blitz. Think about naming your campaign with a charming or intriguing moniker.

On the day of your email campaign, send out a series of emails requesting donations. Your emails should include a story that speaks to your supporters’ emotions, suitable images and an urgent call to action.

Don’t forget to set a dollar amount goal and provide updates throughout the day, so your supporters will know how close you are to your goal. You may also want to tie the single-day campaign in with end-of-the-year giving; it’s a great way to add urgency. Single-day campaigns work very well on Giving Tuesday.

3. Matching donation drive

Maximize the one-day email fundraiser by obtaining a match from a business or significant donor, then advertise that match in your email campaign. Donors enjoy knowing their support was leveraged with matching gifts.

Also, matching gifts are an excellent way to increase donations mid-campaign. If your donations taper off in the middle of the day, introduce a matching gift to increase momentum. Matching contributions can be promoted through regular communication channels like email, social media and newsletters.

When you want to secure a matching gift, begin with your immediate supporters – your board of directors. Request that they contribute a matching gift or leverage their business relationships. Another tip: leverage current matching donations from supporters’ employers. It’s a snap to add these into your virtual fundraising campaign on iConnectX.

4. Virtual gala

While we see more in-person events, large gatherings are still a way off – this is where a virtual gala comes in. You can create a virtual gala by following a few steps:

1. Assess what you typically do – look at your typical event plan. Which segments can

move online? Which ones will bring in a great ROI? Now you can decide which parts to keep and which ones to dismiss.

2. Create a peer-to-peer campaign: since in-person galas have tables, a virtual gala will have virtual ones, which are peer-to-peer. An example of this would be a fundraiser with teams or one like the Ice Bucket Challenge.
3. Sponsors: sponsors are significant funders of in-person galas, so make sure you don’t leave them out of a virtual one. A virtual event format offers much flexibility to make sponsors happy – you can add logos, names and links to your fundraising page on iConnectX.
4. Create a program: your virtual event needs to be seamless for the livestream. At an in-person event, there are guest speakers, entertainment, food and décor at the venue. You may want to highlight the peer-to-peer fundraisers and mention your goals in real-time for your online event.
5. Auctions: if your organization is committed to a silent auction, iConnectX offers a full suite of features to help you run your auction online. The key things to remember are sharing item images and having them well-organized. It’s also good to highlight auction items on your social media profiles.

     5. A tournament

Game tournaments bring energy and fun competition to fundraising with challenges that test team skills and aptitude. For your match, consider incorporating local businesses to sponsor prizes. Consider using a site like Gamefly to rent games; it works like old-school Netflix. Gamefly mails the game to participants, and they send it back. Services like Twitch stream games and services like Discord have video chat so participants can game together.

6. Livestreaming

A livestream fundraiser is a great way to attract, cultivate and convert your audience. A nonprofit fundraising platform like iConnectX lets your livestream your events, just like Facebook Live, but better. Livestreaming is a powerful tool to share personal stories and videos, and there are a few points to consider when you’re planning your event:

1. A livestream should be relatively short
2. It should include many opportunities for engagement. Here are a few ideas:

• Panel discussions
• Educational or breakout sessions
• Virtual tours
• Webinars

    7. A recurring giving event

Recurring donation campaigns are among the top fundraisers; repeat donors give about 42% more for one year than a single-time donors. Encourage your supporters to provide regular monthly or quarterly gifts through a planned giving email blitz.

One way to make your campaign effective is to focus on donation tiers. iConnectX offers nonprofits the opportunity to raise more through a custom donation page rather than using a generic PayPal form. We suggest you keep your tier list to about four to six levels and remember to connect your tiers to their impact.

8. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has an important place in the fundraising world. When it comes to crowdfunding, consider what needs you must meet. For example, if your income fell during COVID, think about what your organization needs to pay for to return in person, rebuild, and provide programs safely.

Writing your crowdfunding appeal should include a sense of urgency, a relatable story, and a call to action. When it’s time to share your request, try a livestream where you ask followers to share it on their own social media. You can even incentivize them to share with swag like tee shirts, hats and tote bags.

Crowdfunding options include:

• Costs to rehire staff
• Services
• Cultural improvements
• Community support

9. Social media takeovers

Social media takeovers are an exciting, momentum-building way to fundraise. You can coordinate a takeover by asking a corporate sponsor or a community partner to “give” their social media accounts to your organization one day per year.

During a takeover, your team members can post social content during the day to bring visitors to your organization’s social media pages and webpage. Social media takeovers are an approach to building brand visibility – it’s a great way to promote your campaigns and your nonprofit.

10. Birthday and holiday fundraisers

Facebook is the most widely used social network; you’ve likely seen birthday fundraisers on the platform many times. Facebook offers a straightforward way to fundraise, and you don’t have to limit fundraising to birthdays.

You can ask your networks to create a birthday or holiday fundraiser. Instead of gifts, they can set up a personal fundraising page where supporters leave donations. You can use iConnectX to create DIY fundraising pages for supporters to personalize birthday and holiday fundraisers.

How iConnectX can help

iConnectX helps nonprofits fundraise; our comprehensive, straightforward platform offers many features to help you reach and exceed your goals. Our powerful platform makes it easy to reach current and prospective donors, increase audience reach and drive engagement.

Our robust, secure technology is here for you to raise more funds with less effort from online auctions, event ticketing, and peer-to-peer fundraising.

Sign up to create your online fundraiser for free on iConnectX.  

Many nonprofits leverage fundraising events to raise large sums of money to reach financial goals. A nonprofit organization can generate considerable funding for its mission with the right strategy. Since event preparation and planning can take time, we created this list to help you plan a remarkable fundraiser.  

What we’ll cover 

1. Identifying a goal
2. Assemble a planning team
3. Pinpoint your ideal audience
4. Set a budget
5. Choose the event type
6. Create the event’s specifics
7. Create the follow-up plan

Benefits of Successful Nonprofit Event Planning  

There are several benefits to successful nonprofit event planning in addition to raising funds – it’s really about relationships. Whether it’s creating new connections or strengthening existing ones, here are a few reasons to create a terrific event:  

Generate awareness about your organization and its mission: Large organizations like the American Red Cross are strategic about audience education and spreading the word about their mission. Fundraisers offer an opportunity to have current and potential donors learn about you while simultaneously inviting them to participate financially.  

Connect with new donors and volunteers: It’s typical to attend an event before donating their money, talents or time. Events offer an opportunity to demonstrate your nonprofit’s culture and create a relationship.  

Enhance brand recognition: Name recognition is equally valuable for nonprofits and businesses. Can you imagine the benefits of your organization being a household name like the Susan G. Komen foundation or Coca-Cola? The more people know of and engage with your nonprofit, the more people they’ll tell.  

Finding corporate sponsors: Inviting a business to sponsor an event is more straightforward than a company thinking about it and reaching out to you on its own. Fundraisers help build community and donor trust and find more sponsors if it’s done well.  

iConnectX has tips on cultivating nonprofit-business relationships – check them out here.  

How to successfully plan a nonprofit event 

With so many details to successful event planning, it can get overwhelming. However, the proper organization makes it feasible to make the process less stressful. Here is iConnectX’s guide to creating a plan for a successful event. We want to help you reach your goals! 

1. Specify your goal

Yes, the goal is to raise money. Before you jump in and plan, take time to identify your goals and your vision.  

Do you know what you want to accomplish with the money you raise? Consider whether the funds are for an internal need like facilities or an external one, like working on a particular cause. Think about other event goals – do you want to acknowledge and thank your volunteers and donors? Connect with new donors? Inform people of your mission?  

These are all worthy goals, so identify them ahead of time to properly plan.  

2. Build your planning team 

Many organizations use committees to perform most of an event’s planning and execution. A well-run committee owns the whole planning process from behind the scenes, marketing, entertainment and operations. We recommend building your team four to six months before the event.  

3. Find your target audience

Fundraisers can target and draw in several demographics. This step is to determine precisely which audience characteristics you’re looking for and plan the event to reflect those traits. For example, if you want to reach new supporters, you can plan your event around education and cause awareness. If you’re going to strengthen existing donor relationships, your event could honor successes around your mission.  

4. Budget

Create a budget to invest resources judiciously; this helps you get an optimal return (ROI). Many nonprofits use the Return on Objective (ROO) metric. This flexible measurement tracks the event’s total benefits, not only the financial ones.  

Metrics like:  

• Brand awareness 
• Donor acquisitions 
• Relationships with established supporters 
• Volunteer participation 
• Sponsorships and corporate engagement 

Using the ROI and ROO metrics helps determine the full scope of your event’s success. 

5. Choose the event category

Once you understand your goals, target audience and budget, it’s time to get to the meat of your event plan. Consider what kind of events are appropriate to your organization and its goals – this helps your branding and helps your audience understand your mission.  

6. Dial-in event specifics

Now that you have a strong foundation for your nonprofit’s event, it’s time to arrange the event itself. There are a lot of details to work out, but with your first-rate event planning team, you can distribute the workload.  

Here are essential details to help you get started:  

• Set an event date four to six months out to allow enough planning time  
• Book a venue. If your event is virtual or hybrid, set up an event hosting platform like iConnectX 

• Obtain any necessary permits or licenses 
• Choose a theme and create marketing materials 
• Put sponsorship packages together and round up corporate or individual sponsors 
• Find guest speakers or book entertainment, if necessary 
• Promote the event on social media. Include the event’s details in all communications with potential and existing donors; send personal invitations if it’s feasible 

• Make a custom online donation event page for audience members who cannot attend but want to contribute. A nonprofit fundraising platform like iConnectX offers customized landing pages and a secure donation portal 
• Offer tickets online whether the event is free or tickets are for sale. When attendees register online, you’ll collect valuable guest data.  
• Establish your volunteers’ roles and responsibilities; this mitigates the risk of missing important details 

7. Make a plan to follow up

When your event is over, the job isn’t finished. This is the time to send thank you notes, obtain guest feedback and build new relationships with potential donors and sponsors.  

Many nonprofits add an event survey to get feedback from attendees to learn what guests enjoyed if they can recommend improvements and other feedback. Also, make sure to get the input of your volunteers and sponsors — feedback is critical to making every event better than the last.  

The final word 

Nonprofit event and fundraiser planning might seem overwhelming; this is why we recommend having enough lead time, like four to six months. A platform like iConnectX helps take the technical workload off your shoulders with features like:  

• Customized landing pages with a unique URL 

• Online ticketing 
• Auction features, like secure bidding and payment portal 
• Text-to-give 
• Online and hybrid event hosting 
• RSVP and guest management 

• And much more! 

We hope these steps help you and your team get your event rolling – iConnectX is here to help! 

Donor Metrics are statistics used to measure fundraising, marketing, and donor management. Many CRMs and donor management systems regularly update this data, giving nonprofits up-to-date information. Monitoring metrics is second-best to having personal conversations with donors, a cumbersome and unrealistic task.

Attention to performance metrics lets you know where your nonprofit stands concerning your goals. Your organization can plan your fundraising roadmap and adjust the data changes by monitoring a few statistics.

Leverage the data from your donor metrics to gauge your fundraising performance, identify victories and plan needed improvements. iConnectX is here to help you plan and manage your fundraising efforts at every level, so let’s get started on essential donor metrics to monitor.

1. Impact

Your nonprofit’s impact is one of the top metrics you should measure. A nonprofit should evaluate its investments in data and research that verify if its programs are making a difference and addressing issues – this evaluation will justify its existence. A nonprofit’s mission and programs must be measurable. Goals need to be specific to honestly measure performance every month.

2. Donor Retention Rate

The donor retention rate is the number of donors who gave last year and this year, divided by your total number of donors.

A donor’s first gift is a nonprofit’s most costly and difficult donation; the second gift is probably the most important. According to fundraising consultants at the Ostara Group, three out of four donors do not donate a second time. However, 60% of second-tine donors will continue to contribute.

The objective is to reach the highest retention rate possible – this means that your organization is doing a great job of getting donors and engaging them in your mission. It’s also much less expensive to maintain existing donor relationships than make new ones.

3. Donor Satisfaction 

Donors are the essence of the mission. They are the fuel and the most critical promotions team you have at your disposal. If your donors are unhappy and feel disconnected, they probably won’t promote your organization. It’s simple to find out if your donors are happy through phone and email surveys.

4. Donor Acquisition Cost

The donor acquisition cost is the amount of money spent on attracting new donors is divided by the number of supporters acquired.

Attracting new donors is critical to fundraising, and it is an ongoing process. As mentioned above, it costs more to bring in new donors than retain current ones. Therefore, you must know what it costs your organization to bring in each donor. Knowing your donor acquisition cost helps you distribute resources and identify where you need improvement.

Here is an example: a social media campaign costs $1,000. It brings in 500 new donors; your donor acquisition cost is $2 per donor. If the average donation is $10 per donor, that is a high return on your investment. The overall goal is to make sure each new donor becomes a loyal supporter and a recurring donor.

5. Donor Lifetime Value

The donor lifetime value is the average donation amount multiplied by the average of years the donor stays involved with your nonprofit. Once you know the financial value of each donor, your organization can find ways to increase that value and adjust decision-making when it comes to allocating resources.

6. Event Conversion Rate

Your event conversion rate is the percentage of people who become new donors or increase their support after attending one of your events.

While data like the cost per dollar raised or ROI are valuable, the event conversion rate shows how your fundraising team performs on engagement and follow-up activities. In addition to performance, your conversion rate shows how well you are taking advantage of interactions at an event and making those interactions a genuine relationship. People want to invest their time and money in an organization that makes them feel valued.

7. The Number of Donors Who Increased Their Giving

What you’re measuring: when a donor gives more in the current year than in the previous year. This number lets you know you’re engaging your donors successfully; they trust you, and they approve of the work you’re doing.

8. Monthly & Yearly Donor Development

It is critical to keep track of your organization’s donor growth, both monthly and annually. Tracking donor growth helps you understand where you are in terms of your fundraising goals, and it demonstrates your year-over-year growth.

Consider the following questions as you track donor growth:

• The number of new donors
• The number of new donors compared to last year
• The amount of money raised and how that amount compares to this time last year

9. Recurring Gift Percentage

Tracking this metric is valuable information – it’s data that reflects recurring donations from your supporters. It’s a helpful statistic to have when you want to predict how much of your current revenue your organization will receive going forward.

Tracking the percentage of your donations that are recurring gifts from supporters who give throughout the year is very helpful. This statistic can help you predict how much of your current revenue you can confidently expect to receive going forward.

Many nonprofits also leverage this information to help them create targeted campaigns to increase those gift amounts or the frequency of giving. Other nonprofits use this metric to help them improve the number of recurring donors overall.

10. New Contact & Donor Acquisition by Source

If you look at the donor lifecycle, consider the importance of gathering new contacts in addition to new donors. In an ideal situation, new connections become donors. Collecting contact information offers you several opportunities to nurture them into recurring donors.

New contacts come from events, social media, or email subscribers. Place these contacts into a nurturing funnel where they can learn about your organization, like receiving newsletters and appeals.

So, what about measurement? Calculating the acquisition of new contact information and donors by source offers insight into what mediums your audience engages with. A “source” can be website traffic, social media engagement, event registrations, product purchases, or peer-to-peer campaigns.

Conclusion

Using data to track your fundraising performance is essential to success; think of it as watching the odometer when you’re driving down the highway. When you measure donor metrics, you gauge the success of your marketing efforts and gain insight into donor segmentation.

The metrics we mentioned here are not the only ones you can track; here are a few more you may want to add:

• Donor growth
• Gifts received
• Conversion rates by channel
• Number of upgraded donors
• Days until the first gift from initial contact

Whichever metrics you measure, keep track of them throughout the year; it’s key to understanding your donor base.

How iConnectX can help:

iConnectX is the ultimate technology platform for auctions, nonprofit event ticketing and fundraising. It offers donor and fundraising metrics, it’s easy to use, and offers social media integration for easy donor tracking. Reach out to us to learn how we can help you reach your fundraising goals!

Selecting the best nonprofit event management platform may be overwhelming. When you look at the features offered by different platforms, you might feel that your nonprofit needs every feature you see. The first step is to outline what your organization requires and wants; then, you can compare products.

When it comes to event and auction software, ensure the platform is customizable and simplifies all aspects of ticketing, registration, and hosting. Choose a user-friendly event management platform that’s efficient.

Event ticketing is an integral part of hosting a nonprofit event because it determines your attendees’ kind of experience. Also, good event ticketing software minimizes your efforts and reduces the time spent on ticketing. Minimizing efforts means more time to focus on other event planning activities, like marketing and promoting.

The iConnectx event ticket management platform offers these and several other event ticketing features that streamline the process. With that said, here is an overview of five features your event software needs:

1. Offer Multiple Ticketing Options

Make sure that the event ticketing software facilitates creating different packages for ticketing.

You might want to create unique packages such as:

• VIP package, which you might offer to the donors who make heavy donations. The event registration must facilitate separate registration for your VIP guests. The software must also create special seating arrangements for VIP guests.
• You might offer early bird tickets to incentivize early registration for the event. The event ticket management system must offer the feature to generate a package for early bird tickets.
• You may offer group discounts, and this will need a different process.
• For some events, you might consider giving away free tickets for a limited period
• You will also need your event ticketing software to offer regular registration for new donors or those who do not fall in the above categories.

Whatever type of ticketing option you use, the event management platform must include features that facilitate online registration by the guests and collect the registration information. Choose software that synchronizes the data collected with your online directory.

iConnectx is an event management software that makes it easy to include different types of ticketing options seamlessly. This platform also collects essential information and updates it in your online directory.

2. Event Page

When hosting an event, you will want to spread the word. Choose an event management platform that helps you create a specific page on your website dedicated to the event. A unique webpage enables you to showcase the event, and website visitors can get all the relevant information about the event through this page.

Event pages, also known as a microsite, help promote the event and simplify ticket sales. We recommend customizing the event page with your brand’s colors, including the logo. Appropriate branding sends the message that the event is a part of your organization.

Also, keep in mind that a unique event page is relatively simple to promote on social media channels. Share the link of your event page on your social profiles, and request that your supporters, volunteers, and team members publicize it on their pages, too. If your event has sponsors, include details about sponsors on your event page.

With the iConnectx platform, creating unique pages for each event facilitates registration and provides all necessary event information is simple.

3. Accessible on all Devices

The number of smartphone users is increasing rapidly. You must ensure that your event ticketing software is mobile-friendly. A mobile-friendly ticketing feature will help your nonprofit tap into the vast market of smartphone users. In addition to mobile phones, your event registration must be available on other devices such as desktop computers, tablets, and laptops.

The iConnectx platform offers a seamless experience across different devices. Your website loads quickly on all devices, and the information on the pages is displayed clearly on all devices.

The donors can get all the information on the device of their choice and make donations through these devices.

4. Offer Easy Payment Options

Offer user-friendly payment options to donors. Choose software that includes text-to-give, text-to-donate, and scan to give options. It should also offer secure online payment options where donors can make payments through the website or social media pages. Make sure that you offer secure payment options to your donors.

Make sure that you include offline ticketing options as well. You can offer door-to-door tickets sales where donors can pay in cash or cheque for the event registration.

Offering multiple ticketing options motivates more donors to participate in the event.

One cause for concern could be that you might oversell tickets. But iConnectx has that covered. This event ticketing software puts a cap on the number of tickets sold and ensures that your ticket sales stay on track.

5. Simplify the Event Check-in Process

A typical event registration system involves checking the names of attendees in elaborate spreadsheets, a tedious and time-consuming process. Your staff and volunteers will be busy organizing attendee check-in. Also, a slow check-in process inconveniences attendees, making them line up in long queues and wait. All of this adds up to an event experience to avoid. Using the iConnectx event ticketing software avoids all of these issues and provides a great experience to the attendees, staff, and volunteers.

The iConnectx platform offers check-in through different devices. In other words, your attendees can check in on their own devices; smartphones, tablets, or computers. If attendees check in on their own, they avoid waiting in line, and they can enter your event as early as they like.

A seamless check-in process also frees up the time spent by staff and volunteers, so they’ll have ample time to focus on other aspects of the event and offer an excellent experience to the attendees. As far as data collection is concerned, the iConnectx platform will take care of it. The software contains all the essential data and updates the system.

In addition to these features, the iConnectx platform includes sending automated thank-you messages to attendees and collecting feedback. It also consists of a data analytics feature that provides valuable insights into the event ticketing process.

So, if you are looking for seamless event management, choose a platform that offers all these five features.

The iConnectx platform is a cost-effective solution that offers all these features and more that enable you to provide a great event experience to your attendees.

If you run a nonprofit, you understand the importance of donor retention. The key to keeping supporters coming back is strong donor relationships, and the foundation of that is solid communication.  

Donor retention depends mainly on engaging your existing donors; engagement is key to retention – a high retention rate demonstrates that a nonprofit has a healthy support system. 

Recurring giving is important because it indicates that a nonprofit has a healthy support system. Donor acquisition costs are high; this is reason enough to focus on donor retention. Nonprofit Quarterly states that it takes about 18-24 months to recoup the costs of recruiting new donors since most first-time gifts are two to three times less than the marketing cost.  

Your existing donors require your attention. In other words, you need to develop donor retention strategies, so your current donors remain loyal to you, continue to participate in fundraising events, and contribute to your organization. Retaining your supporters deepens donor-nonprofit relationships and creates opportunities for donors to increase their gifts over time.  

Here are 10 Tips for Donor Retention: 

1. Know Your Current Retention Rates 

Take stock of what you currently have – this means having a thorough understanding of retention rates. Calculate the number of donors you retained from the previous year and determine the number of donors who gave more than once, year after year.  

To calculate your donor retention rate one year over another: 

Divide the number of year two donors by the number of year one donors, then multiply by 100. Here is an example:  

• A nonprofit had 250 donors in 2020, and 100 of them gave again in 2021 
• 100/250 = 0.4 (40% retained) 

According to the Fundraising Effectiveness Project, the average retention rate for nonprofits was 43.6% in 2020, which means a 30.8% retention rate is low, and the nonprofit will need to work hard to get new donors.  

2.  Create a monthly giving program

In the world of nonprofit fundraising, recurring giving is at the top of the list. Large donations are valuable and are worth pursuing, yet recurring gifts offer a reliable income stream. Benefits to the nonprofit include:  

• More dollars: according to Network for Good, “the average recurring donor will give 42% more in one year than those who give one-time gifts.” Also, monthly donors have a more considerable lifetime revenue per donor.  
• Higher retention rate: while new donor rates of retention average less than 23%, monthly programs have rates over 80% the first year and 95% after five years (Donorbox).  
• It’s easier for donors: once a donor signs up for recurring donations, gifts are made automatically and at a frequency of their choosing.  
• It’s predictable: recurring donors will likely stay regular donors. When a supporter enrolls in monthly giving, that shows they invest and care about your cause. 

2. 2. Thank your Donors

Etiquette and appreciation matter. A sincere message of gratitude demonstrates that you appreciate and care about your donors. Many software programs allow for automatic thank you emails. These automated messages are helpful to thank multiple donors in bulk. We recommend adding a personal touch to your messages — address the recipient by his name and acknowledge the exact amount donated by them.  

FYI: a great thank you is more than a tax receipt with “Thank You” printed on it. However – do send a receipt immediately after a supporter makes a gift.  

Here are a few tips for thank you messages:  

• Personalize: generic thank you notes and form letters don’t carry much weight. Personalized emails help donors feel included in your mission by addressing supporters by name and mentioning their donation history to remind them of their contribution and what your organization accomplished thanks to their involvement.  

• Include visuals: visual elements make emails engaging while showing appreciation. We suggest sharing your organization’s achievements, volunteers, and donors themselves. Videos are also a great way to share your stories.  
• Offer something tangible: giving something physical is memorable in our digital world. If possible, send out handwritten thank you notes with photographs of your organization’s success, statistics, and relevant numbers relating to donations.   
• Social media shout out (if anonymity is not an issue) 
• Phone call 

A thank you for a tip: make sure your donor doesn’t forget you — request a second gift sooner than you think is necessary. Some data shows that donor retention is 23% compared to 60% after the second gift.  

3.  Involve Your Donors

Donors derive a sense of satisfaction when they feel like they are part of what you do. Rather than focusing solely on monetary contributions, encourage supporters to participate in events as volunteers. Donors will probably share information about your events on their social media. Another way to engage your donors is to involve them in peer-to-peer fundraising. 

Asking for feedback is a lesser-known suggestion to nonprofits — you can accomplish this with surveys. There is a myriad of questions you can ask. For example, you could ask supporters why they are interested in your organization, what they’d like to see in the future in terms of your targets and goals, or about the donation process itself.  

Donor engagement takes many forms, such as: 

• Advocating for your cause 

• Volunteering 
• Serve on the board 
• Connect you with others interested in your mission 
• Networking  
• Fundraising 

3. 2 Inspire and Inform

Like donor involvement, your supporters need to feel like part of your organization. A fundamental way to guarantee their investment is to create a real relationship that gains trust. Be straightforward when you engage patrons directly. Don’t tiptoe around the subject – no one wants to feel tricked.   

Here are a few suggestions to employ when engaging through communication channels like email, social media, and your webpage:  

• Share successes 
• Share challenges 
• Show donor dollars at work

4. Indicate the Impact of Gifts Made by Donors

This item ties directly to number three. To put it bluntly, donors participate in fundraising activities because they want to make a difference. Nonprofits should make donors aware of how their contributions have helped the cause by sharing statistics and personal stories of their impact through emails, mail, social media, and website updates. Consistent communication goes a long way toward building trust.  

5. Matching Gifts

A matching gift is a fundraising method where businesses encourage their employees to donate by making donations themselves. If an employee donates “x” amount, their employer donates an equivalent amount. Some organizations have a 2:1 or 3:1 giving also wherein organizations make two to three times the contribution made by the employee. Many businesses organizations look for philanthropic opportunities.  

Did you know corporations donated a whopping $20 billion to charities last year? (Source: https://doublethedonation.com/tips/matching-grant-resources/nonprofit-fundraising-statistics/)

6. Simplify Recurring Giving

Donors might be turned off if they need to fill out lengthy forms each time they donate. We suggest you create donor accounts to help store their data in the nonprofit’s database, so the donor is not required to re-enter their information every time they donate. Donors can use their accounts to track their recurring donations, scheduled donations, or alter their preferences while donating. Ensure your organization uses a secure software platform to safeguard your supporters’ sensitive financial data. iConnectX offers a safe option for nonprofits to enable recurring deposits from donors. 

7. Facilitate Mobile Giving

Get to know mobile-friendly donation options. Smartphone users will reach 7.5 billion by 2026 (Statista, 2021). Donors look for quick and easy ways to donate. If you offer simple donation options like text-to-give and text-to-donate, more people will be inclined to contribute to your nonprofit. 

8. Segment Your Supporters

Customize campaigns tailored to a specific type of donor. You probably have long email lists with plenty of subscribers. But do all of them connect to nonprofits in the same way? In other words, you will need to find out how many subscribers respond to your emails and how many passive subscribers you have, then create customized email campaigns for each type of subscriber. 

Some donor categories are:

• New donors 
• Donors who make infrequent donations 
• Recurring donors  
• Lapsed donors 

Each donor category is essential and warrants different kinds of messages and emails. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach for email campaigns, we recommend creating a separate campaign for each category and sending specific messages and letters to each corresponding donor segment.  

Donor segmentation provides valuable insights into donor behavior. It is good to communicate directly with lapsed donors to determine why they lost interest in your organization. We also suggest you send messages and emails to donors making infrequent donations with information about the benefits of recurring donations and how they can make them.  

9. Don’t Miss out on the Year-end Donors

The end of the calendar year is when many donors contribute to various charities. Giving Tuesday and Christmas are examples of when nonprofits maximize revenue. Most year-end donors are one-time donors — make sure to collect their details and connect with them after making that donation.  

10. Host Engaging Events

The primary source of income for nonprofits is fundraising events. Whether you host an in-person or an online event, you must ensure that your events engage your donors. Try hosting interactive events where donors can participate — this will give them a great experience, and they likely will look forward to upcoming events, too.  

The Wrap 

Donor retention streamlines with fundraising platforms. Find a platform that includes all of the features to attract new donors, retain existing donors, plan and host events. 

iConnectx is a comprehensive fundraising event management platform with many features, like online events and social media and email marketing campaigns. iConnectx also offers valuable donor data and insights so you can customize nonprofit marketing and promotions. 

iConnectX’s solutions and features include:  

The iConnectX platform is free for nonprofits. Our mission is to provide innovative, powerful tools for charities to maximize fundraising efforts, and our technology is available on the web and through a mobile app.  

Reach out to us to explore your options and to schedule a free demonstration.  

Are you planning a nonprofit event? Suppose you’re still in the concept phase or have started selling tickets. In that case, we recommend you start considering how to publicize your event. We’ve compiled a list of ideas to ensure your success.  

Identify your target audience 

The first step is identifying your target audience and planning the communication strategy and an event type that speaks to them. As you know, an environmental nonprofit requires distinct communication and events than one for Veterans. The rule is to create an integrated marketing communication strategy and campaign that speaks to the hearts and taps into the subconscious of your target audience. One way to dial in on your audience is to create a target supporter persona, a fictional representation of the supporter you are trying to reach based on qualitative and quantitative data. This helps your organization relate to your supporters as actual people. A key point to remember is that your organization’s priorities are not the priorities of your audience.  

Make a budget (and stick to it) 

Design your event to generate income in several ways. The most common income sources include:  

• Table sales  
• Individual ticket sales 
• Sponsor, benefactor, and patron donations 

• Food and drink sales 
• Advertising sales 
• Sales of goods and services 

Your event will cost money unless you have a sponsor to cover all expenses. Costs include:  

• Advertising and promotion, including invitations, flyers, photography 
• Insurance – you will need liability insurance in case someone gets hurt at the event and shipping insurance to cover the cost of donated items 
• If any part of the event is in person, you will want decorations, equipment, and promotional materials 
• Office expenses 

• Location and venue charges – will you have tents, tables, space rental, tables, and chairs 
• Promotional expenses such as advertising and printing  

Find sponsors 

It’s critical to secure funding from local and regional businesses and foundations. Sponsorships are mutually beneficial relationships; they are great for companies and foundations for PR purposes. In turn, they are great for nonprofits not only because of the financial benefits; they add legitimacy to the charity and can often secure donations for attendees’ gifts, food and beverages, and goodie bags. To enlist these sponsors, you need a plan – requesting sponsorship for events might be challenging. Yet, the odds are improved by following these steps:  

• Start with local businesses and ask event registrants if their companies want to get involved and reach out to local restaurants for gift cards and food donations.  
• Before asking for sponsorship, have your event plan ready 
• Offer donation tiers. Business owners will probably ask, what’s in it for me? Ensure your team is prepared to provide a compelling answer. Donation tiers are giving levels that correspond with specific rewards or perks. For example, a black-tie gala may offer the following tiers: 

• $500 gets two event tickets and a program listing 
• $1,000 brings the above benefits and an announcement of appreciation during the event.  
• $5,000 gets six tickets, a statement of gratitude, a promotional listing, and a post on social media 
• $10,000 gets everything the $5,000 donation receives, plus an award during the event 

• Higher-level donations can receive everything the lower tiers receive, plus naming rights for the event 

We recommend you customize the tiers based on a donor’s giving history, opportunities your organization can provide, and event type. A 5k race in a local park requires more affordable levels. Also, keep these tiers to four or five options, so supporters do not feel overwhelmed. Supporter tiers are meant to create a feeling of exclusivity.  

Nonprofit Event Promotion Tips 

Make an event and registration landing page 

A landing page is a standalone webpage distinct from the main website, and it has a single objective. Event landing pages promote the event; the registration landing page’s goal is to persuade page visitors to sign up or buy event tickets.  

When creating an event registration page, it is critical to focus on conversion rate optimization. The conversion rate is the percentage of page visitors that sign up or purchase tickets, and optimization is a system that helps increase that percentage.  

A platform like iConnectX offers a unique landing page that nonprofits can customize for their needs with a private event URL that makes your event easy to find.  

Pick a short and memorable event name 

Events with longer names fail to get noticed. This may be because most content is consumed on mobile devices, and long titles do not look good on small screens. Concise titles allow readers to immediately understand the event.  

Create an event hashtag 

These are more than fun. Efficient hashtag use is a powerful promotional tool to engage supporters and encourage them to share your organization’s information and event with their own networks. Hashtags can also help new audiences find you and support your cause.  

Craft an on-brand hashtag that’s memorable and encourage supporters to tag it when they share. Also, add the tag to your social account bios before and during the event and include it in all promotional materials you send out.  

Update your social media accounts 

Have a solid grasp of your social media strategy; this increases awareness, helps raise more money, and attracts attendees to your event. Make sure your social accounts are prepared for new supporters. This means double-checking your organization’s bio to ensure it’s up to date with a concise, clear description of your organization’s mission. Make sure to highlight the benefits and value your supporters will get by supporting your cause.  

While you are deciding what to post, think about where to post. Each social platform is best for certain kinds of content:  

• Instagram – the optimal platform for video and images. Develop stories that link event details together with shorter event descriptions. Encourage your social followers to find information from the event page.  

• Twitter – an excellent platform for hashtag promotion. Here is where you can provide event updates – short and sweet is best.  

• Facebook – share event updates, graphics, and target specific follower segments. Facebook is the platform that tolerates longer content, so share event details and links to your event landing page.  

• Snapchat is a platform for event-related short videos and entertaining graphic elements. Here you can create an event-specific filter or lens for your attended to use leading up to your event and during the event, too.  

Build momentum and urgency 

Create momentum by promoting in stages. When in the beginning phase, share a teaser, like a countdown and an event date announcement. Next, offer early opportunities for tickets and registration, like early bird ticket discounts or VIP registration deals. Limited time offers create a sense of urgency for  

Behind-the-scenes  

It takes a considerable, coordinated effort to throw a successful nonprofit event. Offer your supporters behind-the-scenes footage to help build anticipation. Ensure you are authentic; show staff and volunteers making early morning coffee errands or share challenges your team faces during event preparation.  

Cross-promote 

Cross-promotion increases social media post views exponentially to increase event awareness and bumps up registration. Ask hosts, sponsors, board members, presenters, and attendees to promote your content on their social networks.  

Email Marketing 

Email marketing is still one of the most effective ways to reach out to supporters and potential supporters. An advantage of email marketing is that it creates a personal connection since you can send updates and promotions directly to their inboxes.  

Email marketing is a powerful content marketing tool that helps generate leads that eventually convert into supporters. 

Here are a few email marketing tips:  

• Get insights into supporter data and learn from those insights to improve future campaigns 

• Use email analytics tools to find the best time to send out a specific message or content 
• Utilize email automation tools and triggers to send out campaigns automatically, reminders, and newsletters 

How iConnectX can help 

A heartfelt mission with dedicated staff and volunteers can accomplish a lot no matter what you decide to do. iConnectX helps simplify and streamline event management so your organization can engage with supporters and run events rather than being tied to administrative duties.  

Our platform offers: 

• Dedicated URLs and customizable landing pages 
• Ticket sales 
• Invitations 
• RSVP management 
• Guestlist communication
• Virtual hosting capabilities  

• Secure payment processing 
• Recurring donation capabilities  
• Auctions 
• And much more! 

We hope you find some from encouragement this list! If you found inspiration, tried any of these ideas, or wanted to share your own, please share with us by commenting below or reaching out on social media. We’d love to hear from you! 

You can find us on: 

• Instagram @iconnectx 
• Facebook 
• LinkedIn 

When businesses and nonprofits partner together for a cause, effective change happens. Sometimes nonprofit managers overlook connecting with companies, yet it is probably the most vital connection to make.

When nonprofits connect with businesses, nonprofit managers gain a patron for their organization. In turn, enterprises gain a positive reputation and standing in the community with message-driven marketing campaigns and through philanthropy.

This article explores proven ways for nonprofits to connect and establish successful, mutually beneficial relationships.

1. Match the Business and Nonprofit

Consider this finding the intersection between organizations. Questions to ask include:

• What are both entities’ interests and missions?
• What value will you bring to each other? Are you a good fit?

This step also includes determining the provable impact you will have by working together. Are you looking to deliver valuable programming or expand your reach?

When you meet with a business, be ready to present the distinctiveness, value, and advantages your organization brings to the relationship.

2. Be Genuine and Purposeful

Mutually beneficial relationships start and end with trust. These partnerships need to be genuine, purposeful and authentic as they build equity from the beginning. This is a mindset that should be demonstrated in both language and action.

3. Enable Honest and Consistent Communication

To have a long-lasting and worthwhile partnership, consistent and honest communication must be at the center of the relationship. We suggest that you identify potential partners with a shared vision yet unique, fresh perspectives. Both organizations need to work together to establish clear short and long-term goals.

4. Build and Sustain Trust

Take the lead on building trust and know-how to establish, grow, and maintain it. Think about what actions to take to demonstrate your trustworthiness – do you listen intently? Do you include diverse views? Do you seek opinions to understand pain points and find solutions?

5. Establish the Core Value and Fit

Aligning cultures makes an easy fit for both parties, and collaboration enhances the positive cultures of both organizations, creating new ideas and audiences as you progress.

Since both sides are coming from purposeful positions, the work efforts are coordinated and offer a seamless experience for all involved.

6. Clarify Expectations

Continual conversations about expectations, engagement and the overall working relationship ensure a long-lasting relationship. Follow up with regular meetings – every relationship requires continuous communication.

7. Share Strengths

Evaluate your patron ecosystem – what strengths and influences can you share and leverage? Are there partners you can share or marketing channels to leverage? These are zero-cost and win-win tactics.

8. Always Find a Mutual Win

One of the best ways for nonprofits to build mutually beneficial relationships is to engage other organizations proactively to find a win-win. What does each party give and gain? This goes beyond a prominent logo on marketing materials and a well-placed auction table for ten. Offer your business partner the opportunity to introduce an event speaker or access to a membership.

9. Make Alliances

Overlapping values are terrific, but is it the only facet that will attract a business partner? To make a partnership happen, find an ally (or several) at the business to promote your cause internally on your organization’s behalf. Companies are inclined to work with nonprofit initiatives when their own employees advocate for them.

10. Make Your Partner Look Good

Show your partners in a positive light. Nonprofits are a channel for their partners to create impact, something they cannot do in day-to-day business activities. In turn, partner business compensates the nonprofit for the value of this positivity.

The Final Word

What’s important to remember is that communities are more substantial with teamwork and cooperation. Strategic cooperation and authentic collaboration are critical elements for nonprofits on social missions that solve problems. Communities’ nonprofits and businesses serve experience complex challenges – outcomes improve when the community is heard and organizations partner build solutions together.

We hope this article inspires you to look at nonprofit-business relationships in a fresh light. If your nonprofit or business experienced a mutually beneficial relationship or plans to build one in the future, please let us know!

About Us

Is your nonprofit looking for ways to maximize fundraising efforts and capitalize on events? iConnectX is a comprehensive platform that simplifies event planning, guest management, ticket sales and outreach. Connect with us today and learn how to leverage our innovative technology to maximize your impact.

There are occasions organizations, and individuals alike need fundraising inspiration to spark a campaign, inject life into an existing campaign, or funds for an emergency.

The nonprofit fundraising landscape changed remarkably in 2020, and fundraising techniques adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic are likely to stay. For over a year, virtual events replaced in-person ones. For the past decade-plus, the preference for online donating increased. While virtual events are likely to stay, many nonprofit supporters want a return to in-person engagements; a mix of traditional and virtual fundraising will attract donors and increase more funds.

We’ve curated a list of twenty engaging fundraising ideas for in-person and virtual engagements we know you, donors, and sponsors will love. Ready? Read on!

Twenty effective and engaging fundraising event ideas for nonprofits and charities:

1. Online Auctions

Always an effective and popular in-person event, online auctions are an option, too. Like an in-person auction, attendees bid on items through an online auction platform. The nonprofit invites item bids, sets bid minimums and processes payments online. A key benefit of online auctions is the potential for global reach. This makes the auction more competitive than an in-person event. A wider audience brings in a more significant amount of support. Furthermore, the nonprofit saves money on venue charges, refreshments, and other overhead expenses.

2. Mobile Fundraising

Hundreds of millions of people worldwide use smartphones – so nonprofits cannot afford to miss out on such a broad user base. Whether by app, text, or mobile-

optimized website, mobile giving is simple to use. Besides, it’s a straightforward way for donors to support while on the go; also, mobile giving encourages impulse donations.

How mobile phones are used for fundraising:

• Responsive websites: To be effective and to keep up with the millions of screens out there, a site with responsive design delivers optimal user experience, whether they’re on a laptop, smartphone, tablet, or desktop; they should also be easy to navigate with an intuitive interface and a prominent “donate” call to action.
• Text Messages: Text messages are effective for fundraising, and they are fast — they are performed within seconds
• Text-to-give: Text-to-give is one of the simplest methods that a nonprofit can offer donors to contribute to charities. The donor needs to message a keyword provided by the nonprofit to a short code, with the donated amount charged to the phone bill. The nonprofit collects donation from the mobile service provider.
• Text-to-donate: The donor texts the keyword to a short code in this method. They are directed to a form to furnish contact and payment information.
• Scan to give: This is a method where donors scan a QR code provided by the nonprofit to donate.

3. Peer-to-peer Fundraising

Peer-to-peer fundraising is when your volunteers and supporters promote your fundraiser among their social circle for raising funds, thereby increasing the user base. The digital age ushered in an expedient way for supporters to spread the word about your nonprofit causes on social media. Also, peer-to-peer social media promotions are free!

4. Encourage Recurring Donations

Recurring donations are convenient for donors on a fixed budget or who desire to plan their giving. Erica Waasdorp, author of Monthly Giving: The Sleeping Giant and contributor to NonproitPRO, says that “donors typically give four times more than donors who only make on-time gifts.”

5. Matching Gifts

Matching gifts are donations companies make to nonprofits to match an employee donation, usually at a 1:1 ratio or higher. We recommend charities select organizations whose mission is aligned to your nonprofit.

Now, let’s look at ways to utilize events to garner support for your nonprofit:

6. Fundraising Events:

In-person fundraising events are back on the scene, and supporters look forward to gathering with other like-minded folks. Suppose your organization or your supporters are looking for a virtual or hybrid event; iConnectX can help you set it up and manage it. IConnectX offers Zoom and other conferencing technology integration as well.

Events can be held in-person, virtually, or hybrid. One option is to schedule your event around a holiday or a specific time of year.

Ideas include:

• December holidays
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• Summer holidays — a summer white party is always a popular adult option, Independence Day barbecues, Memorial Day, Labor Day
• Fall tailgates
• Costume parties around Halloween
• March Madness
• Super Bowl
• College bowl games
• World Cup
• NHL playoffs and Stanley Cup Championship
• Major League Baseball games
• New Year’s Eve
• Patrick’s Day
• Anniversary galas

7. Concerts

An engaging event is a live music concert where local, regional, and nationally recognized musicians perform live and in-person or virtual. The nonprofit receives the net amount of funds after any operating, venue, and artists fees.

8. Virtual Parties

Host a virtual theme party any time of year! Most of the events we’ve listed here can be held virtually; we suggest timing the event around a meal so everyone is joined together at the same time.

9. Educational and Informative Events

You can organize events focused entirely on your nonprofit’s mission. Subject experts from your organization, supporters, sponsors, scholars, and more to provide insightful presentations. It’s also a wise idea to invite people who’ve benefitted from your organization’s help as testimonials to your work.

10. Organize Classes

Classes like cooking or yoga classes are popular options. Choose a chef or Yoga instructor to lead the class virtually, in-person or hybrid. Contributions are made when supporters sign up for the class. Often, organizations will offer an option for an additional donation upon registration.

11. 5k events, Running Events, and Walk-a-thons

Active events like these are back! Many supporters form teams of friends and family. These teams often have coordinated outfits or tee shirts, solicit sponsorship, and host pre or post-event gatherings to raise team fellowship and additional money. The Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure® and is arguably one of the best-performing and well-known nonprofit events in history. If you know of a nonprofit that’s held an event similar to the one you would like to organize, visit their website to create an event blueprint for your own organization.

12. Competitions

When it comes to in-person fundraisers, competitions and contests are fun ways to engage supporters. Cooking, baking, road rallies, recreational sports – anything you think is competitive. An entry fee can serve as the primary means to raise funds.

13. Karaoke

A time-honored and engaging event, karaoke brings out the performer in everybody. This event can be done in-person or virtually; raise funds by charging entrance fees and offering sponsorships.

14. Talent Shows

Talent shows are engaging events that can be held online or offline. Invite donors, sponsors, the community (local comedians, dancers, musicians, and singers). Funds can be raised through the entry fee for the event, and if your event is in person, you can sell t-shirts, souvenirs, and concessions throughout the show.

15. Raise Funds by Selling Used Books

Collect used books from local libraries, revitalizing their stacks, local bookstores, colleges, and supporters. Sell these books through your website or social media pages; this is a valuable way to recycle books and raise funds for a cause.

16. Garage or White Elephant Sales

Encourage your supporters and volunteers to host their own sales and donate proceeds to your organization or have supporters sell simultaneously in the same venue. Funds are raised through ticket sales, concessions, and item sales.

To make your event manageable and to ensure a seamless flow, a fundraising platform like iConnectX can make it easy for you to host fundraisers for your nonprofit. iConnectX enables nonprofits to organize and promote events with ticket sale capabilities, customizable URLs and landing pages, guest list and RSVP management, and secure payment processing.

17. Seasonal Product Sales

Product sales engage the community at large and supporters. Here are a few ideas for seasonal products:

• Hand-knit sweaters in the wintertime
• December wreath, garland, and Christmas tree sales
• Spring flowers (Mother’s Day!)
• Candles (around Christmas time or anytime)
• Pumpkins

17. Multi-Channel Engagement

For example, connect with donors through multiple channels, like social media, email marketing, and online fundraising page. Make sure that you have a solid online presence because this is where your donors will connect with your nonprofit and one another, which builds communities and supporter networks.

18. Effective Communication

Communicate with your existing and potential donors through different digital channels: text messages, emails, social media posts, and online newsletters, for example. Video messages on social networks, including YouTube, are highly effective in attracting donations. We suggest you overcome shyness and show the world your and your organization’s personality!

20. Competitive Tasks

Have a timed task for your supporters to complete and post videos to a social media channel of your choosing. This is a prime occasion to use hashtags and tagging to grow awareness of your organization. This type of outreach and promotion helps attract website visitors, find volunteers, and increase cause awareness.

Ideas for competitive tasks include:

• Soapbox derby cars – arrange to hold the race at a future date for even more fundraising and promotional opportunities
• Christmas tree decorating
• Sport-related challenges for individuals, like “most shots on the net in 60 seconds” for hockey and soccer, for example
• Activities like the Ice Bucket Challenge

The Takeaway

A heartfelt mission with dedicated staff and volunteers can accomplish a lot no matter what you decide to do. iConnectX helps simplify and streamline event management so your organization can engage with supporters and run events rather than being tied to administrative duties.

Our platform offers:

• Dedicated URLs and customizable landing pages
• Ticket sales
• Invitations
• RSVP management
• Guestlist communication
• Virtual hosting capabilities
• Secure payment processing
• Recurring donation capabilities
• Auctions
• And much more!

We hope you find some from encouragement this list! If you did finds inspiration, tried any of these ideas, or wat to share your own, please share with us by commenting below or reaching out on social media. We’d love to hear from you!

You can find us on:

• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn