If you’re looking to raise money for your nonprofit with an online fundraising campaign, there are lots of tools out there that can help.
I wanted to take a sec to highlight a few of the tools that you can use to crush your fundraising campaign.
Some of these will help you get more donors. Others will make it dead simple to keep your existing donors engaged in your ongoing campaign.
Overall, I want to reveal smarter ways to raise money online. You can get MUCH more fundraising hacks in my latest Amazon eBook, NonProfit Crowdfunding Explained.
After you review the list, be sure to check out my other post on online fundraising websites that you can use to get donations. You can read it here.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
1. AWeber
Okay, I’m one of the biggest proponents of social media out there. After all, I’m a millennial. However, I have to admit that email marketing still reigns supreme.
Derek Halpern conducted his own mini-experiment where he sent out a blog post via email, Twitter, Google+. Twitter got 50 clicks. Google+ got 75 clicks. He had a similar number of followers on each platform.
Then, he sent out an email blast. That email got more than 1,200 clicks, even though his email list was only twice as large as his following on the other accounts.
The view rate for a message is simply higher through email, which translates into engagement.
That’s why I think that email marketing should be combined with social media marketing for a successful online fundraising campaign.
Aweber will give you statistics on email open rates, click throughs, and give you the functionality to send out an email blast to your subscribers.
2. Wistia
While I do like to put out YouTube videos on topics like “How to Make the Most of #GivingTuesday,” I use Wistia for all of my premium training courses.
I’m a HUGE fan of their service. They give you the tools to create professional looking videos, which you can embed on your website.
First, they’ll give you video heat maps, so that you can tell when visitors tune out. Next, you’ll get engagement graphs and lots of helpful analytics. Finally, you can use their email collection feature to direct the attention of your viewers to an email signup after they watch the video.
3. Buffer
I’ve talked about Buffer so much on my blog. I use them religiously to help schedule content to go out on my various channels. I’m also now using to help me grow my Instagram account, which thus far has 3,000+ followers.
One of the hardest parts about building up a social media following is being consistent about putting out content. Buffer automates that pain point away .
As you’re planning the launch of your online fundraising campaign, you can use a tool like this to schedule your social media. You’ll also get analytics about which messages are performing best.
4. Google Analytics
There’s a recurring theme in this list of tools. Many of them provide in-depth analytics which helps you learn more about your prospective donors.
I’m not a magician. Yes, I’ve been able to produce results in this mysterious online world, but that’s because I’ve taken the time to learn about my audience.
As much as you think you know about your prospective nonprofit donors, a tool like Google Analytics will yield even large insights.
It’s super simple to put on your website to start collecting golden marketing data. Also, it’s free.
5. ThunderClap
It’s hard to get people talking about your fundraising effort. I think that direct outreach is paramount, but you can also use a tool like ThunderClap to rally the troops.
ThunderClap allows a single message to go out on the social media accounts of the people who have subscribed to your ThunderClap campaign.
Not everyone is going to remember to share your campaign, even if they want to. By using a tool like ThunderClap, you’ll make sure that all of your devoted supporters share your fundraising campaign with their social following.
6. Canva
Forget spending thousands of dollars on a pricey designer. Canva is a lifesaver!
You can choose from a variety of templates and put together banner ads, social media graphics, cards and invitations, posters, and more.
I use Canva to customize the thumbnails of my YouTube videos and occasionally for my blog posts.
What I like about Canva is that they have a lot of free and premium themes. You don’t have to break the bank to get professional looking images.
When you’re a bootstrapped nonprofit organization, you gotta be careful with how you spend your budget. This tool and some of the others in this list will make sure you spend your marketing dollars more efficiently.
7. Slack
I get lots and lots of emails. I’m sure that you do too. One way to cut down on the number of emails surrounding a particular project is to use an app like Slack.
Think of Slack as email meets chat room. You can create public or private rooms and directly message users on the system.
The reason Slack is a great team management tool is that everyone can easily see what’s going on. Also, you can set it up so that all of the notifications surrounding an event go right to Slack. Finally, it’s super simple to drag and drop files so that everyone has access to them.
At the time of writing, there is a free version of Slack available.
8. Eventbrite
While some of the nonprofit fundraising and crowdfunding platforms out there do include ticket selling functionality, not all do. If you’re thinking of hosting a fundraising event for your nonprofit, you could use a tool like Eventbrite to sell tickets.
It’s pretty simple to set up an event, sell tickets, market the event, and even give commissions to people who sell tickets on your behalf.
You could also always use a Facebook event to collect registrations.
9. Nonprofit Crowdfunding Explained
Lastly, I want to highlight my Amazon ebook, Nonprofit Crowdfunding Explained. This is a great tool that will help you every step of the way as you raise money online for your nonprofit organization.
I go through a lot of topics, but they’re all designed to give you a complete practical guide for getting donations with an online fundraising campaign.
I’ve put together a new GUIDE that’s packed with science-backed nonprofit fundraising methods, resources, strategies, and killer marketing methods.
You should check it out if you want to get more donations and you want to fast-track the entire process.
This is the perfect companion for a nonprofit looking to adopt new strategies into their fundraising efforts. I’ll be discussing social media marketing, the psychology of online giving, creating a great campaign, and more.
I hope that this list of tools is helpful! If you enjoyed this post, take a sec to leave a comment below.
