Websites as Fundraising Tools for Your Nonprofit

Online donations are one of the easiest ways for nonprofits to passively fundraise. With the advent of the digital age and the widespread popularity of various types of online fundraising, from video-based sponsored donations to charitable websites that aggregate many different nonprofits and make them visible to philanthropists and other potential donors, websites are an invaluable tool for a nonprofit to boost their fundraising schemes. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, require very little maintenance once they are set up and give your donors an easy, instant way to make donations of all different sizes. Here are some ideas for kicking your online fundraising methods into high performance and bolstering the success of your nonprofit.

Setting Up an Online Donations Platform

One of the first things you will want to consider when starting to use a website as a potential source of donations is creating a site that is easy to use, attractive, relevant and practical. No matter if your online users are visiting your website to check on the hours that your nonprofit’s charity shop are open, to get updated about the next fundraising event that your nonprofit is hosting or for some other reason, always make it easy and quick to donate. If you already have a website that is up and running and represents your nonprofit’s purpose, simply adding a ‘Donate’ button or a link to a payment site through which your organization can accept monies is simple. There are many different online payment systems that make it a cinch to accept donations through a donor’s checking or savings account, credit or debit card, or online balance. If you don’t have a pre-existing website for your nonprofit, now is the time to consider building one. Websites can be as basic as a few pages that describe the mission and activities of your organization and then give readers a chance to donate, or they can be complex compilations of audio and video material, blogs about what your organization has achieved, and more. Alternatively, if you want to raise money online but don’t want to go through the process of creating a website, you may want to look into one of the many existing donations platforms that are specific to nonprofits. They will give you a web address and a chance to upload text, audio or video that describes your mission, and they will likely charge you a small percentage out of any donations you receive.

How to Get More Online Donations

Once your online donations are set up to start coming in, the next thing you will want to think about is how to attract more traffic to your website. You can do this in a number of different ways.

•Start a newsletter or subscription service that updates supporters on your status and any events you may be holding, and encourage people to sign up for these updates via your website.

•Start a blog that supporters can read and keep up with all the activities of your nonprofit.

•Encourage supporters to donate by offering them a small gift in exchange for a donation, such as a sticker, a book, a video, an e-book, a shirt or a mug.

•Keep your website constantly updated with new content, including pictures and videos of what your organization has been up to. Always remind readers and viewers where they can donate at the end of every blog post, newsletter or content update.

•Get active and stay active on social media sites that link to your website and your donations platform. These sites are one of the best and most popular channels for bringing in fundraising support because of their widespread popularity among many age groups, locations and other demographics.

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