Participating in a giving event is an excellent way to broaden your donor base, acquire new supporters, and engage your community. But how do you run a campaign? What are giving events all about? And, importantly, how do you win prizes?! We’ve got you covered. In this post, we’ll break down the most important things to know about participating in a giving event… and provide a free resource to dive in even more.

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Understand your giving event

Each giving event is unique. Sure, there are some commonalities. Most giving events are community-based and have the goal of connecting donors with causes. And the vast majority of giving events are competitive, with leaderboards and hourly prizes. But the key to understanding how to succeed in a giving event is understanding the event itself.

On Mightycause, each giving event site will have a page explaining the rules and prizes. Understanding the rules of the road is your first step to developing a campaign strategy. And if you have questions, there an FAQ for nonprofits as well that explains all the need-to-know info, like when early donations start, what the minimum donation is, and more.

What is a Giving Event?

Attend training

It’s pretty standard for giving events on Mightycause to have at least two webinars. In these webinars, you’ll learn to navigate the platform, learn some tips & tricks to succeed, and usually have a chance to participate in a live Q&A session. So, if you want to making participating in a giving event worthwhile for your nonprofit, we strongly recommend making the time to attend these training events! (But if you miss it, the recordings will be made available to you.)

Some giving events will even go a step further and schedule additional training events. You don’t have to make it to all of them, but we definitely recommend taking advantage of as much free training as you can!

Download the free ebook

To help your nonprofit prepare for participating in a giving event, our fundraising experts have written a free ebook. Learn the giving event lingo, how leaderboards and Golden Tickets work, and how to plan a winning campaign!

Download Now

Set a realistic goal

Participating in a giving event is, above all else, a fantastic fundraising opportunity. Not only do the giving event hosts work to publicize the event, the marketing tools are built-in! It’s an easy-to-understand concept for donors, and a great reason to reach out and ask for their support. And so it’s important to set strong fundraising goals to make the most of your participation!

Fundraising goals

A giving event can eventually become an integral part of your fundraising calendar. But, on average, most nonprofits raise amounts consistent with their most recent fundraising campaign. So, if you’re participating in a giving event for the first time, take a look at the last fundraising campaign your nonprofit ran. Set a goal that’s close to what you raised during that campaign.

And as you participate year after year, you’ll be able to set even more ambitious goals and scale up your fundraising!

Non-monetary goals

Participating in a giving event is good for your nonprofit’s bottom line, but it can also help you with non-monetary goals! So, think about meaningful goals for your organization that go beyond a fundraising goal:

• Engaging major donors & sponsors: Try kicking your fundraising up a notch & engaging these vital donors by asking for a matching grant!
• Donor retention: Especially year after year, try to keep donors coming back to give. (And we’ve got special tools to help with that, too!)
• Social media engagement: Participating in a giving event can be a great way to get a boost on social media. See if you can leverage the giving event to build your following!

Focus on storytelling

Nonprofits that do well in giving events year after year usually have one thing in common: they are excellent storytellers. Participating in a giving event can be an excellent excuse to flex your storytelling muscles!

Find the right messaging

Giving events allow your nonprofit to hone in on what messaging really resonates with donors. Here’s how to find your message:

• Pick a focus/theme: It doesn’t need to be elaborate! Choose a theme that underscores what your nonprofit does & why your work is important. For instance, for an animal shelter participating in a giving event, raising money for their foster program and highlighting a few animals that were in foster care and then found homes can be a simple, powerful message.
• Create talking points: Participating in a giving event basically entails making an “elevator pitch” for the importance of your organization’s work. Synthesize your programs & services into a few easy-to-understand talking points about your work and impact.

Strategize to win prizes

Prizes are one of the big draws of participating in a giving event! By fundraising strategically, your nonprofit can win extra cash that will help you do even more in your community. The competition can get fierce, but there are usually lots of chances to win. And with some smart strategies, you can target and win those prizes!

Types of giving event prizes

There are a few types of prizes for giving events:

• Golden Ticket: These are typically part of 24-hour giving days. Golden Tickets are random prizes drawn from a pool of nonprofits that received a donation in the space of an hour.
• Power Hour: These are competitive prizes where nonprofit race to get the most dollars or donors in the space of an hour. (The giving event host will specify the type!)
• Leaderboard prizes: Leaderboard prizes are awarded to the top fundraisers for the duration of the event. Leaderboards track fundraising totals and number of donors throughout the whole event. Many giving events will split up leaderboards so nonprofits are competing against other nonprofits of a similar budget size or category, to keep the competition fair.
• Challenge prizes: You’ll typically see Challenges in multi-day or multi-week events! They aim to liven up the competition by providing short-term challenges, such as prizes for the top fundraisers in a day, or the nonprofits that bring in the most unique donors.

How to win prizes

We have plenty of tips in our ebook, but here’s a quick rundown of how to win prizes:

• Take advantage of early giving: Many giving events will allow nonprofits to start raising money a week or more before the event to build momentum. Nonprofits that take advantage of this early giving period are more likely to win leaderboard prizes (and raise more overall)!
• Email strategy: A nonprofit’s email list is a secret weapon on giving events! Sending emails at strategic times (and saving “big” emails with hard-hitting messaging for times when you’re aiming to win a prize) can help bolster your chances of winning.
• Social media: Using social media to mobilize your supporters (and get them to tell their friends) can help you get donations when it matters most.

Want more tips for participating in a giving event?

Get a fuller picture of what it’s like to participate in a giving event, how to plan, what you need to do, and how they work in our free ebook.

Download Now

The post Participating in a Giving Event: Everything You Need to Know appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

We talk a lot about Giving Events on Mightycause. They’re one of our major offerings and we devote a lot of time, energy, and innovation to making Giving Events on Mightycause the best on the market. But let’s take a step back: What exactly is a Giving Event? What are they all about?

So, what is a Giving Event?

Giving Events (also known as Giving Days) are online fundraising competitions that invite donors to come together and support nonprofits doing important work in their community. They are often built around empowering a specific community, cause, or university. Giving Events typically create urgency by limiting fundraising for the event to 24-hours, but they can last days, weeks, or even a whole month.

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How do they work?

The Giving Event organizers partner with a platform (such as Mightycause) to build an event site, where nonprofits register to participate. During the event, that website is where donors go to find nonprofits to support and watch the action.

The event hosts work to publicize the event, rounding up sponsors, media partners, and nonprofits. Once registration is underway, nonprofits sign up to participate and start planning a fundraising campaign. Donors will find nonprofits to support through a combination of publicity from the event hosts, direct appeals from the participating nonprofits, and referrals from people in the community.

What are the goals of a Giving Event?

While the specific goals vary from event to event, all of them typically have some common goals:

• Raising money: Some events raise a little, some raise millions, but a fundraising goal is always at the center of the event.
• Empowering nonprofits: Giving Events are huge donor acquisition opportunities for the nonprofits that participate. Beyond that, the events provide fundraising training, establish them up with a year-round fundraising platform, and set them up for continued fundraising success.
• Engaging sponsors: These events are excellent opportunities to engage sponsors and showcase their support of charitable causes in the community!
• Encouraging philanthropy: Especially for foundations, Giving Events are often a key part of their mission to support & facilitate philanthropy in their communities.
• Raising awareness: The event gives a boost to the causes and work of the participating nonprofits. And some events are even built around a specific cause (such as animals, education, and so on).

Anatomy of a Successful Giving Day or Event

So, what does it take to make one of these fundraising sprints successful? While there is some degree of magic involved, there is a actually a formula for success.

1. Strong concept

This is the basis of the whole event, the very structure it’s built upon. What makes a strong concept? Well, it starts with the event hosts having a clear vision for their event, and communicating that through their branding. An event concept should be simple, easy for nonprofits and donors to understand, and have a clear call to action. What is a Giving Event trying to do? The answer should be crystal clear from its name, logo, and website.

2. Clear goals

Obviously, a fundraising goal is a good place to start. But these are annual. And the fundraising goal will change every year. So, what are the bigger goals for the event? What’s the end game? Is it aiming to get people to invest in their own community? Raise money for a specific cause? Support a university or school? Give nonprofits a better toolkit for fundraising and empower them to fundraise sustainably year-round?

Having a clear understanding of what the long-term goals of the event are will help the event grow year after year and ensure it resonates with donors and nonprofits.

3. Engaged nonprofits

There’s a lot of work that goes into hosting a giving day or event. But the bulk of the work in making the event a success comes from the participating nonprofits! They’re the ones running campaigns, getting donors motivated to give, and raising money. So, cultivating a roster of motivated, enthusiastic participating nonprofits is key to Giving Event success.

Event hosts can do this through providing training, resources, and support. And, we won’t beat around the bush, offering substantial prizes helps with nonprofit engagement as well!

4. The right platform partner

The event host steers the ship, but the platform is the ship! To run a successful event, you’ll need to partner with a platform that is up to the task. Your platform needs Giving Event expertise that can build a website that’s customized to your event’s needs and brand. Because these events are high-traffic, having time-tested, scalable technology built (and tested) to withstand the flurry of activity and transactions happening on a giving day is essential.

The good news is that Mightycause is one of the innovators of giving days! Our team of experts can help you build a sleek, modern, user-friendly event site that reflects your brand, and provide a seamless experience for your nonprofits and donors. We’ve been doing this a long time and our technology is best-in-class.

Get the Giving Event ebook

Interested in hosting a giving day or event? We’ve put together all the basics and what Mightycause has to offer in one quick, easy read. Get our ebook today!

Download Now

5. Strong community partners & media exposure

When you’re trying to pull one of these events off, it involves getting a lot of people excited. Sponsors, community partners, and local media are going to help you get the word out about your event to your audience.

The Value of Giving Events

So, what’s the point? Why are these events worth the effort? Giving days and events are powerful ways to connect with donors, encourage philanthropy, invest in communities, and support nonprofits. Some events can raise millions in just 24 hours. Over time, these events become the centerpiece of many nonprofits’ fundraising calendars. They come to rely on the event to raise the funds they need to do their work. And the community looks forward to them each year, planning their philanthropic efforts around the event.

And for hosts, they make their organization and brand integral parts of their communities. The event allows them to connect with nonprofits, donors, sponsors, media, and more.

Case Studies

GA Gives Raises More Than $3.3 Million

Minnesota’s Giving Day Sets New Record of $21 million raised

Live PC Give PC raises over $2.4 million in 24 hours on Mightycause!

Giving Day for Apes Raised More Than Half a Million in 24 Hours

Contact Us

The post What is a Giving Event? appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

How to start your 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, from start to finish! From incorporating to filing for tax status, this post from Harbor Compliance lays out all the necessary steps.

If you’re passionate about helping others and have an idea of how to serve a community in need, starting a nonprofit is a great way to turn your vision into a reality. Before you can start helping, there are important organizational steps you need to take to form your nonprofit.

A nonprofit organization is a corporation formed for not-for-profit purposes. The not-for-profit purpose is declared when that nonprofit corporation is formed. What distinguishes a nonprofit from a for-profit is what the organization does with its profits. While for-profit businesses may distribute profits to shareholders, nonprofit organizations reinvest profits in the cause of the organization.

There are many different types of nonprofits – health, education, human services, international aid, environment, animal welfare, arts and more. What all nonprofits share is a focus on helping others. If there is no existing organization serving the community in need you’ve identified, you may be interested in forming your own nonprofit. Here’s a primer on the steps it takes to do it.

Incorporate Your Nonprofit

Once you’ve had the idea to form a nonprofit, there is a legal process that must be followed. Start by establishing a legal structure—the nonprofit corporation—at the state level. Select a business name that is legally available in your desired state of incorporation. Filing for an Employment Identification Number, or an EIN, comes next. An EIN is a unique nine-digit identification code issued by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to a business. It is used for filing tax returns, opening a bank account, and hiring employees.

Selecting your board of directors is an important step in setting your nonprofit up for success. Collectively, the board of directors strategizes, sets policy, and makes decisions for the nonprofit. Individually, each director should have certain qualities and attributes that add value to your organization. The IRS requires that there be a minimum of three unrelated board members on the board, to guard against insider transactions and misuse of funds.

Preparing and ratifying your articles of incorporation come next. Incorporation creates the legal entity of a nonprofit corporation and carries several benefits to the organization. Each state has different requirements for articles of incorporation, and many provide templates for emerging nonprofits to follow. However, the IRS requires specific language in your corporate formation documents that may not be included in state templates. his language must be included your articles of incorporation if you plan to file for 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt status. Articles of incorporation must follow both state and IRS requirements to avoid rejections down the road.

Create nonprofit bylaws which will become the main governing document of your nonprofit. Your bylaws will act as supplemental rules to those already required by the state and IRS. The document will act as a guide and decision-making tool for the board of directors. Bylaws are required if you pursue federal tax exemption, and will help prevent or resolve conflicts amongst the board. Along the same lines, create a written conflict of interest policy. Make sure to check if your state of incorporation has specific requirements for what must be included in your conflict of interest policy. Undisclosed conflicts of interest can compromise public trust in your nonprofit. A strong conflict of interest policy will help ensure your organization and leadership are protected.

Hold the first meeting of the board of directors, where the above documents are reviewed and approved. Elect officers and establish roles. This first meeting will set the tone for your nonprofit and give your group of dedicated members a chance to create a positive vision of your organization’s future.

File for Federal Tax-Exempt Status

Once you have formed your nonprofit, you may want to seek tax-exempt status from the IRS. There are numerous benefits to seeking tax-exempt status including the ability to solicit tax-deductible donations and certain grants, as well as exemption from federal corporate income taxes, and a discount on bulk-rate postage. With a tax-exempt status, you’ll have enhanced credibility and trust as an organization and be able to apply for grants.

There are 29 different types of organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code. The most popular and widely known of the 501(c) exemptions is the 501(c)(3). Commonly referred to as charitable organizations, 501(c)(3) are frequently eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions, a valuable benefit to offer donors to your nonprofit organization.

The IRS does impose some restrictions on 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. Those restrictions include:

• 501(c)(3) organizations may not be organized for the benefit of private interests, such as the founder, the founder’s family, or others directly or indirectly controlled by such private interests.
• 501(c)(3) organizations must be organized and operated for the specific exempt purposes identified in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
• 501(c)(3) organizations may not participate in electioneering, campaign activity for or against political candidates.

Tax exemption is applied for by submitting an application to the IRS using Form 1023 or 1023 EZ. It is not unusual for the Form 1023 application and attachments to exceed 50 pages. Be careful to ensure that you’ve included everything that is required, and be sure to follow IRS formatting instructions. IRS processing times may take anywhere from 2 weeks to 6 months, so be patient. While waiting for your determination letter from the IRS it’s best not to fundraise. Once you are confirmed as tax-exempt, you’ll be able to kick your fundraising into gear.

File for State Tax-Exemptions

There are some states that will grant you tax-exempt status once you receive your IRS determination letter. Other states require the submission of a state application. Tax exemptions may vary depending on the state. States may offer exemption from corporate income, sales, use, and other taxes they levy on nonprofits. Consider exemption in each state where your nonprofit operates. Typically exemption requires submitting an application to the department of revenue and must be renewed every 1 to 5 years.

Register to Fundraise

After you’ve received your 501(c)(3) determination letter from the IRS, you’ll need to register to fundraise in your state of incorporation and perhaps others too. Generally, you must register or seek exemption from registration before soliciting donations in each of the 41 states that require registration. Properly registering is an important part of nonprofit compliance that will allow you to fundraise across state borders.

Additional prerequisites for registration in some states including registered agent service. In the technological age, charitable solicitation can happen anywhere. Solicitation is defined as asking for funds for charitable purposes, regardless of the method. This includes donations by mail, grant requests, text to give, and a donate now button on your website. Solicitation occurs where the request for a donation is received. If you don’t know where your solicitations are being received, you may need to register in multiple states.

[Note from Mightycause: On our platform, donations are filtered through the Mightycause Charitable Foundation, which is registered in all 50 states!]

After becoming registered or exempted where required, you need to file an annual secretary of state annual report in each of these states. Typical documents submitted with this annual report include IRS Form 990 tax return and compiled or audited financial statements.

Time to Do Some Good

There you have it, folks! These are the most important steps you need to take to establish your nonprofit organization. Once you’ve crossed off these important tasks you’ll be able to start functioning as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Now that you know what to do, you can begin to do your part to make your community a better place.

Want more tips on setting your nonprofit up for success? Check out Nonprofit Startup Bootcamp.

About the Author

Sharon Cody, JD is the partnership manager at Harbor Compliance. Since 2012, Harbor Compliance has helped more than 25,000 organizations apply for, secure, and maintain licensing. Sharon’s passion for educating nonprofits on the value of compliance stems from three decades spent as an attorney, foundation executive, charitable fundraiser, and nonprofit board member.

The post How to Start Your 501(c)(3) appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

Recurring giving is important to nonprofits year-round, even when we are not in the middle of a pandemic. Recurring donors are people who make an ongoing commitment to support your nonprofit’s work and provide consistent, predictable revenue. And when there’s a crisis, that predictable donation becomes even more important to rely upon.

#GivingTuesdayNow is on May 5, 2020. Here’s why encouraging recurring giving should be a key part of your fundraising plan.

Join the Movement

1. It’s a smaller ask

There’s a lot of economic anxiety right now. Unemployment is at a record high, lots of people are unable to work due to layoffs and furloughs, and even those who are lucky enough to still be at work at keeping a close watch on their finances. So, for many people, asking for a smaller donation that recurs monthly feels more approachable than a large one-time donation.

A monthly donation is a smaller amount ($10, $20, and so on) that allows donors to make a bigger contribution over the course of a year. (For instance, a $20 monthly donation equals $240 annually for your nonprofit.) Under normal circumstances, this is a great way for people who may be unable to give in large amounts to increase their impact in an approachable manner. And during COVID-19, it also allows people who may be experiencing financial hardship or simply anxiety about laying out larger amounts of money to help in a meaningful way, without breaking the bank.

2. It’s asking for a long-term commitment to your nonprofit’s work

Sure, a monthly donation is a smaller financial ask, but it’s actually a much bigger commitment than a one-time donation: you’re asking donors to make a regular, ongoing commitment to your nonprofit’s mission and work. You’re asking for them to become donor that helps sustain your organization month after month, year after year. And during COVID-19, that’s a message that can really resonate with donors.

Especially for nonprofits whose work may be less visible right now, because you’re not providing direct aid or have had to scale back operations temporarily, this can be an effective message and fundraising appeal. You’re asking donors to invest in your nonprofit’s future — and when you’re not operating at full capacity, that can be the best way to ask for donations.

3. Recurring donors are more likely to give again

Because recurring donors are invested in your work and giving every month, these are people who are fully on board with your nonprofit’s mission. And that makes them much more likely to be responsive to your fundraising appeals throughout the year. So, that means that in addition to their monthly gift, you can count on them to give outside of that throughout the year. When you ask, these are the tried-and-true supporters who will show up for you.

That means it’s worth the effort to devote your #GivingTuesdayNow campaign to getting new recurring donors. You’re not just getting an additional $15 per month when a new recurring donor signs up. You’re getting that person’s long-term buy-in, their attention and concern. And they’re much more likely to make one-time donations in response to future campaigns.

4. It moves donors down the pipeline

Your nonprofit probably has a base of donors who give each time you have a campaign, and perhaps sporadically throughout the year. You can count on their donations, but they make sporadic one-time donations. And the reason they’re not giving monthly? Well, it’s possible you haven’t asked!

Running a campaign focused on recurring giving will allow you to capture these individuals, move them down the donor pipeline, and get them giving even more regularly.

5. It’s an easy campaign to put together quickly

We’ve talked before about how to put a #GivingTuesdayNow or COVID-19 relief campaign quickly. And recurring giving is a quick, easy-to-understand campaign message that’s perfect for getting a fundraiser together quickly!

The messaging is baked in with recurring giving:

• “We’re asking you to pledge your support to our work year-round.”
• “Please make a small monthly gift that will enable us to continue our important work.”
• “Invest in the future of our nonprofit and help keep us funded through COVID-19.”

So, it’s an easy campaign message with multiple benefits for your nonprofit and the donor. If you’re struggling to find your footing in time for #GivingTuesdayNow or wondering how to craft a fundraising appeal during a pandemic, this is a simple way to fundraise and get major results.

Recurring donations on Mightycause

Monthly donations are super easy to set up on Mightycause: all it takes is the click of a button! When donors are checking out, they will have the option to choose to make their donation monthly. You can nudge donors in that direction by utilizing Checkout Flow customization that allows you to tailor the suggested donation amounts and descriptions to emphasize the importance of monthly donations. Recurring donations can be set up by donors through your organization’s profile on Mightycause, the widget on your website, or your custom donation page.

Users have total control over their donations. Through their Mightycause accounts, they can update their credit card info, switch the donation to a different card, update the amount, or cancel if they need to. So, it’s easy as can be for donors to set up and manage their donations, and an easy campaign message for your nonprofit.

Get Started

The post Why Recurring Giving is So Important During COVID-19 appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

COVID-19 hit the United States hard and fast. And the nonprofit sector has had to respond fast. Since March, nonprofits have had to jump to serve the needs of their communities, postpone, cancel, or reimagine Spring fundraisers they relied on to provide funding for their programs and services, and adapt to working remotely. Many nonprofits are making hard choices, scaling back their operations, or working overtime to help their communities. So, in all of this chaos, how do you even begin to put together a COVID-19 relief fundraiser?!

At Mightycause, we know things are hard right now, so we want to make it as easy as possible to start a fundraiser. Whether it’s for #GivingTuesdayNow on May 5, 2020, or a fundraiser to help see you through this pandemic, you can create a fundraiser in four easy steps.

#GivingTuesdayNow

The Current Fundraising Landscape

We’ll be honest with you, there’s not a ton of data to draw from regarding the effect of pandemics on nonprofits. But we can draw from what we know about disaster fundraising: people look for ways to give during and after a disaster, and many nonprofits actually see a spike in giving after a disaster. (And while certainly a pandemic is very different than a hurricane or earthquake, it is definitely a disaster.) So, people are looking to engage in charitable giving, and charitable giving will be happening.

And on May 5th, the folks behind #GivingTuesday (the annual event that takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving) will be hosting a COVID-19 event, #GivingTuesdayNow. Local events have sprung up across the country for #GivingTuesdayNow, with some starting earlier and lasting later in the month. What we know is that lots of charitable giving is happening now, and we’ll see even more of it in May. And we know that your nonprofit deserves to be in the mix.

Step #1: Determine your needs and capacity

The first step to plotting any fundraiser is goal-setting, but you’ll want to adapt your goals to the current situation.

What do you need right now?

Meet with your team (remotely) and determine what your nonprofit’s needs are right now. Do you have a critical funding need? Would getting more recurring donors be more meaningful for your organization? Is donor engagement a better goal?

Your goal doesn’t need to be a concrete financial goal if that doesn’t make sense for your nonprofit right now.

What’s your capacity right now?

When you’re looking to start a COVID-19 fundraiser quickly, it’s important not to overextend your organization. Take stock of your assets. How much time do you have? What’s your staff and volunteer situation like? How much time do they have to contribute? And how are they doing? Do they have the ability to take on a fundraiser? Think about what you can accomplish with what you have at your disposal, and scale your goal and your efforts to what is realistic and achievable.

It may be helpful to think about your nonprofit’s limits: What’s the most you can do right now? What’s the least you can do to generate some funding for #GivingTuesdayNow?

Scale down

When setting your goals for your COVID-10 fundraiser, it’s important to keep in mind that perfect shouldn’t be the enemy of good. Since people will be giving on May 5th (and in general), doing some fundraising is better than doing none at all. And with May 5th right around the corner, it’s more important to move quickly than it is to get all the details perfect.

At Mightycause, we recommend keeping it simple. Now is not the time for high-concept fundraising! Keep it honest and realistic and focus on accomplishing as much as you can with the assets you have available.

Step #2: Find the right messaging

This is probably the hardest question facing many nonprofits right now. How do you ask for money during a pandemic? Is there a right way to ask at all? And while these are worthwhile questions it’s entirely logical to struggle with, finding the right messaging is easier than you think:

• Be direct! Get to the point quickly. What does your organization need, how can people help? People want to help, they know there is a crisis happening, they don’t need a wordy recap of the situation. Just let them know what you need.
• Be transparent: It’s helpful to be honest about how COVID-19 has affected your nonprofit, to give your supporters context when you’re asking for their help. Are you providing direct aid? Have you had to shut down some programs, or scale back your work? Is COVID-19 fundamentally affecting your ability to work toward your mission?
• Reaffirm your mission & place in the community: Obviously, if you are providing direct aid during the pandemic, it should be easily to highlight your mission. But even for organizations that aren’t providing direct aid, it’s necessary to remind people what you do and why you do it. Get back to your core mission and use that to frame your ask. (And even if you aren’t providing aid, this explains why your work is important and is in need of funding.)
• Reassure and Inspire: The news is pretty gloomy these days. Nonprofits are in a unique position to deliver a message of hope. Now, this doesn’t mean to invent a false narrative of hope, but messaging from a place of community, connection, and helping can pull people in and inspire them to help.

Recurring giving

Especially for nonprofits that are currently not operating at full capacity or have had to halt operations, focusing on recurring giving can be the best way to message a #GivingTuesdayNow or COVID-19 fundraiser. Recurring giving focuses on long-term investment in your nonprofit. And it also allows donors to give in smaller amounts that feel more approachable, which can make all the difference in whether or not someone decides to make a donation.

On Mightycause, recurring donations can be made through your profile, the widget on your website or blog, or your custom donation page. Setting up a recurring gift is an excellent way to ask your supporters to pledge their support during this crisis.

Include alternative, non-monetary asks

So, a lot of people are feeling the pinch economically, and that’s why it’s more important than ever to make it clear that donating isn’t the only way to help. Mentioning things like remote volunteer opportunities, peer-to-peer fundraising, and even things like sharing posts on social media, signing up for your email list, and helping your nonprofit spread the word about your fundraiser are ways people can help. If you have a need for in-kind donations, talking about how to donate what you need safely is appropriate, too.

Giving your supporters alternative ways to get involved and help your cause makes people feel more empowered to help… and might help you find some much-needed assistance!

Step #3: Set it up

Once you’ve figured out what you’re asking for and how you’ll ask for it, all you need to do is set up a fundraiser. There are a few different options, of varying difficulty, which we’ll outline for you.

EASY: Use your Mightycause profile

This is an easy option for nonprofits already set up on our platform. It’s already there and ready to collect donations! We do, however, recommend making a few key updates:

• Update your Description: This is the spot where your mission statement normally goes. We recommend updating this to be relevant to COVID-19 and your fundraising efforts! But the least you can do here is just remove anything outdated as well as any outdated campaign efforts. How to edit your profile.
• Update your Thank You page and email receipt: These are easy wins! Customize these sections to be specific to your COVID-19 relief campaign, or simply make sure they don’t reference any outdated campaigns. Learn how to update these messages.
• Suggested Donation Amounts & Descriptions: So, every nonprofit on Migthycause can customize the four default amounts suggested to every donor when they click “Donate” and add a brief description of what that amount provide. These both catch donors during a critical moment: when they’re deciding how much to give and whether to make it monthly. If you have never customized these, now is the time! Here’s how to do it.
• Update your Goal & Progress Bar. Make sure an outdated, fulfilled goal doesn’t turn people off from donating! This is an easy thing to update, and will refresh your profile’s metrics for your new campaign. Here’s how to update your Goal & Progress Bar.

To use this option, you’ll just be sending people right to your Mightycause profile in your appeals. Couldn’t be easier!

EASY: Start a campaign page

So, if you’d like to keep your Mightycause profile evergreen and want to have a separate page for COVID-19 fundraising, you can create a campaign page. Here’s a support article on how to set up a fundraiser connected to your nonprofit’s profile.

This is a simple and easy option that allows you to utilize campaign-specific fundraising tools like creating a deadline, in a matter of minutes. Fundraiser pages are a template on Mightycause, so all you need to do is fill in the content. That’s it!

Get Fundraising Ideas

INTERMEDIATE: Start a Team or Event

One excellent way to harness people’s desire to help is through peer-to-peer fundraising. If you’d like to simply facilitate an organized peer-to-peer campaign, Teams & Events are the right tool for you. Both offer all the features you need to get fundraisers signed up and fundraising, while helping your seamlessly manage your campaign.

The difference between a Team and an Event is simple. A Team page allows individuals to create their own fundraising pages, where they raise money for the cause and their team. An Event takes this a step further by allowing individuals and Teams to fundraise together for a cause. So, for instance, an organization that wanted to enable its Board of Directors to start fundraisers might want to start a Team. That would allow each board member to have their own page where they can ask people to donate to your nonprofit (and you can track their progress). An Event would be a great option for a virtual 5k where you’re looking to organize a large group of people, some of whom may want to fundraise as a Team.

These types of campaigns require a bit more time and coordination than just using your Mightycause profile or starting your own fundraiser, because it involves asking others to join and start fundraising. But they are usually well worth the effort for nonprofits that have the capacity for it. Teams & Events raise more than other types of fundraisers on our platform. And setting them up is easy! Check out our Team & Event Fundraising support library for walkthroughs and how-tos.

We also have live training sessions available. Find one happening at a time that works for you to get a technical walkthrough of our Team & Event fundraising tools!

Live Training Sessions

Best Practices

The most important thing to remember when you’re choosing what type of fundraiser you want to set up is to keep it simple! Make sure you’re setting your nonprofit up for success and scale your campaign to your current capacity. You may want to start an Event, but if you’re just getting started, that may be harder to pull off by May 5th for #GivingTuesdayNow. So keep your efforts realistic.

And as much as possible, use what you’ve already got! Use images, videos, and assets you already have at your disposal.

Step #4: Get the word out

Once you know what and who you’re asking, how you’re asking, and where you’re sending your supporters, all that’s left is to get the word out!

Send a blast email

So, if you read Mightyblog a lot, you’ll hear a lot about segmenting emails and some chatter about why email blasts to your whole list aren’t ideal. Well, we’re temporarily suspending that talking point: Email blasts are totally fine! Starting a COVID-19 fundraiser is all about moving quickly, and a blast email is the quickest and easiest way to get the word out to your whole list.

Keep the email announcing you campaign short, simple, and punchy. You want your message to be brief and direct. And your CTA should be general and immediate: DONATE NOW, GIVE NOW, HELP NOW, and so on.

With that said, if you’re already familiar with email segmentation, we highly recommend using segmentation for your follow-ups. Send more specific, personalized asks to your key audiences: last year’s #GivingTuesday donors, your recurring donors, your volunteers, your board, and donors with a robust giving history.

Social media

After you send an email, get the word out on social media! Schedule some posts letting people know about your COVID-19 fundraiser, paying special attention to the channels where you have the most followers. Social media is also a great place for some non-monetary asks like sharing your post, starting a peer-to-peer fundraiser, and signing up for your newsletter for updates.

Early engagement (meaning likes, shares, comments, and so on) is a key part of making sure your posts are seen, so as much as you’re able to, stay responsive and get engaged in conversations with your followers. (This could be a great job for a remote volunteer!)

Personal outreach

We know you’re pressed for time and we’re not suggesting a ton of personal outreach, but we do suggest doing as much as you’re able. Sending a quick, personal email to your key supporters to thank them for their ongoing support and ask them for their support for your COVID-19 fundraiser is well worth the effort. And we recommend doing a bit of research to build a list of donors that have repeatedly shown up to support your work and are worth the extra effort to get onboard with your new fundraiser.

A tip that can make this easy as can be is creating an email template you and your team and copy, paste and customize so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel with each email.

Say thanks

The thanks is part of the fundraising plan! First, utilize the tools Mightycause already has built-in to our platform, like your Thank You page and custom email message that’s included with donors’ receipts. These are easy wins that help your nonprofit thank donors quickly. But a simple plan to send an email, post on social media, and wrap up your campaign is all that’s needed here.

If you have the volunteers for it, coordinate them to handle phone calls, cards, and emails thanking donors. These are high-impact thank yous that are easy for volunteers to do from home!

The minimum effort

So, let’s say, you’re just at capacity right now and can’t do much. But you know that participating in #GivingTuesdayNow is necessary. But you also don’t have enough time to start a new COVID-19 fundraiser. What do you do?! Here you go. This is the least amount of effort you can put in:

1. Scan your nonprofit’s Mightycause page for any outdate information or references to old campaigns. If it’s there, remove it or update. Otherwise, don’t change anything.
2. Schedule 1-2 social media posts for May 5, 2020 with a link to your Mightycause profile. And only post on social media channels where you have followers. If you have 50 followers on Instagram and 5,000 on Facebook, don’t worry about Instagram — post on Facebook only.
3. Schedule 1 blast email to your whole email list on May 5, 2020 asking them to donate to your Mightycause page.

That’s it! That’s the least you need to do. That simple strategy should net you a few #GivingTuesdayNow donations with very little time sunk into planning a campaign.

The post 4 Easy Steps to Putting Together a COVID-19 Fundraiser appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

Platform Basics Training Session

• Tuesday, 6/02/2020, 2 p.m. EDT   Register Here

Events and Teams Training Session

• Tuesday, 5/12/2020, 1 p.m. EDT   Register Here
• Wednesday, 5/27/2020, 2 p.m. EDT   Register Here
• Wednesday, 6/17/2020, 1 p.m. EDT   Register Here

Supporters Training Session

• Wednesday, 5/20/2020, 3 p.m. EDT   Register Here
• Thursday, 6/11/2020, 2 p.m. EDT   Register Here

Text-to-Give Training Session

• Tuesday, 5/21/2020, 1 p.m. EDT   Register Here
• Wednesday, 6/10/2020, 2 p.m. EDT   Register Here

Donation Page Training Session

• Tuesday, 5/26/2020, 3 p.m. EDT   Register Here
• Wednesday, 6/18/2020, 1 p.m. EDT   Register Here

The post Mightycause Training Sessions appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

Participating in a giving event is normally a fantastic opportunity to engage your donors and your community, acquire new donors, raise money, and get a boost in visibility. But nothing about the current situation in the United States and abroad is normal. COVID-19 has upended much of our daily lives, with many states under shelter-in-place orders, business operations pared down to just the essentials, and record numbers of people filing for unemployment. So, even if your nonprofit is able to continue operating, you may be facing some big questions about participating in that Spring giving event right now.

In this post, we’ll explore these questions: whether it’s okay to fundraise, when it’s okay to bow out, how your nonprofit can leverage a giving event to keep your lights on during a crisis, and how to make it work if your time and resources are limited right now.

“Is this the right time to fundraise?!”

This is an unprecedented time, so we don’t have peer-reviewed studies or large sets of data to draw from here. But this is what we do know: people are giving to nonprofits.

Simply put, giving to nonprofits is one of the ways people gain some degree of feeling in control during or in the aftermath of a disaster. This is one thing there is a lot of data to draw from. When a disaster hits, charitable giving goes up. We can easily predict this, and we’re seeing that happen now. And while this pandemic is very different from a hurricane or earthquake, it certainly qualifies as a disaster. People are giving to nonprofits, starting peer-to-peer fundraisers, crowdfunding for individuals and starting relief funds for retail workers, healthcare workers, restaurants, artists, and more. People are actively looking for ways to help.

So, in short, yes! This is the right time to fundraise. However, how each nonprofit goes about it depends a lot on how (or whether) they’re involved in COVID-19 relief and what their capacity is right now.

Pivoting to COVID-19

If your nonprofit is providing direct service and/or relief to those in your community affected by COVID-19, you’ll want to adjust your campaign to focus on those efforts. This should be a relatively easy shift. Here are a few ways you can shift your message to your work on COVID-19 relief:

• Update your Mightycause profile. This is an easy win! Add some information to your profile explaining how COVID-19 has affected the population(s) your nonprofit serves and what you’re doing to help. Make it a multimedia experience by adding photos and videos (if you have any) of your organization working on the front lines, behind the scenes, or elsewhere to help with COVID-19 relief. Updating your banner image and even altering your logo to be specific to COVID-19 relief can help make your profile more tuned in to what you’re doing and help tell the story of how you’re helping in this crisis.
• Create a fundraiser. Fundraisers on Mightycause are connected to your nonprofit profile, but built for time-sensitive campaigning. Starting a COVID-19 specific fundraiser gives you a space to talk about the work your nonprofit is doing, set a campaign goal, and still reserve your nonprofit profile as an evergreen space where people can learn more about your mission.
• Focus on recurring giving. On Mightycause, any donation can be set up as a monthly donation by simply checking a box during the donation process. Focusing on the need for sustaining support and reliable revenue that enables you to respond quickly during a crisis can be a powerful message that resonates with donors. And if you present smaller, approachable amounts (the minimum donation on Mightycause is $5), that can feel much more doable to people who might be hesitant to make a large one-time donation, allowing them to mete out their giving over the course of a year.

If you’re not providing direct aid right now…

It’s okay! You can still talk about your mission, work in the community, and how your operations have been affected by COVID-19. Not every nonprofit is going to be on the front lines, and with social distancing protocol, it’s impossible for some nonprofits to do what they do under normal circumstances. Mission trip-focused nonprofits, for instance, are not going to be able to travel right now or for the foreseeable future. Many nonprofits whose work is about gathering and directly serving the public might find themselves unable to operate at full capacity, or at all, right now. So, what do you do?

• Talk honestly about how COVID-19 is affecting operations. People who support your mission aren’t going to stop supporting you just because you’re not providing direct COVID-19 aid, or have had to scale back operations during a public health crisis. They’re going to continue to support you and want to learn how they can help your nonprofit get through this. So, be honest about how this pandemic has impacted your work, and tell your supporters what you need to see you through so you can hit the ground running for your cause when things are back to normal. (Or a new normal, anyway.) Don’t be shy about asking for donations — people want to know how they can support your work!
• Start a relief fund… for your nonprofit. Look, it’s no secret that this pandemic is affecting a lot of areas of our economy, and the nonprofit sector is part of that. Do you need to ensure that your rent is paid, your payroll needs are met, and your work stays funded? You can start a relief fund to help see your nonprofit through these turbulent months.
• Look to the future. What are you going to do once this is over? What do you have planned? How are you going to get back to work? People are looking for hope, and hearing about your nonprofit’s plans when quarantine is over can inspire people to support you. Talk about that amazing new program you want to start in 2020, that exciting new project you’re going to tackle, or what your goals are for 2020, to deliver a message of hope and ensure your work stays funded.
• Focus on recurring giving. We’re going to keep repeating this one, because it’s important! Asking for recurring gifts, investing in the future of your nonprofit, can be an excellent campaign message during this unprecedented time.

Do you need an in-person component?

Giving events are usually all about encouraging online giving, but some nonprofits rely on an in-person component to make their giving event campaign interesting. Sometimes that means inviting people to your headquarters for a leaderboard watch party, or hosting a get together with food and beverages, or just having a location where donors can drop off cash and check contributions.

But this is a great opportunity to rethink that in-person component. Do you really need it? How does it serve your nonprofit? Can you get fundraising results that are just as good without it? This year, you don’t have a choice but to cancel your in-person event. Track your results to evaluate the effectiveness of your efforts this year. It may turn out that the in-person event you thought was a key part of your giving event campaign wasn’t essential after all.

Use this as an opportunity to push your donors to give online. For a giving event, online giving often means additional opportunities to win prizes. Focusing on online giving and keeping your event online means that you’ll need fewer staff to manage the flow of people and offline gifts, and focus on digital campaigning, which is more immediate and allows you to reach more people with less effort.

Utilize volunteers

Some nonprofits may be finding it tough to dedicate much time to fundraising now, either because they’ve had to scale back their operations or are simply too busy responding to COVID-19. But the nonprofit sector has a built-in solution for that dilemma: volunteers. 

We often hear that nonprofits are wary of bringing volunteers into their fundraising operations beyond having them at in-person events. But it’s a huge mistake to relegate volunteers to grunt work like landscaping, sorting in-kind donations, and answering phones! Your volunteer base is likely full of skilled people who could be major assets to your fundraising operations. And now, with many people’s work schedules reduced or moved to remote work only, there are lots of people with extra time on their hands who would love to help out! Who knows, you may even have some professional fundraisers, marketers, and social media managers in your volunteer base! You won’t know until you ask.

If you need help with your giving event campaign, put out a request for volunteers. Work with your volunteer coordinator, send out an email, post on social media, and ask for what you need. Smart use of volunteer help can make participating in a giving event when your capacity is diminished not only possible, but a huge boon to your nonprofit.

Focus on peer-to-peer

In addition to an increase in charitable giving, one thing we tend to see in response to disasters is that peer-to-peer fundraising increases too. People are motivated to help in whatever way they can, and eagerly starting fundraisers to help the causes closest to their hearts. And you can leverage that energy to raise money for your giving event, while offloading some of the legwork of fundraising onto people happy to help out. Like finding volunteer help, all you need to do is ask!

Instead of leaving your supporters to their own devices, let them know what is most helpful to you. Tell them you’re participating in a giving event, and provide a link with some basic instructions to create a peer-to-peer fundraiser in support of your organization during the event. On Mightycause, there are several simple and fast ways to start a peer-to-peer fundraiser. Sending out a request with an email and social media post is usually all that’s needed to kickstart a groundswell of peer-to-peer support.

Mightycause Mythbusters: Peer-to-Peer Fundraising

How to scale down

So, if you take a look at your capacity right now and determine that you just can’t focus on participating in a giving event, what we recommend is trying to scale down your campaign rather than scrapping it altogether. The magic of giving events is that people will be giving to nonprofits, many people for the first time, and the hosts of the event do a lot of work to push it out to audiences. So participating even if it’s on a smaller scale can still help your nonprofit! Here’s the bare minimum you need to do if you’re registered for an event:

Customize your profile

Many parts of your profile are pre-filled for you. Here’s the least you can do to make your profile reflect your brand:

1. Upload your logo. This will be used to represent your nonprofit on the giving event’s website.
2. Add your mission to your About section. You can simply copy and paste your mission statement here. The minimum here is 50 words, so you can also keep it short and sweet.
3. Create a Thank You page. This is in your Checkout Flow section, under Post-Checkout. Just type a simple thanks to your donors there, and call it a day. This will be sent out automatically to each donor, which automates the donor acknowledgement process for you.
4. Make sure your information is correct and up-to-date. We import much of your information from the IRS database, so for many nonprofits, you’ll just need to take a quick look and make sure everything is current. If you’ve participated in this giving event in the past, just give your page a quick once-over to make sure you’ve removed any outdated dates or information.
5. Set up EFT. The direct deposit option means you’ll get your donations faster, so take a moment to set up EFT in your profile’s Settings. Otherwise we’ll mail you a check, but we recommend EFT. Save yourself the effort of waiting for a check  in the mail, and then depositing it at the bank by filling out the required information for direct deposit.

Plan a few promotions

You don’t need to spend a ton of time or effort marketing your giving event participation to see an effect! Plan at least one email letting your list of subscribers know that they can donate at the start of the giving event, and schedule a few social media posts with a link to your page. Those things won’t take lots of time or effort, and can help you get some donations.

If you need to pull out of a giving event…

Before we get into the reasons to pull out of a giving event you’ve registered for, we want to make it clear: people will be making donations during that giving event. If your nonprofit has already registered, we recommend sticking it out and participating, to whatever extend your organization is able. Even if you have to scale back on the campaign you had planned, just remaining in the event, posting on social media, and sending out an email can get you some donations. You don’t need to fundraise full-throttle in order to see some benefit from participating!

But there are absolutely valid reasons why your nonprofit may want to bail out of your giving event. Maybe your organization has had to temporarily shutter your operations, or you’ve been hard hit by this health crisis and need to evaluate your future. Here’s how to pull out of an event if you really need to:

1. Contact the organization or community foundation hosting the giving event to let them know you can’t participate.
2. If you’ve already announced that you’ll be participating in the event, make a quick, no-frills announcement and let your supporters know you’ve had to cancel your participation in the event. Let your supporters know how they can support your work during this time.

Even if you’re not at full capacity right now, or struggling to understand how to fit your mission into the current circumstances, a giving event can still be a great way to connect with your supporters and pick some new ones up along the way. And, for those nonprofits having trouble finding their fundraising footing during this public health crisis, a giving event gives you a reason to talk to your supporters and ask for their donations, making messaging simple and easy. We recommend doing all you can to make it work, to the best of your nonprofit’s abilities, to take advantage of the opportunity to get donations and some extra visibility when it matters most.

The post Participating in a Giving Event During COVID-19 appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

You know what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men. But nothing could have prepared the world for just how awry our plans would go in 2020. COVID-19 has cost thousands of people in the United States their lives, many states have shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders in effect, businesses have been forced to shut their doors, and millions of people have lost their jobs. So, that Spring fundraiser your nonprofit made all those beautiful plans for? COVID-19 has essentially ripped it to shreds, and you’ll have to make some tough decisions.

But don’t panic! There several ways forward. In this post, we’ll break down your options and discuss the steps involved in each.

“But is it okay to fundraise now?!”

We will dive more deeply into this issue in the future, but resoundingly, the answer is YES. Not only are people giving to charities, people are giving more than they were last year. On Mightycause, we are seeing a groundswell of events aimed to lift up nonprofit work during this turbulent time.

And that’s not a surprise, that’s a feature of nonprofit fundraising. While there have been very few situations that are directly comparable to COVID-19, we consistently see that there is an increase in charitable giving during or directly following a disaster. (And if this doesn’t qualify as a global disaster, we don’t know what does.) So, rest assured, people are still engaging in charitable giving! It’s definitely worth fundraising during this time, though what that looks like for each nonprofit will vary based on the type of work that’s being done, the capacity of the nonprofit, and how COVID-19 has affected operations.

“Do we cancel, postpone, or just move it online?”

This is probably the most difficult question for nonprofits right now. And it’s also the one they need to answer fast. There is no right answer, and it depends a lot on what you organization had planned, what you’re doing for COVID-19 relief, and what your organization can realistically achieve right now. Let’s walk through the options.

Cancelling your fundraiser or event

So, this might seem like the nuclear option, but there are plenty of good reasons why your nonprofit might want to fully cancel your Spring fundraiser. Maybe you’ve had to shut down operations because of COVID-19, or on the flip side, find yourselves so busy providing direct service to your community that you have no time for a full-throttle fundraising campaign. And if you had an in-person event, it may not be possible for you to simply transfer the event online.

Whatever the reason, you may need to cancel your planned fundraiser so you can focus your resources and energy elsewhere. Here’s how to cancel your fundraiser gracefully.

1. Give as much notice as possible. Notify your board, any sponsors or partners for the fundraiser, your staff, your volunteers, and crucially, the people participating in your fundraiser as soon as you possibly can.
2. Announce the cancellation. Send out emails, post on your website, post on social media, and let everyone know your Spring fundraiser is cancelled.
3. Stop selling tickets, stop registration. The sooner you shut down any moving parts of your fundraiser, the better off you’ll be.
4. Tie up loose ends. Do you need to deal with ticket sales? What about a venue if it was an in-person event? Can you get a refund on your venue deposit, or roll it into your next event with them? Think through any of the details you will need to shore up before you move on, especially any that may have costs associated with them.

Close a door to open a window

If you’re cancelling your Spring fundraiser, that’s the main point to get across, but don’t just leave it at that! How else can people support your nonprofit? People who support your work will still want to help out, whether there’s a formal fundraiser happening or not. So, after you’ve shared all the need-to-know details, leave room for people to still donate to your cause:

• Pivot to focusing on your COVID-19-related work in the community
• Link to your Mightycause page or website and invite them to make a donation
• Ask for recurring donations, especially in small, approachable amounts
• Need in-kind donations to support your work in the community? Put out a call for what you need, or link to a webpage where they can find out more information about what you need and how to safely donate those items
• If you have an Amazon wishlist or AmazonSmile account, add a link and encourage people to think of you when they’re shopping online

It’s also important to stay in touch and keep your supporters engaged, even if you have to cancel your Spring fundraiser. Send periodic updates about your nonprofit, how you’re faring during COVID-19, what you’re doing in the community. Get active on social media! And if you’re out in the community providing direct aid, now is the time to show everyone how vital your services are!

View this post on Instagram

CAFB staff & volunteers are on site today packing boxes for distribution next week! Stay tuned for info as we shift & adapt operations in order to continue providing help for thousands of affected kids & families. Learn more & find out how you can help at capitalareafoodbank.org

A post shared by Capital Area Food Bank (@capitalareafoodbank) on Mar 15, 2020 at 1:21pm PDT

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A huge shoutout to @petsuppliesplusvirginia in Manassas for donating tons of food and supplies for the animals in our care and in foster homes. While many public shelters are closed, we are taking on more and more animals during the COVID-19 crisis. We are grateful for all donations of dog and cat food and are also in need of wire crates and martingale collars, which can be dropped off at our Fairfax Station shelter. We also have an Amazon wishlist – see our profile. #ittakesavillage #animalrescue

A post shared by Homeward Trails Animal Rescue (@homewardtrailsrescue) on Mar 27, 2020 at 2:10pm PDT

Postponing your event

If your organization has a lot of time, money, and effort invested in a Spring fundraising event, you may want to simply postpone it. Postponing may also be the right choice if you rely on your Spring fundraiser for a significant chunk of your revenue, or perhaps are in a state that has not been as hard-hit by COVID-19 and don’t want to be too hasty to cancel.

Postponing an event can prolong the uncertainty. It’s important to ensure you don’t leave your sponsors, staff, and volunteers in the lurch with a “wait and see” approach. Owning the situation and maintaining control of your messaging is key here.

Determine your go-no-go date

A little bit of “wait and see” is warranted in many cases, since we don’t really know what things will look like in a month or two. COVID-19 is in control here, not the calendar. So if you decide to postpone your Spring fundraiser, you’ll need a date where you make a final decision about whether to proceed, cancel, or adjust course.

Choosing a date in May (or even at the end of April) where you decide the final fate of your fundraiser will mean you and your supporters aren’t stuck in limbo. Give yourself a little bit of time to assess the situation with your team when choosing your go-no-go date, and take a look at not only at what the situation is like in your city or state, but whether your fundraiser is viable given the circumstances. Are things somewhat back to normal where your nonprofit operates? Are people not only allowed to gather in groups, but comfortable doing so? (Even after the virus is more controlled, people may still want to observe some degree of social distancing.) Does your fundraiser really require an in-person element? Think through the possibilities leading to your chosen date, and plan to issue a final announcement to all relevant parties.

Develop (and share) plans of action

When you’ve made the decision to postpone your fundraiser and chosen a date to make a final decision, it’s helpful to outline the different possibilities. Plan A might be to hold your fundraiser as planned on a new date, and Plan B might be moving your fundraiser to a digital-only campaign. (More on that in a minute!)

This not only helps your organization outline and prepare for the potential outcomes, it reassures those involved (your stakeholders, sponsors, staff, etc.) that you’ve got a handle on the situation and helps them prepare for these potential outcomes.

Moving your Spring fundraiser online

The good news is that modern nonprofit fundraising is usually already online! This makes adapting to the circumstances during COVID-19 by shifting your fundraiser to a digital-only event smooth and easy. Donors are, on the whole, very much online and used to giving digitally. Each year, the number donors who give online gets larger and larger.

So, what’s the process for moving your fundraiser online?

How to do it

1. Edit. Take a look at your fundraiser’s structure. What can work digitally, and what needs to go? Obviously, any in-person activities need to be cancelled… but can you find a way to make them happen while observing social distancing? Start by editing out any aspects of your campaign that don’t make sense in the current situation so you can simplify and streamline your event to what makes sense for an online campaign.
2. Tie up loose ends. If you had an in-person component to your Spring fundraiser, you’ll need to follow the same steps for canceling them outlined above. Stop selling tickets, shut down registration for any in-person events (even if you open it back up as a digital-only event), contact a venue if you had one, and tie up all the loose ends.
3. Make a plan with your team. So, when moving an event online, you might need to adjust certain elements of that event. For instance, you can easily make a charity walk digital — people just complete the distance at home, on their own schedule, instead of in a big group! (Same goes for doggy dashes, fun runs, etc.) But your organization may need to make some adjustments to how your event is structured to allow for that. For instance, you will want to push for peer-to-peer fundraising rather than relying on ticket sales. And you may need to develop some materials to help people who already signed up to participate adjust to the new structure. So, schedule a video conference with your fundraising team and work out the details you’ll need to tweak to make it work online.
   1. Come up with a plan for sponsors. If you have sponsors signed on for your fundraiser, talk through possible solutions with your team and reach out to your sponsors individually. You want to ensure your sponsors get the exposure, positive PR, and activity they were looking for before your event had to move online. Pledges to continue promoting their brand on social media posts, in emails, or rolling their sponsorship into your next in-person event may be helpful in maintaining good relationships with your sponsors.
4. Make an announcement. When you have everything in place, let people know! If you’re hosting a Team or Event on Mightycause, you can utilize the Participants tool to email everyone who has signed up. (If you have the human resources, doing some personal outreach to people participating to let them know about the change is definitely worth doing!) Once your participants, staff, and volunteers helping with the event know, update your website, your Mightycause page, anywhere you talk about the event. You may also want to do a press release or “official” announcement on your blog. Then, coordinate an blast email to your list, post on social media, and reinforce it with follow-up posts.

Teams & Events

Digital event tips

• Emphasize community. Okay, so you can’t have a big in-person gathering, but that doesn’t mean your Spring fundraiser can’t provide a sense of community! Think of creative ways to get people involved, like using a hashtag they can use to connect on social media, holding a photo or video contest, or asking people to participate in a digital happy hour to keep people connected to each other… and your nonprofit.
• Lean on peer-to-peer fundraising. In general, people are going to be less likely to spend their money on things like tickets to digital events, so you’ll need to lean on other sources of revenue. Peer-to-peer fundraising is an excellent way to make up lost ground with a digital-only fundraiser. Instead of emphasizing attendance at an event, registration and ticket purchases, make peer-to-peer fundraising the main event! Need to more information on what peer-to-peer fundraising is and how it works? Get a breakdown here.
• Add an incentive. If you’re moving your Spring fundraiser online and hoping to get more people starting peer-to-peer fundraisers for you, it’s the perfect time to talk to your board or sponsors about providing a matching grant.
• Spin the change to your Spring fundraiser for the current situation. Is there a way to change up your marketing of your Spring fundraiser that plays on social distancing protocol? Ties into current events? Don’t be afraid to get cute! Memes and humor are keeping people going. For instance, changing your “doggy dash” to focus on your supporters walking with their rescue pets and sharing pictures online with a hashtag (like #VirtualDoggyDash) could even enhance your event.
• Use it to see what you can accomplish online. A lot of nonprofits have time-consuming, costly annual events that are simply a matter of tradition. Moving your Spring fundraiser online out of necessity this year is an opportunity to measure your success and explore whether that big event your fundraising calendar is built around really serves your organization… or whether it’s an albatross you didn’t even realize your organization had around its neck.

Reimagining your event

If your nonprofit’s situation has changed significantly since COVID-19 hit, you could find that your planned Spring fundraiser no longer makes sense for your organization. Especially for nonprofits working overtime to serve their communities, you may have to go back to the drawing board. And some nonprofits may find themselves in a situation where they’re unsure if fundraising for their cause at all right now is appropriate. Some organizations have been forced to halt or limit their operations, while others address a cause that seems far removed from the current situation.

So, what do you do?

Pivoting to focus on COVID-19 relief

It goes without saying that if your organization is working hard in your community to provide COVID-19 relief (for instance, food banks, diaper banks, organizations caring for the most vulnerable populations, focused on housing or healthcare…) then your Spring fundraiser should be about the important work you’re doing.

Our friends at #GivingTuesday are organizing an event on Tuesday, May 5, 2020 to mobilize the globe on behalf of COVID-19 relief. Mightycause will be joining in and encourages nonprofits on our platform to raise funds for their cause. We’ll continue to share resources that help nonprofits navigate this unprecedented time.

Learn More

And if you’re struggling to figure out how you’ll do everything you’re doing and manage a fundraiser… well, it’s the perfect time to loop in volunteers! There are lots of people with extra time on their hands who would be happy to help you fundraise. Put a call out for fundraising volunteers with an email, social media, or your volunteer management program of choice!

What if you’re not providing COVID-19 relief?

Lots of causes just aren’t going to be on the frontlines here! If your nonprofit is all about mission trips, your organization can’t do what you aim to do. Arts & culture organizations, like those that focus on live theater and performance, might have a hard time finding their place in this pandemic. But even if your cause is not as visible as others in your community right now, it’s still important. And you can still fundraise.

Here are some ideas:

• A relief fund for staff. If you’ve had to shut own operations for awhile, you may want to turn your fundraiser into focusing on providing relief for your staff so you can keep them paid while they self-isolate. (As a bonus, you can use the opportunity to address the taboo topic of “overhead” and discuss your nonprofit’s commitment to providing a living wage and job security to your staff at a moment where many conversations are playing out about the value of labor.)
• A relief fund for others in the community. Some of the earliest and most successful relief crowdfunding came in the form of funds for artists, restaurant workers, and others whose ability to make a living were affected by COVID-19. Churches and faith organizations that rely on congregants gathering are also hard-hit. Get creative in how you can help during this time!
• Coalitions. Now is an excellent time for coalition-building. See how you can partner up with other nonprofits in your community to address an issue and mobilize your community to help. For instance, organizations focused on youth and education could work together to ensure students stay fed now that schools are shut down and kids no longer have access to a school lunch. Working with other organizations in your community on issue relevant to your work and COVID-19 helps keep your nonprofit visible… and can help build long-lasting, powerful partnerships.

Other ideas

• Scale down. If you’re not at full operations right now, running a smaller campaign through email and social media asking for donations to help keep your organization afloat so you can serve your community when things get back to normal can help bring in some revenue and keep your supporters engaged without the pressure and visibility of a large Spring fundraiser.
• Focus on recurring giving. Asking your supporters to make a smaller monthly commitment to help fund your work can feel more approachable to donors, and help them to invest long-term in your nonprofit’s work.
• Focus on the future. The here and now is a little rough for most of us. And you may not be at full capacity at your organization. But what are your plans for the rest of the year? For the next few years? Is there a goal you’re working toward, a new program you want to start? Your nonprofit can fundraise based on what you intend to do and how you will help when you’re able to resume normal operations.

The post Your Spring Fundraiser: What Now?! appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

It’s been a scary few weeks, with coronavirus (or COVID-19) ramping up from a national concern to a national emergency. The experts are recommending “social distancing” to help the virus from spreading. States are cracking down on large gatherings and taking measures to “flatten the curve.” Many companies are voluntarily asking employees to work remotely to prevent unnecessary travel and interaction that could spread the virus, while some states are mandating it.

Mightycause leaves the medical advice to the experts. The Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization are your best resources for information about COVID-19. But there is something we know a lot about at Mightycause, and that’s working remotely! Our staff is remote one day per week, with some employees working remotely part-time or full-time. So, if your nonprofit has employees working remotely full-time for the first time, these tips will help your company stay productive, keep your employees engaged, prepare for the Spring fundraising season, and prevent your workflow from breaking down.

1. Utilize tools that are optimized for working remotely

When your team is remote, it’s important to set everyone up for work-from-home success with the right tools. And you may not have the infrastructure in place to fully support working remotely, if you’re used to talking things through face-to-face at your nonprofit. But here are a few tools you can use to keep your staff in touch and on-task.

• Communication: So, not only are many people working remotely, they’re also practicing social distancing. That’s why communication is so important. We recommend using a real-time chat service like Slack to stay in touch, talk about work, and keep human-to-human connections alive! (We use Slack at Mightycause, too.) Slack offers discounts for nonprofits, and an even steeper discount for small nonprofits. Whatever chat program you choose, allowing for real-time conversations to happen is essential to remote work!
• Task managers: When you’re all in the office together, it’s easy enough to just go over to someone’s desk and ask where they are on a project. But when you’re remote, using a task manager is a must. We like Asana at Mightycause, but Trello, Basecamp, and Monday will get the job done too!
• Fundraising: Okay, so, we’re biased. But Mightycause is a perfect tool for remote work! It’s free to get started, and entirely web-based, so it’s simple and easy for remote employees to securely access from home. Employees can export any reports they need, start fundraisers, manage donors and donations, and more. No remoting into serves or databases or portals required — all you need is an internet connection to use Mightycause!

Get Started

2. Clearly communicate expectations

Setting expectations is a key part of managing a staff, period. But when your team is remote, it’s even more important.

You’d be surprised how differently people can interpret “work from home!” Some employees might end up working more hours and being more productive because working remotely eliminates their commute, distractions like chatting with coworkers, and so on. And other employees might have a more, well, relaxed attitude toward productivity while remote. With school and day care closures, you also have to consider employees with children who may need to split their time working and caring for their kids.

Develop some guidelines for employees so they know what you’re expecting. When do you expect them to be online? How will the nonprofit be checking in with them? Are you making any exceptions for people with kids home from school? How will hourly employees’ work hours be logged?

Set organization-wide expectations (perhaps in an email from your executive director). Then work with with managers to get in the weeds with individual employees who might need special consideration.

3. Schedule regular check-ins

When you’re working remotely, you’ll need to be intentional about checking in with your staff. Managers should schedule regular 1:1 meetings with their staff to check in about work tasks, projects, goals, and to discuss any barriers or trouble working from home. And if those are always part of your nonprofit’s practices, you may need to schedule them more frequently while everyone’s adjusting to working remotely.

But you don’t need to keep it strictly work-related! For some people, social distancing can be tough, and the isolation of remote work can be intense. See how employees are doing, ask what they need. And don’t be afraid to engage in the same chit-chat you would have at the office on your chat program of choice. (Pictures of babies and pets are highly recommended in these trying times! Might we recommend a #just-for-fun Slack channel, or one dedicated to pet pics?)

the human has been working from home the last couple days. and every so often. they let me participate in the video calls. all the other humans cheer when they see me. i am the only thing holding their company together

— Thoughts of Dog® (@dog_feelings) March 10, 2020

Checking in regularly will help you stay on top of what employees are working on and how they’re doing… and fend off the desire to micromanage. When you’re talking regularly, not just about work, you’ll build trusting relationships with your employees and colleagues that allow you to trust that they’re focusing on their work while you focus on yours.

4. Focus on accomplishments

So, for hourly employees, you’ll need a proper accounting of the time they’ve worked in order to pay them appropriately. But when it comes to accounting for the work that’s done at home, it’s helpful to use bigger goals as a measure of productivity than hours worked. (And, let’s be honest, with employees taking care of kids and looking after older family members, you’ll need to be flexible. We can think of no better time for flexibility in the workplace than a pandemic.)

Stay focused on what employees are accomplishing. Trust employees to continue completing their work and meeting deadlines. If they’re falling short, you may need to work more closely with that employee, or find out if there’s something standing in the way of them being productive while working remotely.

5. Set and encourage healthy boundaries

Work/life balance is a hard thing to master, but it’s even harder when your work happens in your living space! So, when working remotely, healthy boundaries are essential, from the top down. Here are some boundaries that can keep working remotely from turning into working 24/7:

• Do not contact employees outside of work hours for non-emergency issues
• Take breaks. Spend time preparing and eating lunch, go for a walk, spend a bit of time in the yard with a pet, take a moment to check in with your kids. Whatever you do, taking some time throughout the day to get up from your desk and do something else be good for your productivity and your mental health.
• Don’t be overly available, or expect the same of others. Sometimes when people are working remotely, they can feel pressure to basically be on-call and immediately available anytime someone contacts them. That leads to reactionary working, being overly plugged in, and poor boundaries. So, take time away from your laptop, and don’t huff and puff if you send a non-emergency message or email and don’t get an immediate response! Just because you, or someone else, doesn’t reply immediately does not mean they’re slacking off.
• Remove or mute work-related apps from your phone so you can be truly offline when your shift is over, and encourage employees to do the same!

The Bottom Line

Working remotely can feel like strange new terrain at first, but thoughtful adjustments can make it possible for many nonprofits. Front-line staff may not have the option of working from home, of course. But allowing those with administrative roles to telecommute can help keep them and vulnerable populations safe from COVID-19. We hope these tips help you set your workplace up for remote work success!

Tips for working remotely for nonprofit employees

Working from home can be a dream for some. But the reality of it can quickly turn it into a lonely, tiring, disorienting experience if you’re not accustomed to it or develop poor work-from-home habits. These tips have proven useful to our team at Mightycause.

Get dressed

So, the siren’s call of your yoga pants or PJs or favorite pair of sweats can be hard to resist. But, work from home on a regular basis, and those comfy pants can be your downfall. Getting dressed helps put you in “work mode” in the morning. While you don’t need to observe a business professional dress code, obviously, the routine of getting dressed and ready like you would if you weren’t working from home can help you be more productive — and keep you from panicking if someone knocks on the door, or your boss wants to do a surprise video call!

Have a dedicated workspace

A home office is a luxury not everyone has access to. But carving out a dedicated space in your home where you can sit down, log in, and get into a work mindset (and walk away when you’re done) is not only essential for productivity, but for building a healthy work/life boundary while working remotely. Whether it’s a spare bedroom, your kitchen table, or your porch, find a space that can be your work zone.

Manage your time with “time chunking”

Here’s a fact we’re often hesitant to acknowledge: multi-tasking doesn’t work. The human mind is not wired to do two things at once, and what we call “multi-tasking” is usually “task switching.” Time-chunking is a time management solution that can help you hunker down, complete tasks, and meet deadlines while working remotely.

Basically, “time-chunking” is exactly what it sounds like. It’s dividing your day into “chunks” where you concentrate on a single task or area of work. So, for instance, someone in HR for a nonprofit might set aside a 2-hour chunk of time for reading and responding to job applications, a 3-hour chunk of time for phone interviews, and an hour at the beginning of the day and end of the day for reading and responding to emails. During this time, you minimize distractions that might sidetrack you from the task at hand. (For instance, turning your phone off, logging out of your email, or muting Slack.) Time-chunking keeps you on-task, helps you get work done, and builds a schedule and routine.

Develop a routine

You’ll hear this on pretty much every list of tips for working remotely… and that’s because it’s so important! Without colleagues, meal times, and a commute to keep your day moving and give you external clues that it’s time to eat lunch or pack it in for the day, it’s easy to feel adrift and lose grip on your day. Getting up at the same time each day, getting dressed, making time for meals, and taking regular breaks to stretch, decompress, and perhaps taking a walk in the middle of the day will help you take care of your mental and physical health when you’re working from home.

Start Fundraising

The post Working Remotely at Your Nonprofit appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.

Nonprofit fundraising is all about asking. But even for nonprofits that have gotten the hang of asking donors down pat, it can be hard to figure out how to ask for sponsorship. And sponsorships are a key part of growing your organization and expanding your fundraising abilities! So, how do you ask for sponsorship? These tips from Mightycause will help you get started, whether you’ve already got a sponsorship program or are just thinking about starting one.

Get Started

1. Determine your needs.

The first step to asking for sponsorship is determining what you actually need. Are you gearing up for a campaign? Hosting an event? Looking for ongoing partnerships? Participating in a giving event? All of the above?

Event Fundraising

Once you’ve outlined your big-picture needs, you’ll want to spend some time parsing out some more specific needs, such as:

• How much money do you need to bring in?
• Do you have a time frame for locking in your sponsors?
• What are your goals for the sponsorship?

2. Outline what you have to offer.

Nonprofit sponsorships are so effective because they are mutually beneficial. Your organization gets funding, and your sponsor also receives a boost in some way. Whether it’s booth space at an event, sharing their company’s logo on your website or Mightycause page, or positive PR, there typically needs to be something in it for the sponsor in order to get them to sign on.

Think through what you’re willing and able to offer. Do you have a channel where you can share their logo? Can you offer them backlinks to their company’s website on your own website? Do you have a blog where they could write a guest post? Can you promote the sponsorship to your social media audience? Have you got a spot in your lobby where you can show some love to your sponsors? Don’t be afraid to get creative! And it doesn’t need to be a huge trade-off! Remember, this is charity. You’re not selling anything in return for funding, just trying to make sponsorship more enticing!

A Field Guide to Event Sponsors

3. Create a one-pager.

What’s a one-pager? Well, it’s basically just a document with all of your sponsorship information on (you guessed it) one page. (But don’t worry — it’s okay if it’s two pages!) Often, this is helpful when you’re trying to secure sponsorships. It can be easily passed up the chain of command with your prospective sponsor, allow them to reference it later on, and help present a more professional image to businesses you are trying to court as sponsors.

Tips for creating a one-pager

1. It doesn’t have to be fancy! Something created in Word or Google Docs with your logo is absolutely fine.
2. If you’d like to get creative, free sites like Canva can be a great way to create slick documents that look like you had a graphic designer help you!
3. Send it as a PDF. Offices use different programs, not everyone will have Word installed, or have a Google account, so attaching your one-pager as a PDF is the best way to go.

What to include on your one-pager

1. Your legal information: Organization’s name, address, website, tax ID number, etc.
2. Your logo
3. A contact at your organization — it’s most helpful to have an actual person, with their phone number and email address.
4. Your mission. What do you do? Who do you serve? Why is your work important?
5. Your “elevator pitch” for why sponsoring your nonprofit is important
6. Sponsorship tiers, if you have them
7. Rewards for sponsors, if you have them (such as inclusion in your newsletter, shout-outs on social media, booth space at an event, and so on)
8. Event information (date, location, general description), if you’re trying to get sponsorships for an event
9. General pricing information — keep things open and provide ranges if you’re open to negotiating a sponsorship rate!

4. Create a list of prospects.

The question of “how to ask for sponsorships” is sometimes less about how than who to ask. And sometimes who you’re pitching to can change how you ask! So, you’ll need to figure out who your prospects are, and work from there.

Who to ask for sponsorships

Generally speaking, businesses are where you’ll find partnerships, and who you’ll be asking to sponsor you. You’ll want to evaluate potential sponsors based on this criteria:

• Affinity: Does this business have a connection to your cause? This could be a values-based affinity (for instance, a local pet food store & a local animal shelter would have affinity), but could also be a connection like a staff member sitting on your board, or a volunteer who works for the company. Affinity can also mean simply being dedicated to the same community your nonprofit serves.
• Propensity: Does this business have a foundation? Do they engage with other charitable causes? Does the business have a workplace giving program? Or, have they given to your nonprofit before? Checking out a business’ website can be a great source of information about their propensity to give to charitable causes!
• Wealth: So, a lot company’s wealth is public information, but the exact numbers are not what you need here. What you’re evaluating is how able they are to give. For instance, a business that just opened a few months ago is probably not in a position to sponsor your nonprofit, but an established business that is doing well might be a better prospect.

Gather all of this information in one spot, such as a spreadsheet, along with contact information for each business you’ll be reaching out to about sponsoring your nonprofit!

5. Try to get in touch with an individual, if at all possible.

So, once you’ve done some legwork and have a good list of prospects put together, you’re ready to start sending emails and making connections! But… who do you contact?! Unfortunately, this can be the hardest part of how to ask for sponsorship!

How to find a personal contact

A personal contact is best. If you have a personal introduction, that’s the dream scenario! Be sure to ask your board members if they have a connection — your board of directors can often be very well-connected in the community.

If you’ve tried all the personal inroads you can think of, check the business’ website. Some will have a staff directory or key staff members listed. Sometimes you’ll find someone with a title that lets you know they’re the right person to contact (such as “Partnerships Manager,” or “Brand Manager,” or “Public Relations Specialist”). Human Resources can also be a good place to start, if there’s an HR Manager listed. Even if these aren’t the specific person who would decide about a charitable sponsorship, they can often help get you there! And if there’s no one listed on their website who seems to be a natural contact, try looking up the company’s employees on LinkedIn. (But be polite and try to contact them off the platform, at their professional email address!)

Is it okay to just fill out a contact form?

You can absolutely use a contact form or general email address, if that is all a prospective sponsor has available. Your odds are better if you find a specific person, but don’t be afraid to send a general request where you can if they have limited ways to contact them.

You can also call their general phone number (if they have one) to see if you can get connected to the right person!

6. Keep it short and sweet!

When you’re pitching anything it’s important to get to the point quickly. Most people’s inboxes are overflowing and we all struggle to stay on top of our emails. This is even doubly true if you’re contacting someone who has to wade through a lot of pitches and introductions. So, get in their good graces and do them a favor by keeping it short.

You don’t need to write a novel. Let them know the key fact up front: who you are, where you’re writing them from, and what you want. Keep it to a few sentences, and for maximum likelihood that you’ll get a response, end with a specific question. (For instance, “Can we set up a call this week to discuss?”)

Note about press emails

So, it’s important to know that if you’re contacting a press email (press@businessname.com or pulicrelations@yoursponsor.com, for instance), many press emails will not open emails with attachments. Embed any key information into the body of your email, try to get routed to the correct place, and then follow-up with your one-pager, rather than attaching it right off the bat.

7. Follow Up

It might take one or two tries to get a response, especially if the company you’re contacting is big. (Big ships turn slowly, as they say!) So, keep track of when you first reached out, and schedule reminders to follow up. Track the dates on your spreadsheet, as well as the result, even if it’s that they did not respond.

Like your initial outreach, your follow-ups should be short and sweet. Here are a few tips for following up like a rockstar:

• Reply to the email you sent to the person you’re emailing can see the initial email you sent, and keep correspondence from you batched together. (Etiquette goes a long way!)
• When you follow up, acknowledge that the person you’re writing to is probably responding to a lot of emails (“I know you’re busy!”) or that you may be in the wrong place (“If you’re not the best person to contact about this, can you tell me who is?”)
• Generally 3 times is enough — if they still haven’t responded to you after 3 attempts, it’s okay to move on! (But keep them on your list for another round of outreach at a later point.)

“The Magic Email”

Have you heard of “the magic email”? It’s a technique you try when you’re not getting a response that tends to actually garner a response. Basically this is what it looks like:

Now, you an edit that to ensure it makes sense, or to say “that sponsoring nonprofits in [your community] is not a priority for you at this time…” but the key to the “magic email” is in two thing. One, its brevity. It’s short and to the point. And two, you’re ready to move on.

In your last follow up attempt, try the magic email and see how it works for you!

8. If at first you don’t succeed, try again.

Okay, so you tried to shoot your shot with a prospect, and it didn’t work out. Either they politely declined your request for a call or meeting, or just didn’t respond. Don’t despair! Put that contact on hold for now, keep them on your list, and revisit them the next time you conduct outreach.

You can also shake up your “ask” for failed sponsorship prospects. Maybe they weren’t right for an ongoing sponsorship, but would be interested in providing a matching grant for a giving event. Or, perhaps, you could talk about being part of their employee giving program. Don’t be afraid to get creative and adjust your ask to something different or even a little bit smaller and more approachable! Any “yes” is getting your foot in the door.

9. Keep good records

There’s little more annoying to someone who fields lots of pitches from the public, other businesses, and nonprofits than getting the same email about the same thing from different people. As we’ve said, a little bit of etiquette can go a long way.

So, keep notes about when you talk to companies, what the outcome is, and try to either call back to your previous correspondence with them. If possible, have the same person reach out again, especially if there was any kind of back-and-forth.

10. Be persistent

These types of relationships can be hard to build, take lots of time and effort, and sometimes don’t work out until you’ve tried again and again. So if your first round of outreach isn’t very fruitful, remain vigilant! It can take awhile to break the ice with your first sponsors, and building a robust sponsorship program can take years of dedicated work.

Reevaluate

If you aren’t having much luck, try a different course of action to see if you get better returns. Change up how you’re emailing, or the frequency you’re sending emails. You could try adding more follow-ups, or following up more quickly (or, conversely, spacing out your follow-ups a bit more.) Maybe your one-pager needs to be tweaked. Step back, look at the big picture, and see where you can adjust to get more interest in your being a sponsor.

Know when to fold ’em

Are you contacting someone each round of outreach and not getting a response? That’s a no. It’s okay to remove them from your list of prospects and move on to new opportunities. There’s no need to continually contact businesses that just aren’t interested! Just make sure you’ve done your due diligence before writing them off.

11. Add sponsorship information to your Mightycause page or website

Want inbound leads for sponsors year-round? And to make it super easy for prospective sponsors to find the information they want about your program? Package all the information about sponsorship opportunities in an evergreen place!

On your Mightycause page

On Mightycause, all nonprofits have the ability to add a custom tab to their profile. This tab is pretty much free-form and can be used to share any information you’d like. If you don’t have a website yet, or you want to open yourself up to sponsors from as many channels as possible, try adding a Sponsorship Information tab to your profile!

Make sure to include the basic details of your sponsorship program, and how to get in touch with you for more information!

On your website

Creating a landing page on your nonprofit’s website is a great way to package together your sponsorship information and get some inbound leads. While the page can be as extensive or as simple as you want, here’s what you’ll want to include:

• The same information that’s in your one-pager. (Protip: Don’t make people download a PDF when you can just as easily put that information in the body of the page! Google can’t crawl a PDF and help you show up in searches so, whenever possible, avoid using PDF downloads on your website.)
• A contact form or way of getting in touch with you

Want more nonprofit fundraising information?

Download the Ultimate Guide to Nonprofit Fundraising! This free guide will walk you through the basics of fundraising, and help your nonprofit take your fundraising efforts to a whole new level.

Download Now

The post How to Ask for Sponsorship appeared first on Mightyblog ◇ Fundraising content by Mightycause.