Why is Fundraising Important for NGOs? Best Fundraising Strategies One Should Know

A Non-profit fundraising plan is a written document that exhibits the preparation of the organization’s fundraising efforts throughout a set time. Such a plan helps an organization to figure out where to focus primarily.

It involves setting up Fundraising goals, then creating a step-by-step process to achieve them in the form of Fundraising strategies, following which such strategies are put up in a strategy calendar to help reach the goals in a particular time frame.

Importance of fundraising to NGOs

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are legally constituted organizations that are formed and run independently from any form of government. They are not-for-profit businesses. As an NGO functions without any profit motive, it mostly faces fund issues. When an NGO has the required amount of funds for its working and serving people, it definitely will contribute towards national development directly or indirectly. To eradicate this shortcoming in the way of philanthropic work by the NGOs, it is important to devise good fundraising strategies.

For devising the best suitable fundraising strategies, there is a need to set up a good Fundraising Plan which includes both Fundraising Goals and Fundraising Strategies.

Fundraising Goals

Moving on a path without a goal to be achieved is useless. Without any clear and concrete goal, it is quite tough to know if we have succeeded. The same goes with fundraising, a fundraising goal helps to ensure that everyone is on the same page with the desired results of the fundraising campaign. Keeping a track of the progress made towards the goal can help give the information needed to make changes in our fundraising strategy.

Before finalizing the plans, it must be clear in our minds that the goal is to add a specific number of donors or to reach a certain donation level.

To help clearly define the goals, the following questions must be answered-

1. Where do we stand as of now?

2. Where do we need to get to go?

3. How much can we afford to spend on fundraising?

4. How long do we have to raise the money?

5. Are we set up to receive the donations?

6. Is the NGO completely aware of the rules and regulations?

Fundraising Strategies

Fundraising is a crucial step for managing and implementing the decided and expected programs of an NGO. Fundraising Strategies act as a bridge between the Fundraising Goals and Fundraising completion for achieving the set goals. 

From a pool of strategies available, it is a critical and responsible task to choose the suitable one. 

Some of the things which can be considered while fundraising are:

1. To perform productive fundraising, which can be repeated every year.

2. The selected strategies must build your donor family.

3. Choose the one which would help the most to achieve the goal.

For Short Term

1. Fundraising Software:

With digital trends on the rise and technology here to stay, fundraising has grown and expanded to more online spaces than ever before. Individuals and organizations can capitalize on their online networks and effortlessly acquire a larger reach to help increase donations and support causes.

Some of them are:

• GiveLively

• Fundly

• Ketto

• Milaap

• Crowdera

For Short To Medium-Term

1. Interns Onboard

• Partnering with internship cells of colleges is also a good idea. All you need is a job description and a selection procedure.

• Also, NGOs can have one-to-one collaboration with college societies and other organizations and ask their members to donate some amount as per their wish. In return, the NGO can issue a certificate of appreciation for the society or organization and mention their contribution on NGO’s social media which will also market the society and widen its reach.

• LinkedIn can be used to hire interns.

• Partnering with internships-providing platforms like Internshala, LetsIntern, etc. would work well for the NGO. 

2. Collaboration with Influencers

Influencer marketing is the most prevalent and successful option nowadays. Instagram has a plethora of influencers and each has plenty of followers. We can tap these influencers and ask them to donate some amount. Also, their followers may take part in donations too.

When looking for influencers, don't assume bigger is better. Going after big-name celebrities or digital influencers who have huge fan bases doesn't typically yield the best ROI. Because micro-influencers engage their audiences more often, working with them may lead to better conversion rates.

For Medium to Long Term

1. Social Media Marketing Strategy

• Using trending hashtags for reaching the target audience: The most trending for NGOs are #Charity, #DoGood, #Fundraising, #Activism, #Donate, #Nonprofit, #Philanthropy, #CharityWork, #SocialCause, #Change.

• Facebook Social Impact Program: Facebook Social Impact Initiative is providing free tools to help NGOs collect donations and enable supporters to fundraise for charity.

• Use Humor and entertainment like Memes: Nonprofits Organization that shows a bit of humanity plus humour do very well on social media, for example trending humour reels is a good way to viral posts. At the same time, make sure that any content you share makes sense to the target audience and brand voice.

2. Fundraising by Donation Apps

They are a great way too, to bring in donations and support of people. But, the NGO must be registered to exploit this strategy at its best. There are various Donation Apps like AmazonSmile Program but, the NGO needs to consider any of these based on the fund availability and technical skills available in the organization. 

The following above can be deliberated on by an NGO keeping in mind the available funds, human resources, and skills.

Happy Fundraising!

Written By: Devangi Sharma