Learn About Fundraising
Is your church planning team looking for ways to create more revenue, increase giving, raise funds, and meet your mission goals? These are things that don’t happen overnight. A great strategy is to run a fundraising campaign. This is an event that should happen over a period of time. How short or long your campaign runs depends on your needs and goals.
Several small events should lead up to the big event where you aim to raise an X amount of funding for your church projects. Remember to check out our DonorWerx resources for more tips, and tools.
Goals of the Fundraising Campaign
It’s easy to get lost in all the details that go into a project like this. So, keep in mind that your fundraising campaign should always achieve two main things:
1. Raise awareness of your church and missions
2. Raise money for the church outreach projects
Before beginning, get clear on your specific goals. Know how much you need to raise and assign fundraising managers who will be the point-persons for the entire campaign.
The Importance of A Communications Strategy
At this stage, it is vital that you have a good church communications plan. If you opt for an online platform, ensure that you have the highest digital security tools. You will be likely sharing information such as your donors’ gifts, and this should be classified, accessible only to those involved with organizing the fundraising campaign.
Let’s look at some types of initiatives that many groups—from corporate to non-profit, have been using successfully.
Types Of Fundraising Campaigns
Now we look at some of the terminology used in the most effective types of non-profit fundraising campaigns. (For more tips on creating buzz around these campaigns, check out our resources blog.)
Capital Campaigns
A capital campaign is a type of fundraiser that is usually done over a short period. The organizers’ goal is a large amount of funding for a specific cause such as church renovations or new school computers for the mission education center.
Monthly Themed Campaigns
Popular school fundraisers often revolve around certain days like Valentine’s Day or Grandparents’ Days, but have you heard about other monthly themed campaigns such as Giving-Tuesday? Giving Tuesday is celebrated by many churches around the globe. It is a whole day of giving held every year on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving. As your church prepares to wrap up the calendar year, you can use this to target revenue goals in an inspiring way.
Advocacy Campaign
An advocacy campaign might be designed to raise awareness about the particular causes your church is advocating for. This will involve preparing content to educate and inform your donors during the fundraiser.
Text-To-Give Campaigns
Text-to-Give campaigns are easy for people to get behind. They require no in-person attendance of your event, so you can have remote collaborations between all of your fundraising managers and organizers. Simply allow people to give money to your church straight from their cell phones by sending a text message.
Social Media Campaign
Social media campaigns have become very popular, especially during the pandemic. People are craving genuine connections but often cannot meet in person. SO using social media as a positive force for good is one way to accomplish your missions. It is important to have a good web presence and hire social media managers to monitor your social pages for soliciting donations.
Peer-To-Peer and Fundraising Campaign
Another type of fundraiser which has become hugely popular in recent years, peer-to-peer simply means when individuals organize their own personal campaigns. They rally their friends and peers to give, so it is done on a more personal level. Peer-to-peer often depend on social media for their financial success. Nowadays, this type of networking and fundraising is widely accepted within certain networks.
Crowdfunding Campaign
While peer-to-peer campaigns generally stay within intimate circles, crowdfunding can go much further. Through this type of campaign, nonprofits can raise donations from strangers who have only heard about the project online. These types of campaigns can be achieved both online and in person.
Annual Giving Campaign
Don’t miss out on the opportunity to run an Annual giving campaign for your church’s fundraiser. People are generally more open to the “spirit of giving” during Christmastime, and some even allot some of their household or savings budgets to give to charities at the end of the year.
How DonorWerx Can Help
Many pastors and church leaders are finding it hard to transition from in-person services and fundraisers to digital avenues and online platforms for their church.
If you need help to reach your revenue goals or simply upgrade your communications strategy, contact us at DonorWerx. We make it our mission to help churches around the world be more efficient. Through technology, online resources, and study tools, we empower your teams and leaders to do their jobs better.
We also help nonprofits connect with donors in a meaningful way, teaching you how to grow your donors through more effective strategies which lead to long-term giving. Find out all about our one-stop hub by calling us for a free consultation.
