Crowdfunding. Year-end. Peer-to-peer. Capital. These are more than just buzzwords. They are types of fundraising campaigns that help your nonprofit bring in critical support for your mission.
Running a campaign is a great way to rally donors, build awareness, and generate significant revenue. But first, you have to understand the different types of fundraising campaigns and how to use them!
Let’s take a closer look at what a fundraising campaign is and the variety of fundraising opportunities out there. Plus, how to determine which is right for your organization.
What is a Fundraising Campaign?
At its core, a fundraising campaign is an organized effort to collect donations over a set period of time. All types of fundraising campaigns include a set of strategies and tactics that work together to rally support for your mission.
MVP Playbook Resource: Our free Fundraising Campaign Checklist outlines 12 must-dos to keep you on track as you plan your next campaign.
Key Pieces of Any Fundraising Campaign
These four elements are critical to the success of any fundraising campaign:
- Goal – Every effective fundraising campaign focuses on a single SMART goal. This will likely be raising money for a certain cause, program, or project within a set period of time.
- Message – Impactful campaigns also feature a cohesive theme and message that stands out from the rest of your outreach – and from other nonprofit organizations.
- Target Audience – Knowing who your ideal target is for your campaign helps you hone said messaging and select communications channels.
- Platform – Choosing a fundraising platform that supports your campaign type is essential. You must have the right tools to accept donations, engage with supporters, and reach your goal.
But while every campaign shares these similarities, there are also major differences. And understanding each type of fundraising, as well as when it’s best to use each one, can make or break your strategy.
7 Types of Fundraising Campaigns for Nonprofits
Here’s a look at seven types of fundraising campaigns, including tips on when and how to use them.
1. Annual Giving Campaigns
Our first, and quite possibly most popular, on the list is the annual giving campaign.
These types of fundraising campaigns involve a concentrated effort over a few weeks to a couple of months. They also typically focus on raising one-time, unrestricted gifts for an organization. Many include a wide range of targeted fundraising strategies to reach a few audience segments, such as annual appeal letters, email campaigns, social media pushes, and more.
Consider annual giving campaigns the bread and butter of any development strategy. We recommend planning at least one per year, as they are often major revenue drivers and are a great way to bring in new donors.
When to use them: Whenever! You might have a few annual giving campaigns throughout the year, each with different goals, messages, and target audiences. Consider aligning them with times of increased need, such as right before a major program, to help create urgency.
2. Year-End Campaigns
Ok…ok…we’re cheating a bit here. Year-end campaigns can often be considered annual giving campaigns (depending on the campaign’s goals). But this type of fundraising campaign is so important that we couldn’t not give it its own spotlight!
To be candid, every nonprofit organization should plan an end-of-year fundraising campaign. Why? Because time and again, data shows that the most money is raised in December. Donors are feeling more charitable; many have been conditioned to give during this season of giving. They may also be trying to get those gifts in before the end of the tax year!
Year-end campaigns typically last a few weeks, with urgency increasing as the end of the year draws closer.
When to use them: End-of-year campaigns happen over the last two to three months of the year, when charitable giving spikes. This is also known as the giving season.
MVP Playbook Resource: Our free Year-End Fundraising Timeline includes a month-by-month guide that walks you through the planning, implementation, and wrap-up process behind these types of fundraising campaigns.
3. Giving Day Campaigns
Next up is the giving day campaign! The gist of these fundraising campaigns is straightforward – they center around 24 hours of giving. The built-in urgency of this short deadline prompts immediate action from donors, especially when paired with other fundraising tactics such as matching gift challenges.
Although we do recommend prepping your donors by extending your campaign so that communications are going out in the weeks before the big day!
The best-known example of a giving day is Giving Tuesday. This global movement falls on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving every year. Many U.S. states and cities have also launched annual giving days. And several nonprofits host their own giving days to rally donors.
When to use them: That all depends on you! Taking part in collective giving days, like Giving Tuesday, is a great way to join the conversation and reach new donors. Many cities and states that host their own giving days offer incentives such as matching challenges. So, be sure to check the dates in your area.
If you’re considering planning your own giving day, take a look at the calendar and find a date with meaning for your nonprofit. Consider a big anniversary or Founder’s Day, or align your campaign with an existing awareness day that fits your mission.
4. Crowdfunding Campaigns
Looking to bring in a bunch of new donors? Crowdfunding may be the best type of fundraising campaign for you!
Crowdfunding campaigns involve collecting smaller contributions from a crowd of people. These fundraisers primarily occur online and rely on social proof to elicit a response from a large number of supporters. Tools like goal thermometers, donor walls, and social sharing buttons are a must on crowdfunding pages.
Many individuals utilize crowdfunding to raise funds for healthcare needs, emergency expenses, or even creative ventures, whether for themselves or a loved one. Start-ups and entrepreneurs also use this fundraising method to boost funding for projects, podcasts, and more. But nonprofits can also take advantage of these fundraisers!
When to use them: Crowdfunding works well for highly-focused and time-bound campaigns. Urgency is your friend here, so a shorter timeframe works well. Nonprofits needing to quickly raise emergency funds, such as in response to a natural disaster, will find that crowdfunding is a great fit.
5. Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns
Peer-to-peer fundraising is similar to crowdfunding in that it is an effective strategy for recruiting new donors. The key difference, however, is that peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns involve your supporters becoming advocates for your cause!
With peer-to-peer, your nonprofit first creates a primary – or “parent” – fundraising campaign. Then you recruit supporters to create their own “child” fundraising pages that link to this parent campaign. These supporters set their own goals and share their pages with friends and family.
This is social proof at its finest! Because a trusted loved one is asking them to donate to a cause they care about, these friends and family members are more likely to give.
When to use them: Peer-to-peer fundraising campaigns are ideal for nonprofits that already have a solid network of long-term donors who can serve as peer-to-peer fundraisers. We’ve also seen these types of fundraisers work well for schools and youth organizations. Bonus points if you allow your fundraisers to compete to see who can raise the most!
6. Monthly Giving Campaigns
Next, we’re talking about recurring giving. A monthly giving campaign is similar to other types of fundraising campaigns in structure, but with a key difference: your goal is to recruit new recurring donors (or get existing recurring donors to increase their gifts), instead of focusing on one-time donations.
Monthly giving – or any form of recurring donation program – is a smart strategy because it brings in consistent, reliable revenue for your organization. Knowing what to expect from your donations helps you plan ahead and respond quickly to emergencies.
A monthly giving campaign uses many of the same fundraising and communication tactics as a standard annual giving campaign, but you’ll target supporters who are most likely to become monthly donors. And you’ll adjust your messaging to encourage those monthly gifts.
When to use them: Monthly giving campaigns can be run alone or in combination with another campaign. Some nonprofits choose a certain time of the year or giving day to focus on a recurring donation campaign, others simply adjust their messaging during an annual giving campaign to target specific donors with a monthly giving push.
7. Capital Campaigns
Let’s end our list with the biggest type of fundraising campaign of all: a capital campaign! Capital campaigns are used by nonprofits looking to raise a large sum of money for a very specific project or initiative – think launching a new program, funding building improvements, or even purchasing land or a completely new facility.
Capital campaigns typically involve a multi-phase approach. To be successful, we recommend first reaching out to major donors and community partners on a 1:1 basis. Aiming to raise a specific percentage of your goal through these channels will help you build a solid foundation before announcing the campaign to the public. You can also see whether any of these donors or partners will let you use their donation for a matching gift challenge!
When to use them: If your nonprofit has a major project or initiative on the horizon that will require substantial funding, a capital campaign may be the right choice for you! Unlike other types of fundraising campaigns, capital campaigns typically last several months to years, especially when using the phased approach mentioned above.
Tools of the Trade: The secret sauce to succeeding at any fundraising campaign? Effective fundraising software! Choosing a fundraising platform that supports all of these types of fundraising campaigns is a game-changer – you won’t need to jump from platform to platform for different campaigns, and all of your donor data will live in one place.
That’s why we love Donorbox! Their software is powerful, yet affordable and easy to use, and their wide range of tools makes running any of these fundraising campaigns a breeze.
Other Ways to Raise Money
Of course, a fundraising campaign isn’t the only way to bring in donations for your nonprofit! There are several strategies you can use throughout the year to build support for your mission. Or, add them to your campaigns to make them even stronger!
Here are multiple other ways to raise money for your organization, whether as stand-alone tactics or as part of a larger campaign:
- Events – Fundraising events come in all shapes, sizes, and budgets, and are a great way to build awareness and introduce new supporters to your organization.
- Auctions – Both live and silent auctions are exciting ways for donors to contribute while feeling they got something in return. You can auction off smaller goods like themed baskets and gift certificates from local businesses, or bigger-ticket items like autographed memorabilia, artwork, tickets to concerts or sporting events, or even vacations.
- Matching Gift Challenges – Recruit major donors to challenge others to support your nonprofit by pledging to match every donation up to a specific amount.
- Text-to-Give – Younger generations are often best reached via text message. Text-to-give involves sending your appeals via text, with a direct link to give!
- Recurring Giving Program – Extending your monthly giving campaign into a full-blown recurring giving program helps you attract repeat donors year-round. This is especially effective for churches and religious organizations.
- Membership Program – Similar to a recurring giving program, a membership program brings in reliable revenue throughout the year. The difference, however, is that your members receive unique perks, sometimes divided by membership tiers, like merch, exclusive newsletters, VIP events, and more. Attractions and museums are excellent examples of nonprofits that benefit from strong membership programs.
- Grants & Foundation Funding – Seeking funding from grants and foundations is a great way to secure significant financial resources without relying solely on individual donors.
- Corporate Giving – Another way to expand your revenue streams is to build a corporate giving program. This might include sponsorships, employee gift-matching opportunities, auction donations, and other ways to connect area businesses with your nonprofit.
- Planned & Legacy Giving – One way donors can support your organization in a big way without dipping into their life savings is through planned giving. Encourage your supporters to include you in their plans, whether through donor-advised funds (DAFs), as a beneficiary of life insurance or a 401K, in their will, or with an endowment.
- Merchandise Sales – Let your donors represent your mission while also supporting it financially! Sell t-shirts, hats, water bottles, and more with your logo or other branded artwork to raise money and boost awareness.
Keeping your development strategy varied with different types of fundraising campaigns and other ways to raise money helps you reach more donors and secure more consistent support!
Setting Yourself Up for Fundraising Success
Ok, we hope you’re feeling at least a little less overwhelmed about the differences between these types of fundraising campaigns.
Remember – every fundraising campaign needs a goal, a message, a target audience, and an effective fundraising platform to be successful. The rest is up to your team and the fundraising methods you feel are the best fit for your donors and your nonprofit!
And if you’re looking for help with your next fundraising campaign, MVP Advisors is here for you. We’re an experienced group of nonprofit consultants ready to offer a hand in campaign planning and strategy, content development, donor prospect research, and more.
Book a call or email us today, and let’s chat about how we can work together to further your mission!