The Best Way to Raise Money During the Summer Months

Is fundraising slow for your nonprofit organization in the summer? With school out, family vacations, and backyard BBQs, donors can be distracted. Supporting your nonprofit may not be at the forefront of their mind.  Many organizations struggle with budget and see their donation shrink during this time.  It does not have to! An integrated summer campaign may be for you.  If organized well, this campaign could boost your revenue. Below are the four crucial pieces to developing an integrated summer campaign:

1. Create a good theme. A vivid campaign theme is an invaluable tool for advancing your nonprofit’s strategy, increasing your visibility, and engaging your donors. A great theme offers a singular opportunity to showcase your vision, creativity, and distinctiveness.
2. Use multiple channels to promote. The more places you can run your campaign, the better. If you know where your target audience lives on social media, prioritize those channels. On top of that use other social media posts, newsletter/email blasts, direct mail, website, and blog, paid and unpaid media exposure, PR, events and even in-person presentations. Share your message repeatedly.  Your message must be clear, consistent, and branded in a way to ensure all your media channels are working together.  All channels should have the same logo, terminology, and verbiage. Invest in visuals and tools such as infographics, videos, and microsites. These are the most compelling ways to get your point across quickly. That’s how you’ll ultimately get noticed.
3. Be Strategic with your ask.  Plan when you will show Facebook ads to your direct mail recipients.   It has been proven that if donors see Facebook ads two weeks before and two weeks after they receive their direct mail piece donations go up by 154%.  Also, this is a good time to use a matching gift challenge.    A matching gift challenge can be activated when a donor agrees to match other incoming gifts dollar-for-dollar.
4. Take it offline. Create a hands-on volunteer opportunity where donors can be a part of something larger than themselves. Allow donors to work with you to serve your clients during the summer months. To determine the best opportunity, carefully consider your target audience. The opportunity should resonate with your donors, allow them to develop a relationship with your organization, and enable them to see your mission in action.  This will increase the likelihood of them becoming an ambassador for your organization.

Summer is a natural valley in between the peaks of giving that occurs in the spring and fall. That doesn’t mean you should abandon hope.  With the right fundraising initiative planned, summer could give your organization’s budget just the right boost.

I hope this helps. Your feedback is appreciated. I would love to see how your nonprofit handles the summer slump.  Share in the comments below.

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