One of the most difficult challenges that charities tend to face is raising consistent donations and this is especially true for the dark and cold Winter months, as people don’t want to leave the house! So what can charities do to encourage people to continue giving?
Although the Winter season can be a time of financial difficulty for charities, there are ways that you can encourage donations. Here is our best advice to do just that and you can use them any time of the year!
Review Your Current Strategy
One of the best ways to encourage giving is to review what strategies you currently have in place. What methods are you using? What’s working, what’s not working and why? Are you utilising every channel? Who is engaging the most? Are all your efforts on brand?
By asking yourself these questions, you can review how effective your strategy for encouraging continued support is.
A strong strategy has two key channels in place: a good quality website, that is clear and makes it easier for supporters to learn about your organisation and its aims, and a strong social media presence, to engage and build a relationship with your supporters and allowing them to spread the word about you. Only when you have these in place can you build trust and loyalty with your supporters as well as getting more exposure to increase new donations.
Offer Easy Ways to Donate Online
When people are at home all wrapped up warm, the only way you can reach them is online, therefore it has never been more crucial to be offering easy ways that they can donate. Once you have clear ways to contribute in place, you can then direct people towards the best channels to use and encourage small contributions over a period of time. This is one of the best ways to encourage continuous giving as people are more likely to prefer this over a bulk one-off payment.
Mobile technology is becoming key to marketing as well, so make sure that all online methods you use are optimised for mobile viewing.
Share Inspiring Stories
As we said above, communication and forming relationships are key to continuous giving! The best way to do this? Share your inspiring stories! Donors like to know how their money is being used to help the cause, so shout it from the rooftops on social media and show them how they are helping. Emotional stories and anecdotes from past or current projects are the best ways to connect with supporters. After all, people don’t care about targets or mission statements so much as seeing children go to school and curing disease, so show them they are making a difference and ask them for help to continue doing so.
Get Creative with Winter-Themed Fundraising Ideas
Another great way to encourage continued support is to ramp up your fundraising efforts! Get creative with Winter-themed fundraising ideas throughout the season and encourage people to get outside. Sometimes all you need is to create festive events that are perfect for a family outing and people will engage and donate to good causes. If you need help with ideas, see our blog on “12 Fool-Proof Fundraising Ideas to Survive the Winter,” these are great ways of encouraging giving over a difficult season!
Look for Opportunities and Get Involved
Sometimes there are campaigns that charities can get involved in where they can receive publicity, allowing them to reach new audiences online and raise funds at the same time. A great example of this is Localgiving’s ‘Winter Giving’ campaign. Not only did it give local charities a platform for donations, but it also brought their current campaigns and wider work to attention via social media.
Hopefully, these tips will help you not to fret about raising funds this Winter or anytime after. Just remember to prepare for the season as much as possible by utilising all of your channels and you’ll be encouraging consistent giving in no time!
