Help get your nonprofit organisation ready for when the air starts getting crisp with these four steps.
Four Essential Steps for A Great Fall Fundraising Season
1. GivingTuesday prep
- Organising tech. If you don’t have a fundraising platform that can support crowdfunding campaigns, now’s the time to check out all your options. If you’ve never set up this kind of fundraiser, here’s an article on how to create a crowdfunding page for GivingTuesday.
- Analysing social media. Take a look at your various social media platform analytics. Then, ask yourself what sort of content seems to work best and what audience segment uses which platform the most. Start researching hashtags and developing messaging specific to your organisation’s audience segments. For bonus points, start preparing images and content.
![paige-cody-29j0KKj2fbg-unsplash Fall Fundraising ideas - A cute dog is wearing a ghost costume and sitting next to a pumpkin](https://www.eventgroove.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/paige-cody-29j0KKj2fbg-unsplash-scaled.jpg)
2. Plan a Halloween Fundraising Event
- A virtual and in-person pet Halloween costume contest and parade. Invite your audience to tag your organisation on social media posts or photos showing their pets dressed up for trick-or-treating, and share those images on your own platforms. It’s an easy (and adorable) way to spread awareness of your charity. In tandem with that push, you could host a dog costume pet parade (do not underestimate the draw of these!) at which you can host a fun raffle. Livestream the parade, invite participants to vote for their favorite costumes, and offer a link to your online raffle so everyone can bid.
- A virtual and IRL pumpkin carving contest. Participants could carve pumpkins at home and submit photos or videos of their creations—bonus points if they also show how they re-used the pumpkin seeds or interior to make snacks or dinner! For in-person participants, you can host a live event where people can come and carve their pumpkins. Choose winners from several categories and announce them online.
Want more Halloween fundraiser inspiration? Check out our tips on How to Scare up a Great Halloween Fundraiser.
3. Review the intel to make informed fundraising decisions
- The game has changed, thanks to ChatGPT and AI. Read about the ethics of using AI for nonprofits in Candid’s article Is your nonprofit thinking about using ChatGPT? Your first step is to do no harm. For ideas about how other nonprofits are using ChatGPT to improve their fundraising efforts, Philanthopy’s piece offers insights. If you’re looking for ways ChatGPT can help with your org’s writing tasks, we’ve got prompts to try!
- HubSpot’s 25 Nonprofit Marketing Statistics for 2023 has some great information, including which social media channels generate the best results. If you want even more data, the Nonprofit Tech for Good 2023 report has tons about how nonprofit organizations are using technology.
- Wondering how your nonprofit can connect with young people? Check out the Forbes article How Nonprofits Can Attract And Retain Younger Donors. Candid also has some helpful tips on how to reach Gen Z on social media.
- If you need a little help with your Instagram game, check out Nonprofit Tech For Good’s 10 Instagram Best Practices for Nonprofits.
- For a really great fundraising page (like the one you’re planning for GivingTuesday), you need to connect with visitors. Anne Green’s 4 Storytelling Tips for Your Donation Page has some really terrific advice.
4. Prioritise Mental Health
Dive Into Fall!
Enjoy the rest of summer, take care of yourself, and let’s make this autumn fundraising season one of a kind!
For more helpful information that’ll prepare you for fall fundraising, check out our blog. We’ve got articles about how to boost your A-thon’s engagement, community engagement strategies, and everything you need to know about peer-to-peer fundraising.
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