Your nonprofit tackles several fundraising efforts each year with the same threefold goal—to increase donations, unite supporters, and raise awareness for your cause. Sometimes a fundraiser will hit every objective, but in other cases, only one or two of these goals may be met.

If you’re looking for a reliable way to gather support and expand your organization’s reach, crowdfunding is a tried and true solution. This type of online fundraising collects small to mid-sized donations from a single campaign page hosted on a crowdfunding site. These donations build up, and if you follow a thoughtful strategy, your nonprofit’s three-fold goal can be met in no time.

In this guide, we’ll explore key nonprofit crowdfunding advantages and review the steps you can take to launch an effective campaign—let’s begin!

1. Effective Resource Management

Although larger fundraising investments like capital campaigns can bring in record amounts of funding, the volunteer training, overhead costs, and targeted outreach needed to make them possible can quickly eat away at a nonprofit’s budget.

Crowdfunding is a safe way to make the most of your resources without sacrificing your goals. Unlike other fundraising methods, crowdfunding has a distinctly shareable format that keeps momentum going post-launch. Built-in marketing tools and a simple donation process make it easy for donors to give and pass along your mission to their networks, enabling you to reach a global audience. 

An all-in-one crowdfunding solution allows you to place more time and effort into other pressing nonprofit objectives, or even run an analogous fundraising campaign such as a branded merchandise sale or in-kind donation drive to complement your existing crowdfunding campaign. 

2. Donation Flexibility

Limited donation options are a common barrier to entry—supporters can get easily confused, distracted, or disappointed when, for instance, your fundraiser only accepts a specific payment card type or doesn’t offer a mobile payment option. Additionally, some donors with smaller giving capacities may opt out of giving completely because they're unsure if their gifts will make a difference.

On the nonprofit side, restricted giving options can hinder your fundraising potential by leaving out key engagement opportunities. Crowdfunding addresses these concerns by offering multiple ways to give, including:

• Recurring giving. Crowdfunding campaigns can accept monthly or recurring giving options which enable one-time donors to deepen their connection to your cause for as long as your campaign is live. 
• Reward-based giving. Sometimes receiving something in return for a donation is the perfect incentive for new donors. For instance, you can use event tickets or branded nonprofit merchandise to encourage supporters to join in. 
• Matching gifts. According to 360MatchPro, an estimated $4 – $7 billion in matching gift funds goes unclaimed per year. Use a crowdfunding campaign to reclaim some of these lost funds and incentivize employees to double (or triple) their donations. 

Crowdfunding timelines and giving types are also flexible as you can extend your campaign based on whether or not you’ve reached your goal. Additionally, crowdfunding encourages supporters to give “micro-donations” which enables them to give freely without feeling the need to offer a dedicated amount. 

3. Specific Cause Emphasis

Donors consider a few key pieces of information to guide their donation decision-making, such available payment options or previous involvement. Once they’ve committed to giving a gift, they’ll continue to search for the same key information to motivate them to make the next one. 

Because it can be used to raise awareness for a specific project, crowdfunding is a reliable way to educate donors about where they’re donations are going. This directly connects donations to a specific cause, which encourages increased support. For example, a nonprofit might create a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for causes such as: 

• Disaster relief
• Giving Tuesday appeals
• End of Year appeals
• Homelessness and housing needs
• Food insecurity programs 
• International program development 
• Environmental causes

You can drive home your campaign’s impact by including compelling visual media and an inspiring appeal within your campaign page. For instance, a quick video explaining the benefits of supporting your cause, photos of your beneficiaries (with permission), and/or images of your nonprofit staff hard at work making your specific vision a reality can go along way in nudging donors and establishing campaign credibility. 

4. Community Connections

The “social bandwagon” aspect of this online fundraising method can be leveraged to help you expand your existing supporter community and tap into new donor segments. Recent reports have shown that 39% of millennial donors have previously used online giving platforms like GoFundMe to make donations. 

More successful crowdfunding campaigns like the ALS ice bucket challenge tend to lean into this social aspect with dedicated challenges, interactive milestones, and social media engagement. Additionally, nonprofits can amplify their crowdfunding results by partnering with like-minded corporate sponsors and community organizations. For instance, a homelessness outreach organization might crowdfund alongside another local food pantry to provide shelter and food during the cold winter months. 

How to Launch a Crowdfunding Campaign

Now that you know about the advantages of an effective crowdfunding campaign, you might be eager to kickstart your own. Here is a broad overview of the steps involved:

About the Author

Missy Singh

Missy Singh is the Director of Operations, Client Services & Sales at Fundly. She has been working there since 2011 when she started as a Customer Experience and Implementation Manager. As an integrated platform for social impact, Fundly serves as an industry leader in crowdfunding and peer-to-peer fundraising. In 2015 Fundly combined with NonProfitEasy to offer enterprise level technology that addresses nonprofit needs with features such as a CRM, volunteer management, membership management, and event registration.