Digitalisation is changing how we talk and connect with others every day. Your charity needs to adjust its fundraising strategies to keep up and connect with its supporters.
Today, your supporters are everywhere—at fundraising events, engaged through street campaigns, and active online and on social media. To maximise your charity's impact, it’s important to create a fundraising strategy that connects your offline appeals with online fundraising.
Have you heard of “drive-to-web”? This strategy focuses on converting your traditional offline donors into online supporters. In this article, you will learn how and why you should use tools like QR codes and SMS campaigns. These tools can help transition offline donors to online giving easily.
Why switch from offline to online fundraising?
1. Use QR codes at your charity fundraising events
2. Simplify online giving with pre-filled donation forms
3. Launch SMS fundraising campaigns to convert your offline donors
4. Street fundraising: convert people you meet into online donors
5. Measure the impact of your drive-to-web fundraising plan
6. How to adopt a Drive to web fundraising strategy with iRaiser
Offline donors, whether they make cash donations or send a cheque in the mail, represent an important source of support. With the growth of digital technology, it is important to encourage them to donate online. This will help:
Offer donors a quick and easy donation path.
Make it easier to track your fundraising, by centralising donations online and monitoring transactions in real time.
Appeal for monthly donations from your one-off donors. Make it easy for them to contribute regularly to your mission online.
But also nurture the relationship with your regular donors, to encourage them to give more and/or more often.
The shift from offline to online giving is a great chance to boost your fundraising. It can help you gain long-term support from your donors.
But how do you make this transition effectively, and what tools should you use? Read on for advice and practical examples on how to convert your offline donors into online donors.
Easy to create, share, and scan, QR codes let donors give online in seconds from their smartphones. They can be placed on:
Posters, flyers and programmes for your events.
Entry tickets or badges.
Physical boxes to collect donations, encouraging people to continue their commitment online.
For example, the ASCS organisation in Italy improved its fundraising using this strategy. They used QR Codes that linked to their online donation form at fundraising events. Thanks to this fundraising strategy, ASCS was able to facilitate the donation process. They also collected valuable data that often gets lost with cash donations.
iRaiser Tip: At your fundraising event, remind your audience that they can make a donation via a QR Code. Explain how simple the process is. Create a giving moment by asking participants to scan the QR code during a group challenge to reach a fundraising goal in real time.
As a donor, what could be easier than a pre-filled form? Imagine arriving on a form already filled in with your personal details and preferred donation amounts. Imagine completing that donation in just two clicks.
Providing a seamless and fast experience is key to guiding your traditional supporters toward online giving. Using your CRM solution, you can retrieve all the information you need to pre-fill the form with each donor's details.
Your donors will no longer have to enter their first name, surname or postal address, which will save them time. You can even go one step further and offer a donation grid based on the amount of their last donation. Giving them a completely personalised experience.
With iRaiser’s fundraising platform, you can generate unique QR codes for each donor. Then seamlessly integrate them into your direct mail fundraising campaigns. This optimises conversion rates and helps transition traditional paper donors into digital supporters.
Scroll to the end of the article to uncover the four key steps for launching your drive-to-web fundraising strategy with iRaiser!
SMS campaigns are a powerful bridge between offline and digital fundraising. Fast, direct, and highly customisable, they allow you to engage and mobilise donors instantly.
Think about sending a thank-you text after a fundraising event with a link to an online donation form. This may encourage supporters to extend their support online, through a direct and personalised campaign page that encourages conversions!
Have you heard of pledges in fundraising, or a promise to make a donation? They are an effective way of turning your street-fundraisers' interactions into online donations.
Instead of asking for a donation right away, your team will ask supporters to promise a donation later. They will be able to complete their donation through a digital channel. You can have a QR Code available to scan that links to a donation page dedicated to street fundraising. Or remind them with an SMS containing a link to an online donation form.
This method lets potential donors commit at their own rythm. It also creates a chance for personalised follow-up for your charity.
As with any fundraising strategy, it's essential to measure your results to maximise the effectiveness of your fundraising campaigns. Thanks to the analytical tools in your online fundraising platform, you can track the impact of your campaigns in detail.
How many people have made donations through QR Codes? Which donor profiles are the most engaged? This useful data will help you improve your future campaigns and enhance your drive-to-web strategy.
Would you like to boost your fundraising with a drive-to-web strategy using iRaiser? Implementing this strategy involves integrating personalised QR codes into your offline fundraising materials (such as your quarterly/annual mail or newsletters). These QR codes redirect your donors to a pre-filled online donation form, where they can finalise their donation in just two clicks. Here's how to do it:
1. Data preparation:
Generate a data export from your CRM tool. You can collect all the data needed to create the QR codes on your own. You can include the surname, first name, address, amount of donation to be preselected, etc.
2. QR code creation:
iRaiser creates unique QR codes for each donor. It uses their personal data to offer a personalised donation experience. The links generated are unique and tokenised to guarantee data security.
3. Generating the file for your printer: The file contains all the information your printer needs:
A unique token to create the link to the form,
a custom URL that leads directly to the pre-filled form,
and two options for embedding the QR code: a link to the QR code image or the image's binary code.
The printer can then choose the method that suits him best for printing the QR code on your media.
4. Online fundraising: By scanning the QR code, donors access a pre-filled form. We will include a personalised donation grid based on their recent donations and a design optimised for conversion. The form is instantly ready for validation, ensuring a seamless and hassle-free donation experience.
And there you have it! Your offline actions now connect to your online fundraising. You have allowed your donors to make a donation easily.
If you are an iRaiser customer and want to use this feature, please contact your Customer Success Manager. We can help you set it up.
In conclusion, moving from offline to online is a great chance to improve your fundraising. It can maintain your donors' support over time. With tools like QR codes and fundraising platforms like iRaiser, you can connect your audience to online donation options. And, in turn, offer better donor journeys.
To improve your fundraising strategies and raise more funds, it’s important to match your efforts with what younger generations need and expect. In this next article, explore effective ways to engage and inspire young donors, build lasting connections, and drive long-term commitment to your cause.