How to Promote a Fundraiser: Effective Strategies to Maximize Support

Fundraising efforts are crucial to support your cause for a long time, but they require careful planning and execution to be successful. Perhaps the most important part of this process? Knowing just how to promote a fundraiser.

(Here’s how to do just that.)

Way to Promote Your Fundraising Initiatives

Looking for ways to promote your event and convince people to donate to your good cause? Try the following.

Know Your Audience

Understanding your target audience and their preferences is key to creating effective marketing campaigns for any event, including fundraisers. Once you know your audience’s target values, you can craft a compelling story that forms a personal connection with them. Doing so will make it easier to convince potential donors that they should join your cause by giving to your organization.

For example, if you know your audience values charity, emphasize the community impact that their donations will have. You can post photos and testimonials of past events to demonstrate real-world impact.

Use Social Media

Online fundraising is the way of the future; utilizing social media platforms can help you reach a wider audience than physical media alone.

Ways to promote your fundraiser on social media include:

  • Using the right social media channels. Think about your target demographic. What platforms do they use? If they’re older or your fundraising event is for a corporate cause, LinkedIn or Facebook may be better social media platforms to utilize. If your audience is younger, try Instagram Reels or TikTok.
  • Using hashtags. Create your own hashtags or use trending ones to put your message in front of a wider audience. Just do your due diligence and ensure the hashtags you use are actually appropriate for your cause.
  • Creating high-quality visuals. The internet is driven by visuals. Make your posts stand out in feeds by including quality photo or video content.
  • Including important information. Telling a compelling story is important, but don’t forget to include important event details like time, date, and place in your social media posts.
  • Tagging others. Give shout outs to relevant influencers, local businesses, and others who have pledged sponsorships for your fundraiser. Doing so can put your message in front of more people.

Do Some Community Outreach

Reach out to community members to see if they would be willing to help raise awareness for your event. Support can come in many forms, from displaying flyers in local businesses to having friends and family talk about the event for some classic word of mouth advertising.

Try Email Marketing Campaigns

Put that email list to use and send out emails about your campaign with the following:

  • An attention-grabbing headline
  • Time, date, and place of the event, along with other necessary information
  • Appealing graphics
  • A strong call to action that creates urgency
  • A list of ways to donate or support your upcoming event

    Do a Press Release

    Arrange a press release with local media outlets, such as a local newspaper, radio station, or news station.

    Tip: Follow up with your media contact after the event for added awareness.

    Run Paid Advertising Campaigns

    Reach people online on the largest search engine in the world: Google. You can run Google Ads to promote your campaign, helping support your other promotional efforts. Digital ads let you personalize your messaging to people, serving ads right at the time you believe they are most receptive to your message. It’s a great way to optimize your advertising budget and meet your fundraising goals.

    If you’re a nonprofit organization with a shoestring marketing budget, don’t worry; you can still make Google Ads work for your campaign. The Google Ad Grant program can provide up to $10,000 per month in free advertising credits to eligible nonprofits.

    Try Text Campaigns

    Direct mail or email campaigns not your style (or you want to complement them)? Try sending text messages to prospective donors.

    Messages generally need to be short and sweet, so pick your words carefully. If you really need to have extra details, include a link to a landing page with more information.

    Use Physical Media

    Online fundraising is great, but don’t forget tried-and-true physical media to promote your event either. Posters, flyers, and brochures can all be handed out in person in high-traffic areas in your community, and you can also use direct mail campaigns to attract past donors to a new event.

    Tip: Want to make show-stopping promotional materials that encourage donations? Try some of our FREE fundraising templates.

    Create a Fundraising Page

    Create a compelling and engaging fundraiser page to encourage donations. The page can both act as a promotion for an upcoming event as well as a dedicated donation portal.

    When creating your donation page:

    • Make it easy to donate
    • Give the option for recurring donations
    • Use a secure fundraising platform

    Fundraiser Promotion FAQs

    How do I advertise my fundraiser?

    Ways you can advertise your fundraiser include:

    • Email campaigns
    • Direct mail campaigns
    • Flyers and posters
    • Social media campaigns
    • Word of mouth
    • Press releases

    Why use social media for fundraising?

    Social media helps you reach a wider audience, personalize content to different audiences, more easily track engagements and interest in your event, and create interactive content that draws people in.

    The real question isn’t “Why should I use social media for fundraising?”

    It’s “Why am I not using social media for fundraising already?”

    How do I start a fundraising campaign?

    A successful fundraiser can help raise awareness and attract new donors to your organization. Getting started may seem overwhelming, though, especially if this is your first time hosting a fundraiser.

    That’s where Fundraising Brick can help. We’ve assisted people during all stages of the fundraising process, from how to start an event to how to promote a fundraiser to how to measure fundraising success. We have all sorts of tools to get you started, from flyers to poster templates, and can even use 3D-rendering technology to show you how your new installation will look. And we’re excited to help do the same for your upcoming fundraising campaign too.