Running a nonprofit charitable organization requires more than the ability to share your cause with others in hopes of a monetary contribution. Understanding how to appeal to potential donors while onboarding those who are loyal to the cause you represent is key to maintaining and growing a successful nonprofit organization. Learning just how much your organization’s first donation matters and how to expedite the process is a way to ensure you are on the right path with any type of charitable nonprofit you run.
The Snowball Effect
Obsessing over receiving your first donation as a nonprofit organization is not uncommon, especially when you are extremely eager to share the work you are doing for any cause you currently support. Achieving your first donation is not only desired psychologically, but it is also desirable to others who have an interest in donating to your cause but prefer organizations that already have live backers who have given their own contributions.
Understanding the “activation rate” with nonprofit organizations online is helpful to determine the best method of attracting new donors while raising financial contributions. Once your organization has received at least one donation from a patron, it is much more likely to go on to receive additional donations, even from first-time contributors. When users see that an organization has loyal followers and donors, they are more likely to make contributions themselves as they have gained trust by viewing the engagement of your campaign.
Learn more about how your first donation impacts the success of your fundraisers by keeping track of the number of pages you have created for your fundraiser, how many fundraisers received at least one donation, and the overall outcome of each individual fundraiser page. Keep track of how well various fundraisers pages perform both before and after you have received your first donation. Remaining aware of which type of fundraisers work best for your organization helps to launch future fundraising campaigns that are successful and attract loyal supporters and donors.
The more actively engaged you are with your users and potential donors during a fundraiser, the easier it becomes to pursue contributions and donations directly to your organization. When donors and supporters become familiar and trust your fundraisers (due to past donations), they are more likely to donate financially on their own in the future.