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2022 is by no means a "typical" year in the fundraising world (well, in any world, for that matter). Regardless, there are many things that can be done to not only accomplish the fundraising necessary to support your mission and your organization, but to increase the amount of money you bring in. We have identified 5 key trends that you should know about and consider when planning your annual campaigns.
1. In-person events are back, baby! The obvious asterisk to this first point is Omicron, we'll say that at the start. Some of you have had to postpone January and early-February events, but many are simply continuing on while adopting enhanced COVID protocols. For the rest of 2022, we are seeing in-person events make a huge comeback, but with the lessons learned throughout our pandemic-forced virtual still in place. Add Giving Levels (paddles up or fund-a-need levels) to the event page and empower attendees to give as they buy their sponsorship or ticket or empower those unable to attend to give morphs your event into an expanded online fundraiser. Launch your auction prior to the event (and letting it run for a day or two following) and you can pull in new supporters, raise bid amounts and engage or further "gamify" your silent auction. Keep the virtual aspect of your event along with your in-person component for a hybrid event and you can loop in your out of town supporters. And using BetterUnite for your events allows you to easily pivot your event, auction or raffle one to the other - you don't need to do extra work or recreate your event.
2. Recurring donations are where it's at. Long acknowledged as the "holy grail" of fundraising, encouraging your supporters to become monthly or annual givers to your cause allows a portion of your fundraising efforts to run on auto-pilot. What we see more and more of, as Gen Z ages into incremental giving and Millinneals enter their wealth-building years, is a desire to give but in smaller amounts over longer periods of time.
3. And speaking of Millineals and Gen Z... Pay attention to this (very large) demographic when planning your fundraising appeals. Younger donors are not only sophisticated in their knowledge of current events and issues, they have shown themselves to be aligned to issues over specific organizations and they are influential to other donors as well. Engaging graphics, good design and beautiful photographs (think Instagram) are key to making campaign pages that appeal to our newer, now-adult generations.
4. Communicate with your donors and guests where they are - on their phones. How many emails do you delete without opening? Skip without scrolling past the top section? When you want to capture the attention of your event guests or your lapsed donors or your board members - text them. Texting (SMS) is the easiest way to be in front of people (any people) today.
5. Use Online Fundraisers or Peer-to-Peer Campaigns to turn donors into supporters. You know your tried and true donors are reliable attendees at events and for social media shares. Level up their engagement by asking them to create their very own giving page supporting your organization, your next ask or even your next event. Your supporters will love being asked to provide value to the organization and you get bonus points for coming up with a fun competition around who can raise the most from their own sphere of influence. Peer-to-peer is also a great way to engage a younger demographic as well (ahem, Gen Z).
For more tips, please view our January webinar with BetterUnite's own Leya Simmons and Emma Shinnick on 2022 Giving Trends.
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Thank you for reading! Let's go do some good.