The world has vastly changed in the past decade, and this is especially true in the realm of fundraising. While the traditional methods of holding fundraising events (i.e., bake sales, car washes) are still relevant, there are other ways to raise funds for your organization. Platforms like Givey and many more listed here by Charity Digital, offer new opportunities for raising funds–in some cases, these platforms might even serve as a replacement for traditional fundraising events.
This article discusses the importance of selecting the most appropriate platform for online fundraising events.
It is important to note that not all platforms are created equal, and it is up to you to decide which one best suits your needs. This article will help you understand what it takes to select the right platform for your online fundraising event.
What’s Your Event?
Start with deciding what you want your platform to do for your event. Sit down and figure out what event you want to run and how you want to run the event. The last thing you want is to change things last minute, so write down what is your event, what you want to do, what are you going to do during and after the event. You need to be able to pull this data to help you achieve your fundraising goals, e.g. do you need a email list, do you want to chat with your donors, do you want to say thank you to donors etc. Once you know all this, find if your platform can do all those things you need to make your event a success.
Digital Needs and Fees
Next, how much do you want to spend? Some platforms are totally free, some are not. What are you comfortable with? What can you afford? How much funding do you have? Some platforms are very good in planning your event for you. Or you may just need a platform that can help raise the donations for you. What are your needs, then figure out which platform works for you. Keep tech in mind too. Are you tech-savvy like our mascot, Elvis. Or are you in need of someone to make online fundraising easy for you? This is important to keep in mind when choosing the right fundraising platform for your event.
Benefits
Last but not least, think about the benefits package. How long do you have the platform for? Is it to get the information you need? How much support do you get, where and how? Ask fundraising platforms about this and any other important details you need to know, then will you know which is right for you.
Research and Document
One thing we would do is Google and do some research in the services available. You don’t need to evaluate all of them, just the ones that cater to your needs. Outline everything you find and document what you see. It may be as easy as ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Or maybe its more detailed in to what tools are available, what are the reviews/ratings, what support do you get and how. You need to know how to use the platform so when you begin or pass it on to your team, it will be much smoother. It helps to look through how the platform looks after their members and view their help section and/or social media to find out more about them.
You don’t want to decide on this last minute. So we hope by sharing all this you can use this system to evaluate the different platforms you can use to power through your fundraising event.
In conclusion, one should always ask themselves these questions. Each type of fundraiser has its own considerations, and the best platform will depend on those needs. What are your needs? Research, document and plan.
Be sure to check out our other blog articles on best practice for fundraising.
If you found this article helpful to read, check out the following post:
What to Look for When Choosing a Fundraising Platform
A Step-by-Step Strategy to Tackling Fundraising Challenges
Join our dedicated community of thousands of small charities. Givey is an online fundraising platform with an ethos of transparency for donors and no platform fees for charities / causes. We have raised over £2m.