6 essentials to increase fundraiser activation rate

Transform your fundraising with Raisely’s top tips for motivating fundraisers and engaging donors.

Raisely fundraisers exceed their goals, on average, by 89%. Here’s how…

Want to hit big fundraising targets? Of course you do!

But motivated fundraisers don’t fall from the sky – they need tools and support to turn worthy ambitions into juicy totals.

We’ve helped thousands of fundraisers fuel their fire over the last 6 years. Our peer-to-peer template and epic suite of tech tools can instantly transform fundraisers from amateur to amazing!

The proof? Well, we’re glad you asked… in 2021, fundraisers on Raisely (on average) exceeded their fundraising goals by a jaw-dropping 89%.

That’s what happens when you give people everything they need to deliver.

The key is to get your fundraisers fundraising and then, when they've raised their first dollar, to keep them motivated and equipped with the tools they need to smash that big goal.

Before we get started here's a quick recap.

When we are talking active fundraisers, we mean those who have raised at least $1.

To calculate your fundraiser activation rate, divide the number of active fundraisers (raised at least $1), by total number of supporters with fundraising pages.

So, with that in mind, how do you decide what to focus on when talking to your fundraisers and planning your campaign? This is where we let the data do the talking…

Check out our top 6 tips for fundraising online, based on the target-smashing successes of real Raisely-hosted peer-to-peer campaigns.

Tip 1: Give all the good feels

Given that we humans THRIVE on recognition, our hottest tip for ‘how to fundraise’ is to celebrate your high achievers!

Interestingly, we’re seeing that 65% of all fundraising comes from the top 10% of fundraisers, and 52% comes from the top 5%.

It’s critical to give those high achievers all the encouragement you can (as often as you can) to keep on keeping on.

That means recognition throughout your campaign in leaderboards, shoutouts and celebrations on social media, rewards and prizes for top performers.

There’s also the option of gamification badges for each milestone. Badges are shown proudly on fundraising pages and dashboards and can be used to trigger emails or SMS messages when they're awarded.

Don’t we all love a pat on the back?! The best incentive!

Tip 2: Make it (profile) picture perfect

One of our top fundraiser ideas is to persuade participants to upload their picture to their individual fundraising profile.

Why? Because having your face on something adds a personal touch for your supporters - donors can be motivated by many things, right down to simply wanting to support the person doing the fundraising. Human connection is powerful.

Those profile pics can also give us a boost ourselves … there’s a bit of additional motivation that comes with personal pride and our determination to be seen to succeed.

And the proof, as ever, is in the stats. Fundraisers who include a profile pic raise, on average, a huge 80% more!

Tip 3: Get personal (and get sharing)

Most of us have developed our own communities on social media - whether they’re bona fide friends or random followers. Either way, they know us to some degree and are already warm to the content we generate and share.

So, when it comes to how to fundraise online, 56% of all online donors say social media and email communications are the most inspiring, effective tools to encourage giving.

Sharing your fundraising information on your personal page can help reach new audiences, beyond immediate connections… Oh, hello viral!

Our data tells us that those who share their fundraising page, raise 79% more!

But before you do anything, check out our handy guide to moving your fundraisers’ social previews from ‘meh’ to memorable.

Then, get them sharing!

Tip 4: Love your self (and donate to yourself!)

While people who self-donate don’t necessarily raise more, it’s still a key strategy to activate fundraising.

The first donation is always a good one to celebrate, as it's the start of the fundraiser's journey. And because nobody likes to be the first, encourage your fundraisers to break the ice themselves and lead the charge by donating.

It also instantly turns your supporter into an active fundraiser - that superstar group who actually raise money!

But make it happen early in their journey - make the ask during registration or in the first few emails to the supporter. Then, once that ball’s rolling, help them to keep that momentum going!

Tip 5: Don’t be shy - blog about it!

Personal connection is hugely motivating. We encourage every fundraiser and team to come up with their own fundraising ideas to build engagement – like creating their own blog to keep friends, family and supporters updated on their challenge.

It doesn’t have to be War and Peace, but we do need to know why a cause is close to your heart, because it’s those insights that inspire empathy and send us to the ‘donate’ button.

We also need to know what our support is going to achieve – the real-world impact of our donation.

Encourage your fundraisers to post short updates, engaging images and videos of what they’re up to.

Only 10% of fundraisers currently do, but their fundraising totals are (on average) 97% higher! (Yes, really!!)

Tip 6: Track actions, rack up donations

Interestingly, a fun fact from our ‘how to fundraise’ toolbox is that exercise-based campaigns – on average - raise up to 56% more than other fundraising activities. When you log your activity, you’re not just motivating yourself, you’re creating a sense of accountability within your own community.

For exercise-based campaigns, you can use Strava to easily track and share your progress, and Raisely’s Active Event campaign template is tailored with Activity Tracking automatically enabled.

If you’re already all-over Activity Tracking, we can now easily reset your campaign's activity and exercise total when your challenge starts. Wipe away those practice runs, rides, and swims and start everyone from scratch.

Equally, if you’re allergic to exercise, don’t despair - any activity can be logged on Raisely, including books read, cakes baked or cars washed. Yay!

How do I do all this?

Here's a quick guide on how to set this up on Raisely.

Badges

Keep fundraisers engaged and help them hit their goals with built-in gamification such as badges 🏆

You can create badges for key milestones in your campaign, like self donations, hitting your goal, joining a team, or walking 100kms. Badges are shown proudly on fundraising pages and dashboards and can be used to trigger emails or SMS messages when they're awarded.

Email & SMS

Motivate fundraisers even further and set up an email or sms trigger. As your fundraiser completes the above milestones, accompany this with an email or sms to celebrate their achievement!

Profile helper block

Raisely has a nifty little block that shows you how complete your profiles is and provides tips for fundraisers to improve their page. All the above steps to increase profile activation are right there ready for the fundraiser to take advantage of!

Take the Raisely Route

As ever, all our insights come from the experiences of charities big and small - we know what works and what doesn’t. Curious to hear more?

Discover how Raisley could transform YOUR fundraising through tailored tools and dedicated support.