Fundraising targets that should be part of every campaign
Raisely is an online fundraising platform for ambitious charities across the world. Follow our how-to guide on setting a great fundraising target and other key campaign goals for your charity.
Setting your fundraising target for a campaign. It seems pretty simple, right?
Well… Yes, and no
It’s easy to pluck a figure from the air but, for maximum impact, you need to consider a few extra factors.
What’s your ROI?
How’s your donor LTV?
Have you properly planned your P2P?
If reading this feels like alphabet soup – you’re not alone. There’s a lot to consider when planning a peer-to-peer campaign.
To translate the terms and connect supporters to your campaign, we’ve put together a brief Fundraising Targets 101.
We’ll tell you:
- How to set a great fundraising target
- What other campaign goals to consider along the way
Set a smart target: how to plan strategically
🤔Think bigger
Our number one tip? Think of the big picture.
When you’re getting ready to talk dollars, you need to know:
- where your income has historically come from
- what the organization’s future plans are
- how much delivering against those plans will actually cost.
That sounds like a lot of corporate words, but what it means is: people want to help, but they need to know that you haven’t just plucked a feel-good campaign out of the air!
Your audience needs to know that you know what you want to achieve and how you’re going to get there.
That strategic approach is mission-critical in terms of real outcomes, but it also needs to underpin your communications strategy.
Gaining one-off supporters is one thing, but to retain them and grow their relationship with you (more on that later), you need to give them reasons to stay involved and a clear understanding of how their contribution fits within your mission.
🌎Bring it down to earth
Once you understand the detail of what you’re working towards, it’s time to think about defining a specific fundraising target for your campaign.
This is where the rubber really hits the road.
If you’re trying to raise $1000 or $1 million, it’s important to run the number you decide through three quick tests.
Achievable – Make sure your fundraising target feels achievable, based on the past performance of other fundraising campaigns you’ve run - or that similar organisations have run. An easy way to do this is to look at the average amount each supporter raises, and then multiply that amount by how many people you think will sign up.
Realistic – Setting a big target doesn’t always mean you raise big dollars. Your supporters need to believe in your target too! It’s hard to share your wins with them if you’re halfway through a campaign, but your fundraising thermometer is barely past zero. Don’t worry - if you’re smashing it, you can always increase your target later!
Time-bound – Most fundraising campaigns run over a few months, with a wind-up, peak, and cool-down. Try to hit your fundraising target at the end of your campaign peak. Anything you raise after that is a happy bonus!
🥇Put eyes on the prize
Speaking of impact, a dollar figure is meaningless unless it’s attached to an outcome.
To hit your target, you need to know what you’re aiming for – and why.
Giving $20,000 to an organization may hit a target.
Giving $20,000 to change the lives of sick kids? Now, that hits home.
Make it clear from the get-go – who or what are you fighting for?
Case studies are an invaluable tool for every fundraiser. Because case studies put a face (and name) to your cause, you can paint an emotive picture of the outcomes your campaign could achieve.
If you're a visual learner, stories allow you to build a mental picture. If you're an auditory learner, you'll focus on the words and hear the story in your mind. And if you're a kinesthetic learner, you'll be hooked by the emotional connections.
According to psychologist Jerome Bruner, facts are 20 times more likely to be remembered if they’re part of a story. The lesson? Using case studies to support your mission amplifies its power beyond measure. That is a fact worth holding on to.
Some other goals to think about for your campaign
As with the best recipes, there’s more than one ingredient in a successful campaign.
Along with your fundraising target, you should also consider these key campaign goals:
- Return On Investment (ROI)
- Donor Acquisition + Lifetime Value (LTV)
- New Supporters
- Average Donation
📈Return On Investment
First up, you need to consider your campaign’s true cost. The amount you’ll raise and the ROI (return on investment) should always be assessed together.
There’s two ways to increase the impact of your fundraising campaign. Either raise more money or improve your return on investment.
Put it this way: raising $100k by spending $10k is the same as raising $120k by spending $30k.
Your costs will depend on the type of campaign, but might include:
- Marketing campaign costs – setting up landing pages, design costs, and running paid ads.
- Various ‘big event’ elements – like insurance, design printing and distribution of promotional materials, branded merchandise.
- Promotional costs - especially if you run radio, TV, print or outdoor ads.
- Internal costs - Even the amount of staff time dedicated to the campaign.
From there, the calculation is pretty simple … total raised minus total spent = your true result.
🤝Donor Acquisition
Hitting your income target isn’t the only goal. Your fundraising campaign is your opportunity to find new supporters for your future campaigns.
Once your campaign has wrapped up, think about taking your new donors on the journey with you - tell them even more about your organisation! The goal? Build a relationship, so they donate to you again.
Maybe they’ll even become your next regular donor!
Now, anyone that’s tried this will tell you: it’s not easy.
Donors in a peer-to-peer campaign are donating to their friend first, and your cause second.
However, if you’re able to convert just 3-5% of your campaign’s donors into ongoing givers, you’re onto a good thing!
Our tip? Think about setting a goal conversion rate for post-campaign giving, then plan out the communications you’ll use to achieve that.
👯♀️New Supporters
Your supporters are what make it all possible. It’s essential to consider them as you plan your campaign.
Often, a lot of the people who sign up to your campaign have supported you before. Maybe they donated to an appeal, or signed a petition you ran.
However, a peer-to-peer campaign is a great opportunity to grow your supporter base.
That is, to find new supporters.
Why are peer-to-peer campaigns great ways to find new people? Because they’re an opportunity for your biggest fans to share your work, and spruik the impact your organisation has.
Our tips to find new supporters are:
1. Encourage people to form teams with their friends or colleagues
2. Get participants to post blogs talking about the impact of the campaign
3. Convince your top fundraisers to get their whole workplace or department involved, and give them a dedicated leaderboard
So, think about your goal in terms of your people:
- How many supporters do you have in this campaign who haven't participated in a campaign before?
- How can you connect them to your cause, so they participate next time?
💸Average Donation
Getting people to donate is a great first step, the process doesn’t stop there.
Every campaign is an opportunity to increase how much people contribute when donating.
Once you know what your donors usually contribute, try to consistently – and gently – nudge that average sum higher.
For example, if your past campaign has an average donation of $30, you might set a $35 target for your new campaign. (By the way, the average donation across all Raisely campaigns is about $33.)
A great way to increase your average donation is to experiment with the dollar amount buttons on your donation form. Often, increasing the amounts you ask just a little bit can make a huge difference to your overall fundraising success.
Ready, get set, set targets
With these foundations in place, you'll be well on your way to developing a fundraising campaign that connects heart to pocket and income to outcome - the full package of why you do it, what you need, and what you've achieved.
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