9+ Powerful Crowdfunding and Other Online Fundraising Ideas To Boost Your Donations!

Learn how these crowdfunding ideas like online fundraising websites, online auctions, text to give campaigns, online shopping programs, t-shirt crowdfunding campaigns, matching gifts, peer-to-peer fundraising, digital donation jars, and other fundraising technologies can help you drive more donations and spread awareness for your cause!

Select from the leading crowdfunding and other online fundraisers below, and start raising funds for your non-profit campaign today!

Online Fundraising	Crowdfunding	Peer-To-Peer Fundraising	Giving Kiosk
Text To Give	T-Shirt Fundraising	Online Shopping	Matching Gifts
Online Auctions

Online Fundraising
Crowdfunding
Peer-To-Peer Fundraising
Giving Kiosk
Text To Give
T-Shirt Fundraising
Online Shopping
Matching Gifts
Online Auctions

Popular Online Fundraising Ideas

Raise more by increasing your reach beyond local supporters and facilitating their giving transactions.

Online Fundraising

Easy ★★☆	Profitable ★★☆	Popular ★★☆

All About This Fundraiser

Online fundraising can be used successfully for virtually any type of fundraising effort. It works simply by existing as an easy-to-access location for anyone from anywhere to contribute money to your cause.

Tips

Make a plan for your fundraiser that includes all of the following steps:

Choose an online fundraising platform that best suits your organization.
Create a dynamic page that thoroughly describes your online fundraising needs and goals.
Advertise your fundraiser through social media outlets and encourage others to do the same.
Provide regular updates to keep interest alive. Consider using all forms of communication, such as newsletters, video and blogs.
Offer incentives, like prizes or a “fundraiser hall of fame.”

Getting Started

Getting started with online fundraising begins with choosing the right platform. Research each online fundraising site as thoroughly as you can. Look at the platform’s existing fundraisers. Find out what percentage of your donated dollars are kept by that organization. Determine how easy the platform is to use. Make sure you have a firm grasp on any advertising techniques as well. You may need to hire outside help to truly get your online fundraiser off the ground.

Crowdfunding

Easy ★★★	Profitable ★★★	Popular ★★★

All About This Fundraiser

There may be some confusion about the differences between crowdfunding and fundraising. It is really quite simple. Fundraising typically only applies to school, churches and other not-for-profit organizations. Conversely, crowdfunding seeks donations from individuals all over the globe for any number of purposes.

Tips

In order to be successful with crowdfunding, adhere to the following tips:

Pick Your Platform: There are fundraising platforms that specialize in very specific categories. You can seek out a platform that caters to your campaign, making would-be donors more apt to find you.
Set a Budget: Even though you are attempting to raise money for your charity or organization, you have to have an initial investment. You may need to pay a fee upfront for your crowdfunding platform. Hiring professional writers, graphic designers and even web design firms can help.
Spread the Word: No one will find your campaign if you don’t advertise! Even something as simple as sharing a compelling story via social media can lead to a multi-thousand dollar crowdfunding opportunity.

Getting Started

Getting started with crowdfunding is all about research. Whether on your own or with a committee, put together a plan for how much you wish to raise, which platform to use and the length of the campaign. Good luck!

Peer-to-peer Fundraising

Easy ★★★	Profitable ★★☆	Popular ★★★

All About This Fundraiser

Peer-to-peer fundraising allows you to reach out to friends, co-workers, family members and others in your personal network to raise money for your cause. This is a great option for not-for-profits, contributions to charities and school fundraisers. Peer-to-peer fundraising differs from other types of crowdfunding in that it specifically uses your personal connections to make a difference.

Tips

Effective peer-to-peer fundraising requires some advance planning. Make sure to:

Craft a statement that sums up your needs. Many people will make a decision about whether or not to donate within the first few sentences.
Know who to target. Does your place of business have a rule against fundraising? Make sure you don’t break any company rules before asking co-workers for money.
Be kind. Not everyone is able to contribute. While you are raising for a good cause, don’t make anyone feel unloved if they don’t have the means to help. Instead, ask them to share your cause to their own network. This could help you raise even more.

Getting Started

As with all online fundraisers, your most important first step is choosing the right platform. Pick one that is trusted, safe and secure.Also, give peers a platform that is easy to use. No one wants to go through multiple steps to contribute to your campaign. You will raise more funds if it is easy to donate.

Giving Kiosk

Easy ★★☆	Profitable ★★★	Popular ★★☆

All About This Fundraiser

Giving Kiosk offers a new take on the tip jars and collection plates of the past. This inventive new technology allows anyone to accept tips, even from those who do not have cash on hand. With more people relying on debit cards and credit cards rather than paper money, Giving Kiosk is a great alternative.

Tips

There are a few tips to having a successful Giving Kiosk fundraiser:

Use Appropriate Signage: Place signage next to your mobile device explaining this new way to accept tips and donations. If you are at a church, school or other non-profit, set your mobile device up near the entrance. If you are at an outdoors or roving event, have someone guarding the device and even soliciting donations.
Provide Online Access: You can also share your Giving Kiosk online. Those who are not able to attend your fundraising event in person can still give through the mobile platform that is available from any spot with an internet connection.

Getting Started

Giving Kiosk is simple, fast, safe and effective. Simply choose your platform, have your mobile device available wherever you are and start accepting those tips and donations. Anyone from any organization can get started within minutes.

Text to Give

Easy ★★☆	Profitable ★★★	Popular ★★★

All About This Fundraiser

You can now fundraise from the privacy of personal messages! Numerous platforms allow people to donate to your cause via texting. You simply need to make them aware of your organization or campaign. It really is that easy.

Tips

Prior to setting up a text to give campaign, you do need to consider your options. These might include accepting text dollars through your standard texting app. Many of these have options for sending money using a credit card, debit card or online payment system. Next, you will need to observe the following steps:

Advertise your text to give program.
Explain how donors give, including how their information is kept secure.
Provide a timeline and goal for your campaign.

Getting Started

Getting started is very easy. You only need to choose your provider, get a unique phone number for collecting funds, and then promote as much as possible. The more people who know about your campaign, the more money you will raise for your organization. Don’t forget! Text to give is not just for temporary fundraisers. You can also use this for year-long school fundraisers, church tithing and much more.

T-Shirt Fundraising Through Crowdfunding

design a t-shirt reflecting your cause and sell it online.

Easy ★★☆	Profitable ★★☆	Popular ★★☆

All About This Fundraiser

What’s the quickest and easiest way to sell t-shirts? Selling them through a crowdfunding platform! Crowdfunding lets you get the word out about your campaign, reaching far and wide to people all over the world. Meanwhile, your t-shirts continue to advertise your organization even after the campaign is over.

Tips

The best way to sell t-shirts through crowdfunding set up a specific dollar amount to receive the item. When determining the minimum donation, remember to include the cost of producing the shirt and whatever costs may be associated with shipping. In addition, consider doing the following:

Allow individuals to donate a smaller amount without receiving the shirt.
Let donors opt out of receiving the t-shirt.
Give donors the option of donating their earned t-shirts to others.

Getting Started

Need help getting started? The first step is designing a t-shirt. You will want one that reflects your organization as well as the specific campaign. Make sure the t-shirts stands out as original, but is also wearable. You want an item that will drive donors to give more. You also want a t-shirt that they will actually wear so more people will learn about your organization every time they see the shirt.

Online Shopping – Affiliate Program

Easy ★★★	Profitable ★☆☆	Popular ★☆☆

All About This Fundraiser

Repeat donations that cost virtually nothing to secure is not just a possibility but a reality with online shopping through affiliate programs. All you have to do is set your non-profit up as an affiliate and watch as the funds trickle in.

Tips

There are a couple of ways to manage online shopping through affiliate programs.

Set up your own affiliate website: This is a common practice used by not-for-profit organizations as well as for profit companies. It does require some effort and a fee when you set up your new website. It also requires that you advertise your affiliate store.
Sign up as an affiliate charity: Some online shops offer to give a portion of sales to your organization when the customer specifies your charity while shopping. This requires that you verify your organization is not-for-profit. You also must let anyone who wishes to give know to use your non-profit’s name when shopping.

Getting Started

To get started, pinpoint the online store that will be the source of your affiliate program. Many larger online stores offer this option. Pick the one that gives the most for the biggest impact. Make sure to do your research! An online retailer that offers a lower percentage may give your charity more money if they have very high traffic volume.

Matching Gifts

Many corporations will match your supporter's donations, which can skyrocket the donations for your charity.

Easy ★★☆	Profitable ★★★	Popular ★★☆

All About This Fundraiser

Getting an employer to participate in a matching gifts promotion is one of the most positive fundraising techniques around. Advertising a matching gifts promotion may be difficult at first, but it is well worth the time and effort. Not only do you double the amount of dollars raised, but donors are more apt to give (and give more) when they know their donation dollars will be worth twice as much.

Tips

Steps to running a successful gift matching campaign:

Put together a proposal for your employer.
Advertise the fundraiser.
Continually update donors with the amount raised.
Provide plenty of thanks to your employer when the campaign is complete.

Getting Started

This type of campaign begins with the proposal. You will need to provide your employer with a great many details for them to even consider helping out your not-for-profit. Explain how your non-profit organization works. Provide details about how much you need to raise and the specific goals of this campaign. Give your employer the added incentive of publicity. As you advertise your fundraiser, your employer will also receive recognition. That publicity won’t stop when the fundraiser is over. Your employer will continue to receive high praise from the community for supporting such a worthy cause.

Online Auctions

Easy ★☆☆	Profitable ★★★	Popular ★★☆

All About This Fundraiser

A fun and simple way to raise money for your charity is with online auctions. These auctions function in much the same way as silent auctions, but with the added bonus of being online. This lets people bid on your items from any location and for longer time periods than a standard silent auction.

Tips

There are some downsides to online auctions, but they are very few. The most obvious is the cost of shipping, but this is easily overcome. State that individuals located in your community may pick up their items for free at a specific time. Tell others upfront that they must pay shipping costs on top of their winning bid amount. Other factors to consider:

Have a wide variety of items.
Offer items from local businesses.
Share the value of the products.
Provide a specific date for the auction’s end.

Getting Started

Starting the online auction begins with collecting items. Contact businesses that may be able to donate to your cause. Speak with other members of your charity who may have their own businesses or who might know someone willing to donate. Contact larger companies, corporations, sports teams and universities. Many places are eager to give because it helps them to both advertise and contribute to a good cause.