As soon as you are registered, you will receive an email from us with some helpful hints and advice about promoting your page. But before you do anything else, you should go to your page and spend some time adding interesting and engaging content (a banner image, logo, photos, videos, etc.) so it's an attractive and motivating page for your supporters. Work your way through your charity dashboard so you're familiar with all the functions and options and your page is configured perfectly for your requirements. You can even change the URL to something more personal and relevant to your cause (such as your charity name).
When you're happy with your page, you need to start sharing it among all your stakeholders - not just your supporters, but your staff, Board, volunteers, suppliers, anyone who knows your cause! Spend some time thinking about the best way to explain your partnership with us - what are you asking people to do? Donate online? Fundraise? Both? Be clear in your explanation so you have a better chance of success. If you'd like some help on wording, please contact us and we'll work with you to come up with the best communication plan for you.
Every nonprofit will differ in how it fundraises and communicates with supporters, but here are some suggestions for you to consider:
- Include a section on SimplyGiving.com on your own charity website (usually in your 'How to support us' section), with a link to your cause page on SimplyGiving.com. You can download our logo from our support resources for this purpose.
- Add a 'Fundraise for us now' and 'Donate now' button to your charity website which link directly to these sections of your SimplyGiving.com cause page. We provide these buttons in a range of colours for you to download and add to your website in our resources section.
- Spend some time internally making sure all your staff are aware of the partnership and encouraging them to help you spread the word. Online fundraising is all about going viral - that means getting as many people as possible to pass on the message to their networks. The best people to start this snowball effect are your staff, volunteers and Board. Encourage them to donate or fundraise themselves to kick start the activity on your fundraising page.
- Post about your partnership with us on Facebook (and any other social media you us), followed up with updates on fundraisers using the portal in fun and imaginative ways to raise funds for you, or announcements on events or campaigns you are running through the portal. Check out our FAQ about leveraging your social networks to promote your page.
- Make sure all your fundraising events are uploaded onto your SimplyGiving.com cause page so you are reaching a wider audience, and so your supporters can choose to donate or fundraise for a specific reason.
- Send tailored emails to your database - split your database into stakeholder groups (you probably already do this) so you can top and tail a shorter, snappier email to your different types of supporters, linking to your cause page on the SimplyGiving.com website with the call to action being to donate directly or take up a fundraising challenge in aid of your nonprofit
- Make sure you link to your SimplyGiving.com cause page (or an event/campaign page, if appropriate) in every email to your database and in all your newsletters and communications. You could even add it to your email signatures.
- Have a think about a campaign you could set up and promote through the portal - have a look at our FAQ on the definition of an appeal and a campaign for some ideas. (You could create a campaign page to mark an anniversary of your charity, or to raise funds for a specific area of your work.)
- Capitalise on the growing trend in Asia for people to ask for donations to their favourite nonprofit instead of receiving birthday, Christmas or wedding gifts - giving in lieu of a special occasion is something every nonprofit can promote without having to run any events itself.
- Check your cause page regularly - add photos and videos, comment on the activity of your fundraisers using the Facebook plug-in on their pages and share specific stories of the online support you are receiving via your social media.
The more active you are in mentioning your page on SimplyGiving.com and how people can support you online, the more traffic you will drive to your page - and the more fundraisers and donors you will attract!
Don't forget to include your promotion of your page in your offline materials too.
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