Using ClubRunner to Improve your Fundraising Efforts

Fundraisers are the fuel that keep your service club’s engine running. The dollars they raise are a tangible indication of your ability to perform good work in the community and of the goodwill and awareness the community has for your mission. There are multiple ways to fundraise for a good cause but did you know through your ClubRunner website, you can collect donations year round? Setup is simple and you can easily run an online fundraiser campaign to support your various initiatives.

Create a fundraiser campaign as an event 

No doubt a creative use of the Event Planner module, you aren't limited to creating standalone events through it only! In fact, you can also use it to create and organize ongoing campaigns such as fundraisers and community appeals. How so?

1) Simply create an event as usual and set your start and end dates and proceed to add a description of your campaign. . Within the Event Type field, select Fundraiser.

2) To get the maximum visibility, be sure to set the 'Show Event in Home Page', 'Show in Calendar', 'Show in Events List', 'Show in Bulletin' Bulletin' and 'Display Social Media Share Bar' options to Yes. Doing so will ensure that the event details are listed and appear in as many places as possible.

The social media share bar will allow visitors to publicize this event via different social channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Email and more.

3) Edit the 'Registration Options' to ensure the event is open to members of the public, so that you can have non-members support your campaign.

4) Set a nominal fee for the fundraiser within the Event Fee field, and select your payment method. If you have the Online Payment and eCommerce module activated, non-members and members can donate to your cause easily via credit card. Members also have the option to pay by check. As an event chair, you can also collect check payments from non-members and add them as supporters through the Admin area.

5) Once the event is created, you can display it on your home page or custom page using the Upcoming Events Widget or a Custom widget. Visitors can then see, register and donate to your cause easily and even share the event.

Make use of donation buttons
 
If your club has been set up to accept online payments, another way to collect donations is to add a 'Donate Now' button on your homepage. Website visitors can easily click on the button to make a donation in any sum they wish and you can just as easily direct people to your website to do so. Follow these directions to set up a Donation button if you use Sage Payment solutions to process your payments. If your club makes use of Beanstream, follow the instructions here to set up a donation form.

You can add this button on your home page, custom page or even a site page and can then direct your audience to this page by promoting your campaign.

If your club is located outside of North America, contact our support team on the options available to get Online Payment setup.


Report your progress

A common mistake made by charities and fundraising committees is failing to update their donors on the progress of the project. If someone is willing to make a donation, they are clearly invested and interested in your project. It's important to keep your donors aware of how the campaign is going and to have them join in the celebration of benchmarks along the way. They after all are your biggest advocates.

Consider keeping them informed through special editions of your bulletin, or show potential donors how much more you need to collect through visuals such as a fundraising meter.

Does your club collect donations year round? Have tips to share with other clubs? Comment below and let's start a conversation.