Soapbox Engage Blog

Most nonprofits dream of helping as many beneficiaries as possible. The more people they can help, the more successful their organization has become.

To facilitate this type of growth, your organization must put substantial effort into scaling your fundraising efforts. After all, you’ll need increasingly more funds to expand your services and impact over time.

In this guide, we’ll provide tips for how you can take your nonprofit to the next level through fundraising. Let’s get started!

Steps to Scale Your Fundraising:

1. Set clear goals.
2. Diversify your revenue streams.
3. Implement fundraising technology.
4. Strengthen your marketing strategy.
5. Engage your community.

1. Set clear goals.

Every strong fundraising strategy starts with clear goals. These goals will guide your decision-making as you scale your organization and fundraising efforts.

To ensure your goals are comprehensive and actionable, follow the SMART goal framework. This acronym stands for:

• Specific. Your fundraising goals should indicate exactly what you hope to achieve. Attach your goals to a specific project, program, or outcome so it’s clear what donors’ funds will go toward.


• Measurable. Include a benchmark so you have a way to track and measure progress. For example, instead of saying you hope to increase your fundraising revenue, you may aim to increase your fundraising revenue by 20% or raise $500,000.


• Achievable. Scour your past fundraising records and results to ensure your goal is ambitious but possible.


• Relevant. Your goal should have a clear connection to your overarching purpose or mission.


• Time-bound. Lastly, you should select a timeline so your goal has a clear start and end date.

Let’s say you run a wildlife conservation center. Your fundraising goal may be to “raise $50,000 over the next three months to protect endangered species like the orangutan and blue whale.” This goal follows the SMART goal framework because it specifies what the organization wants to achieve, has a key metric to track, relates to the nonprofit’s mission, and includes a specific timeline.

As long as this nonprofit’s team creates this goal within the context of past fundraising results to satisfy the achievable requirement, it’s a strong SMART goal they can use to push their fundraising efforts forward.

2. Diversify your revenue streams.

When you diversify your revenue streams, you maximize your potential to generate funds. Plus, revenue diversification helps keep your organization in a financially stable position, even if one of your funding sources falls through.

Try to incorporate a combination of the following revenue streams into your fundraising strategy:

• Monetary donations
• Grants
• Corporate sponsorships
• Event revenue
• Product sales
• Matching gifts
• In-kind contributions

As you try out these strategies, think of new and innovative fundraising ideas that will engage your audience and excite them about participating.

For example, you may host a flower bulb fundraiser to offer your supporters something they can use and benefit from in exchange for their contributions. This type of fundraiser is best in the spring months when supporters can plant their flowers and watch them grow—just as your nonprofit will when you leverage a variety of fundraising strategies.

3. Implement fundraising technology.

The right tools can help you streamline your fundraising operations, allowing you to scale them with ease. If you don’t have a complete nonprofit software toolkit yet, look into implementing options like:

• Donor management system. Use a donor management system or constituent relationship management platform (CRM) to keep track of donor information, analyze giving patterns, and personalize your supporter communications.


• Fundraising software. Facilitate fundraising through a platform that offers online giving options, donation tracking, payment processing, and more.


• Event management platform. Leverage a dedicated platform to successfully plan, manage, host, and promote your fundraising events.


• Artificial intelligence (AI) tools. AI tools like predictive analytics and AI-powered chatbots can make it easier to manage fundraising logistics and predict donor behavior.

Before investing in any type of new software, remember to get demos of each of your top options and comb through reviews to see what other organizations are saying about these platforms.

4. Strengthen your marketing strategy.

As Getting Attention’s nonprofit marketing guide explains, “Effective nonprofit marketing increases mission awareness, ensuring more people understand your goals, why they matter, and the work you’re doing to achieve them. This heightened visibility can attract new supporters.”

Position your organization to convert these potential new supporters into donors and scale your fundraising efforts using the following marketing techniques:

• Leverage multichannel marketing. Maximize the chances that you’ll reach your target audience by using a wide variety of marketing channels. These may include traditional marketing methods like direct mail and word-of-mouth and digital marketing tactics like email, social media, and SMS marketing.


• Segment your audience. When you personalize your marketing messages to certain supporter groups, you increase their likelihood of interacting with your content and contributing to your cause. Segment your supporters based on shared characteristics like age, location, and engagement level, and tailor your messages accordingly.


• Incorporate storytelling. Instead of telling your audience why they should support your cause, show them. Weave in real-life stories of your beneficiaries that demonstrate your nonprofit’s impact and inspire people to get involved.

To assess your marketing strategy’s effectiveness, select key performance indicators (KPIs) you’d like to track to continuously improve your approach. These KPIs may be anything from direct mail response rate to email open rate to social media engagement metrics.

5. Engage your community.

While it’s admirable to aim for a global audience, sometimes, you need to start somewhere smaller and work your way up. Rally your community’s support first to help your fundraising efforts soar.

For example, you might reach out to local businesses with mutually beneficial opportunities like a discount card fundraiser. A discount card fundraiser involves creating and selling cards that feature discounts from a variety of local vendors.

As ABC Fundraising’s discount card fundraiser guide explains, “Discount card fundraisers are excellent ways for merchants, restaurants, and stores in your community to support your group and in turn for the community members to support those businesses that support you.”

Try to partner with businesses with similar values as your organization or that your supporters frequent for the best results.

You can also engage more members of your broader community by making your fundraisers inclusive and accessible for all ages. Offer ways for kids to get involved to inspire generosity in the next generation and create a family-friendly fundraising atmosphere. For example, you may host a spring carnival event fundraiser with fun games and activities for everyone to engage in.

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As you gain new supporters, don’t forget to acknowledge those who have been there since the beginning. Thank donors for their support often to retain them as members of your community and champions of your cause who will help your organization continue to grow.