How To Promote Birthday Fundraisers To Your Supporters

For your most passionate supporters, birthdays aren’t just about cake and presents. They’ve evolved into something much more meaningful: an opportunity for them to make a lasting impact on causes they care about. Birthday fundraisers make it easy for anyone to use their special day to support your nonprofit’s work.

As a nonprofit fundraiser, tapping into the trend of birthday fundraising can level up your donor engagement and fundraising efforts. If you’re unfamiliar with this type of campaign, it’s pretty straightforward. Supporters request that their loved ones donate to a cause they care about, often in place of tangible gifts. Essentially, they’re launching a peer-to-peer campaign connected to their special day. It’s a revolutionary way to revamp your nonprofit’s digital strategy.

Before you can tap into this strategy, supporters need to know the opportunity exists! That requires your team to promote birthday fundraisers and persuade supporters to launch campaigns for your nonprofit. To support your promotional efforts, this article will cover these tips:

Choose compelling campaign ideas.
Communicate the impact of birthday fundraisers.
Provide guidance for launching a birthday fundraiser.
Publicly recognize anyone who launches a campaign.

In no time, you’ll harness the collective power of these special occasions to fuel your mission. Get ready to transform birthdays into acts of generosity that leave a lasting legacy on your cause!

Choose Compelling Campaign Ideas.

First and foremost, make the idea of launching a birthday fundraiser enticing by choosing fun campaign ideas. While launching a peer-to-peer campaign page or Facebook Fundraiser is certainly an option, more people will be excited if you add a fun theme or offer a unique incentive.

For example, put a twist on traditional peer-to-peer fundraising with eCards. After all, what better way to celebrate someone’s birthday than with greeting cards? eCardWidget’s birthday fundraisers guide gives a rundown of how to incorporate eCards into supporters’ birthday campaigns. Here’s how it works:

Design a collection of birthday eCards to embed on your nonprofit’s website.
Supporters can direct friends and family to your site before their birthday.
Their loved ones will then choose their favorite birthday eCards, donate to your nonprofit, and schedule each eCard to be sent.
The eCards will arrive on the recipient’s birthday.

That’s all there is to it! Your supporters can launch a birthday fundraiser with minimal effort. All they need to do is let their loved ones know about the opportunity. Then, this is what someone’s perspective will look like when they go to send a card:

Best of all, you’re not limited to birthdays with this peer-to-peer fundraiser idea, either. You can create designs for different times of the year, too. For example, create festive Christmas fundraiser eCards or Valentine’s Day eCards, transforming this into a fundraising strategy for every gift-giving occasion.

Communicate the Impact of Birthday Fundraisers.

As with any fundraiser, people are much more likely to participate if they know they can actually benefit your cause. Make an effort to communicate the impact of these types of campaigns to supporters.

To do so, you might provide statistics or case studies that showcase the difference these fundraisers can make. For example, you can share that 87% of donors who donate for the first time from a social referral source will make their second donation from a social referral source. Or, let them know that individuals are more likely to support a cause if their peers do so.

You might also share inspiring stories of how previous birthday fundraisers have positively affected your mission or beneficiaries. Giving them real-world examples of the potential benefits these campaigns hold can help them envision their impact.

You can even position launching a birthday fundraiser as a fantastic way to support your cause while on a budget. Instead of donating, supporters can ask their loved ones to do so on their behalf. In turn, they can significantly impact your cause by turning their special day into a source of support.

Provide Guidance for Launching A Birthday Fundraiser.

If you successfully inspire someone to launch a birthday fundraiser, make sure they know how to get started. Otherwise, they might get overwhelmed and decide against it.

In fact, this peer-to-peer fundraising guide explains potential participants might feel intimidated to join since they’re not professionals who are well-versed in fundraising. Build their confidence by offering guidance to anyone who wants to get started.

Here are some easy ways your nonprofit can provide support to its volunteer fundraisers:

A Fundraising Guide: Offer step-by-step instructions on how to get started. In your guide, include information about how to set up a fundraiser and tips for sharing it with their friends and family.
Communication Templates: Simplify the outreach process by creating email, social media, and text message templates. Participants can personalize these templates when they promote their campaigns.
Campaign Examples: Share examples of successful birthday fundraisers to guide supporters in their campaigns. Remember, this is great for communicating the impact of these campaigns, too.
One-on-One Guidance: Offer personalized support to anyone interested in launching a fundraiser. Choose a designated point of contact and encourage supporters to ask questions.

Set your supporters up for success, and they’ll be more likely to participate. By providing all the guidance people need, birthday fundraisers will start to catch on quickly among your community of supporters.

Publicly Recognize Anyone Who Launches A Campaign.

As with any time someone supports your work, you should show gratitude for those who launch birthday fundraisers on your nonprofit’s behalf. Of course, you should always start by sending personalized thank-you messages. You can even leverage nonprofit eCard websites to easily send digital thank-you notes to your supporters who launch campaigns. After all, digital greeting cards will give them a lasting reminder of their impact on your cause and help them feel truly valued by your organization.

However, acknowledging participants publicly in addition to privately will bring more attention to the opportunity. People can see how others support your cause via birthday fundraisers and can envision their own impact before launching their campaigns.

Publicly celebrate fundraisers’ impact by shouting them out on these platforms:

Social Media. Post about each campaign and share images that capture the fundraiser’s enthusiasm for leading a campaign. Simply post screenshots of their campaign page or social media posts with your followers. Be sure to tag the individual to ensure they see your post. Then, encourage the fundraiser and other followers to share the post to inspire people to contribute.
Email Newsletters. Designate part of your newsletter to highlight “featured fundraisers.” You can call out high-performing campaigns, share progress updates, and encourage others to donate or launch their campaigns. You might even reach out to the individual leading the campaign for a quote about why they’re passionate about your cause.
Your Nonprofit’s Website. Add a section on your website that highlights fundraisers and campaign performance. This section can serve as an ongoing showcase to inspire others. You can also collect testimonials from past fundraisers and highlight each campaign’s impact.

Not only will public recognition amplify the opportunity to launch these campaigns, but it can go a long way in boosting supporter engagement. NXUnite’s donor recognition guide explains that “public recognition can be especially impactful since others will see how much you value your supporters.” Just make sure anyone you shout out is comfortable with public recognition.

Any platform you choose will provide the opportunity to highlight fundraisers’ impact. Remember to encourage others to launch their campaigns or reach out with questions anytime you shout someone out.

Final Thoughts

Birthday fundraisers can be a wonderful way to bolster your fundraising efforts. These campaigns inspire existing supporters to share their passion for your cause and connect you with new supporters.

Be sure to thank donors and other supporters who launch campaigns for your organization. When their next birthday rolls around, they’ll remember how much you valued their contributions and may launch another fundraiser. Before you know it, fundraising for your nonprofit will become one of their favorite birthday traditions.

Tim Badolato, CEO at eCardWidget

Tim Badolato is the CEO of eCardWidget.com an innovative platform for digital employee recognition, donor acknowledgment, business marketing, and nonprofit marketing. He has a passion for using technology to drive positive outcomes for mission-driven businesses and nonprofits.