3 Ways for Your Supporters to Give While on a Budget - Korri Piper

Giving to charity feels good and is a worthwhile way to spend money. However, giving consistently does require your donors to pencil donations into their overall budget, and there may be times when your supporters want to give more than their monthly spending allows.

Fortunately, there are ways you can help your supporters continue to give without breaking the bank. Many of your loyal supporters have the desire to give more, even if they don’t quite have the spending capacity to do so. Your nonprofit can facilitate a variety of giving methods to help the average donor increase their gifts at little to no additional cost.

While you should offer options that align with your fundraising and program goals, there are a few popular giving methods that we’ll detail here. These include:

Host an online shopping fundraiser.
Recruit volunteers.
Take advantage of donation matching opportunities.

These low-cost donation opportunities focus on either how to maximize what supporters can give or how they can fundraise passively through other routine tasks. Let’s get started!

Host an online shopping fundraiser.

Whether your supporters are doing their daily shopping or buying a bit more due to a special event or holiday, they can contribute to your nonprofit when they make purchases online through an online shopping fundraiser.

Your nonprofit can partner with an online shopping fundraising program to host a shopping fundraiser, during which your supporters can earn additional revenue for your cause at no additional expense when they shop online at participating retailers. This means that if your supporters regularly shop online, they can earn money for your nonprofit without altering their shopping routine or budget at all.

ShopRaise’s guide to shopping for a cause outlines how your nonprofit can host an online shopping fundraiser in three steps:

1. Partner with an online shopping fundraiser program. To host a shopping fundraiser, you’ll need to partner with an online shopping fundraising program that will facilitate relationships with retailers and provide your nonprofit with access to their shopping platform. Research different programs to find one that is partnered with retailers your supporters are likely to regularly shop at.
2. Promote your program. Once you launch your shopping fundraiser, reach out to supporters to share the link to download the necessary app or browser extension to participate. Promote your program regularly to get new supporters involved and remind your current supporters to continue participating.
3. Track your progress. As your supporters shop, your nonprofit will steadily earn revenue through the fundraiser. You can use your app to check in, see how much your supporters have raised, and thank top earners.

Keep in mind that shopping fundraisers are designed to help charities earn revenue over time. This means that while initial contributions through the program might start small, they will add up over time, especially as shopping fundraisers can run all year long.

Additionally, encourage your supporters to do their part to help fight for environmental protections, worker protections, and animal rights by making ethical shopping choices. Leverage a program that has a network of businesses that your nonprofit will be proud to partner with.

Recruit volunteers.

Sometimes, your supporters might not have the budget to support your organization, but they do have a few hours they can donate.

For many nonprofits, volunteers are the backbone of their mission, completing work on their initiatives and helping fundraise and gather additional support. For supporters, volunteering can connect them with their communities, provide personal fulfillment as they assist in a mission that matters to them, and even boost their moods.

Plus, after volunteering a certain number of hours, your volunteers might be able to make a monetary donation at no personal cost with volunteer grants. Volunteer grants are donations that some employers make to charitable organizations after their employees have volunteered with that organization for a certain number of hours. Here are the basic steps to apply for a volunteer grant:

Check eligibility. Help your volunteers research if their employers offer a volunteer grant program. If they’re eligible, explore the requirements for earning a grant, which will usually include working a certain number of hours and submitting their application by a specified deadline.

Ensure hours are logged. Volunteer grant amounts are usually based on how many hours a volunteer worked. Some companies give volunteer grants at a per-hour rate, while others set a minimum number of required hours to earn funding. Additionally, an employer might also give out volunteer grants based on chunks of time, such as donating $150 for every 10 hours worked.

Fill out the necessary forms. Help your volunteers download and complete their employer’s volunteer grant application by providing easy access to the required information about your nonprofit.

Once the application is submitted, be sure to thank your volunteers for going the extra mile and filling out the form. This will help solidify your connection to each volunteer, while also creating a new revenue stream for your nonprofit at no expense to you or your supporters.

Take advantage of donation matching opportunities.

You can help your supporters give more when they donate with matching gift opportunities. For example, you might partner with a business and have them agree to match donations made over a specific period of time. If your supporters give while this sponsorship is active, they can increase their giving without spending more.

Of course, you may not always be able to set up these types of donation matching opportunities often enough to help a majority of your supporters increase their giving. Fortunately, many donors will have access to another donation matching program: employer matching gifts.

If your supporters’ employers offer a matching gift program, they can fill out an application after donating to have their employer match their contribution. 360MatchPro’s guide to matching gifts walks through the steps of this process:

Donor gives to your nonprofit.
Donor researches their employer’s matching gift program.
Donor fills out a matching gift form.
Employer reviews the application.
Your nonprofit receives the employer’s donation.

While your supporters can complete this process by themselves, you can help by adding a matching gift database to your donation form. This will allow them to search for their employer and be paired with their matching gift application quickly. If a donor starts the matching gift process, but doesn’t finish it, follow up with them to remind them about the application, thank them for all the steps they’ve already taken, and offer assistance if needed.