Why digital fundraising is the easiest, most effective, and most profitable choice of your team’s campaign options

Pop quiz!

Which of the following fundraising efforts is the most effective?
A: Food sales (e.g. popcorn and cookie dough) 🍿🍪
B: Car washes 🚗💦
C: Booster cards/Discount cards/gift cards 🎁
D: None of the above 🙅‍♀️

If you guessed D, then you’re already ahead of the game. While food sales, car washes, and discount cards are popular fundraising methods, they aren’t the most effective. In fact, some of them are among the least efficient. (We’re looking at you, car washes and cookie dough!)

So, what is the best and most effective method? If you read our last blog, you already know the answer is digital fundraising (AKA online fundraising).

ICYMI: Digital fundraising is the practice of using online platforms, social media, and technology to raise funds for your team, organization, or cause.

In this blog, we’ll explore the benefits of digital fundraising and why it should be your go-to choice for raising funds for your team, organization, or cause.

The Benefits of Online Digital Fundraising

The title of this blog is a big giveaway. The big benefits of digital fundraising are that it’s easy, effective, and profitable. Let’s unpack these a bit more. 

🫰 It’s easy: With tons of built-in digital tools and capabilities (like ready-to-go campaign pages, real-time donation tracking, integrated email tools, and team management dashboards analytics and reporting), digital fundraising platforms make it super easy for administrators to set up, manage, and monitor campaigns. In the time it takes to print off donation forms, you can have your digital fundraiser up and running. Integrations with social media platforms make it easy for team members to promote the fundraiser using mobile devices and reach new donors and existing ones. And secure online payment gateways make it simple for potential donors to support, and even set up recurring donations. Everyone wins! 

✅ It’s effective: Psst. The secret to effective fundraising campaigns is reach and awareness. Reach refers to the number of unique individuals who see your campaign. (Think: Eyeballs 👀) While awareness is all about being recognized and remembered. (Think: Likes, comments, and shares 👍)

Traditional methods often have geographical limitations (read: limited reach). And, after a while, all the kids in baseball uniforms knocking on doors start to look the same to donors (read: low awareness). With digital fundraising, distance isn’t a barrier. And you can customize your campaign page and tell your team’s unique story to stand out from the crowd. Plus, digital campaigns extend your reach to a global audience of family members, friends, and fans, allowing you to raise funds from supporters far beyond your local community. The potential for reaching passionate supporters who are willing to contribute to your team’s goals is immense.

🤑 It’s profitable: The goal of fundraising is to maximize profit. In other words, it’s not about whether you meet your fundraising goals or how much you collect—it’s about how much you keep. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but cookie dough fundraisers chew into your profits. When it’s all said and done, teams are usually left with around 40% of what they earned! (Talk about a raw deal.) The good news is with digital fundraising, that doesn’t have to be the way the cookie crumbles! Online fundraising platforms eliminate the hard costs associated with traditional fundraising which means your team gets to keep more of its hard-earned dough (the cash kind)—up to 80% of your profits.  If that’s not enough to convince you that a digital fundraising strategy is a smart play, then here’s another pretty compelling reason…

It can help you fight fundraising fatigue

Fundraising fatigue refers to the diminished response and enthusiasm from donors, volunteers, and supporters from being repeatedly hit up for contributions. The end result? Donor engagement can drop and supporters can become less responsive over time. (After all, a person can only buy so much popcorn or get their car washed so many times!)

Traditional fundraisers can be exhausting for both the team and the community. There are only so many doors you can knock on and so many people you can ask for support. By the time the season rolls around, donors might already be fatigued from constant requests. (Or a rival team might have knocked on their door first!) Digital fundraising helps combat this by reaching a larger audience beyond your local community.

The Disadvantages of Digital Fundraising

We’re not going to pretend digital fundraising is all pro(fit)s. There are a few cons.

Like…Ummm… 

🏃‍♀️You might not reach your daily 10K step goal (because you won’t be selling door to door)
🧽 You might have to wash one car—yours. (But only if you want to!)
🎯 Oh! And you’ll reach your goal way faster than most groups out there. (Which is more of a disadvantage for them and a competitive advantage for you.)The only downside to digital fundraising is that you aren’t doing it already!

Ready to Get Started?

If you’re ready to take your team or club’s fundraising game to the next level but aren’t sure how to get started, we’ve got good news—you’re just one click away from launching your very own digital fundraising campaign. Operation Player Assist (OPA) makes it fast and easy to start your campaign. Click “here” to book a demo call and get your campaign started quickly!

The key to successful fundraising is teamwork. Let our team help your team reach its goals! With the right tools, you can achieve more, reach further, and make a bigger impact on your team’s