Baking Up Success: A Recipe for Multi-Channel Fundraising
Running a multi-channel fundraising campaign is a lot like baking the perfect cake—you need the right mix of ingredients, careful planning, and just the right timing. Last week, we talked about ingredients. This week, let’s break down the steps to whip up a successful campaign, with a sprinkle of baking puns along the way!
Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients (Donor Data and Selected Channels)
Before you start, make sure you have all the right ingredients. For fundraising, this means gathering data on your audience: who they are, how they prefer to give, and how they’ve engaged with your organization in the past. Then piece that together with the channels you think will be most effective. Whether it's email, social media, direct mail, or in-person events, matching your selected channels to the donors you have will create the right blend of ingredients for success.
Too often, I see nonprofits pick a channel (let’s say social media) to focus on, but then when the campaign isn’t successful and we’re diagnosing the problem, they realize their donor audience is older and likely not engaged in social media.
You can’t let the tail wag the dog, the dog has to be allowed to wag the tail.
…sorry…mixing my metaphors…back to baking!
Step 2: Preheat Your Oven (Create a Plan)
Every successful bake starts with a plan—just like your campaign. Preheat your oven by setting goals for each fundraising channel. Do you want to “rise” with more online donations or “crust” the competition with a stellar direct mail appeal? Use our multi-channel ask map (here’s the Canva template) to ensure all channels are working together. Think of this like a recipe card that keeps you on track.
Step 3: Mix Your Channels (Integrate Messaging)
Now it's time to mix the ingredients! Your messaging should be consistent across channels but tailored to each platform. Your email list might get the “full cupcake” of a heartfelt appeal, while social media followers receive a “taste test” through engaging videos and visuals, but you’re really driving them to your email sign up form to get them over to where they can eat the full cupcake. Remember, different channels need different flavors, but they should all work together for a delicious result.
Step 4: Bake It (Launch the Campaign)
Once your channels are mixed and ready, it’s time to bake! Launch your campaign across multiple platforms simultaneously to create a cohesive experience for donors. Like watching a cake rise, keep an eye on how each channel is performing and adjust the “temperature” (i.e., your efforts) as needed.
Step 5: Add the Icing (Follow Up and Thank Donors)
The final touch in any bake is the icing. Once your campaign is complete, be sure to follow up with a sweet thank-you to all donors across every channel. A well-crafted thank-you can be the cherry on top that encourages future giving.
YOUR HOMEWORK
With the right recipe and the help of our multi-channel ask map template, you’ll be able to bake up a fundraising campaign that leaves everyone coming back for seconds! Take the list of channels you selected last week, and think about how you’ll mix them up to create the right recipe to raise more dough this year end.
Then think about a timeline. Once you have your map, you can write down the directions for your recipe. How will you launch? When? How will you integrate Giving Tuesday into your campaign? What will you do to keep the oven hot through the 4-6 weeks that most year end campaigns last? Making a simple spreadsheet with columns: Date, Channel, Message can help you plan out a campaign that raises more dough while keeping you from burning anything.
