A commonly overlooked aspect of fundraising is versatility. As a nonprofit, the health of your organization relies on donor preferences which are subject to change, and while you may have just gotten your current donor preferences down, you’ll need to find ways to attract new future supporters.

That’s why your fundraising strategy must be nimble enough to adapt to evolving donor expectations which is where versatile giving options come into play. Providing multiple, reliable ways for donors to engage will help your organization stand the test of time and appeal to different audiences.

In this guide, we’ll explore the benefits of offering versatile giving opportunities and dig into three options you can incorporate to increase your fundraising flexibility and experience enhanced results—let’s dive in!

Benefits of offering versatile giving options

Versatile giving options work as standalone funding opportunities or can be combined to maximize your support. They can also be tailored to your specific donorbase and nonprofit goals. And, unlike capital campaigns, they usually don’t require the same amount of extensive planning. Effectively incorporating multiple giving options will enable your nonprofit to experience:

• Increased donor engagement. With more ways to give to your organization, donors are more likely to stick with your organization due to your inclusivity.
• Increased donor diversity. You’ll draw in more supporters by offering them a chance to give in a way that works for them.
• Adaptability. As donor preferences and fundraising methods change, you can adapt your giving options to better meet your goals and maintain relevance.
• Strategic fundraising. Offering a mix of adaptable fundraising options allows you to create targeted fundraising campaigns that align with your priorities and donor giving habits.

With all of these advantages in mind, you might be wondering, what makes a giving option versatile? Generally speaking, these fundraising options are compatible, adaptable and customizable to donor specifications. To give you a closer look at versatile fundraising options, we’ve listed three lucrative options below:

1. Recurring giving programs

Recurring giving programs enable donors to set up automatic, regular donations to your nonprofit. With this simple process, donors can skip the hassle of repeatedly making individual donations and budget their generosity ahead of time.

Not to mention, recurring giving programs create a reliable pipeline for your organization to receive donations year-round and can be easily integrated into most types of fundraising projects. This increases a donor’s lifetime value and paves the way to increased engagement.

To get started, follow these recurring giving tips for beginning or revamping your program:

• Target your existing donors. Segment your donor base to focus on targeting donors with the most experience and familiarity with your nonprofit mission. Specifically, zone in on groups that have made at least two gifts in the past year and expressed continued interest in supporting your nonprofit.
• Employ an easy-to-use donation page. Add the option to change one-time gifts to monthly on your donation page and include suggested monthly donation amounts. To further promote recurring giving, create a landing page that explains the importance of your recurring giving program.
• Brand your monthly giving program. Attaching a name and purpose to your recurring giving program will clarify how donations impact your organization as well as establish urgency to act.

Recurring giving can be run as a standalone campaign or you can couple it with another fundraising campaign to maximize giving. Depending on your fundraising software, you can easily add a recurring option into your final donation page and collect gifts from guests throughout the year.

2. Text-to-Give

This method allows donors to make quick and convenient donations via text message and is ideal for engaging audiences from all over. Similar to recurring giving, this form of mobile giving can be run as a standalone campaign or baked into other fundraising add-ons using specific software features, such as crowdfunding or an online store.

To get started, simply partner with a reliable platform, choose a short keyword donors can use to make a donation and send out engaging text-to-give requests to your supporters. Leverage these tips to run a successful text-to-give campaign:

• Troubleshoot your text-to-give method to ensure your mobile-friendly donation page loads correctly and you can track donations as they come in.
• Keep your text-to-give keyword short, specific and memorable so that supporters can easily give from their mobile devices.
• Promote your mobile giving campaign widely on your website, social media and email newsletters
• Adjust your strategy as needed based on your click-through and conversion rates and follow up with new and returning supporters.

Choose the right time to promote your text-to-give campaign, whether that’s during a fundraising event such as silent auction or as a part of your year-end giving push. This way, you can rely on seasonal or atmospheric anticipation to fuel increased support.

Text-to-give is a reliable way to raise funds quickly and allow supporters to easily play a rewarding role in your cause. Remember to adhere to regulations and best practices laid out by the Telephone Consumer Protection Act so you can lead a legally compliant campaign.

3. Matching gifts

With matching gift programs, nonprofits can tap into corporate assistance to meet their fundraising goals without having to ask donors for additional financial support. Through the matching gift process, donors can submit requests for their employer to match their donation at a 1:1 or even 2:1 ratio, effectively doubling their support!

You might be wondering, what are some ways I can maximize matching gifts? Like the other fundraising strategies mentioned in this guide, matching gift campaigns are highly adaptable and pair well with a variety of fundraising formats, including:

• Annual campaigns. Add a search tool to your donation form that allows donors to look up if they’re eligible for matching gifts through their employer. This way, your supporters can take advantage of their company’s corporate philanthropy program and your nonprofit can earn more.
• Year-end campaigns. You can create a “matching gift challenge” for major donors or corporate sponsors during the lucrative year-end giving season, where they agree to match a specific amount of donations during a certain period of time or if your organization reaches a predetermined fundraising goal.
• Matching gifts for board members. Some companies offer additional matching gift opportunities for employees who serve on nonprofit boards. For example, a company may offer a higher matching ratio for these individuals. When requesting personal gifts from your board, encourage them to check their eligibility.

The process is made even easier with matching gift autosubmission that enables donors to automatically request a match right from the most convenient location—the donation form! Make sure to invest in a software solution with user-friendly solutions like this one so you can maximize the number of gifts matched.

All in all, versatile giving options help you make the most of your existing strategy and give an extra fundraising edge. If you’re unsure of which option works best for your organization, consider partnering with a fundraising consultant to build stronger donor relationships and raise more money.