Fundraising Technology: How it has changed the World of Fundraising

Posted by Ben Crook on 15 August 2022

It’s no secret that technology has developed our world at a rapid rate. In the last couple of decades alone we’ve gone from having a mobile phone with an antenna attached that only made and received calls – to an entire world at our fingertips. Technology has advanced science, social and economical growth in the world so it is no surprise that it has impacted fundraising.

New technologies have changed the way we raise awareness for good causes, the types of fundraising we do and how we collect and spend donations. So let’s take a look at some of the most impactful technological advances and how you can use them to benefit your fundraising.

Reaching wider audiences

The more people that know about your fundraising event the better. It can be difficult and expensive to spread the word in your community. Using leaflets to send in the mail, putting posters up in community centers and hoping that the neighbors talk about your event. That used to be the only way that you could spread the word about a fundraising event, but now, thanks to technology, there are plenty of methods.

One of the most popular is social media. In today’s society, if something is going on in the local area, you’ll find it on social channels. Town groups and city informational pages are great for sending out this information and all you need to do is get in touch with those who run the pages (some will allow you to just post the information). The best part about using social media this way? It’s free.

As well as social media, schools now have newsletters, businesses have channels to communicate with employees. There’s plenty of free channels to spread the word to your audience about a fundraising event. With a little bit of effort, your event could reach eyes and ears around the world, especially if it’s hosted virtually.

Internet discussion pages

Blogs and news outlets might seem a little old in terms of technology but for fundraising, they’re proving themselves to be an asset time and time again. If someone is searching for events in a particular area, where do they go? Google. If someone writes about a particular event on their blog or news outlets, where does it appear? Google. So getting in touch with these types of media as they are great for fundraising – whether you’re the person looking to donate or the host of the event.

Even better, if you’re looking to raise funds for a larger charity, they will have their own dedicated website. You could pop a news item on their blog and they can send it out to their international audience. When people make donations to larger charities, they will more than likely capture data such as emails. Your event, could be directly emailed to thousands of people who already care about the cause. Giving you even more attention than you could have imagined.

Online donations

Technology has done wonders in terms of donations. The cash economy is dying, there’s no doubt about that. Thanks to coronavirus and the pandemic, cash is even more of a commodity. Everybody is using their credit card to spend money, no matter how small the amount is. Thankfully, online donations have meant that people can still donate to their favorite cause, whenever, even if they don’t have any cash.

Givergy’s Chief Revenue Officer, Tim Stansbury, says, “Digital fundraising is a way for nonprofits to ensure their causes have a secured future and impact is never lost. Donations are crucial, so it’s important to meet people where they are. In this case, that means online.”

Online donations work in a number of ways. Of course there is mobile banking which can seem quick but sometimes isn’t very secure. Fortunately, technology has advanced even further in the world of online donations so that it’s as easy as buying a pair of shoes. Transactions can even be accumulated and show a running total so that visitors can see how much the event has already raised – pushing people to donate more money.

Virtual hosting of events

Fundraising events in more recent years have completely transformed thanks to technology. Before it was all about getting as many people as possible to a single location and raising money within a tight time frame. The truth is, that it wasn’t great at making the most of fundraising donations. While some events started to host donating online, the actual event still took place in real-time, making it more difficult to convince people to donate before or after the event.

Now that events can be hosted online, people can tune in from all across the world. There’s even the possibility to record and email events after they have happened virtually so that people can still watch the entertainment, but what does this mean for fundraising? It transforms your event into something completely accessible, meaning you can maximize profits. 

We truly believe that virtual events are the future for fundraising. If it’s a new type of technology that you’re not quite familiar with, be sure to check out the virtual fundraising guides we have created. Soon enough you’ll see that there is no need to be apprehensive and it’s far easier and more efficient than you could have anticipated.

Targeted donations

Have you ever been talking about buying a product with a friend and then all of a sudden saw an advert for it on your social media feed? Many people will tell you it’s because your phone is listening to you. While that isn’t quite officially confirmed, your moves on the internet are being tracked through various technologies. Why is this a new technology for fundraising? Well it means that you can target a particular audience with your event.

Remember back in the day when you would advertise your event by printing leaflets and putting them in letterboxes? Well, it’s time to get familiar with online advertising platforms such as the Facebook Ads manager and Google Ads. Of course, like any type of advertising it will cost you money to produce these. But the reason why targeted ads are so good, is because you’re speaking to people who already care about your cause. The worry of sending out leaflets to homes is that you don’t know if people are interested, whereas with targeted ads, you can select an audience that is already aware of you, your charity and perhaps even your event.

Packaged events

We’ve said it a few times but planning a fundraising event is not a simple and easy task. Depending on the size of course, it can take months of planning, multiple groups of people to coordinate and a big pot of money, but thanks to technology, the entire process has been simplified with packaged events.

At Givergy, we’ve utilized the very best of technology to bring fundraising events packaged, directly to you. There’s no need to worry about how to collect donations, how to source items for an auction, registering donators, branding, reporting and even virtual event integration. There’s plenty more information on our site, but we’re proud to say that we have perfected the process of bringing technology to fundraising events.

Having a packaged fundraising event means you can spend more time doing what you love and less time planning all the elements of your event. It also means that you can store all the data from your event so that the next time you decide to fundraise, you’ll have all the information you need to create another successful event. 

Ben Crook

Chief Operating Officer

Ben is at the forefront of every project in Givergy, listing and actioning constant improvements across the business. With over a decade of experience in the charity and events sector he brings a deep understanding of what the fundraising industry needs to operate effectively and efficiently.