Online Fundraising is a vital element of any fundraising initiative.

Did you know, the average online donation rose by 30% in 2014, to almost £70?

However, over 50% of charities don’t feel they are using online donations to their full potential. We’ve put together 8 top tips to help boost your digital fundraising strategy.

Make it Easy

People are busy and like things to be simple – ensure that your donate button is visible with a few easy steps to a successful donation.

Get Social

Social media has the power to reach millions of people from across the world. Successful charity campaigns have used Twitter and Facebook to promote their cause successfully – remember the #icebucketchallenges and #nomakeupselfies? Make sure to post interesting, engaging content with lots of videos, photos and those all-important hashtags.

Seek a Partnership

Team up with other businesses, be that a merchandise company, café or us. We are able to make donating extra personal – with the opportunity to share photos, videos and comments through a virtual space that can be revisited and expanded.

Be Device Savvy

With a whopping £2.4billion donated in 2014 via mobile devices, it is essential that your website is mobile and tablet friendly.

Get Innovative

Although money is usually the obvious choice for donations there are other options – take a look at the online book we created for the Diamond Jubilee. The online platform encouraged people to volunteer their time – resulting in a record breaking 2,779,323 hours pledged.

Tell a Story

We all like to know who were helping and why. Video is a great tool for getting stories across, platforms such as YouTube even have a donate button you can add to your video – making donating simple.

Say Thank-you

Saying thank you provides you with another opportunity to contact those who have donated. Send a follow up ‘thank-you email’, which not only keeps the cause at the forefront of people’s minds, but builds an email database for future use.

Don’t forget Offline

Although electronic donations are the way in which the world is moving – it’s still important to have an offline fundraising strategy. Promoting your cause through press releases and adverts, whilst ensuring you have the facilities for offline donations including phone and post.