For a lot of nonprofits, online giving is still treated as a side door. The real fundraising happens at the gala, in the direct mail appeal, over coffee with a major donor. The website has a donate button, the newsletter mentions it now and then, and that’s about it.
Meanwhile, more and more donors are deciding to give from their phones, often at 10 p.m., after reading an email or seeing a friend’s post. If the path from that moment to a completed gift is clumsy, they don’t try again tomorrow. They just don’t give.
Nonprofit digital fundraising isn’t about replacing what already works. It’s about making sure the donors who want to give online can do it easily, and that they keep giving after the first time. Here’s how to build it, piece by piece.
What Nonprofit Digital Fundraising Includes
Digital fundraising is less a single channel than a system. The core pieces are:
- Your donation page, where every other channel eventually sends people
- Email, for appeals, stewardship, and building the relationship between gifts
- Recurring giving, the monthly donor program that steadies your revenue
- Social media, to make the case for your work and reach new people
- Peer-to-peer campaigns, where supporters fundraise from their own networks
- Search and paid ads, to reach people already looking for causes like yours
You don’t need all of them at once. But they work best when they’re connected, and they all depend on the first one.
Start With Your Donation Page
Every appeal, post, and ad ends here, so small problems on this page quietly reduce the results of everything else. Go through it on your phone, as a donor would:
- Is the donate button easy to find from every page on your site?
- Can someone give in a minute or two, without creating an account?
- Are there suggested gift amounts, with a sentence about what each one makes possible?
- Is a monthly gift offered as an option right on the form?
- Does the page look like your organization, so donors trust they’re in the right place?
- After giving, does the donor land on a real thank-you page and get a prompt, warm receipt?
Then test it with a real gift. It’s the only way to be sure every step works.
Make Email Your Fundraising Engine
Social media platforms change their rules constantly. Your email list belongs to you, which makes it the most dependable channel in your nonprofit digital fundraising toolkit. A few habits make a big difference:
- Welcome new subscribers and donors. A short welcome series introduces your work before you ask for anything else.
- Tell stories between appeals. Share results, updates, and thank-yous so every email isn’t a request.
- Segment when you can. A first-time donor, a monthly donor, and a volunteer shouldn’t get the exact same message.
- Write appeals like a person. One clear story, one clear ask, one clear button.
For more, see our nonprofit email marketing tips for small nonprofits.
Build a Monthly Giving Program
Recurring donors are some of the most valuable supporters a nonprofit can have. Their gifts are predictable, they tend to stay longer than one-time donors, and they often become your most engaged advocates.
Give your monthly program a name and a clear purpose, so joining feels like belonging to something. Show what a monthly gift makes possible over a year. Thank monthly donors separately and often. And don’t be afraid to invite one-time donors to become monthly supporters after they’ve heard from you a few times. Our post on donor retention strategies goes deeper on keeping donors for the long run.
Use Social Media to Build the Case
Social media rarely drives large numbers of gifts on its own. Where it shines is showing your work in action, so that when the appeal arrives by email, people already feel connected. Share the day-to-day: behind-the-scenes moments, volunteer spotlights, small wins, and the people you serve, with their permission. Save direct asks for key moments, and always link them to your donation page.
Tap Into Peer-to-Peer and GivingTuesday
Your supporters’ friends and families are often more likely to give because someone they know asked. Peer-to-peer campaigns let supporters set up their own fundraising pages for birthdays, races, or milestones.
GivingTuesday, the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, is a natural moment to try this. Plan early, recruit a handful of committed supporters to fundraise for you, set a specific goal, and share progress throughout the day.
Add Search and Paid Ads Carefully
Search puts you in front of people who are already looking for causes like yours. If your organization qualifies, Google Ad Grants provides free search advertising for eligible nonprofits and is worth applying for.
Paid social and other ads can work, but they cost real money, so treat them as an experiment. Start small, send people to a focused page with one clear ask, and measure what each new donor costs you before scaling up.
Track What Actually Matters
Digital fundraising gives you more data than almost any other kind. The trick is focusing on the numbers that connect to revenue and retention:
| Channel | What to track |
|---|---|
| Donation page | Visitors who complete a gift, average gift, share of gifts that are monthly |
| Clicks to your donation page and revenue per appeal, not just opens | |
| Monthly giving | Number of monthly donors, new sign-ups, cancellations |
| Social media | Visits to your site and sign-ups to your email list |
| Peer-to-peer | Number of fundraisers, funds raised, new donors acquired |
| Paid ads | Cost per new donor and cost per dollar raised |
Make sure your analytics are actually recording donations as goals. If you can’t see where gifts come from, you can’t tell what’s working.
A Simple 90-Day Plan
- Month 1: Fix the foundation. Test and improve your donation page, add a monthly option, and make sure donations are tracked.
- Month 2: Build the relationship. Set up a welcome email series and a thank-you process for new donors.
- Month 3: Run one focused campaign. Pick a single goal and story, promote it through email and social, and measure the results.
Then review what you learned, keep what worked, and build from there. For the bigger picture, see our guide to building a nonprofit marketing strategy.
Want Help Growing Online Giving?
If you’re not sure where your online fundraising is leaking, start with our free, downloadable Nonprofit Marketing Health Check. Or tell us about your organization below, and we’ll be in touch.