You see the difference your organization makes every day — the families finding stability, the people accessing essential services, the communities growing stronger, and everyone else who’s positively impacted by your work. But to sustainably continue doing that work, you need a strategic fundraising plan.
Successful fundraising for human services organizations deeply connects donors to your mission. When you approach fundraising strategically, you can amplify the important work that you’re already doing. This guide will walk you through how to start a fundraiser for a cause, from setting goals to building momentum with intention.
Why Purpose-Driven Fundraising Matters
When you’re deep in the trenches with client-focused work, fundraising for a cause can feel like a distraction from your core responsibilities. But the reality is that fundraising directly contributes to your mission.
Purpose-driven fundraising creates an authentic connection between your organization’s work and donors’ support, as you’re asking them to become part of something that can change lives. Think about how donors respond when they truly understand the impact of their donations. Many become recurring donors as their connection to the cause runs deeper than a one-time check.
This is more and more important every day, as Gen Zers want to feel a personal connection to the cause before giving a donation. They demand to see the clear impact of their donations and a genuine connection to the causes they care about.
That’s why it’s so important to turn casual donors into committed advocates, especially considering that recurring donors contribute 400% more, on average, than one-time donors. You want to establish a fundraising structure that authentically supports a cause people care about so you can raise more money and impact more people.
How to Start a Fundraiser for a Cause
Starting a fundraiser for your human services organization doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Learning how to start fundraising for a cause is simpler than you might think when you break it down into manageable steps. With the right approach, you can transform what seems like a mountain of tasks into a clear way forward.
Even if you’ve struggled with fundraising ideas and strategies in the past, this practical guide will help you build a strategy that works for your specific organization and resonates with your potential donors.
1. Set Clear, Mission-Aligned Goals
Setting clear, specific goals is perhaps the most important step of any successful fundraiser. Without well-defined objectives, your campaign will likely lose direction and momentum. A study published in the International Journal for Quality in Health Care evaluated the goals set by a group of pharmacists and found that more than 95% of them lacked an effective progress monitoring system, which shows just how easy it is to set goals without any accountability metrics.
Your fundraising goals should directly connect to the impact you want to make. Rather than simply saying that you want to raise more money than last year, think about the specific needs your organization has and how meeting those needs will advance your mission.
Here’s how to establish SMART goals for your fundraising efforts:
- Specific: Define exactly what you want to accomplish, with specific numbers and a clear purpose. Instead of “raise money for our youth program,” for example, try “raise $25,000 to expand our after-school tutoring program to serve 50 additional at-risk youth.” Specificity creates clarity for your team and makes your ask seem more compelling to potential donors.
- Measurable: Establish specific criteria for tracking your progress. Set up weekly or monthly benchmarks that help you determine whether you’re on track, and remember to review them accordingly. For example, “secure five corporate sponsors by Q2” gives you a clear metric and deadline to evaluate your progress.
- Achievable: Set goals that push your organization but are still within reach. Think about your past fundraising performance and try to improve it by a reasonable amount — it’s no use to set goals that are so big that you won’t achieve them even if you work around the clock.
- Relevant: Every dollar you raise should have a clear purpose that advances your cause. For example, if client transportation is your biggest service barrier, then a relevant goal might be to focus on finding a new vehicle rather than office renovations.
- Time-bound: Establish a definitive timeline with start and end dates for your campaign. A specific time frame, like “30-day spring campaign launching April 1,” helps donors understand when their support is needed.
2. Choose the Right Fundraising Platform
Choosing the right fundraising platform can make or break your campaign’s success. Effective human services technology for funding should align with your specific needs and technical capabilities while making it easy for donors to support your cause.
When evaluating platforms, focus on the user experience, from both your perspective and your donors’. Look for intuitive interfaces and flexible payment options to make things seamless for your contributors.
For most human services organizations, Classy is one of the best fundraising platforms, thanks to its nonprofit-specific features and customization options. It excels at creating engaging donation pages that can effectively tell your story along with donation forms that help secure conversions.
For smaller organizations with tighter budgets, Givebutter has an impressive range of features with lower fees and a pay-what-you-want pricing model. Consider starting with a free trial to test the user experience before committing, and remember that the right fundraising software should feel like an extension of your mission — not an obstacle to it.
3. Craft a Compelling Fundraising Story
Your fundraising story bridges the gap between your organization’s work and your donors’ hearts. A powerful narrative turns statistics into emotional connections that inspire action. When presenting your story, think about how donors will make a difference in someone’s life. Your story shows them exactly how that happens.
The most effective fundraising narratives highlight real needs and show a genuine impact. Here’s what you need to succeed:
- Prioritize emotion, impact, and clarity: Compelling stories evoke emotion while clearly showing how they impact real people. Start with one child, one family, or one situation that represents the broader need your organization addresses. Then, connect this personal story to your larger mission. Always be crystal-clear about how what you’re asking for will directly impact the people in the stories you’re sharing.
- Use photos, videos, and real voices: Visual elements and authentic testimonials can drastically increase your donor engagement and response rate. Include high-quality images that show your work in action, being mindful of dignity, confidentiality, and permission when featuring clients. Short videos of your staff or beneficiaries sharing their experiences can be super powerful, too. Whenever possible, include direct quotes from the people your organization serves.
- Balance challenges and hope: The most motivating fundraising stories acknowledge real problems while offering real solutions. Describe the challenges your clients face honestly, without resorting to exploitation or despair. Then, pivot to show how your organization’s work makes a meaningful difference. This helps donors understand the urgency of your cause and the effectiveness of your work.
- Make donors the heroes: Position your donors as invaluable partners in your mission. You can do this by showing them how their support directly transforms lives with phrases like “Your support makes it possible for children like Suzie to …” to help donors see themselves as active participants in the story.
4. Build a Launch Plan That Drives Early Momentum
The first 48 hours of your fundraising campaign can determine its success. A strong launch establishes the momentum that carries your campaign forward, even when you’re facing the typical human services funding challenges.
It’s usually best to maintain a strategic launch sequence.
Start with your inner circle, including board members, staff, volunteers, and loyal supporters. Reach out personally one to two weeks before your public launch, asking them to commit to donating on day one. This helps you secure donations as soon as you go live, which you can then use as social proof that encourages others to join in.
Also, time your launch strategically. Avoid competing with major holidays or other fundraising events that could distract your donors. It’s also a good idea to think about seasonal factors that are relevant to your specific cause, like Mental Health Awareness Month in May for mental health campaigns.
Finally, create a detailed, hour-by-hour plan for your launch day, including scheduled emails, a social media campaign, personal outreach efforts, and even live events like a webinar or silent auction. Assign team members specific responsibilities and prepare the content in advance to make sure everything is as smooth as possible on launch day.
5. Promote Your Campaign Consistently Across Channels
Even the most compelling fundraising campaign won’t succeed if people don’t know about it. A multi-channel promotion strategy helps you reach different segments of your audience where they’re already spending their time. Consistency across these channels reinforces your message and opens numerous opportunities for donors to engage.
Many fundraisers start strong but fizzle out due to inconsistent promotion. Create a content calendar that schedules regular communications throughout your campaign. Plan for the natural mid-campaign slump by saving some of your most impactful stories for this period.
Think of each channel as reaching slightly different audiences with different communication preferences. Some of the most common channels to consider are:
- Email communication: Email is still the fundraising powerhouse, generating the highest conversion rates for most nonprofits. Almost half of all donors say that email communications are most likely to get them to donate, which shows that this channel is still king. Send an announcement email on launch day, followed by regular updates. Always include clear, visible donation buttons and make sure your subject lines are direct and compelling.
- Social media engagement: Social platforms are best for creating a community around your cause. Share updates at least three or four times weekly across your active channels, varying your content between impact stories, progress updates, and direct calls to action. Use platform-specific features like Instagram Stories for behind-the-scenes content or Facebook Live for quick updates.
- Community outreach: Extend your reach beyond digital channels by working with local partners in the community. Approach businesses and civic groups that align with your mission to have them help with promoting your campaign. They could set up counter displays or QR codes linking to your donation page, or sometimes a single social media post can be just as powerful.
- Personal networks: Mobilize your board, staff, volunteers, and friends to share your campaign with their personal networks. These are known as peer campaigns, where people close to your organization leverage their networks to raise money for you. These campaigns work really well because personal appeals from trusted people can have much higher conversion rates than organizational requests. Ask for specific things from each team member, like “Please personally contact five potential supporters this week,” to keep everyone engaged.
6. Engage, Thank, and Retain Donors
Securing a donation isn’t the end of your relationship with your supporters — it’s actually just the beginning. Engaging thoughtfully with your donors turns one-time givers into long-term advocates for your human services organization. Considering that it’s three times more expensive to acquire a new donor than to keep an existing one, it’s in your best interest to keep your donors happy and engaged.
Start with a personal acknowledgement. Send an immediate automated receipt, but follow up within 48 hours with a more personalized thank-you. This could be an email from an executive or a thank-you video from your staff or clients.
You should also keep donors connected to your impact through regular updates. Share stories about how their support is making a difference in real people’s lives. These don’t always need to be fundraising appeals, as sometimes the most effective donor communications simply share good news and specific outcomes.
On that note, it’s important to create opportunities for deeper engagement beyond financial contributions. You can invite donors to virtual or in-person events or share volunteer opportunities. Donors who engage with your organization in more ways than one develop stronger loyalty and are more likely to increase their giving over time.
Make Your Fundraiser a Reflection of Your Mission
Your fundraising approach should embody the same values that drive your direct service work. When your campaigns reflect your organization’s heart and purpose, they strengthen your mission rather than distracting from it.
Think of each fundraiser as an opportunity to get a better understanding of the issues you address and the solutions you provide. The stories you share and the way you engage with your supporters represent what your organization stands for.
Approach fundraising not as a necessary evil but as mission-aligned work that expands your impact. When done with authenticity and purpose, your fundraising efforts will expand your voice and create new possibilities for the people you love and serve.
