A successful giving campaign is all about the story you tell.

Inspiring donors to give back to your school year after year can be a challenge. Crafting a clear, compelling campaign narrative is key to engaging your audience so you can meet your goals and increase sustaining contributions to your school. Spark an emotional connection and draw donors to your cause throughout the entirety of the campaign by continually bringing them back to the central story of your goal and the value to your community.

Define your campaign goal.

Each giving campaign should focus on one specific goal that will be at the center of your story. Are you raising money for a new performing arts center? To fund a scholarship or to build a new dorm? Frame all your communications around your goal, looking at how each campaign element and donation brings your school closer to achieving that goal.

Create a compelling narrative.

With your campaign goal in mind, build a story about how this goal will positively impact the greater school community. As the campaign progresses, celebrate milestones, recognize contributions and provide updates across all campaign channels. Has the new gym broken ground? Share a photo of the progress on Instagram. Telling your story is not only about the ask. It’s about connecting your donor community to the story where they not only become financially invested in your school but emotionally as well.

Emphasize value and impact.

Effective storytelling will appeal to a donor’s emotions, their connection to the school, and their desire for their contribution to matter. Make the specific impact of gifts as clear as possible, for every level of giving, to motivate donors to give towards those specific targets. Some donors, particularly recent graduates, may not be able to contribute large sums towards the campaign goal, but still want to play a part. Recognizing and valuing small gifts will encourage donors to give more consistently in the future!

Maintain consistent campaign branding.

The days of generic donation pages and formal, templatized emails are long gone. Today, successful campaign fundraising are coordinated across a variety of channels that showcase your campaign story –emails, newsletters, online giving forms, mobile payment apps, and social media. Visual branding and a consistent tone are key for donors to recognize and connect with the campaign. Create a campaign tag line, consider a hashtag for social media, add visual imagery, and use common language throughout – weave your campaign’s branding and messaging into every channel for cohesive storytelling.

Tap into school identity to encourage giving.

The more your story resonates with potential donors, the more they’ll be inspired to give. Appeal directly to specific elements of their school identity, such as the graduating class, prized faculty, sports teams, clubs, academic departments, school traditions or even campus landmarks. Once you’ve identified what elements you’re focusing on, you can tailor your message to a targeted audience segment for a more personalized giving experience.

From storytelling to successful fundraising.

This story doesn’t end here. We’re sharing even more helpful tips, tactics, and strategies for building a successful giving campaign in our on-demand webinar.

Watch now and get ready to crush your donation goals!