Recently, I discussed what micro campaigns are and why food banks should use them.
These short, time-bound campaigns are a great way to fill in gaps during the slower months of your fundraising season. They also give donors a more urgent reason to give during times they may not typically be thinking of your cause.
Today, I’m going to focus on how you can add micro campaigns to your annual fundraising by sharing a few of our clients’ success stories.
While these are examples from food banks, the same concepts can be applied across many different nonprofit sectors.
Single-day micro campaigns
A single-day micro campaign is just as it sounds: A single giving day to promote donations for a cause with immediate action. Despite being limited to 24 hours, the concept can be applied throughout different times of the year to promote familiarity and maximize donation opportunities.
For example, our client Food Bank For New York City created “Five Borough Friday,” a recurring micro campaign that takes place on any fifth Friday of a month. This happens four to five times a year and is a great example of how your micro campaign can stretch across more than one day of giving.
The campaign is promoted through email, and all donations on this day are matched five-fold, incentivizing donors to give and maximize their impact. After three “Five Borough Fridays” this year, Food Bank of New York City has raised over $125,000. Single-day giving initiatives work and are even more powerful when they become recognizable campaigns for your program.
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Weeklong micro campaigns
Sometimes it can be hard to build momentum in a single day of giving, so don’t be afraid to give your micro campaign a few more days to perform. We’ve seen great success with longer micro campaigns that allow for a larger donating window while still driving urgency to give.
For Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina, a weeklong micro campaign raised over 250,000 meals for those in need. In fact, they beat their fundraising projections by 27% and saw a 5% increase in revenue year-over-year.
Here’s how they did it:
Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina created a Pop-Up Market micro campaign urging donors to give within defined dates to provide nutritious meals to the local community in need. Using email and lightboxes, online donors received an urgent ask that spurred immediate engagement with the campaign.
Seasonal micro campaigns
Micro campaigns can be seasonal, too.
For many, the holidays are a time of giving back to the community and being thankful for what you have. Donors are more likely to give during the holidays, so digital micro campaigns that run alongside your more traditional seasonal campaigns can drive added revenue.
St. Mary’s Food Bank promoted their Thanksgiving Turkey Drive through email and spread the message of helping those in need celebrate the holidays. Their seasonal micro campaign raised donations for 15,000 turkeys for families to enjoy during Thanksgiving, relieving them of having to worry about food.
Whether you decide on a single-day, multiday or weeklong plan, micro campaigns can provide your organization with the extra support it may need to fill in the lulls during your giving season.
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