--- title: Take your digital fundraising from good to great on a limited budget description: How can you make sure your digital fundraising efforts are getting the most bang for your buck? Here are six cost-effective strategies that will kick your program up a notch. image: https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hubfs/210108-RKD-Take-your-digital-fundraising-from-good-to-great-on-a-limited-budget-Doodle-v2.jpg --- [![](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/210111-RKD-Groupthinkers-Rebranded-Logo-Blog-png.png?width=157&name=210111-RKD-Groupthinkers-Rebranded-Logo-Blog-png.png)](https://blog.rkdgroup.com) - [Solutions](https://rkdgroup.com/services/) - [Mid-Level Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/mid-level-giving/) - [Monthly Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/monthly-giving/) - [Lapsed Giving](https://rkdgroup.com/services/lapsed-giving/) - [Personalization](https://rkdgroup.com/services/personalization/) - [Connectors](https://rkdgroup.com/services/connectors/) - [Machine Learning](https://rkdgroup.com/services/machine-learning/) - [Marketing + Fundraising](https://rkdgroup.com/services/marketing-fundraising/) - [Audience Development](https://rkdgroup.com/services/audience-development/) - [Creative Services](https://rkdgroup.com/services/creative-services/) - [Data Management](https://rkdgroup.com/services/data-management/) - [Strategic Planning](https://rkdgroup.com/services/strategic-planning/) - [Analytics](https://rkdgroup.com/services/analytics/) - [Causes](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/) - [Animal Care](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/animal-care/) - [Food Banks](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/food-banks/) - [Health + Hospitals](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/health-hospitals/) - [Humanitarian](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/humanitarian/) - [Missions](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/missions/) - [Salvation Army](https://rkdgroup.com/causes/the-salvation-army/) - [Results](https://rkdgroup.com/results/) - [Acquisition](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=acquisition) - [Digital](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=digital) - [Mid-Major Programs](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=mid-major-programs) - [Advanced Analytics](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=advanced-analytics) - [Direct Mail](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=direct-mail) - [Multichannel Strategy](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=multichannel-strategy) - [Data Management](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=data-management) - [Media](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=media) - [Website Development](https://rkdgroup.com/results?cat=website-development) - [Resources](https://rkdgroup.com/insights/) - [Blog](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/) - [Benchmarks](https://info.rkdgroup.com/benchmarks) - [Webinars](https://info.rkdgroup.com/webinars) - [Ebooks + Research](https://info.rkdgroup.com/ebooks-research) - [Podcast](https://info.rkdgroup.com/group-thinkers-nonprofit-marketing-podcast) - [Field Guides](https://info.rkdgroup.com/field-guides) - [About Us](https://rkdgroup.com/about/) - [Leadership](https://rkdgroup.com/about/leadership/) - [Careers](https://rkdgroup.com/about/careers/) - [Let's Chat](https://rkdgroup.com/lets-chat/) #### Subscribe to our blog ### Subscribe to Email Updates ## Featured Post   [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) ## [What happens when a 'long shot' becomes the leader? | Susan Blouch, Lebanon Rescue Mission](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/what-happens-when-a-long-shot-becomes-the-leader-susan-blouch-lebanon-rescue-mission) “They are never going to give this job to a woman,” a friend told Susan Blouch. [Podcast](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/podcast) [Missions](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/missions) [Read More](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/what-happens-when-a-long-shot-becomes-the-leader-susan-blouch-lebanon-rescue-mission)   [Shane Thornal](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/shane-thornal) ## [Why nonprofits must unite SEO, social and paid media in one strategy](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/why-nonprofits-must-unite-seo-social-and-paid-media-in-one-strategy) Someone at your organization “owns” paid media. Someone else—often younger and under resourced—runs the social accounts. A third person (or maybe no one\[...\] [Digital Fundraising](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/digital-fundraising) [SEO](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/seo) [Digital Media](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/digital-media) [Social Media](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/social-media) [Data & Analytics](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/data-analytics) [Read More](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/why-nonprofits-must-unite-seo-social-and-paid-media-in-one-strategy) ## Recent Posts [Digital Fundraising](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/digital-fundraising) [Email](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/email) [Cultivation](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/cultivation) # Take your digital fundraising from good to great on a limited budget By [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) We live in a digital world. [Email marketing](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/email-marketing-has-grown-up-in-the-last-decade/), [digital advertising](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/whats-the-best-marketing-strategy-for-google-ad-grants/) and [paid social](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/why-you-need-a-social-media-strategy-for-fundraising/) have all seen growth and innovation in the last decade. Today, marketers and fundraisers are increasingly relying on digital programs to connect with and raise funds from donors, especially as a growing number of organizations work to reach younger audiences. According to Blackbaud’s [2019 Charitable Giving Report](https://institute.blackbaud.com/asset/2019-charitable-giving-report/), online giving in 2019 grew 6.8% year over year. Small nonprofits, with annual total fundraising less than $1 million, saw the largest increase, growing their online fundraising 8.3% compared to 2018 – the highest of any size organization. ![Take Your digital-1](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-1.png?width=721&name=Take%20Your%20digital-1.png) With all this growth, it’s evident that smaller organizations are seeing the importance of investing in a multichannel fundraising strategy. But how can you make sure your digital fundraising efforts are getting the most bang for your buck? As budgets strain due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent recession, many nonprofit organizations are looking for cost-effective ways to [optimize their fundraising efforts](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/optimizing-your-acquisition-program-for-the-road-ahead/). The good news is that you don’t have to spend a ton of money to implement digital strategies that will take your program from good to great. Here are six strategies you can use to kick your digital fundraising up a notch without breaking the bank: ### IMPLEMENTING A MATCH OFFER **Good:** Double Match **Great:** Quadruple Match Most fundraisers already know that offering a double match can help incentivize donors to give during key seasons. But when we examined Giving Tuesday campaign data for Animal Rescue League of Iowa, we found that while offering a double match does well, triple and quadruple matches do even better. Our results showed that a triple match can raise up to twice as much as a double match, and a quadruple match has raised two times more than a triple match. ![Take Your digital-2](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-2.png?width=534&name=Take%20Your%20digital-2.png) ### ![Take Your digital-3](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-3.png?width=458&name=Take%20Your%20digital-3.png) ### CREATING URGENCY IN YOUR EMAILS **Good:** ”URGENT” in the subject line **Great:** Real-time countdown timer Creating urgency in your email communications can help persuade donors to make a gift. While having “URGENT” in the subject line can lead to higher open rates, you can make even more of an impact with a real-time countdown timer within your message. This gives the donors a hard deadline and is proven to increase giving. ![Take Your digital-4](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-4.png?width=600&name=Take%20Your%20digital-4.png) ### USING YOUR HOMEPAGE TO DRIVE DONATIONS **Good:** Homepage hero image **Great:** Lightbox **Even Better:** Homepage takeover Homepage hero images and lightboxes are a great digital strategy, and Food Bank for New York City typically sees a 2-3% conversion rate from them. However, a full homepage takeover is an even better strategy to drive donations. For the 10 Million Meals Match Campaign, FBNYC saw an impressive 13% conversion rate, showing that takeovers really do make more of an impact than hero images and lightboxes, which still allow users to easily navigate away to other pages. ![Take Your digital-5](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-5.png?width=1600&name=Take%20Your%20digital-5.png) ### SHOWING GRATITUDE TO YOUR DIGITAL DONORS **Good: **Sending a receipt via email after an online donation **Great:** Sending a personalized thank-you email [Showing gratitude](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/show-donors-your-gratitude-year-round/) to donors is an important piece of any fundraising campaign. During tough economic times, it means that much more. By sending more than just a receipt via email, you’re forming a meaningful connection with donors that will pay off in the long run. North Texas Food Bank took it a step further and made a special thank-you video from their CEO to send to donors who gave during the COVID-19 pandemic. ![Take Your digital-6](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-6.png?width=366&name=Take%20Your%20digital-6.png) ### MODERNIZE YOUR DONATION FORMS **Good:** Accept credit cards **Great:** Accept credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, ACH **Even Better:** Use stored payment tokens Whether people are online shopping or giving to their favorite organization, they expect a certain amount of technology when entering their payment information. Try to move past just accepting credit cards on your donation forms to offering options like PayPal, Apple Pay and ACH. Already do that? Take it up another notch by hosting your donation form on a platform like RKD Group’s [Donor Marketing Cloud](https://rkdgroup.com/donor-marketing-cloud/). With systems like these, a payment token is used so that the donor doesn’t have to re-enter their giving info on future gifts. It’s always a win when you can take away any steps between the donor and a gift! ![Take Your digital-7](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-7.png?width=527&name=Take%20Your%20digital-7.png) ![Take Your digital--8](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital--8.png?width=1154&height=918&name=Take%20Your%20digital--8.png) ### EMAIL CAMPAIGNS **Good:** Send email once **Great:** Resend to those who didn’t open it the first time Your email campaigns may be getting a pretty good response already. What more can you do to improve them? Consider resending important appeals to those who didn’t open the email the first time. Not only will this help break through crowded email inboxes, it also provides an opportunity to bring in additional revenue. We used this strategy for Utah Food Bank’s recent COVID-19 email campaign and saw an additional 149 gifts, totaling more than $29,600, from the resend. **Subject:** Your gift is DOUBLED ![Take Your digital-9](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-9.png?width=313&name=Take%20Your%20digital-9.png) ![Take Your digital-10](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Take%20Your%20digital-10.png?width=315&name=Take%20Your%20digital-10.png) As you can see, it doesn’t take fancy new digital techniques or thousands of dollars to spice up your digital fundraising strategy. With these simple but effective suggestions, you can optimize your program for long-term strength as we prepare for the road ahead. ### [RKD Group](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/author/rkd-group) RKD Group is North America's leading fundraising and marketing services provider to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including hospitals, social service, disease research, animal welfare, rescue missions, and faith-based charities. RKD Group’s omnichannel approach leverages technology, advanced data science and award-winning strategic and creative leadership to accelerate net revenue growth, build long-term donor relationships and drive online and offline engagements and donations. With a growing team of professionals, RKD Group creates breakthroughs never thought possible. [Follow me on Twitter](https://twitter.com/RKDGroup) #### Leave a comment: Previous ##### [Back to the basics: Pivoting your fundraising strategy without in-person events](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/back-to-the-basics-pivoting-your-fundraising-strategy-without-in-person-events) Next Post ##### [Why nonprofits should jump into virtual events now](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/why-nonprofits-should-jump-into-virtual-events-now) ### Search GroupThinkers ![](https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/459002/Assets%20Apr/magnifying-glass.png) [![GP FG - Blog Rail 340x340](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/GP%20FG%20-%20Blog%20Rail%20%20340x340.png?width=340&name=GP%20FG%20-%20Blog%20Rail%20%20340x340.png "GP FG - Blog Rail 340x340")](https://info.rkdgroup.com/givingpulse-field-guide-q1-2024-access) [![MidYear Benchmarks-Sidebar_SolidGold](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/hs-fs/hubfs/MidYear%20Benchmarks-Sidebar_SolidGold.png?width=340&name=MidYear%20Benchmarks-Sidebar_SolidGold.png "MidYear Benchmarks-Sidebar_SolidGold")](https://info.rkdgroup.com/donor-trust-access) - Latest Posts - Popular Posts [What happens when a 'long shot' becomes the leader? | Susan Blouch, Lebanon Rescue Mission](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/what-happens-when-a-long-shot-becomes-the-leader-susan-blouch-lebanon-rescue-mission) [ Podcast](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/podcast) [ Missions](https://blog.rkdgroup.com/topic/missions) [Rossi's Roundup: The fundraising landscape is shifting. 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