As fundraising grows and changes, so do the best methods to raise money for your higher education institution. Embracing digital fundraising helps you to reach your funding goals, engage your alumni community, make giving more convenient, and stay relevant among donors.

To be successful, these fundraising efforts must go hand in hand with digital marketing. By combining both, you’ll engage alumni through their preferred online channels, crafting a seamless experience from first contact to donation. In this post, we’ll explore high-impact strategies that will help your institution refine and effectively promote its digital giving programs.

1. Test your donation form

The most successful and sustainable fundraising strategies are built on a solid foundation—for online giving, that’s a streamlined, user-friendly donation form. Completing your donation form is the last step alumni must complete to contribute to your school, but even minor points of friction at this stage could cause the gift to fall through.

To mitigate this, audit your donation forms to ensure they follow user experience (UX) design best practices. Find a few test subjects and conduct usability tests, during which you’ll:

1. Outline a task or set of tasks for the users to complete. This might be something like, “Starting on our home page, navigate to the donation form and make a gift.”
2. Observe how the users complete the task. Are there any signs of confusion? How many clicks does it require? How long does it take them to finish?
3. Follow up with users to gather feedback or ask clarifying questions. Ask them if they had any specific points of confusion or whether they have suggestions for improvements.
4. Implement changes and test again. Make sure the finalized form is designed for human users and is clear and concise.

These tests can pinpoint unnecessary or confusing questions you should adjust or remove altogether. Feedback can also spark ideas for behavioral nudges like progress bars and social proof ("Join 1,325 alumni who have already given") or additional UX features like suggested giving amounts and more ways to pay. Test the form with various devices, browsers, and demographics to get a deep understanding of its functionality.

Consider conducting similar tests or applying these insights to your other forms to enhance overall alumni experiences and satisfaction. For example, optimizing forms for your volunteer program can streamline and enhance your volunteer recruitment efforts.

2. Launch SMS fundraising campaigns

Text message or SMS fundraising is an effective way to cut through digital noise, drive urgency, and solicit gifts in a personal, impactful way. While this strategy is similar to other digital fundraising channels like email marketing that offer a direct line of communication with donors, SMS campaigns have special best practices concerning:

• Message length: Keeping messages shorter is both more cost-effective and more engaging. Limit the message to 160 characters or less, focusing on readability and cutting any fluff. An effective text could be as simple as, “Help future leaders thrive! Give today to support scholarships at Marindale University. Every dollar counts. Donate now: [Link to Donation Page].”
• Timing: Generally speaking, sending texts around mid-morning or early afternoon makes them more likely to be read. However, you should learn which times resonate best with your audience through testing and data tracking and adjust your strategy accordingly.
• Multimedia elements: To send longer text messages or better engage supporters with images, videos, and GIFs, you’ll need to leverage tools that can enable multimedia messaging service (MMS) marketing.
• Calls to action (CTAs): Because you can’t rely on bright buttons or bold fonts in text message CTAs, you need clear, compelling copy. These CTAs typically read something like “Text DONATE to support the campus cause of your choice.”

Always ensure your SMS flows are permission-based (i.e., ask for the recipient’s consent) and offer clear opt-out paths. To collect more phone numbers for your database, you could consider adding an optional question to your donation form for alumni who want to receive updates.

3. Implement omni-channel marketing techniques

As Allegiance Group + Pursuant’s guide to omni-channel marketing explains, an integrated marketing approach enhances digital fundraising by cultivating deeper relationships with donors, boosting responses and conversions, maximizing resources, and capturing more valuable opportunities. The guide breaks down the steps for launching an omni-channel campaign as follows:

1. Set clear goals for the campaign. Goals should be specific and measurable, such as “Raise $10,000 by the end of the quarter to fund a new tutoring program.”
2. Analyze data to better understand your audience. Identify common trends and preferences, segmenting alumni based on factors like graduation year, industry or major, location, etc.
3. Select channels that align with audience preferences. Send messages via the channels alumni use to engage and donate. For example, recent graduates might be active on social media, while older alumni may prefer to give by mail.
4. Create a unified message that supports your goal. Think of this as a theme to guide the individual messages that make up the campaign so you can then tailor those messages to each segment’s preferences.
5. Coordinate your efforts across channels. Messages on different channels should complement and build on one another (for instance, an email might contain a condensed version of the giving needs that are outlined in more detail on your website), nudging alumni closer to donating.
6. Set up and monitor tracking for each channel. Monitor data from each channel throughout the campaign, making adjustments as needed.
7. Follow up and foster long-term relationships. Encourage alumni to engage further by sending personalized thank-you messages and recommending other ways to get involved.

Set up data tracking tools for each communication channel before launching the campaign (e.g., platforms for website traffic, social media engagement, email open and click-through rates, etc.). To avoid fragmented data, choose marketing solutions that integrate with your constituent relationship management (CRM) system.

4. Launch pop-up giving challenges

Plan short, pop-up giving challenges that create a sense of competition and urgency among alumni. For example, your institution might run 24- or 48-hour mini-campaigns targeting specific affinity groups (e.g., class years, academic departments, or athletic teams). The group that raises the most in that time period wins recognition or even a special prize.

Promote the challenge across all channels, using SMS notifications as last-minute reminders to nudge participation. Make sure giving is as quick and easy as possible by linking directly to your donation form or simply allowing alumni to text a code and donate. Once the campaign wraps up, show your appreciation for donors by sending them personalized thank-you messages and explaining the impact of their donation.

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Digital giving is central to advancing your higher education institution. For the best results, first review and refine the building blocks of your fundraising activities and then experiment with engaging, integrated marketing techniques. With these tactics, your team can generate sustainable giving growth while deepening alumni affinity.

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About the author

Liz Murphy is an EVP at Allegiance+Pursuant Group, a direct response fundraising agency and technology company. Liz has more than 30 years of experience growing digital and integrated fundraising and communications programs for social justice, health, and international relief nonprofit organizations.

Liz is an award-winning copywriter and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including ANA, DMAW, Bridge, and NTC. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Direct Marketing Association of Washington Educational Foundation.