Top strategies for online political fundraising for campaigns and causes

Hosting fundraising events, sending mailers, and running effective call-time programs remain key elements of political fundraising. However, online fundraising has become an increasingly vital tool for campaigns and causes. It simplifies the process of accepting and processing donations from both local and remote supporters, while also streamlining follow-up actions. As campaigns and causes face rising costs, enhancing your online fundraising efforts is more crucial than ever. Optimizing your online fundraising strategy ensures you have the resources needed to win elections, advocate for a better future, and advance the Democratic and progressive movement.

Understanding the online fundraising landscape

During the 2024 election cycle, over $1.9 billion was raised and tracked through our systems to support the Democratic and progressive movement. While not all of this came from online donations, a substantial portion did. Online fundraising platforms are key to enabling these contributions, but donors can access them through a variety of channels. Whether via your website, emails, texts, or other methods, it’s crucial to design user-friendly, high-converting donation forms to maximize contributions. And having an industry-leading fundraising database makes it easier for campaigns and causes to continue to raise more money by maximizing their donor’s full-cycle value and meeting them where they are through effective multichannel outreach.

Building a strong digital presence

Building a professional, mobile-friendly website is the initial step in establishing a strong digital presence. Your website is often the first place people will go to learn more about your campaign or cause. By sharing your mission or where you stand on the issues, supporters can determine whether they want to financially support your organization. If they’re driven to donate by what they see, you’ll want to make sure you have clear paths to donate throughout your website. Placing donation buttons in key areas — such as the navigation menu, homepage, and at the end of important pages— makes it simple for supporters to contribute and helps boost your fundraising efforts.

In addition to building a professional website, you can also use social media to raise money online for your political organization. There are tons of ways you can use social media to help raise money. Here are a few examples of what you could post to help raise money:

Encourage people to donate to your campaign or cause directly
Promote upcoming fundraisers
Ask people to donate for a specific line item in your budget (e.g., mailers, digital advertising, etc.)
Post fundraising progress updates as you’re attempting to reach EOY or EOQ goals and urge others to donate to help you achieve them
Use paid social advertising to reach your supporters online and ask them to donate
And more!

Whether you use organic or paid posts to help drive donations, you can share all types of content to help raise money. From short videos to infographics to photos and more, you can easily encourage donors to give and share what their funds will be used for.

A screenshot of a political fundraising ad from Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign that reads “We have entered the final stretch of this race, and we need to look at Donald Trump and remember — I mean really remember — who he is. Trump is the guy who prefers to run on problems instead of finding solutions.” Underneath that copy, there's a blue graphic with voting stickers around the edge of it with text in the middle of the graphic that reads “Please make a last-minute donation to help us get voters to the polls.” with a disclaimer at the bottom that reads “Paid for by Harris Victory Fund”. — An example of a political fundraising ad asking donors to give to help get out the vote from Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign. Source: Meta Ad Library

Between October 20, 2024, and October 26, 2024, top political spenders spent over $66.4 million on advertising on Facebook and Instagram and over $85 million on Google and YouTube ads. While some of this advertising was focused on getting out the vote, a significant portion of this spending was allocated to garner contributions for Democratic and progressive campaigns and causes. With multiple targeting parameters and available media types, paid social advertising allows campaigns and causes to easily reach donors and supporters and encourage them to financially support your campaign or cause.

Many political organizations will share organic posts to their timelines or feeds to help raise money with no spend behind them. While they may not reach as many supporters as paid ads, organic posts are another powerful tool for campaigns to raise money and engage supporters with little to no cost associated with them.

Using email marketing campaigns to increase online political fundraising

One of the most common and impactful ways for campaigns and causes to raise money online is sending emails to their supporters. Building and maintaining an engaged and growing email list is helpful to drive more supporters to get involved or donate. Segmenting your email list based on donor behavior, past contributions, or engagement levels allows for more targeted and relevant communication. This not only helps increase the likelihood of donations but also strengthens relationships with supporters. With strategic, data-driven email campaigns, campaigns can continually optimize their outreach and boost donations over time, making email fundraising an indispensable part of a comprehensive online strategy.

Hosting virtual events or webinars

Some virtual events raised over a million dollars this cycle and attracted tens of thousands of supporters from around the country. These events can take many forms — from town halls to concerts to rallies and more. But the overall objective remains the same: raise money and awareness and drive action for a campaign or cause. Virtual events are a great way to raise money because they don’t typically cost as much as in-person events, they aren’t limited to local attendees, and they usually don’t have as much prep work associated with them.

Tips to build more engagement with your supporters

As donors and supporters are barraged with emails, texts, and more from tons of campaigns and causes, it’s important to craft fundraising appeals that stick out from the rest. From personalizing your messages to building trust through transparency and accountability to using data to optimize your fundraising campaigns, here are three tips to help you develop fundraising content that rises above the rest.

Engage donors with personalized messaging

Personalized messaging is essential for engaging donors, as it helps create a deeper connection and makes supporters feel valued. With an online fundraising platform like NGP, you can easily access and utilize donor data — such as their name, donation history, or key issues they care about — to craft more personalized appeals. By addressing donors by name, highlighting the causes they’re passionate about, and tailoring your communications based on their past contributions or interests, you can foster a stronger relationship and motivate them to take action. This personalized approach not only increases the likelihood of donations but also strengthens long-term supporter engagement.

Build trust through transparency and accountability

Some donors are driven to donate by knowing what their funds are being used for. Whether it’s an email explaining your next ad buy or mail campaign or an annual report that shares your organization’s operating expenditures, sharing that information with your donors can help them better understand what their contributions are powering, and it may make them more likely to give (or potentially give more). Being transparent and accountable helps build trust with donors that may make them more likely to engage more regularly with your campaign or cause.

Using analytics to track and optimize online political fundraising

Data should be at the heart of all your fundraising efforts. By tracking key metrics — such as which subject lines achieve the highest open rates, which topics resonate most with donors, and other patterns — you can continuously refine and optimize your fundraising strategy. It’s also crucial to monitor conversion rates, donation amounts, and traffic sources to gain insights into what’s driving contributions. This ongoing analysis enables you to adjust your approach and improve your fundraising performance, helping you raise more money in future campaigns. By leveraging data effectively, you can make informed decisions that lead to more successful fundraising outcomes.

Put these online political fundraising strategies to the test

In today’s competitive online political fundraising landscape, leveraging tools like personalized messaging, data analysis, and a multi-channel approach can enable campaigns and causes to more effectively engage supporters and drive meaningful contributions. Continuously refining these strategies will ensure your campaign or cause is well-funded and positioned for success in achieving its goals — whether that’s winning an election, defeating a bill, or advancing our movement.