10 tips for your next fundraising campaign

Knowing the basics of online fundraising is important, but to make a campaign successful there is more you will need to do. We have compiled some tips for fundraising campaigns that you may not have heard before. We will go deeper than what you find in a typical internet search.

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In this article:

• 1. Host a preview of your online fundraising campaign

• 2. Optimise your donation page

• 3. Optimise your donation page text and call to action for conversion

• 4. Suggest donation amounts and explain their impact

• 5. Ask for regular giving during your campaign

• 6. Be consistent with your campaign material

• 7. Create stunning campaign visuals

• 8. Involve your donors and supporters in marketing efforts

• 9. Leverage multiple technologies

• 10. Highlight accomplishments during the campaign

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1. Host a preview of your online fundraising campaign

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Have a preview session of your fundraising campaign. This means showing it to your key donors and other close members of your charity. This will allow you to:

• Fix any issues with the campaign, from missing information on your donation form to better messaging and imagery.

• Raise money from the start. If your most devoted donors see it first, they will give right away, which will catch other people's attention and encourage them to donate too.

• Get feedback on how to share your campaign. Your donors have a wealth of knowledge and may suggest a winning way to get the word out.

Our tip: run a preview when you have time, generally a few months before your target must be reached. This could be when you are planning a campaign for next year's project. Previews are not ideal for urgent campaigns where you need to get your appeal out to your community as soon as possible.

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2. Optimise your donation page

The appearance of your online donation platform for charities can have a huge impact on how successful your campaign will be. Whether your donation form is embedded, pops up, or opens in a separate tab, it should not have to compete with anything to draw the reader's attention. If your donation platform allows for a background image, choose one that shows the campaign outcome, its beneficiaries, or the challenge at hand.

Make sure the page looks good and builds trust. You do not need to hire a designer as long as you check for a few key things:

• Uniform spacing between bodies of text

• Properly aligned and centred images and design elements

• A bold and eye-catching headline

• A matching colour scheme

• Your registered charity number displayed clearly

• The Fundraising Regulator badge if your charity is a registered member (Code of Fundraising Practice, effective 1 November 2025)

• A clear Gift Aid tick-box next to the donation amount, UK donors look for this before they give

UK donors check for these trust signals before they act. Displaying your charity number and Fundraising Regulator badge takes minutes and can meaningfully lift donor confidence.

If you are stuck on the appearance, keep it simple.

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3. Optimise your donation page text and call to action for conversion

While a clearly laid out, attractive donation page will draw donors' attention, your text and call to action should keep them engaged. The campaign headline should clearly convey the mission of your campaign (for example, 'Miracle Run for Education'), while the subheading quickly summarises where donations are directed, the challenge at hand, and the effect donations will have.

In the body of your text, briefly elaborate on any questions your subheading may raise. The body text should answer:

• Exactly what the funds will be used for (building a new computer lab, adding wheelchair accessibility, and so on)

• What impact the funds will have (increased learning and performance; a more inclusive environment)

• Who the main beneficiaries are (children without a home computer, young people with a physical disability)

On your call to action: 'Donate now' and 'Donate today' are the UK standard. Cancer Research UK, Macmillan, Oxfam, and the RSPCA all use these verb-led CTAs because they are direct, clear, and trusted. The tip is not to replace 'Donate now' but to pair it with an outcome-led headline that creates urgency. For example: 'Help 200 families through winter, Donate today', or 'Fund a warm meal this Christmas, Donate now'. The time-sensitive framing sits in the headline, while the CTA stays clean and familiar.

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4. Suggest donation amounts and explain their impact

Donors are more likely to give when they really understand where their contribution is going. Using images and numbers helps donors see how their donation will make a difference. List four different donation options and explain what each amount can achieve. For example:

• £10 covers X

• £25 covers Y

• £50 covers Z

• £100 covers W

Where possible, include a Gift Aid line under each amount. For example: 'With Gift Aid, your £25 becomes £31.25 to the charity at no extra cost to you.' (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)

Our tip: keep each explanation simple and do not let it go over one sentence. If you present too much information, it can be distracting to your donors. The Gift Aid uplift is a powerful motivator, a short line reminding donors that their gift goes further at no cost to them can lift average donation values.

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5. Ask for regular giving during your campaign

Regular giving is the backbone of sustainable charity income in the UK. Even though large one-off donations feel impactful, it is smaller recurring gifts that give your charity the ability to plan, budget, and deliver consistent services.

In the UK, Direct Debit is the dominant channel for regular charitable donations. Set up an enduring Gift Aid declaration and your charity can reclaim 25p per £1 on every future gift from that donor automatically, without them needing to sign a new form each time. (HMRC Gift Aid guidance)

This means you need to actively encourage regular giving when you launch your campaign. Do this by mentioning it in your campaign messaging and making the monthly gift option prominent on your donation form. Explain how regular giving benefits your charity specifically, so donors understand their monthly contribution helps you plan for the future.

Once you have regular donors, nurture them throughout the campaign and beyond. Many charities stop communicating with monthly donors after the first few months, a real mistake. If your donors choose to give on a regular basis, it is because they want to stay connected with your work. Do not be afraid to illustrate the impact of their gifts continuously by sending monthly updates with examples of how their donations have made a difference. The NCVO publishes UK Civil Society Almanac data on giving trends that can help you benchmark your regular-giving programme.

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6. Be consistent with your campaign material

Creating engaging branding and marketing material for your campaign is a great way to get people interested. Include posters, videos, and social media templates that supporters can share with their networks. However, you need to make sure that all your marketing material is consistent with your charity's branding. Always use the same logo, colours, and fonts. This will allow:

• Your campaign material to be recognisable. Supporters will know it is you right away.

• Your charity to gain credibility. Inconsistent material can make your charity seem disorganised, making people less likely to trust and donate.

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Campaign material tip from a community manager:

When participating in an existing campaign, adapt the logo and imagery to your own branding. This can come up when you are collaborating with other charities or fundraising campaigns. Many UK charities co-brand their logo with national moments such as Giving Tuesday, Macmillan Coffee Morning, or Children in Need to signal participation while keeping their own identity front and centre. That way their supporters recognise them right away. As an international example, L'Itinéraire adapted the Giving Tuesday logo by integrating it with their own, so their followers knew at a glance who was behind the appeal.

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7. Create stunning campaign visuals

Images can be shared easily and often speak louder than words. So why not create a striking, memorable image that will draw your community to your cause?

You want your image to be moving, to elicit an emotion, and to motivate its viewer to take action. Consider these options:

• A photo of one of the beneficiaries of your mission

• Volunteers working together towards your cause

• Artwork depicting your charity's vision

• Something from within your own charity's work, what motivates you and your colleagues? How can you capture that and show it to others?

If creating an image feels like too large a task, work with members of your community or other charities with similar causes to create one together.

Use online resources to retrieve, edit, and format your imagery. These free tools are a good starting point: Canva, Miro, and Burst.

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8. Involve your donors and supporters in marketing efforts

Having your community contribute to how you publicise your campaign will multiply the number of people you reach. When members of the charity and donors feel personally involved, they are more likely to work hard to make it a success. Here are some ways to get everyone involved:

• Ask donors or supporters to take a photo of themselves doing something related to your cause. Arrange the images into a post, share it, and tag the supporters. For example, campaigns such as Race for Life encourage participants to share images at events and on social media, creating a wave of community content that reaches far beyond the charity's own channels. Simple, yet impactful.

• Make an open call for a supporter to contribute artwork for your marketing campaign. You can ask for submissions, choose someone, and share their work. The whole community will be eager to see the result and will be invested in sharing it with their network.

• Have your staff or volunteers pull a stunt. It could be anything to get your community excited. For example, set up a challenge activity and livestream it for those who cannot attend in person.

A brief note on data and consent: if your campaign involves collecting donor or supporter data through photos, sign-up forms, or interactive tools, make sure you have a lawful basis to process that data under UK GDPR, and that your e-marketing complies with PECR. The Fundraising Regulator Code of Fundraising Practice sets out clear requirements on data and consent that all UK charities should follow.

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9. Leverage multiple technologies

Charities are becoming more and more inventive with the ways they use technology in their campaigns. Here is a genuinely UK example to get you inspired.

The Scottish charity Cyrenians created a chatbot named 'Alex', a fictional homeless man. The chatbot was open to anyone who wanted to ask questions about homelessness, in order to reduce stigma on the subject. It addressed why Alex became homeless, his current living situation, his interests, and his hopes for the future. The campaign aimed to highlight common stereotypes and shine a light on the reasons people become homeless.

Do not have the resources for this type of campaign tool? Reach out to your community and ask for expertise, or create something on a smaller scale that requires less technical work. For example, make a short video with testimonies from people who benefit from your charitable work. If your technology involves collecting personal data through a chatbot or form, make sure you are compliant with UK GDPR and have the appropriate data-processing notices in place (ICO guidance).

Technology offers so many possibilities for your campaign. If you have one compelling piece of work that really grabs the attention of your supporters, you will not need to focus as much on broad marketing. Your community will catch on and share it widely.

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10. Highlight accomplishments during the campaign

You and your entire team are working hard on your mission, so make sure to celebrate your progress. Emphasising your success, whether big or small, can give your campaign a real lift. It may be just the motivation your staff and supporters need to reach your target or to stay energised for the next appeal. Be sure to celebrate:

• When you reach your halfway point, let your supporters know the difference they have made so far. Sharing how much you have raised (for example, 'We have raised £5,000 of our £10,000 target, thank you!') will encourage them to keep pushing until the goal is reached.

• Internally as well. Why not recognise your team with a lunch, a social, or a team activity? Let your staff and volunteers know how much you and your community value them.

Our tip: a great way to show your progress is by using a fundraising thermometer showing the amount raised so far. With Zeffy, you can embed your thermometer directly into your website. Having it on your home page is eye-catching and will encourage donors to help you reach your target.

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