Fundraising is a bit like pizza

The modern donation form is kind of like the plain cheese slice of fundraising. It’s reliable, familiar, and gets the job done. Everyone knows what to expect when they land on your donation page – enter amount, contact info, credit card, done. It’s the baseline, the standard, the thing you can’t mess up. And like that perfect New York slice, it’s absolutely essential to get right.

Just as even the best cheese slice doesn’t eliminate the need for pepperoni, a donation form alone can’t fulfill every donor’s desire to make meaningful change. The online donation form is simultaneously essential and insufficient. 

Let’s explore three ways to diversify your fundraising menu. Think of them as online fundraising toppings that actually work, not because they’re revolutionary, but because they tap into something fundamentally human.

First topping: Greeting cards

Remember greeting cards? Those pieces of folded paper that somehow survived the digital apocalypse? There’s a reason Hallmark isn’t bankrupt yet, and it’s the same reason why incorporating cards into your donation system works: People still crave tangibility in an increasingly intangible world.

Here’s the twist: By offering either digital or physical tribute cards with donations, you’re not just collecting money – you’re creating a social currency. It’s like when people used to trade mixtapes, except instead of sharing their questionable music taste, donors are sharing their philanthropic values. The physical cards might cost more, but that’s actually a feature, not a bug. Set a minimum donation that makes it worthwhile, and suddenly you’re not just covering costs – you’re creating perceived value.

Throwing on some DIY Fundraising

Here’s an uncomfortable truth: People trust their friends more than they trust your organization. It’s not personal; it’s just human nature. So instead of fighting this reality, why not leverage it?

Enter DIY fundraising – or social fundraising, or third-party fundraising, or community fundraising. No matter the name, it actually works. it actually works. Your supporters create their own fundraising pages, share their personal stories, and suddenly your cause becomes part of their narrative. It’s fundraising through the lens of personal branding, and today, personal branding is everything.

The beauty of modern fundraising platforms is that they’ve made this process accessible to almost any demo. Your supporters get their own fundraising pages, complete with all the tools they need to succeed, while you maintain enough control to prevent any fundraising campaigns from going off the rails. It’s like giving someone the keys to your car but keeping the ability to remotely disable it – trust, but verify.

A sprinkle of symbolic giving

Symbolic giving works like virtual reality, except instead of buying a digital sword for their avatar, donors are purchasing real-world impact. It’s like a charity gift registry, but instead of buying someone a toaster they don’t need, donors are buying essential items for people who actually need them.

The psychology here is fascinating: People who might hesitate to donate $50 in cash will happily “buy” a $75 goat for a family in need. Why? Because we like to imagine concrete outcomes for our actions. It’s not just about the money anymore – it’s about the story they can tell at their next dinner party about the goat they bought for a family on the other side of the world.

Fundraising is a slice of life

The future of fundraising isn’t about abandoning the donation button – it’s about understanding that the button is just the beginning. The most successful fundraising strategies work because they tap into basic human desires: the need to connect, the urge to share, and the wish to see tangible results from our actions.

So yes, keep your donation webpage. But remember that fundraising, like most things in life, works best when it feels less like a transaction and more like a story worth telling. Because at the end of the day, people don’t donate to organizations – they donate to become part of a narrative bigger than themselves.