Virtual Corporate Fundraising
2020... The year that fundraising went virtual. By now, we've all seen how virtual fundraising can work for Individual Giving and Events. But what about Corporate Fundraising?
Before we can work out the HOW, we need to understand the WHY...
Why do companies support charities?
Usually there are several reasons why a company might choose to support a charity. If you can understand their motivations, you can offer virtual fundraising products to suit.
- They care about your cause and/or community
- An employee has been personally affected by your cause
- They share your charity's values, or have a similar mission
- They recognise that supporting your charity will boost their brand/reputation
- Charity partnerships help them to engage and retain employees
What other reasons can you think of?
How do companies support charities?
- Sponsoring projects, events or appeals
- Giving financial donations, or gifts in kind (ie. donating specific goods or services, instead of just giving the money to pay for these items)
- Forming strategic partnerships to work towards shared goals
- Nominating a charity as its chosen Charity Of The Year
- Encouraging staff to donate via their salary, through initiatives such as payroll giving
Traditionally, a lot of these activities have taken place offline. But as we know, 2020 has changed everything. Thankfully, there are lots of ways to involve your corporate partners in online giving... and Visufund is the perfect online tool!
Using Visufund for virtual corporate fundraising
Sponsorship opportunities
For Christmas fundraising appeals, you could offer to share your sponsor's logo on the top star of your virtual Christmas tree.
You could also consider acknowledging your sponsor by adding their logo to the header of your page or incorporating some of their brand colours into the design.
Gifts in kind
For example, lots of children's hospices are inundated with hundreds of chocolate Easter eggs every year, kindly donated by local companies and supermarkets. The only problem? Many of the children in their care have complex medical conditions, and they can't eat the eggs.
The solution? Ask for virtual Easter eggs!
Your corporate supporters make a financial donation to reveal a virtual egg on your visual fundraising page. They can even upload their logo, and share their message with customers through social media.
Charity Of The Year
Many companies like to choose a Charity Of The Year, which they support throughout the year with various events. For example, they might organise a cake sale in the office or enter a team of colleagues to run a marathon.
How does this work remotely? You could create a visual fundraising page for your virtual cake sale, and ask colleagues to make a donation to reveal a virtual cake. You could even turn this into a competition, by asking them to share photos of their lockdown baking skills, and vote for your Star Baker!
If your team are a bit more sporty, they can take part in virtual races and events. You could create a branded visual fundraising page, featuring your logo or a photo of the team. Everyone who donates can add a spectator to the crowd, so you can see your cheer squad grow with every donation!
Employee Engagement
Companies can encourage their staff to engage with fundraising by making it fun and relevant.
For example, whilst employees are working remotely, an interactive visual fundraising page is the perfect alternative to sending birthday cards or Christmas cards. Colleagues make a donation to cover the cost of a gift or card, and they can leave a special message and photo on your team fundraising page.
Other benefits of using Visufund for corporate fundraising
- It's easy to brand with logos and colours
- It's really shareable
- You can embed it on your charity website, or your corporate supporter's website
- It's engaging for employees and customers
- And most importantly, it's great at generating income!
We can't wait to see what you create!
