How to start online fundraising from scratch: a guide for nonprofit organizations

Online fundraising can be a key tool for nonprofit organizations that want to raise donations more effectively and reach a wider audience. Moreover, unlike restricted grant or government funding, it gives you the freedom to plan your campaign exactly according to the needs of your mission and to use the money in the way you and your donors consider most effective. If you focus on recurring donors, your funding becomes more predictable and you gain the ability to plan for the future. And building a strong community of like-minded people around your organization can also carry considerable media or negotiating power.

But if you are only just starting out, it can be hard to find your bearings: Where do you get your first donors? What should you invest time and money in? How long does it take for online fundraising to start paying off? Is it even right for your organization?

This guide will help you take the first steps. We draw not only on our experience at Darujme.cz, but also on the proven practices of successful nonprofits in Europe and the USA.

1. Where to find new contacts? Building a community as the foundation

No fundraising can do without donor contacts. If you are starting from scratch, your first priority is to build a community of people who will want to support you. Where do you find them?

Your own network: the first donors are often closest to you

🔹 Start with the people who already know you: members of your organization, volunteers, friends, family. An initial audit of your contacts may turn up unexpected treasures. Of course, make sure you follow the GDPR rules.
🔹 Ask them not only to support you, but also to share information about your work with others.

Lead generation. How to do it in practice?

You can take inspiration from the e-commerce sector and use a combination of methods for acquiring new contacts, known as lead generation.

🔹 Choose one lead magnet (e.g. an e-book with valuable content or a petition).
🔹 Promote it across multiple channels (website, social media, ads).
🔹 Test pop-ups and forms on your website.
🔹 Keep up regular communication with new contacts – don't let them “go cold”!
🔹 Take a look at the case study of the most successful fundraiser of the Czech Society for Ornithology. You will find inspiration there on where they get contacts for new members and supporters.

Social media: spreading awareness

🔹 Communicate actively on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn, depending on where your target group is and what capacity your team has.
🔹 Share engaging content – stories of the people you help, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your organization.
🔹 Use groups and community forums related to your topic.
🔹 You can also try the Facebook Lead Ads tool.

Email: your most valuable tool

🔹 Set up an email database and collect contacts via your website, social media or forms at events.
🔹 Give people a reason to subscribe – for example, engaging stories or exclusive news.

Working with influencers and partners

🔹 Reach out to well-known personalities or organizations that are close to your work. A great example is the collaboration between Mary's Meals and their ambassador Petra Burianová, winner of the Peče celá země baking show.
🔹 Even smaller influencers can help – what matters is that their community matches your audience.

2. What to invest in? Social media, email or online advertising?

At the beginning, you will probably have a smaller budget, unless an established agency, for example, takes you under its wing. That is why it is important to invest wisely. Where is it worth putting your first money?

Low cost, high impact: email

According to data from Classy.org and others, email is one of the best-performing fundraising channels. The average return on investment in email marketing is 36:1 – in other words, every crown invested can bring 36 crowns back.

💡 Practical tip: If you don't have a budget for paid tools, start with the free versions of email platforms such as Mailchimp or Brevo. The Czech platforms SmartEmailing and Ecomail are also very popular.

Social media: great for building awareness, but…

Organic reach (unpaid posts) on Facebook or Instagram keeps declining. If you want more people to see your posts, you will need to invest in promotion.

💡 Recommendations:

🔹 Small budget? Try boosting only key posts with a call to donate.
🔹 Bigger budget? Experiment with retargeting (targeting people who have already visited your website or engaged with your posts).

Online advertising: yes, but with care

🔹 Google and Meta (Facebook, Instagram) offer powerful advertising tools, but expect a longer payback period. If you are a small organization, start with a smaller budget and test what works best.
🔹 For social media or online advertising, ideally make use of expert volunteers. You can look for them on Heroclan or UmSemUmTam, for example.

3. How long does it take for the investment to pay off?

Online fundraising is not a sprint but a marathon. According to data from both Classy.org and Network for Good, it takes an average of 6–12 months for investments in online fundraising to really start paying off. Success, however, depends above all on how much time and energy you devote to fundraising.

🔎 Data from practice:

🔹 Classy.org reports that the first donations come fairly quickly, but sustainable fundraising requires repeated donor engagement and long-term communication (Classy.org, 2023).
🔹 Network for Good confirms that organizations that build relationships with donors and communicate regularly see significant results after the first year (Network for Good, 2023).
🔹 Darujme.cz's experience shows that organizations that work on fundraising consistently achieve better results than those that rely on one big campaign a year (Darujme.cz, 2023).

💡 How to keep your motivation up? Track and measure – set measurable goals (number of new contacts, first donations).
Test and adjust your strategy – if something isn't working, change your approach.
Don't be afraid of small steps – even small campaigns help you build trust.

4. What human resources should you allocate?

Successful fundraising needs people who will dedicate themselves to it. If you are a small organization, you don't have to hire a specialist right away. But someone on your team should have fundraising as one of their main priorities.
You may have to start completely on your own. Fine – in that case, you at least need agreement with your team that it is worth starting with fundraising and working on it regularly. If you can divide up the work, try something like this:

💡 A team to start with:

🔹 1 person for strategy and campaigns
🔹 1 person for communication (social media, email, content)
🔹 Volunteers for support (sharing, graphics, writing stories); expert volunteers can be key, e.g. for setting up paid ads and social media ads, video production, copywriting, graphic design or even your campaign strategy

5. How to plan your first campaign and year-round communication?

🎯 The best strategy? Never stop communicating! A mistake many organizations make: they launch one campaign, collect contacts and then go quiet for a long time. But people forget quickly – so it is important to stay in touch with them and remain consistent.

We suggest you try the following during your first year:
🔹 1) Contacts: a contact audit and some form of lead generation
🔹 2) A first, smaller test campaign
🔹 3) Ongoing communication of impact, stories and thank-yous
🔹 4) A second, bigger campaign
🔹 5) A review of the year and a plan for the next one

Read more about campaign planning and find a sample plan in this article.

6. Is online fundraising right for every organization?

Some organizations may be built from the very beginning to rely entirely on online fundraising. But there are certainly far fewer of them than organizations with a more varied mix of funding sources – grants, corporate or individual – where online makes up a bigger or smaller share of income.

It is likely that at first, online will not account for more than, say, 10–15% of your income. Consider such a figure a great success.

At Darujme.cz we often hear the sigh that your organization's cause is unattractive to donors. When it comes to the cause you are fundraising for, it is more about how you frame it than about the content itself. Without a doubt, some topics are easier to communicate, but it is mostly about the idea and the enthusiasm you bring to it.

Nocleženka (the night-shelter voucher), or how to make a complex topic simple

Take a look, for example, at how successful the Salvation Army's Nocleženka campaign has been over the long term. Its topic is helping people experiencing homelessness. For a hundred crowns, a donor can buy a warm night's stay. A topic that is not usually considered easy to communicate is framed very clearly here, has clear boundaries, and the donor knows exactly what their money is used for.

As soon as the temperature outside drops below zero, donations go up. The campaign is very well designed so that donors can emotionally identify with the situation of people without a home and can imagine quite well what it must be like to spend a whole night outside in winter.

Look at your organization's cause through the donor's eyes. What can each of your supporters easily identify with? What will resonate with them? And how do you give the topic boundaries? More proven tips from the practice of nonprofit organizations here.

You will also need at least some capacity in your team for regular communication. A lot can be done with a small budget, but it cannot be done without your time.

Start now, learn as you go

Online fundraising can be a great source of funding if you invest in it correctly. You don't need a perfect plan right away – what matters is to start, track your results and keep improving. And above all: never forget your donors. A personal relationship and care are the key to long-term support. 💛

Getting ready for your first campaign? At Darujme.cz, we will be happy to help! 🚀