Best Practices to Generate Leads with Virtual Giveaways

Similar to for-profit organizations, successful non-profits are constantly looking for ways to engage their community and increase funds raised. An increasingly popular way to do this is through virtual giveaways.

Virtual giveaways are frequently the heart of a lead generation strategy. This is a marketing tactic for identifying methods that spark interest in those who can support the efforts of your nonprofit.

There is, however, a right way and a wrong way to structure virtual giveaways meant to gain loyal supporters, engage existing donors and raise critical funds. The giveaway practices elaborated by marketing experts are the best means by which your organization will be able to build awareness of your mission, strengthen relationships, and improve your budget.

In this article, we’ll take a closer look at lead generation and provide you with several online giveaway tips.

How does lead generation work?

It can be a constant struggle for nonprofits to find people who connect with your mission, could benefit from your services, or are interested in donating to your programs.

Your task is to generate qualified leads — the people who actually want to learn more about your work. Lead generation is a strategic process to discover new customers or supporters. In today’s market, it typically begins online.

The key to the process is to offer something that one of these qualified leads really wants. Lead generation provides an opening to begin a relationship that you can work to strengthen over time.

How should you create that opening? This is where the virtual giveaway comes in.

Examples of virtual giveaways

Your decision concerning what your organization could give away starts with your current donor base. You need to find a giveaway item that will excite them and get them talking — first about your giveaway item and then about your mission. Think about who you want to reach and what they are interested in.

You may be able to connect with a supporter willing to donate something grand and unique. Consider these examples:

1966 Cobra

The Texas-based Gardenia Janssen Animal Shelter had no problem selling out their 2,000 raffle tickets for a replica 1966 Cobra.

Valued at $35,000, the car was donated by one of their donors and quickly became the talk of the town.

This giveaway was so successful, in part, because, well, where else could you get a replica of a car that won Le Mans for three years in a row? It also helped that the design was created by an East Texas farmer with a passion for racing — many donors were already well aware of the vehicle’s exciting history.

Cannondale/Palace/Rapha bike

Anyone who loves competitive cycling would dream of owning a bike ridden by EF Pro Cycling at the 2020 Giro d’Italia, regardless of the cause. That’s what made this USA Cycling giveaway so successful. It reached an entirely new audience of donors in order to expand support for historically black and tribal colleges and universities.

By focusing on a passion of new donors, this nonprofit will continue to connect supporters with its ongoing mission to offer grants and mentorship programs for students interested in the cycling industry for future employment.

Best practices for lead generation

Once you’ve decided what you’re able to offer as your online giveaway, you need to create a strategy for following up with interested parties. These people are, by definition, the qualified leads who are ready to build a relationship with you.

Start with a program that is designed specifically for virtual giveaways. In the nonprofit world, many development teams turn to BetterWorld. This free suite of fundraising tools is designed to make it easy for your prospect to connect with you. The last thing you want is for this process to be difficult.

Find a program that looks as good as it is easy to navigate. Moreover, your virtual giveaway should be available to donors on all platforms, whether they log in with their desktop, tablet, or mobile device. Never make someone have to download a program just to get something for free. You’ll lose out on their precious (and fleeting) attention.

Finally, before someone can receive your giveaway item, provide them with an opportunity to donate in appreciation. Some people may want to simply donate for a chance to win the giveaway, but others may want to give more.

How to start your lead gen strategy

A strategy for lead generation begins with a plan involving the assistance of the entire development team. There are three main steps:

1. Define your audience

Tailor your messaging and your giveaway item to the person you’re trying to reach. Think about your current donors and what excites them, and then consider who you specifically want to reach to expand your donor base. Someone may donate a very expensive item; but if it doesn’t connect with your donors, the giveaway won’t work.

2. Create a CTA

What do you want these people to do, exactly? Donate, of course! You must make the Call-to-Action clear that you want them to go to your giveaway landing page and get in the running for the prize. Make links on your website easy to see without competing with other interactive features on the page.

3. Follow up strategically

Once you’ve captured a lead's email address and sent them the virtual giveaway, you’ve jumped the first hurdle. Now, it’s time for the real work: relationship building. Start with automated emails to let them know about your organization and ways they can get involved. As you build a relationship with your donor, they will become increasingly aware of your needs and their willingness to support tends to increase.

Get creative to get more supporters

To set up your first virtual giveaway as part of a dedicated lead generation strategy, check out BetterWorld.

Our free platform offers security and protection while supporting nonprofit missions by helping you to attract more supporters, raise more money, and do more good work.