One great way for nonprofits to help bridge the expected 8 million meal supply gap<\/a> is by setting up a virtual food drive. With a virtual food drive, nonprofits can raise funds to meet specific food and household supply needs without requiring drop-off locations or as many volunteers to sort through the assortment of goods dropped off during traditional food drives. In many cases, nonprofits can also make their food dollars go further with a virtual supply drive because they can buy needed items in bulk instead of paying retail prices. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are a few things to keep in mind when setting up your own virtual food drive: <\/p>\n\n\n\n When it comes to setting up a virtual food drive, there are multiple routes you can take. For instance, you can choose a simple, standard donation form, or you can get your supporters more involved by going with a peer-to-peer campaign. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Some things to consider when choosing are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peer-to-peer events can help you raise large dollar amounts, but they also require more resources. If you\u2019re looking to quickly meet immediate needs in your community, using a standard donation form<\/a> could be a better bet for your organization! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve decided on the right format for your fundraiser, it\u2019s time to set up your online donation page. <\/p>\n\n\n\n No matter which type of fundraiser you\u2019ve settled on, you\u2019ll want to make sure to brand your page using your organization\u2019s logo, photos, and color scheme. Why, you ask? Because your audience will not only donate more the first time, but they\u2019re also 70% more likely to make a second donation<\/a> if your donation page is branded! <\/p>\n\n\n\n And speaking of second donations, did you know you\u2019re more likely to raise additional donations if you use nudges to ask donors to make their gift a monthly contribution? It\u2019s true! Recurring donors give 42% more over the course of a year than one-time donors do. <\/p>\n\n\n Similarly, Qgiv\u2019s donation platform makes it easy for you to enable GiftAssist, which offers donors a way to offset processing fees by donating just a little more. Qgiv forms are also always optimized for mobile phones because we know over half of the people who visit a nonprofit\u2019s website do so from their cell phones! <\/p>\n\n\n\n The phrase \u201ca picture is worth a thousand words\u201d is a clich\u00e9 for a reason. If you want to make an impact on your donors and encourage them to give more, then show them exactly how their donations will help. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a variety of ways you can do this, including showing your donors pictures of exactly what their donation will buy. The Sharing Center<\/a> recently did a great job of this in their virtual food drive, and it helped them raise over $350,000! <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Sharing Center illustrated this in two ways. First, they created store items for their peer-to-peer event that told donors how many eggs or how much cheese they could buy for a certain amount. Second, they also broke down how much it would cost to feed a family of two or a family of four for a week. Both options give donors a great way to see how their donations will help! <\/p>\n\n\n\n This can also be a great way to highlight why someone should donate to your organization. For example, if you know it costs $50 to buy 10 5-lb. bags of baking potatoes at the grocery store in your area, but your organization can buy them in bulk at $3\/bag, highlight how much further a donor\u2019s dollars can go through your organization. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank<\/a> recently did this to great effect when they let donors know that even a $1 donation can provide five meals in their local community. With such a compelling impact statement, it\u2019s not hard to see why they surpassed their goal! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Last but not least, don\u2019t forget about using video for your impact statement! Over half of your viewers want to see more video from you<\/a>, and it\u2019s an ideal way to tell a compelling story. You can do everything from showing exactly what food your organization can provide a family for say, $50, to highlighting how donations have made a difference for specific families that your organization serves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only does a solid marketing plan help you reach new potential donors, but it also helps to get your services in front of the people who may need them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Given that about 40% of people currently visiting food banks have not received food assistance before the pandemic, it\u2019s important to keep both aspects in mind when formulating your marketing plan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, if you\u2019re sending out an email blast to ask for donations for your latest campaign, include a brief line or a graphic that gives the address and operating hours for the food bank. If you\u2019ve organized a peer-to-peer fundraising event where you\u2019re asking donors to send emails to their personal networks, make sure to include the image\/text you used so they can get the word out about the food pantry while raising funds for your organization! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Similarly, you can use outbound text messages to both promote your fundraiser and your food bank. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For example, you can create a text message series that highlights one fact per designated period throughout the campaign, followed by a donation request. One example using a statistic from Feeding America<\/a> might be \u201cDid you know that 50 million people may experience food security due to COVID-19? Can you donate $10 to help provide 100 meals in our community?\u201d The text would then link to a landing page that not only makes it easy for people to donate, but also highlights food pantry details. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, it\u2019s very important to have a plan to promote your virtual food drive on social media. Keep in mind that images and videos (especially videos!) tend to be favored by social media algorithms, so you\u2019ll want to include a variety of content to make the most impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For instance, you might use a video to push for urgent donations if your area was impacted by a round of layoffs from a large company. Then, you can follow that up a week later with a video telling donors how many people their donations have helped, or how you\u2019ve been able to increase the number of people you helped year over year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Client testimonials are another powerful tool, but if your client doesn\u2019t want to be on camera, there are other options, such as using a quote image from your client that only uses their first name. Canva<\/a> has several great layouts to help you do this, and you can even consider images that just don\u2019t show the client\u2019s face. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another great twist on this is asking for user-generated content, such as asking people to post videos telling others how they\u2019ve needed help from a food bank at one point in their lives. Such videos can serve the dual purpose of encouraging donors and <\/em>giving those currently going through a rough time a sense of hope that things will get better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ll also want to make sure you enable social sharing on your donations pages themselves, which is easy to do using the Qgiv fundraising platform<\/a>! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your thank-you pages and emails are prime real estate, yet many nonprofits don\u2019t take full advantage of them.. <\/p>\n\n\n\n However, your thank-you pages are the perfect place to not only make your donors feel appreciated, but you can also ask for additional help! If you need your donors to share your campaign far and wide, then ask them to. If you have another fundraiser of a different strain going\u2014for example, if you\u2019re asking for winter coats for the homeless\u2014you can include information and a link. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your goal for your thank-you pages should be to both thank you donors and help them take the next step in their donor\/volunteer journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Your thank-you emails are another great place to do this. For one-time donors, you can have a general email that goes out and thanks them for their donation and asks them to share the campaign on social media. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For recurring donors, you can create a series of email templates that you update at the beginning of every month (it\u2019s super easy to do this using Qgiv\u2019s software). Each month can be dedicated to a different action step, and you can make some fun and holiday-themed too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And whatever you do, don\u2019t forget to set up custom thank-you emails for those who dedicated their gift, or chose to donate a little extra with GiftAssist. Qgiv\u2019s conditional content tool makes this a breeze! <\/p>\n\n\n\n While our communities are experiencing unprecedented need due to the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual food drives can be a great way for your organization to bridge that gap. Not only can you directly ask for donations, but it\u2019s also the perfect time to let donors know about changes to your program. <\/p>\n\n\n\n1. Pick your fundraiser type<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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2. Create your donation page<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Recurring](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/new-recurring-prompt-example-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n3. Use your form to paint a picture<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Virtual](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/virtual-food-drive-example-The-Sharing-Center.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"Virtual](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/virtual-food-drive-fundraising-thermometer-example.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n4. Promote your fundraiser<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Food](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/food-bank-text-fundraising-example.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.qgiv.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/food-bank-testimonial-example.jpg\")
<\/a>5. Make good use of your thank-you pages and emails<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Final Thoughts on Virtual Food Drives<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n