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A Guide to Passive Fundraising: FAQ + 3 Ideas for Nonprofit

  If your nonprofit is like most, your annual fundraising plan likely shows that most individual donations come in waves. You’ll raise lots of funds at once from events, major gift solicitations, and your year-end giving campaign, with only a small amount of monthly donation revenue coming in between.   However, your fundraising plan will be much more sustainable if you add more ongoing funding sources to fill in the gaps. Passive fundraisers are ideal for this since they’re easy for your organization to launch and for supporters to participate in.   In this guide, we’ll answer a few frequently asked questions about passive fundraising and discuss three passive fundraisers for your nonprofit to consider adding to its strategy. Let’s get started!

Passive Fundraising FAQ

What is passive fundraising?

ShopRaise’s guide to passive fundraising defines the term as “any campaign in which supporters generate revenue for charitable causes as they go about their daily activities, often without spending any money they wouldn’t have otherwise.” For your nonprofit, the “passive” aspect of these fundraisers is that once you’ve set up your campaign, running it is relatively hands-off.   Note that successful passive fundraisers aren’t 100% passive on the organizational side, though. You still need to actively market your campaigns to maximize supporter engagement, track data to evaluate your fundraising performance, and thank participants so they know you value their contributions.

Why should my nonprofit try passive fundraising?

In addition to being easy to run, passive fundraisers offer several other benefits for your nonprofit, including:  
  • Revenue diversification. As previously mentioned, your organization can bring in more consistent revenue for its programs and operations by having a variety of funding sources. Plus, you’ll have a stronger safety net to rely on if one source falls short of your expectations.
  • Year-round unrestricted funding. In most cases, you can put the revenue from passive fundraising toward any activity outlined in your nonprofit’s budget—including covering overhead costs or bolstering your reserve funds.
  • New organizational connections. Passive fundraisers usually require your nonprofit to partner with one or more businesses, which can help you form long-term, mutually beneficial relationships in your community.
  Passive fundraisers also have advantages for participants, particularly the convenience of supporting a cause they care about as they go about their daily lives. Plus, businesses can boost their reputations as socially responsible companies by partnering with you, making passive fundraising a win-win-win situation!

How should I market my organization’s passive fundraisers?

Like with your nonprofit’s other initiatives, multi-channel marketing expands your passive fundraisers’ reach by creating more touchpoints for involvement. Promote your campaigns via the following channels:  
  • Your organization’s website
  • Email marketing
  Conduct a large marketing push when you launch a passive fundraiser to make your current supporters aware that it’s happening and provide instructions for getting started. Then, send out regular reminders throughout the campaign to remind them to keep participating and get newer supporters up to speed.

Top 3 Passive Fundraising Ideas

1. Online Shopping Fundraisers

Online shopping fundraisers allow supporters to contribute a percentage of their sales totals at participating e-commerce businesses directly to your nonprofit. Shoppers pay the same prices and have access to all of the discounts they normally would, so all they have to do to support your mission is make everyday online purchases!   You’ve likely heard of AmazonSmile, which was the best-known online shopping fundraiser program for many years, and your organization may have even participated in it before its 2023 discontinuation. However, there are several AmazonSmile alternatives you can still use to run your nonprofit’s online shopping fundraiser. Many of these platforms offer additional benefits that AmazonSmile didn’t, such as higher commission rates, marketing support, better data tracking, and more retailer options where supporters can shop for your cause.   Once you choose a platform and set up your fundraiser, all you need to do is spread the word and track your results. Supporters will typically need to download an app or browser extension from your fundraising partner to funnel their contributions to your organization, but otherwise they’ll just shop as they normally would!

2. Gift Card Fundraising

Another way supporters can contribute to your nonprofit by shopping is through gift card fundraising. Similarly to online shopping fundraisers, supporters can participate simply by purchasing digital gift cards to participating businesses through your organization’s gift card fundraising platform, and a portion of each sale will go directly to your mission. (Pro tip: Some online shopping fundraiser platforms have gift card fundraising capabilities built in—look for one of these so you can easily launch both fundraisers at the same time!)   Once a supporter purchases a fundraising gift card, it’ll be delivered to them via email within minutes. From there, they have a few options for what to do with it:  
  • Forward the email to a friend or family member to give them the card as a gift
  • Use the card for their own purchases so they can give back while shopping in person or eating at their favorite restaurants
  • Make purchases through your nonprofit’s online shopping fundraiser and pay with the gift card to contribute even more to your mission!
  You’ll get the most traction from a gift card fundraiser if you launch it in November (in advance of the December holiday season) or April (to prepare for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, peak wedding season, and school graduations). However, you should leave it open year-round so supporters can buy birthday gifts or use gift cards for their own purchases anytime.

3. Matching Gifts

Matching gifts are slightly different from the previous two passive fundraisers. Rather than allowing supporters to contribute to your organization by making everyday purchases, matching gifts double the impact of the donations they were already planning to make without requiring them to give more out of pocket. All donors have to do is submit a request to their employer, who will then donate to your organization, usually matching the original gift at a 1:1 ratio.   Not all of your donors will be eligible for matching gifts, since it depends on whether their employer has built matching gifts into its corporate social responsibility model. However, according to 360MatchPro’s matching gift statistics report, more than 26 million individuals work for businesses with matching gift programs, and 65% of Fortune 500 companies will match employee donations. So, more of your donors may be able to participate than you might think!   The biggest challenge your organization will likely face with matching gifts is awareness—the report above also states that 78% of nonprofit donors don’t know if their employer has a matching gift program. In addition to marketing matching gifts as you would other passive fundraisers, embed a matching gift tool into your online donation page so donors can quickly check their eligibility and submit match requests.   Just as you would when launching any new fundraiser, weigh the benefits of several passive fundraising options to choose the best ones for your nonprofit. Additionally, take your supporters’ interests and preferences into account—after all, your fundraisers will only succeed if they’re excited to participate in them!

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