How to Launch Your First Online Fundraising Campaign with Mightycause
For nonprofit organizations new to online fundraising, getting started can feel daunting. But with Mightycause, you have everything you need to set up, promote, and run your first campaign all in one place. In this post, we’ll walk through the steps to launch your first online campaign using Mightycause’s tools. You’ll learn step-by-step how you can easily raise more online and build stronger relationships with your donors too!
1. Prepare your organization profile and donation setup
Before you launch a campaign, make sure your Mightycause organization page is complete. Your Organization Page is your organization’s hub on Mightycause and your introduction to your donors. This page should accurately demonstrate your overall organization and can be utilized for year-round giving.
To complete your organization, you’ll want to follow your To-Do list, which can be found in the Overview section of your organization page dashboard.
Your To-Do List is comprised of the following tasks:
- Add a primary logo for your brand
- Add a background image for your profile
- Tell your story in at least 50 words
- Set up EFT
- Create your donation thank you page
Once you are finished with your organization profile, it’s time to set up your donation infrastructure:
- Use Mightycause’s embeddable donation form or donation widget on your own website so supporters can give seamlessly without leaving your site. Simply copy and paste the iFrame code into your website backend, and your website will be updated in minutes! No tech experience required!
- Update your form’s suggested giving levels, recurring gift options, and custom donation fields to capture the data most relevant to your nonprofit.
- Review Mightycause’s reporting and analytics tools, so you can monitor performance in real time.
Once these foundational pieces are in place, you’re ready to launch.
2. Involve your supporters with peer-to-peer fundraising
Mightycause supports multiple fundraising styles:
- Year-round fundraising with your embedded donation form
- Peer‑to‑peer fundraising where supporters create their own pages to fundraise for you
- Group fundraising with our team fundraising or event fundraising tools
Did you know that people are three times more likely to give when someone they know asks? That’s why peer-to-peer fundraising is an incredibly effective strategy when it comes to raising funds and reaching donors. Peer-to-peer fundraising empowers your supporters, board, volunteers, or passionate community advocates to raise money on your behalf. By incorporating a peer-to-peer element to your fundraising, you are expanding your reach and leveraging your supporters’ social networks.
So inviting your inner community to be fundraisers helps you tap into new donor pools. If you choose to utilize one of our group fundraising tools, team or event fundraising pages, all donations made from your supporters pages roll up into your overall campaign’s totals and can be tracked through a real-time reporting leaderboard.
If your campaign is tied to an event (a virtual walk, gala, challenge) that includes a ticketing or registration process, Mightycause provides a direct integration with Eventbrite. This allows you to combine your peer-to-peer fundraising and event registration in one seamless environment.
3. Make peer-to-peer easy with our fundraiser templates
When you launch a campaign with peer‑to‑peer fundraising, you’re inviting many different supporters to create fundraising pages on your behalf. Without easy and seamless direction, supporters may not complete the fundraising creation process. That’s where fundraiser templates come in – they give your fundraisers a head start with a polished, organization‑approved template and help you preserve consistency and reduce friction.
Creating a fundraiser template on Mightycause is quick and can significantly improve the success of your peer-to-peer campaign. To create a fundraising template that is tied to your organization profile page, review the steps here. If you plan on utilizing a team or event fundraising page, you can review those steps here.
4. Utilize your built‑in donor CRM, Contacts
As donations flow in, it’s crucial you don’t leave your data in a jumble. That’s where Contacts, Mightycause’s nonprofit CRM system, comes in.
Here’s how to leverage Contacts effectively:
- Every donation or fundraising page signup is associated with a Contacts record. Contacts automatically populates and updates these records, including donation history, tags, notes, and custom fields.
- Create custom segments: for example, first-time donors, repeat donors, high-potential fundraisers, or regional supporters. Use Contacts’ filters to pin and reuse those segments.
- Use built-in messaging: send thank-you campaigns, fundraising tips, or appeal updates directly from the Contacts tool.
- Track relationships and interactions: log notes, follow-up tasks, or calls with donors. This builds institutional memory for your team and prevents missed opportunities.
By using Contacts from the start, you build a clean, organized database you can rely on for future campaigns and donor stewardship.
5. Promote and engage mid‑campaign
No campaign thrives on “set it and forget it.” To keep momentum going, continue engaging both donors and fundraisers throughout your campaign. Use email and social media to spotlight top fundraisers, highlight progress, and recognize community support. Regular updates like “We’re halfway there thanks to your generosity!” can help build excitement and urgency.
Adding incentives such as short-term matching or challenge grants can also drive donations during slower periods. For example, offering a 48-hour match up to $1,000 creates a reason for donors to act quickly. Keep an eye on performance in your Mightycause dashboard and Contacts segments, and if you see fundraisers struggling, reach out with encouragement or ideas to help them succeed. Finally, evaluate which communication channels (email, social media, or newsletters) are producing the most engagement, and double down on what’s working.
6. Wrap up and steward donors immediately
When your campaign comes to a close, it’s important to show gratitude and continue your donor stewardship and relationships. Send heartfelt thank-you emails to all donors and fundraisers, ideally personalized through Contacts. Sharing your results publicly (such as the total amount raised, the number of donors, or standout highlights) reinforces the impact of their support and builds trust for future campaigns.
This is also a great opportunity to gather feedback from peer fundraisers about what worked and what could be improved next time. The data you’ve collected in Contacts will be invaluable for planning segmented follow-ups, whether it’s a year-end appeal or ongoing stewardship. Wrapping up thoughtfully ensures your donors and fundraisers feel appreciated and keeps them engaged well beyond this single campaign.
Ready to launch your first campaign?
Launching your first online campaign doesn’t have to feel intimidating. Getting started with Mightycause is easy and painless! From building your campaign page to tracking donor relationships, everything you need is in one place – and free to use! Claim your nonprofit’s page today and take the first step toward running a successful online fundraising campaign!
Would you like a demo to go through these features live and see how they can fit your organization?