Fundraising Thermometers to Drive Success [Get One Free!]
People love fundraising thermometers! That’s why a FREE fundraising thermometer is included on our fundraising website templates and can be easily added to any nonprofit fundraising campaign.
So, what exactly is a fundraising thermometer, and what does it do? A fundraising thermometer monitors the progress of funds raised for your fundraising campaigns. The thermometer progress is based on your fundraising goal and can be updated anytime. By setting clear financial goals for your fundraiser in the planning stage, your organization provides supporters with an understanding of what you want to accomplish. Showcasing a fundraising thermometer on your website visually demonstrates the progress that has been made and how close your group is to reaching your goal. Thermometers can be powerful motivators for your supporters since they are visual and easy to understand at a glance.
How Do Fundraising Thermometers Work?
First and foremost, a thermometer is a universal symbol everyone can understand. As you raise money, the temperature of your fundraising campaign increases, and the thermometer level rises. It’s pretty simple. You track progress based on a financial goal, and the thermometer rises and shows the money raised and the percentage of the goal attainment reached. So, if your organization’s walkathon fundraising goal is $50,000 and you have raised $25,000, your thermometer will show that 50% of the goal has been reached.
Get a Free Fundraising Thermometer Widget
A fundraising thermometer is a great way to chart a campaign’s progress, which is why we include them on every DoJiggy website. But what about your organization’s website? Don’t your supporters want to see your goals there, too? With our fundraising widget, you can embed a fundraising thermometer right on your organization’s website with no code. So sign up and get started today.
Establishing a Fundraising Goal
Fundraising thermometers work hand and hand with a fundraising goal. So, how do you determine your fundraising goal? Each organization and event is different, but keep the following in mind:
- You will want to determine a realistic but optimistic goal. Nothing dampens the spirit more than seeing a fundraising goal that is entirely out of reach.
- For this reason, you can set a goal at the beginning of the campaign and later increase that goal. Don’t do this too often, but goals can be adjusted as needed.
- If you have hosted the event previously, you’ll have a good idea of what you might raise. Add 10% to last year’s revenues – and much more for peer-to-peer events that are moving online for the first time.
- If you are hosting an event for the first time, it’s best to set a modest fundraising goal. Look at other similar events in your community and your supporter base for ideas.
- How many participants do you expect, and how much can they raise for your organization? Will you charge registration fees?
- How strong is your online and social media presence? Fundraising thermometers and leaderboards are strong motivators when shared socially.
- Be sure that you start the fundraising campaign well in advance to give supporters and donors time to get involved. The more time you have, the more realistic it is that you can reach your fundraising goals.
Utilizing Thermometers with Peer to Peer Fundraising Websites
Fundraising thermometers are an essential part of nonprofit peer-to-peer and crowdfunding campaigns. With a customizable platform like our crowdfunding websites, event administrators can establish overall, team, and individual fundraising goals and track ongoing goal progress. Implement our fundraising software for your fundraising campaign to help participants easily register and collect donations and pledges for your organization. As each participant registers, a personal fundraising page is generated where supporters direct potential donors to make online donations. As these donations are made, they are automatically calculated into the software system and will be tabulated as a portion of the total funds raised. If participants receive cash or check donations, they can easily enter these amounts into the system so they also count towards the total goal and fundraising thermometer. A fundraising thermometer on the campaign website will automatically go up as online donations are received from all participants. This system also allows organizers to track participants’ progress against one another. They may highlight top performers, giving others incentives to step up their efforts to gain recognition or prizes.
Where Should Organizations Use Fundraising Thermometers?
Placing a fundraising thermometer on the home page of your crowdfunding website allows your organization to easily share event progress with supporters.
Our peer-to-peer fundraising websites include an overall fundraising thermometer for the campaign, a team goal thermometer on team fundraising pages, and an individual goal thermometer on personal fundraising pages. Each of these thermometers can motivate your participants and donors when used the right way. You don’t need to create a thermometer image on your own; simply confirm the thermometer settings, and your thermometer widget appears where you want it.
We also offer leaderboards for top fundraisers and teams on all of our peer-to-peer templates and many organizations like to utilize a participant center to include all of these items in one place for easy sharing to social media channels.
What Types of Events Use Fundraising Thermometers?
Fundraising thermometers are used on all types of crowdfunding and fundraising events where you want to motivate your participants or supporters. All of our virtual fundraising websites include the option for a fundraising thermometer. Some examples of the most popular nonprofit events to use fundraising thermometers include:
- School Fun Runs
- Fundraising auctions
- Color Run fundraisers
- Bike-a-thons or spin-a-thons
- Read-a-thons for schools
- Hit-a-thons and baseball fundraisers
- Online raffle fundraisers
Offering Rewards and Incentives for Reaching Goals
Offering rewards and incentives for accomplishing and exceeding goals can help motivate participants and donors. Say you wish to raise $10,000, and you are at $9,500. Offer a free pizza party for all participants if the goal is reached. Sure, you’ll spend a little money, but you’ll create excitement and be sure to exceed your goal.
To ensure motivation doesn’t top off at your goal, offer additional awards for exceeding goals. For example, for every $1,000 raised above the goal, raffle off a $50 gift card or free merchandise donated by sponsors or partners. The fundraising thermometer can also help motivate donors to contribute more to help bridge the gap between the current progress and the established goal. You may also want to consider offering incentives for donors, such as providing them with recognition, thank-you plaques, or other incentive items for donating at certain levels.
Conclusion: Fundraising Thermometers Are Powerful Motivators
A fundraising thermometer is a great tool to implement on your crowdfunding website to motivate your participants and donors. Once you’ve established your fundraising goals, continue to monitor the goals and chart your progress, and remind your supporters to do the same. By tracking fundraising progress, participants can see how close they are to reaching the goals, and they may increase their fundraising efforts and try to raise more funds. Associating fundraising goals with outcomes also encourages your supporters to help your organization reach its goal.
Get your free fundraising thermometer and start raising money online.
