7 Simple Steps to Running a Successful TapKat Sweepstakes Fundraiser
As a nonprofit fundraiser, you know how important it is to keep your initiatives funded so your organization can continue doing the good work that you do. Running a TapKat sweepstakes is one of the most effective ways to keep money flowing into your organization on an ongoing basis throughout the year, and fortunately, it’s not rocket science!
Check out these seven steps to running a successful fundraising sweepstakes for your nonprofit.
Step 1: Set Your TapKat Sweepstakes Goal
Every fundraising effort should be created with a specific goal in mind, and sweepstakes fundraisers are no different. The best goals are realistic and take into account the size of your nonprofit, how active your donor base is, and how long you will run your sweepstakes.
Here are some examples of great goals to set:
Set a goal for how much money you want to raise. The key to setting an attainable fundraising goal is to consider the size of your nonprofit, the duration of your sweepstakes, and how active your donors are currently.
If your nonprofit is just getting started, consider setting an attainable yet meaningful goal. On the other hand, if you have an active and large base, and are planning on running your sweepstakes for 9-12 months, maybe $60,000 is a good goal, like the Fargo Air Museum just raised with a Cam-Am Maverick as a prize.
Set a goal for how many donors you want to add to your database. 99% of TapKat sweepstakes bring in new donors — it would be difficult not to add new donors to your database! Sweepstakes are naturally so exciting that people love to share them through word of mouth, intentional promotion on social media, advertisements and email channels. However, if you know that your primary objective in running a sweepstakes is to attract new donors to your list, make it specific: how many new donors do you want to add to your list? Who are these people? Through which promotional channels will you reach them?
One of our nonprofits, The Shelby American Collection, started their first sweepstakes with around 800 donors on their mailing list. Seven years and seven sweepstakes later, their list now exceeds 50,000 names! That list is gold, and it’s a major reason why they have continued to be so successful at raising money every year with their TapKat sweepstakes.
Set a goal for re-engaging lapsed donors, or energizing members. Some nonprofits, like The New Jersey Audubon, are membership organizations that advertise their sweepstakes strictly to their members. Their goals are more about invigorating the current membership base, and less about adding new people to their list. That’s great, too! A sweepstakes is a very effective tool for energizing a membership base.
Your goals will inform much of the decision-making around your TapKat sweepstakes. Which prize you choose, where and how you promote the sweepstakes, the duration of your sweepstakes, and more.
Step 2: Understand Your TapKat Sweepstakes Audience
Who, exactly, are you trying to reach with your sweepstakes, and where do they hang out? It’s fun to think about the types of people who you want to add to your donor database!
This step is important because it will help you select the right prize for the audience you want to build. For example…
Maybe you run an outdoor adventure nonprofit with headquarters in Northern California. It might make sense to offer a prize like a sprinter van or a teardrop trailer that’s geared toward outdoorsy types.
The American Mountain Guide Association recently raised $25,000 with a Grand Teton Climbing experience — perfect for their demographic of outdoor sports enthusiasts!
Suppose your nonprofit brings music into schools, and your donors will be the parents of music students. How about something music-related, like tickets to a coveted Broadway show, or a concert?
Little Kids Rock recently raised $18,000 with a signed Vivian Campbell guitar.
Say your nonprofit is a car museum that gets a lot of foot traffic and has a large base. You might decide to go big with a sports car.
The Cobra Experience recently raised $688,800 with an original 1968 Shelby GT500 KR!
When you know your audience — and know the audience you want to attract — you can make good decisions about choosing a prize that your audience will find irresistible and raise significant funds for your organization.
Step 3: Select Your TapKat Sweepstakes Prize
Here comes the fun part! Successful TapKat sweepstakes prizes come in all shapes and sizes, but there are two main things to consider when selecting your prize:
Your prize must be highly desirable,
And it must appeal to the base you want to attract.
When we say a prize must be “highly desirable,” that doesn’t necessarily mean hugely expensive, although it can be. In the world of sweepstakes prizes, we’ve seen nonprofits give away Mercedes Sprinter Vans (like the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Denver), solid gold (like the Buffalo Bill Center of the West), and weekend getaways (like the Colorado Wildlife Federation).
All of these prizes were perfect for the nonprofits because they met the needs of the organization and appealed to their donor base.
We’ve written extensively on choosing the right prize for your TapKat sweepstakes. Read more about it here.
Step 4: Use Consignment to Get Your Sweepstakes Prize
Chances are, the perfect prize for your nonprofit sweepstakes won’t be one that is conveniently donated (but if it is, perfect – go with it!)
The whole point of a sweepstakes fundraiser is to raise money, so buying an expensive prize up front makes no sense — that puts you in the hole before the fundraiser even begins. Instead, we recommend sourcing your sweepstakes prize on consignment, which eliminates any kind of risk from your fundraiser.
When a prize is on consignment, it means that your nonprofit isn’t obligated to purchase the prize until you have raised the money to pay for it. If you don’t raise enough money to cover the cost of the prize, your TapKat sweepstakes will award a cash prize instead. The winner gets a big fat check at the end (no one has ever complained about that!)
Curious about how to get a prize on consignment? Check out this blog post for more insight.
Step 5: Launch Your TapKat Sweepstakes!
Once you’ve secured your prize, it’s time to launch your sweepstakes site. This is easy to do on the TapKat platform. Once you’ve applied for an account and been approved, you’ll be walked through a series of steps to create your TapKat sweepstakes website. It will include:
Uploading photos of your prize,
Entering descriptive text of your prize,
Uploading photos and text about your nonprofit so people can see where their donations are going.
In all, the process should take under an hour. When you’ve uploaded everything and feel happy with it, it’s go time!
Step 6: Promote Your TapKat Sweepstakes Fundraiser
Once your site is live, it’s time to share it with the world! We recommend focusing on a few important promotional outlets to get started, though once you start marketing, you are likely to find other channels through which you can share your sweepstakes:
Add your sweepstakes to the homepage of your nonprofit website.
Share your sweepstakes fundraiser with your donor base on a regular basis through email marketing.
Post regularly on social media channels, inviting your followers to enter.
If you have any live events coming up, look for ways to encourage attendees to enter the sweepstakes.
Ask your sponsors and corporate partners to spread the news, as well!
The more people that know about your sweepstakes, the more money you will raise — so do everything you can to get the word out. You’ll be building your donor list along the way, as well!
Step 7: Draw Your TapKat Sweepstakes Winner
Seven days after your sweepstakes closes, it’s time to draw your winner. This is easy to do on the TapKat platform: we have created a built-in random number generator that will select the winning number for you. Plus TapKat automatically creates a fun “draw the winner presentation” video that you can share on social media on the big day.
So, there you have it! Seven simple steps to running a successful fundraising sweepstakes. Throughout the process, remember to have fun! The more fun you have with your sweepstakes, the more fun your donors will have!
If you’d like to learn more about TapKat sweepstakes, please click here. If you’re ready to schedule a demo with one of our team members, click here.
