5 Fundraising Gamification Strategies & How to Harness Them

Navigating fundraising in today’s nonprofit world can be challenging. While it’s essential to keep your mission top of mind and encourage donations, too many asks can lead to donor fatigue. The key is to make sure your outreach is balanced, engaging, and purposeful – building trust and long-term loyalty.

One effective way to drive proceeds without overwhelming your donors is fundraising gamification. In today’s digital world, it’s easier than ever! We’ll explore everything you need to know about gamification to make your next fundraiser a success:

• What is Fundraising Gamification?
• Why Does Gamification Work?
• 5 Fundraising Gamification Tools & Tactics
• Top Ideas for Gamified Fundraisers

The right gamification strategies will spark friendly competition and make giving feel even more rewarding. Let’s dive in so you can start seeing the results.

What is Fundraising Gamification?

Fundraising gamification is the use of game-like elements, such as points, challenges, or leaderboards, to make giving more interactive. The goal is to inspire supporters to take action by turning the donor experience into something rewarding and social.

Gamification can take many forms, from donation thermometers to friendly team challenges or prizes for top fundraisers. Whether used in a peer-to-peer campaign, live auction, or giving day, gamified elements build momentum and add excitement to any fundraising event or campaign.

Why Does Gamification Work?

Gamification works because of our natural desire for achievement and recognition. When donors can see their progress, celebrate milestones, or earn recognition, it creates momentum that keeps them coming back. Beyond motivation, gamification also strengthens community, helping organizations make a bigger impact.

Key benefits of gamifying your fundraising include:

• Increased engagement: Interactive elements keep donors involved throughout the entire event or campaign.
• Higher participation rates: Challenges, goals, and leaderboards encourage more people to give.
• Greater social sharing: Fun, competitive elements inspire participants to spread awareness and recruit others to donate.
• Stronger donor retention: Gamified fundraising elements make supporting an organization even more enjoyable, encouraging long-term involvement.
• Boosted fundraising results: When donors feel invested and excited, campaigns often see higher fundraising totals.

Gamification makes giving more than a transaction – it becomes an experience that motivates, turns one-time donors into long-term supporters, and strengthens your nonprofit community.

5 Fundraising Gamification Tools & Tactics

Here are some of the most effective gamification tools and strategies you can use to grow your impact during your fundraising campaign:

Fundraising Thermometers

A fundraising thermometer is a visual tool used on website pages or during live events that showcases an organization’s progress toward its fundraising goal in real time. The OneCause Fundraising Platform allows you to add thermometers directly to your event or campaign homepage – keeping your goals top-of-mind for donors.

By displaying your organization’s progress or individual fundraising goals, you create a sense of shared purpose and momentum as supporters work together to fill the thermometer.

Participant Dashboards

A participant dashboard is a personalized page where peer-to-peer fundraising participants can track their progress and collect donations on your organization’s behalf. They give supporters immediate access to their fundraising totals, goals, and achievements all in one spot.

These dashboards also empower fundraisers to personalize their fundraising, giving them easy access to tools for sharing their page, thanking donors, and posting updates. They can be used as a gamification tool by displaying fundraiser leaderboards and milestone badges (e.g., First Donation, $100 Raised, $500 Raised) to keep up the momentum throughout your campaign.

By giving participants the ability to create and personalize their own fundraising pages with intuitive peer-to-peer software, they can raise money confidently and ultimately drive more donations for your cause.

Leaderboards & Scoreboards

Scoreboards and leaderboards are one of the most effective ways to gamify fundraising. Whether it’s a digital screen, ad board, or live feed on your event website, these boards show real-time donation activity and progress, giving participants something to rally around. Live updates create excitement and urgency, while interactive games add energy and participation from everyone, regardless of donation size.

For instance, you could use a leaderboard for a Fund-A-Need Finale, where the last donor on the screen wins a prize. Or, feature online leaderboards on your peer-to-peer fundraising sites to highlight top individual fundraisers or teams. This creates friendly competition across your supporter network and motivates participants to raise more.

By combining progress tracking, recognition, and gamified challenges, scoreboards turn fundraising events into immersive, high-energy experiences that boost engagement and contributions.

Milestone Badges

Milestone badges are a fun way to celebrate progress and keep participants engaged throughout your campaign or event. These digital achievements recognize key moments in a participant’s journey, creating a sense of accomplishment and energizing supporters to continue working toward the greater fundraising goal.

Here are a few common milestone badges you can incorporate in your next peer-to-peer campaign:

• Individual Fundraising Goal: Celebrate when a participant reaches their chosen fundraising goal or a significant milestone (raising $100, $500, $1000, etc.).
• First Donation: Award a badge when a participant receives their first donation. This inspires the participant to keep fundraising and acknowledges their early progress.
• Challenge Completion: Give badges for completing activity- or time-based challenges, such as completing campaign tasks, walking a certain number of steps, or sharing their fundraising link on social media.
• New Team Member: Welcome new team members with a badge to encourage participation and make them feel part of the community right away.

Badges can be displayed on personal fundraising pages, team pages, or leaderboards, allowing supporters to showcase their achievements and inspire others to join in. By rewarding milestones, badges encourage social sharing and drive fundraising success.

Countdowns

Countdowns are another powerful gamification tool that builds urgency around giving. A live timer or a host calling out reminders (like “We have just two more minutes to reach our goal!”) creates anticipation and keeps the audience’s energy high.

Use countdowns to rally your audience and end your event on a high note. As the clock winds down, build excitement and inspire action by keeping supporters engaged in real time. Try out these strategies to make your countdown moments count:

• Donation announcements: Highlight gifts as they come in to celebrate generosity and inspire others to contribute before time runs out.
• Supporter shoutouts and personal thank-yous: Recognize standout donors, fundraisers, or teams with a quick thanks or spotlight key moments.
• Last-minute participation encouragement: Urge supporters to join, donate, or share the campaign before the clock hits zero to spark a sense of urgency.
• Matching gift reminders: Announce active matching challenges or limited-time matches to motivate donors to double their impact in the final minutes.
• Live progress updates: Show real-time progress toward your fundraising or participation goal to keep the audience engaged and invested in reaching the finish line.
• Social media callouts: Encourage supporters to share final updates, countdown selfies, or celebration posts using your campaign hashtag.

With the right mix of timing, recognition, and enthusiasm, countdowns transform the close of a campaign into a celebration of impact and community.

Top Ideas for Gamified Fundraisers

You’ve got the tools – now it’s time to bring them to life! You can integrate gamified features into any virtual, hybrid, or in-person events, but here are some of our top ideas.

Peer-to-Peer Campaigns

Peer-to-peer (P2P) fundraising turns your supporters into powerful advocates for your mission. Instead of making a single donation, participants create personal fundraising pages and invite friends and family to join them – expanding your reach, building community, and multiplying impact.

Because these campaigns thrive on connection and friendly competition, gamification plays a huge role in keeping fundraisers motivated and connected throughout the campaign. P2P platform features like leaderboards, milestone badges, and progress thermometers make it easy for fundraisers to track achievements, celebrate wins, and see exactly how their efforts contribute to your goal.

From earning top spots to sharing progress on social media, every interaction fuels engagement and drives more donations.

Team Challenges

Team challenges bring out the best in peer-to-peer fundraising by combining collaboration, competition, and community. In these campaigns, participants are organized into or choose their own teams to raise funds toward a shared goal.

Team-based fundraising makes every milestone more meaningful. Supporters can motivate one another, celebrate progress, and see their collective impact in real time.

Many nonprofits tap into team leaderboards, group milestone badges, or creative challenges to spark friendly competition and keep participation high. Recognizing top performers or rewarding creativity can further strengthen the sense of community — helping teams stay engaged and inspired year after year.

Auctions

Fundraising gamification can help you transform traditional bidding at your auctions into an engaging experience that energizes attendees and grows your impact. With the OneCause Fundraising Platform, tools like mobile bidding and outbid notifications make it easy for attendees to browse items, track favorites, and jump back into the action the moment they’re outbid. The result? More energy, more competition, and more funds raised for your mission.

Text messaging adds another level of engagement – you can spotlight auction items, highlight sponsors, and remind guests of your fundraising goals throughout the event. Include direct donation links so supporters can give on the spot, keeping your mission top of mind from start to finish.

Fund-a-Need Appeals

Fund-a-need appeals are one of the most impactful moments of any fundraising event. They invite guests to give directly to a specific project or cause, creating a shared sense of purpose and excitement in the room. With a clear goal, compelling story, and an enthusiastic emcee, a live appeal can raise thousands of dollars in just minutes.

Tap into these best practices to maximize your fund-a-need appeals:

• Combine storytelling with real-time updates: Share short, heartfelt stories that showcase the real impact of donations to keep supporters connected to the cause.
• Show donations in real time: Display incoming gifts and progress toward your goal with a fundraising thermometer to keep energy high and inspire continued giving.
• Recognize donors by name: Thank contributors publicly to make them feel appreciated and encourage others to follow their lead.
• Reinforce the goal often: Remind participants of your fundraising or participation target to maintain motivation.
• Build momentum as the total rises: Use each milestone as a reason to celebrate – each update can inspire more guests to jump in and give.

Social Media Fundraisers

Social media has changed the way people connect, celebrate, and give – making it one of the most powerful tools in your fundraising toolkit. When paired with gamification, it can take donor engagement to the next level, connecting attendees both online and in person throughout your event.

Bring your cause to life online by creating interactive social media challenges. For example, set up a photo booth and challenge guests to snap pictures, share them with your event hashtag, and tag your organization. You can even turn social engagement into giving, like partnering with a donor who pledges to match each post or like with a donation.

These challenges not only spread awareness beyond the event room but also build community among supporters who rally together for your mission.

Getting Started with Fundraising Gamification

With these gamification tools and strategies, your organization can turn every fundraiser into a high-energy, mission-driven experience that inspires generosity and builds lasting community.

To get started, focus on combining strategy with creativity: set clear goals and leverage technology to simplify participation. You’ll need a comprehensive fundraising solution that covers all your bases, from mobile fundraising to custom event microsites. Let OneCause help your team reach the next level in fundraising – take a test drive of the OneCause platform today!

Looking for more info before you dive in? Check out these additional resources:

• Tips to Improve Your Nonprofit’s Peer-to-Peer Fundraising
• Ideas to Reenergize Your Fundraising in 2025: Tips, Tricks, & Templates
• Year-End Giving: The Ultimate Guide to Increase Donations