How Interfaith Food Pantry Tapped Into The Power of Virtual Fundraising and Livestream
Among all the uncertainty of COVID-19, The Interfaith Food Pantry team knew they still had a community to provide for. Within a few weeks, the team pivoted their in-person gala to an online extravaganza. Equipped with mobile bidding technology, livestreaming, and social media, the team was set up for success.
It makes a huge difference being connected to OneCause during all of this, especially since this was our first year going virtual. Our Virtual Event Manager was super helpful. She instilled confidence in us and the entire OneCause team made themselves available.
– Sandra Benedict, Director of Development
Online Fundraising Activities
Interfaith Food Pantry tapped into multiple online fundraising activities to power their mission, including:
- Silent Auction
- Raffle
- Livestream
Visit the Interfaith Food Pantry Giving Center
What Made This Event Unique?
Interfaith Food Pantry brought a personal touch to their event by giving viewers a behind the scenes look at the pantry through Facebook Live. The livestream brought people back to their mission and drove traffic to the event Giving Center.
After already securing sponsorships for the in-person event, the team quickly pivoted to a digital ad journal on the organization’s Giving Center. By linking to the sponsors’ websites, it gave them even more exposure than before, strengthening the value of their relationship.
The team’s raffle and fixed priced items drove additional proceeds toward their mission. Fixed price items like 1 Case of Peanut Butter and 1 Case of Soup were sold out by the end of the night, and demand was so high for 50/50 raffle tickets that the team had to open them back up for sale!
Virtual Fundraising Strategies
The Interfaith Food Pantry team knew they needed the right virtual fundraising strategies to be successful. Taking action, they followed these strategies to host their virtual event:
- Strategically packaged auction items
- Sent out text messages to previous attendees
- Virtual Tour of the food pantry
- Virtual ad journal for sponsors
- Countdown clock for the silent auction
- Drew for the 50/50 raffle at end of event
Best Practices/Lessons Learned
Download the food pantry’s one sheeter
Along the way, Interfaith Food Pantry learned some best practices that they wanted to share with other nonprofits who are thinking about going virtual:
- Give people a behind the scenes look into your mission
- Be strategic with how you package your auction items
- Use Facebook Live to drive traffic to your Giving Center
- Text previous attendees and supporters to get them on board
- Use custom pages to give sponsors visibility
- Create a sense of urgency with a small bidding window
- Create fixed price packages for cases of food
- Send out text messages with facts about your mission
Results
By the end of the event, Interfaith Food Pantry was ecstatic with the results of their virtual event. Some highlights include:
- 922 Total Supporters
- 760 Total Bids
- $13,890 Proceeds from Raffle
- $32,790 Donation Appeal Proceeds
- Sold Out All Fixed Price Items
Connect with a Cause
To learn more Interfaith Food Pantry and support their mission, visit their website.
Wrapping Up!
More fundraising resources are just a click away.
- Virtual Fundraising Resource Center: Whether you’re undertaking an online pivot or looking for new virtual fundraising strategies, we’ve compiled resources to help.
- How to Host a Hybrid Fundraiser in 10 Steps: Ready to combine the power of in-person and virtual fundraising? Our guide to hybrid fundraising has you covered!
- Ultimate Virtual Fundraising Guide: Ideas, tools, and resource to help you plan a successful virtual fundraiser and raise more for your cause.
