Give your supporters games and challenges, and you’ll raise more money and build a more loyal donor base. Here are some top tips from Playmob on how to gamify your fundraising.

Adding a gamification element to your fundraising is a proven way to increase donor engagement. Giving your supporters fun challenges and rewards - and showing them the impact they are having on the cause as a result - engenders a sense of worth and achievement and encourages deeper, longer-term engagement.

Here are our seven top tips for charities on how to gamify their fundraising:

Give rewards

Whatever type of game or challenge you decide to give your donors, ensure there are clear rewards for participating - rewarding a donor’s behaviour will give them a sense of satisfaction, and will help keep them interested and engaged.

Communicate impact

Make sure you keep donors up to date with the social impact they are making by participating: How has their money been used and who has it benefitted? Be as specific as you can: For example, instead of telling donors they have helped to raise £3,000 for children in Africa, let them know exactly what this means. This could be 300 mosquito nets, 2,000 meals or 1,500 vaccinations for children in Kenya. By letting donors know exactly what the social impact has been, you are showing yourselves to be transparent, and motivating supporters to engage and become a repeat donor.

Set small goals

Break down the fundraising goals within the game. For example, a goal of £3,000 to renovate a homeless shelter may seem like a high target, but if you break it down into smaller goals it seems more achievable, and donors are more likely to take part. For example: £1,000 will provide a new roof; £500 will go towards plastering and painting the building; £500 will provide beds; and £1,000 will provide a new kitchen for the shelter.

Have achievable targets

Set achievable targets for individual donors to reach, too. With the end target as the ultimate goal, you can set mini goals along the way. These will give donors a feeling of satisfaction, worth and achievement - meaning they’re more engaged.

Get supporters interacting

Encourage interaction with other supporters. Leaderboards, badges, voting, forums and community aspects within a fundraising platform are all important factors in developing engagement and encouraging donor behaviour.

Expand your social reach

Increase your campaign’s reach by incorporating donors’ social circles. For example, you may be raising funds for books for children in a school in Peru, but if you were to spread the word through social media then you could set a larger goal - for example, fundraise for a new teacher so more children could attend the school.

Encourage friendly competition

Encourage competition within your donors’ social circles - donors are more likely to donate larger amounts, and to repeat donate, if they can see peers/colleagues also donating.

By using gamification in your fundraising, you will benefit from the human desire to give, to make a difference and to have fun while doing it. Ultimately you will have a more loyal and motivated supporter - which in a shrinking donor-based environment is a very valuable asset. 

Sophie Fox is charity account manager at Playmob

Read our case study on how Playmob achieved success with gamification.