Your online fundraising campaign will be your key to raising money for a cause that is special to you but there isn’t a way to turn your determination into a guarantee that you’ll receive the funds you need. There are a few influencing factors that can impact whether or not you’ll receive a donation. This includes the type of people you target but more importantly, it’s the time at which you hit send on a fundraising campaign.

When Not To Hit Send
The common belief is that fundraising emails sent during the early hours of the morning are most likely to be read. This in itself is accurate, but it occurs very rarely that these emails actually lead to a donation. Emails for other purposes, such as sales and events are more likely to be responded to in the morning, but this isn’t the case for fundraisers.

Although fundraiser emails sent during morning hours have the highest rate of clickthroughs- not to mention that these hours hold 1/4th of the day’s total traffic- they are least likely to be converted into a donation. So while your potential donors may get and read the email during that time, it isn’t probable that they will read it.

When To Get More Donations
On the contrary, fundraising campaigns have the most success at raising money during the hours following lunch and dinner. It isn’t surprising that most of the donations come in around those times considering that those are afternoon break and peak rush hours. The afternoon hours are when employees are most likely taking a break for lunch or are experiencing low-levels of productivity after eating lunch.

Low productivity means that they will be easily distracted by emails and messages from your fundraiser campaign. Now, they won’t make a donation right away but during the afternoon ‘slump’ period, they’re more likely to have a look at what your fundraiser supports.

This is a pivotal factor in influencing donations. If you give them a good introduction as to what your fundraiser is and what it plans to do, potential donors will be impressed and your effort is likely to be converted into a donation.

Even during the evening rush hours, despite prominent activities being held, the level of donations made will be high. That’s because hectic lifestyles and demanding family activities can create the need to take a break and anything, even an email from a fundraising campaign is a welcome distraction.

Similar to how employees will want to read through their emails carefully during the late afternoon, people will want o do the same during rush hour times when they’re commuting from work to home. Proper presentation and a carefully-crafted message will have a greater impact.

These guidelines can give you some deep insight into how to effectively manage and organize your fundraising campaign, and get the maximum number of donations. Keep these in mind, and you’ll be better able to increase PR, an important asset in the world of fundraising.

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