Your organization can get started with gift card fundraising in four easy steps:

1. Secure Gift Cards to Sell

There are two main ways you can acquire gift cards for your fundraiser. First, you could approach individual businesses yourself and ask them to contribute gift cards as part of a sponsorship agreement. The main advantage to this method is that you can tailor the gift card offerings to your supporters’ preferences. However, the negotiations can require a lot of time and effort.

Your other option is to partner with a gift card fundraising platform, which will provide both the gift cards and the webpage or app that your supporters will use to buy them. This method is often more convenient because the platform will handle business relations and deliver the gift cards to supporters for you. Just make sure to do your research before choosing a platform–compare several platforms’ offerings, user experiences, and commission rates to decide which one is right for your organization.

2. Spread the Word About Your Fundraiser

Marketing is essential to a successful gift card fundraiser, particularly because many of your supporters likely won’t have participated in one before. Announce your fundraiser and provide instructions for how to buy gift cards using the following communication channels:

• Your organization’s website
• Email marketing
• Digital ads
• Social media
• Fundraising flyers
• Direct mail

In each of these marketing materials, include a link or QR code to the site where supporters can purchase gift cards, whether it’s on your website or through a third-party platform. This way, supporters can immediately participate!

3. Deliver the Gift Cards

Some gift card fundraising platforms will take care of this step for you, while in other cases, you’ll need to distribute the gift cards yourself. If you’re selling physical gift cards, remember to collect supporters’ mailing addresses so you can ship their purchases to them. However, digital gift cards tend to be more convenient–you can send them to supporters’ emails within seconds, and then they can forward the email to the intended recipient.

Either way, make sure you have a system in place to collect data on your fundraiser as it progresses. Also, continue your marketing efforts to remind supporters to continue contributing through their gift card purchases.

4. Follow up With Your Supporters

As with any fundraiser, make sure to thank your supporters for participating in your gift card sale. After they buy a gift card, direct them to a “Thank you for your purchase!” screen and send them an automatic confirmation email to start the follow-up process.

Especially for your top participants, you should also send a personalized thank-you message. Including their name, fundraising total, and concrete examples of what their gift card purchases will help your organization accomplish shows supporters that you value them as individuals and builds your relationship with them.