From corporate and nonprofit settings to even educational atmospheres, gamification can be used to successfully move employees, students, and even donors toward the end goal. Whether you would like to motivate donors to donate more or you need your volunteers to be more engaged, utilizing gamification methods could be part of the solution you have been looking for.
As defined by BiWorldwide, gamification is simply “adding game mechanics into nongame environments, like a website, online community, learning management system or business’ intranet to increase participation.” Think about it this way: anytime a nonprofit wants community members, Board Members, donors, or volunteers to do something, they can easily gamify that action to make the task more fun and interesting.
Nonprofit gamification can be as simple or as intricate as the nonprofit can handle. Here are the starting tips to help you gamify aspects of your organization.
Nonprofit Gamification Strategies
- Understand the Potential Impact
- Streamline With Technology
- Stay Consistent and Organized
- The Future of Fundraising
Understand the Potential Impact
Before you can successfully establish gamification techniques throughout your nonprofit, it’s important for you to understand the potential positive impact it’ll have on the future of your organization. Not only can gamification assist you in raising more money for your nonprofit, but it can also help you retain your donors and deeply connect with loyal volunteers.
As the Harvard Business Review points out, it is important to remind your team members (or volunteers) that “they are part of a larger collective by creating shared team goals and connecting them to the bigger picture.” Gamifying aspects of your nonprofit will help you achieve this goal for your volunteers, leaders, and donors.
In addition, by initiating other forms of gamification, such as opportunities for rapid feedback or freedom of choice, you are enticing donors, volunteers, and prospective contributors to engage further with your organization. Gamification methods that provide social engagement are also highly effective in building a sense of community and positive culture throughout the organization.
Nonprofit Gamification Ideas:
- Badges for Donor Levels
- Rewards for Volunteer Work
- Prizes for Fundraising Efforts
- Race and Relay Sponsorships
- Team and Individual Challenges
- Personalized Goals and Challenges
- Team or Personal Development Opportunities
Think of gamification as a way to create a sense of “home” and “belonging” for your donors, volunteers, and prospective contributors. By personalizing their experience, creating compelling challenges, and building social interactions, you are creating a recipe for success.
Stay Consistent and Organized
Nothing will kill the excitement quicker than a disorganized or inconsistent gamification initiative. The key is to implement gamification in slow increments. This way, your nonprofit won’t be biting off more than it can chew when it comes to keeping track of all of the ways to make being a part of the nonprofit fun and inspiring.
As mentioned above, utilizing a proven software system to manage your gamification efforts is also a surefire way to stay organized. Through the use of calendars and scheduled initiatives, you can keep your nonprofit on track to launch new gamification strategies.
It is also recommended that you assign leaders to take charge of the nonprofit’s various motivational initiatives. This way, one person isn’t overwhelmed with too many moving parts. By dispersing the responsibility, you are also ensuring that each gamification effort is given the attention and consistency it deserves.
Streamline With a Software that Helps You Gamify
Utilizing proven software solutions or programs to streamline your gamification efforts is a great way to stay consistent and organized. Brainstorming, designing, and executing gamification across all levels of an organization can be quite daunting.
By digitizing your efforts and using software to manage your initiatives, you will be setting your nonprofit up for success while adding excitement to those involved with the organization. The added technological element will make your nonprofit more accessible to your donors and volunteers. Moreover, it’ll make gamification more convenient and less time-consuming!
NationBuilder is a nonprofit software solution renowned for helping organizations maximize and elevate their efforts! This nonprofit software solution makes it easy for nonprofits to ideate, design, and implement gamification strategies to keep volunteers and donors excited and motivated!
The Future of Fundraising
As the world of digital experiences expands, having a good cause is not enough to keep donor and volunteer attention. It needs to be a good experience to interact with your organization. Implementing a solid gamification strategy is how many nonprofits gain an edge in deepening engagement and this ultimately means more impact.
For more practical nonprofit fundraising strategies, I would like to invite you to join us at the What the Fundraising podcast. Here, we provide proven, real-world solutions to running an efficient and effective nonprofit organization.
