Across Canada, charities, non-profits, and social enterprises rely on physical events to fundraise, but these in-person events have come to a halt during COVID-19. Given this time of physical distancing, many are embracing online fundraising events.

In some ways, donors might be ready for this major shift. In Canada, online giving is growing at three times the rate of overall giving in 2020. But how are organizations accelerating this move to digital?   

Here are five practical insights and tips from Canadian organizations who pivoted their fundraising events to the online world — where they’re now raising thousands of dollars for their causes, from COVID-19 relief to cancer research.

Lean into physical distancing guidelines 

The SickKids Foundation has supported the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto since its opening in 1875. In 2019, the foundation invested over $140 million in child health research, learning and care. 

One of the organization’s main fundraising avenues is its annual Great Cycle Challenge Canada. Individuals set a personal bike ride target, track their process through a personal page, and raise funds for research into fighting children’s cancer.

Jamie Lamont, director of special events and sponsorship for the SickKids Foundation, says other organizations can learn valuable lessons from the Great Cycle Challenge about designing digital fundraising events based on individual action, rather than gathering together. Since the fundraiser was always digital and based on individual participation, the model was easily adaptable to physical distancing guidelines — and could be a model other organizations could use during these times, too. 

“We’ve seen everything from the online concerts to walks, runs and rides that have gone viral. I think we led the charge [on that] a little bit with the Great Cycle Challenge. It’s an experience that allows people to engage [with fundraising] at their own time and space, but still raise money for a cause.”

Entertain with great content

In May 2020, the Toronto-based Sinai Health Foundation hosted Champions of Sinai in partnership with Deloitte: a campaign raising money for frontline workers during COVID-19 through an 11-hour livestream of Canadian celebrities, athletes, gamers and influencers. All funds go towards masks, research, and food for essential workers. 

“We decided to do something very unique: mix a variety show with e-gaming,” says Dan Hadad, Director of Innovation Philanthropy at the Sinai Health Foundation. “We had culinary segments, meditation, messages from the Prime Minister and the Premier. We had a Q&A with the Mayor [of Toronto], Dr. Brian Goldman and Gerry Dee, shout outs from celebrities — actors, musicians. It was really cool.”

Through providing a novel experience and bridging two often-distinct demographics — Twitch gamers with politicians and mainstream celebrities  — Sinai Health built an engaged online community, raising $60,000 in just one weekend.

“There is fatigue around people asking for money on many things, but especially COVID-19,” says Hadad. “That’s why we thought, let’s create great content, so people are entertained —  they’re ‘getting something back.’”

Let communities host local acts 

Much like Champions of Sinai, the Stay at Home Gala connected communities across Canada for an evening of live-streamed entertainers and speakers, but it put community members themselves on stage. Individuals from each community could choose to host a livestream, planning local acts, with one hour of national programming scheduled in.

By the end of the Canada-wide gala, $480,000 had been raised for Canadians affected by COVID-19. While Trellis provided the backend software, it was a volunteer committee that was front and centre during the gala, alongside the community hosts. 

“People want to listen to their peers,” says Justin Goodhew, Trellis’ Founder and CEO. “At Trellis, what we’re trying to do is stay as far in the background as possible and create these movements that people care about and want to get behind.”

Find unlikely partners and collaborators  

“Look for partners,” Goodhew advises customers who can’t afford to host a major digital fundraiser. “Go to businesses that are growing and chat with them about sponsorship. There are some industries that are net positive after all of this, and they are looking for ways to give back. But if you’re net positive, you’re also very busy. You need to give them easy ways to help, so you have to meet them where they’re at.” 

It was through the leveraging of several communities that the Stay At Home Gala became so successful. The first one was hosted in Kelowna, BC. “In five days, [we raised] $22,000, and it was almost in $25 increments — it wasn’t one huge donation,” says Goodhew.

After the success of the Kelowna event, the committee decided to take the Stay at Home Gala across Canada. They got in touch with Community Foundations of Canada, who “helped us get the word out. Before you knew it, we had 22 communities launch four weeks later” with individuals or organizations hosting a livestream, says Goodhew. The organization raised half a million dollars during the second Stay at Home Gala event. 

Like the partnership between Trellis and CFC, Sinai Health Foundation’s partnership with Deloitte played a huge role in the success of Champions of Sinai, from technical support to connecting the organization with influencers and gamers. “The gaming side is a very young demographic that has less access, in most cases, to disposable income,” says Hadad. “We wanted to tap into that demographic — maybe they [hadn’t so far been] asked for money as much as [those] that we were catching our variety show.”

Don’t be afraid to experiment

Champions of Sinai was planned and launched in just three weeks. “When you’re working within big foundations, it’s no secret that you usually need three weeks just to approve content,” says Hadad. “People are very scared to try new technologies, so they wait for other people to do it,” continues Hadad. “At the point when they’re comfortable, there’s a saturation. People should move quickly and fail fast, and give the opportunity for their staff to fail while pushing new ideas.”

That type of failure can be scary. “There’s definitely a different level of grace in how you handle everything. There’s a lot more humanity being added to the world,” says Goodhew. “Like in many tech companies, we had a little crash because of a big spike [in web traffic].” Trellis’ team quickly solved the issue, and accepted it as the reality of using digital tools in new ways.

Goodhew and his team at Trellis have been supporting their customers through this difficult time. “People are looking for that cure to get their fundraising back on track,” he says. “There is no one cure. If you need to raise $100,000, and you did it for five years at this one event, and you can’t do that anymore — maybe you can do an [online] silent auction for $20,000, and a gala for another $50,000. 

“If you just start chipping away and building capacity, the only thing that’s going to happen is you’re going to learn,” Goodhew adds. “People are going to see that you’re trying to do [new] things — and then when this is all over, your capacity as an organization will only increase.”

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