Fundraising vs. Friendraising: Why You Need Both

Every fundraiser starts with a great community. While raising money is essential to sustaining your mission, the real secret to success lies in cultivating relationships. That’s where the balance of fundraising and friendraising comes in. Both play an important role in helping your school, charity or organization grow. 

Read on to see how leaning into friendraising strategies may create a strong foundation for impactful fundraising over time. 

How Fundraising Meets Your Needs of Today

Whether you are supporting education, launching a community program or funding scholarships, the dollars you raise make real change happen right now. Online raffles, auctions and giving days are great ways to rally support quickly. And, they often inspire immediate generosity among your community members. 

A great fundraiser gives people the satisfaction of seeing their contributions turn into real-time action. But fundraising alone can feel transactional. Without ongoing engagement, even your most enthusiastic supporters may fade into the background after the campaign comes to a close. That’s where a friendraiser may make all the difference.  

How Friendraising Makes an Impact for Tomorrow 

Friendraising is the practice of building relationships with potential supporters by focusing on connection and engagement, with the long-term goal of fundraising. This goes beyond sending a fundraising message to friends or family. It focuses on creating community over a direct or immediate ask for financial support. 

For schools, that might mean celebrating alumni success stories or recognizing parent volunteers who go above and beyond. For nonprofits, it could be regular impact updates, heartfelt thank-you notes or behind-the-scenes glimpses that show donors the difference they make. 

These small acts of connection help transform one-time donors into lifelong advocates. When people feel personally invested in your story, they champion your cause and invite others to join in.

How to Get Started Friendraising

If your organization is new to friendraising, it’s important to start small and then build consistency. And remember, simple gestures go a long way. 

Here are a few  ideas to try:

• Share personal impact stories. Highlight students, volunteers or community members that your work has helped on your organization’s website. This deepens personal connections and gives your audience real stories to connect your work with. 
• Send thank-you notes or short videos after every fundraiser. Making them personal and specific to each donor leaves an impression long after their gift.
• Spotlight supporters publicly on social media or in newsletters to show appreciation. Start with monthly posts or create a unique series that features how specific donations or gifts have directly impacted your work. This can be done through social media posts, short videos on YouTube or a curated email series. 
• Host informal gatherings or volunteer days. Bring people together around your mission, not just a donation goal. Holding alumni gatherings at a school or sponsoring engaging events such as trivia nights or online raffles like Queen of Hearts facilitates connection rather than a transaction.  
• Ask for feedback. Let your supporters know their voices matter. Ask them to share ideas for events, volunteer opportunities or form an advancement or advisory committee to help spark new goals for the future. 

Why You Need Both

Think of friendraising as planting the seeds and fundraising as harvesting the results. One builds trust and connection; the other gives people a tangible way to act on that connection. When your community feels seen and appreciated, they’re more likely to support your next campaign. 

A Giving Tuesday post that thanks past donors, shares personal stories, and invites others to deepen relationships beyond raising money. Combining both strategies ensures your organization isn’t just surviving year to year but growing stronger and building your community with every fundraiser you host.

Let Us Create Your Next Friendraiser

The most successful organizations are able to turn friends into loyal supporters who champion who believe in their mission. When you focus on both giving and growing your community, your cause doesn’t just raise money — it raises people up. 

At Go Raise Dough, we not only share strategies to build successful friendraisers, but we also create online raffles that help you reimagine your fundraising efforts. From traditional 50/50 raffles to exciting Queen of Hearts jackpots, explore our online fundraising options to see how we can help you streamline your fundraising. 

Get started friendraising with us today!