How can you creatively involve donors in fundraising and make them feel like part of the team?

Establishing exclusive donor giving circles, which meet once every quarter, is another strategy to engage past, current & prospect donors. These "meet & greet" forums can be used to update donors about current programs, new impact areas or research, share achievements, social change stories etc. They also serve as "soft" fundraising platforms to engage, identify, cultivate, solicit & reward donors/prospects.

I agree with this but organisers must be very careful in implementing this strategy. Donors have masculinity behaviour i.e. they like to control things, putting all donors or numbers of donors in basket every one will want to have upper hand and hence may result in chaos. So be careful neither let them control the event nor cause the chaos. Take your lead

Empower your donors to be catalysts for change for you and them. Challenge them to step into action by signing petitions, participating in campaigns, volunteering, or hosting impactful fundraisers. Tailor these challenges to align with their unique skills, goals, and resources, offering guidance, tools, and incentives as catalysts for meaningful engagement. Track, celebrate, and acknowledge their progress and achievements, fostering a dynamic culture of empowerment and involvement. By challenging your donors to take purposeful action, you ignite a movement from with in, amplify awareness, raise crucial funds, and cultivate a community driven by engagement and empowerment.

This most recommended means on my advice, sharing the stories will connect you the donor and society at ease, it is advisable to find the donors with common mission for easy connectivity to the society and your mission

Sharing stories humanizes a brand and organization. By sharing each person’s story you are showing that you are trying to connect to each donor in your target audience. By letting your donors share their story you are allowing their voice to shine through. Everyone has a story to tell!

In addition to being usable as an incentive for donors, creating exclusive service opportunities also provides them with an additional ways to give back and support the organization. When donors feel involved in the actual work of the nonprofit, they are more likely to refer friends, speak publicly on behalf of the organization, and are even likely to give more generously to the organization.

From the very beginning of donor engagement, it is important to clarify what success should look like as well as put in place a system for measuring the success!

Something I have seen work well for others is a Donor Giving Circle, where a small group of donors came together a commit to supporting one of your programs for a year. The circle meet regularly, get ‘behind the camera’ insights about the program, regular updates about the impact and legacy of their donations. As the group matures they might have the opportunity to co-design new programmes with the charity and beneficiaries.

Involving donors creatively in fundraising can be achieved by organizing interactive and personal activities where their contributions are directly linked to outcomes, such as "adopting" specific parts of a project, or hosting workshops or socials where donors and potential donors can meet beneficiaries and see firsthand the impact of their donations. In my experience, including the BOD and supporters/advocates in interactions, providing regular, personalized updates with stories and visuals of progress, and inviting donors to participate in decision-making, peer-to-peer fundraising or volunteer opportunities, significantly boosts their sense of belonging and commitment to the cause.