5 tips for creating downloadable fundraising
resources your supporters will love
Before we developed our Fundraising Hub Platform, we carried out extensive research to understand what supporters really want from downloadable fundraising resources — and what frustrates them most.
The insights we gathered helped us design our built-in fundraising materials with supporters front of mind. If you're looking to offer great downloadable resources on your website, here are our five top tips to make life easier for your supporters.
1. Keep designs ink-friendly
Many supporters will print these materials at home — and possibly more than once! Avoid large images and big blocks of solid colour that drain printer ink or leave them with soggy, crinkled paper.
It’s also good practice not to have your design go right to the edge of the page. Most home printers can’t print borderless, so they’ll automatically leave a white border. If your design relies on edge-to-edge colour, supporters might feel they have to trim it — and most won’t bother.
2. Make printing simple
Check your file sizes and layouts. Are your downloads A4? If your design is smaller than A4, could you fit multiple on a single A4 page?
Keeping everything A4 means supporters don’t have to adjust printer settings or do any extra trimming — saving them time and frustration.
3. Optimise file sizes
Aim to keep your file sizes below 2MB — under 1MB is even better. Smaller files download faster and don’t require supporters to wait ages or worry about slow connections.
4. Cater to different activities
If you can, offer designs tailored to different fundraising activities. Someone hosting a bake sale will likely want something different from someone running a quiz night.
While you can create a more generic option, specific designs feel more personal and can prevent supporters from trying to make their own (which might not match your brand guidelines).
5. Include clear prompts
Help supporters include all the essential info. On a fundraising poster, for example, include prompts for What, Date, Time, and Where.
We’ve all seen posters missing crucial details — or awkwardly squeezed in at the last minute. Clear prompts make it easier for supporters to create polished, informative materials.
Make it even easier with personalised materials
We hope these tips help you create brilliant, easy-to-use fundraising resources your supporters will be excited to download and print.
If this still sounds like a lot of work — or if you'd like to go a step further and offer fully personalised materials — we can help.
With our Fundraising Hub software, supporters simply fill out a quick online form about their planned activity. Their details are used to automatically personalise their materials, which they can download in moments.
The best part? You can log into FundraizingHero’s admin area to see exactly how supporters have personalised their materials and what they’ve downloaded.
Find out more about creating your own fundraising hub with FundraizingHero
More from the blog
The top 6 problems with fundraising packs and how FundraizingHero fixes them
Read this blog
Empower your supporters with a digital fundraising hub
Read this blog
The power of saying thank you: Why acknowledging your supporters matters
Read this blogNo commitment, no credit card or payment info required