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If you are interested in fundraising for just about any reason, you’ll need to find a way to reach as many potential donors as possible. Starting a fundraising campaign is usually a most difficult process -- it’s a daunting task that people often have a difficult time with. It's a huge challenge to get others on board to spread the message far and wide on the web.
In an effort to help you achieve your fundraising dreams via crowdfunding and other means, here are 10 fundraising tips that could easily make or break your campaign:
10 Effective Fundraising Tips
- Share your story – the easiest way to get people to open up their hearts and wallets for your cause is to share your story. Make it compelling, vulnerable, and something that everybody can relate to in one way or another. The more open, honest, and passionate you are while telling your story, the easier it will be to find financial supporters.
- Keep your employer in the loop – people have a tendency to forget about their employer when they begin fundraising and this is a huge mistake. Many companies are actually willing to offer paid time off of work to help with the fundraising process, and some may even match charitable donations in many instances.
- Walk your talk – or another way to say it is to put your money where your mouth is. When you start an online crowdfunding page, make sure the world can see that you are the first person to donate to your new campaign.
- Get by with a little help from your friends – never attempt to take on a massive fundraising project by yourself. Your friends and family members will be happy to help. This will make it easy for you to delegate responsibility and keep motivation levels high amongst multiple people.
- Let the cause know about your fundraising efforts – every good cause wants to know all about the people working hard to help raise funds on their behalf. Let them know about your philanthropic efforts because they want to hear from you and listen to your passionate story about their cause. Plus, you may gain access to better promotional materials that will help make it easier to spread the word.
- Ask for a donation more than once – sometimes people need a swift kick in the butt in the form of a reminder when it comes time to making a donation. These people are generous and happy to donate to your favorite charity or cause. They are often just busy and forgetful, so it makes sense to give them a friendly reminder until they finally make a financial contribution.
- Tell others how much to donate – people want to know how much they are expected to give upfront. So let them know in advance and you’ll find that people are more generous than you’ve ever expected.
- Remember to say thank you to your donors – so important!!! We often get busy and have a tendency to forget to thank our donors. This is a huge mistake and one that needs to be rectified immediately. People want to feel appreciated for their financial contributions, so send your donors a quick thank you email or drop thank you notes in the mail to let them know how much you appreciate them and their generous contribution.
- Share your fundraising page – the easiest way to do this is to share it via social media. Get friends, family members, and coworkers to share your page on their social media accounts as well.
- Drop the one-size-fits-all attitude to fundraising – make your fundraising efforts personal when soliciting donations. Do not send a mass, pre-written letter or email to all of your contacts. This is a major turnoff to potential donors.
Hopefully these tips are helpful and your fundraising campaign can flourish! Come back and share in the comments how it's going!