Success Guide
for Your Personal Fundraiser
Learn how to raise money
for your crowdfunding campaign
Steps to Successful Crowdfunding
1. Prepare Your Fundraiser
2. Reach out to
Your Crowd
3. Keep your crowd updated
4. Wrap Your Fundraiser
STEP 1:
Prepare Your Fundraising Page for Launch
Well-written story with impactful imagery
Don't underestimate the power of a well-written story with impactful images or video. Try to use the following storytelling techniques:
- Your story should be authentic, emotional, structured.
Also, don't forget to describe why you are running this crowdfunding campaign. If you are trying to raise funds for your pet, tell the story of how you got your pet and why your pet needs monetary support. If you need funds to cover medical costs, tell more about your health condition and diagnosis and explain how contributions will change your condition.
- Your story should be authentic, emotional, structured.
- Powerful images. When it comes to images, authenticity and emotions are the key. Don't worry about making them look professional- it is more about what is in the picture than its quality or professionalism. You may have heard about the the heartbreaking photo that raised $43,000 in one day
- Short video. One-minute video recorded on your phone can take your crowdfunding campaign performance to the next level. People will trust your campaign more if they see real faces behind it - it could be you or your team telling a bit about the cause or just short updates about the campaign performance.
- Be specific about your ask. Crowdfunding is built on trust. If you don't explain to your crowd how exactly you will use their donations, they will less likely to support you. For example, rather than saying “Help me cover my educational costs”, say “Your support will help me accomplish my life-long dream and finish my law degree so I can find a rewarding job ”. It will demonstrate two good signs for the crowd: your need is real and their impact is clear.
Pre-Launch Checklist
Title
Motivate potential contributors with your title: show the urgency and importance of your cause.
Description
Make sure that the ‘who’, ‘what’ and ‘why’ are addressed in the first 2-3 sentences of your story. Focus on how your supporters can make a difference for your fundraiser.
Image
Add an interesting image that identifies your cause. People respond to visuals and helps supporters get emotionally engaged in your story.
Background Image
Add a background picture to symbolize your project. Provide a visual representation of your cause; help people remember your campaign, match logos or styles.
Video
Add a video to your fundraiser. Fundraisers with a video get more attention and on average double their donations. *even a video taken on your cellphone will do the trick.
Deadline
Set a deadline for your fundraiser. The deadline creates a sense of urgency, motivating supporters to donate sooner.
Funding Models
Consider which funding model works for you:Keep-it-all (all funds raised even if you don’t meet your goal - most common for personal fundraisers) or All-Or-Nothing (Need a minimum amount? Reach your goal and collect your funds)
Rewards
For certain fundraisers rewards are great to include. Rewards are something you offer someone in return for their donation: thank you cards or t-shirts.
STEP 2:
Reach out to your crowd
A common misconception is that money will fall from the sky, but crowdfunding requires the following steps to secure both the trust and donations of strangers.
Importance of Your First-Level Crowd
The success of your fundraiser is primarily based on two factors: trust and network effect.
In order to activate both factors, it is important to have your initial (first-level) crowd. Usually, this group consists of your immediate family and close friends.
Reach out to them and ask for support in the form of a contribution or sharing with their network. People are far more likely to contribute once money has already been made. Initial donations legitimize your campaign for the rest of the world.
Please keep in mind that the first donors are critical for success. The campaign that has raised money in the first 24 hours is more likely to succeed that the one that didn't get any contributions.
Network effect
Your initial crowd plays an important role in activating your network effect. It is known that when referred by a friend or family, people are 4X more likely to donate. Three important steps to follow would be:
- Ask your friends and family to share the campaign with their circle
- Constantly provide them with the new pictures and latest updates to give them more reasons to talk about you
- Personally thank every supporter
Use These Tools for Sharing
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
Regularly share your fundraiser! At least 3 times per week post an update and include images. Your friends will get a notification that drives them to your fundraising page. It’s a great way to remind them about it. Create a Facebook page. It’s like a mini-website where people can connect with your cause, get regular updates, images, and see your fundraiser. If you have a Facebook page, use our “Add on Tab” feature so your visitors can contribute directly from your Facebook page.
Email
Send an email directly from your fundraising page. Your contacts will get an email notification with campaign details and the ability to view/share/give to your fundraiser directly from the email you've sent.
Widget
Host your campaign widget on your, or a friend’s, website or blog to create more visibility and build a community on your website.
Comments
Engage with your contributors by commenting and thanking them for their contributions. This activity gets more people talking about your FundRazr campaign.
Analytics
FundRazr analytics dashboard gives you the following insight: number of times your campaign has been shared, total money raised, number of contributors and length of campaign.
STEP 3:
Keep your crowd updated
How to keep your fundraiser up-to-date?
When excitement for a fundraiser slows down, as do the contributions. Give your campaign a boost during this lull by creating a sense of urgency and letting your supporters know time is running out.
- Story Updates: Story updates will notify everyone who has previously donated. From letting them know there are only a few days left to donate, to uploading new photos/videos and progress.
- Outreach to Local Media: Once you’ve tapped into your ‘social equity’ (close friends and family) and received contributions from their networks, it’s a good time to reach out to local media for extra attention.
- Outreach to Bloggers: Contact local bloggers or bloggers that cover topics similar to your campaign. You can ask them to host a widget on their website or blog as a powerful way to create more visibility and build a community.
- Send a Facebook Notification: Send a ‘Tell A Friend’ notification from your campaign page. This will send a notification to your Facebook friends who may have wanted to contribute but haven’t yet. It’s a great, yet subtle, reminder to let them know time on your campaign is running out.
- Take It Offline: Reach out to your community by holding fundraising offline. You can add offline contributions to your FundRazr so people know how close you are to your goal.
- Plus: More contributions = more attention!
- Add A Reward: Replenish rewards that were most popular on your campaign. Consider reaching out to local businesses to sponsor a reward. A new reward can really add excitement to your campaign and give it that much needed boost.
STEP 4:
Wrap Your Fundraiser
Finish Your Fundraiser
Your fundraiser has come to an end and you’ve finished collecting contributions. Whether you reached your goal, or not, your contributors want to be updated on your next steps.
- Thank Everyone – Thanking everyone will ensure them that their contribution made a difference. Every time you thank someone they will be notified. The notification could draw enough attention to get some last minute donations.
- Provide An Update – Providing an update on how your fundraiser went, and photos of where the money was used, will engage your contributors.
- Transparency – Contributors would like to know how much was raised at the end of the fundraiser and how it will be used! Be open and honest. If you exceeded your goal – where will that extra money be used? If you didn’t meet your goal – will you be creating another campaign?
- Fulfillment – If you had rewards for your fundraiser, you now have to go through and fulfill those orders. All their contact information is made available to you. See how to fulfill perks.
- Timeline – If you plan to do another fundraiser, let your donors know the general timeline so they can stay up to date.