Helping our community get to the next level of crowdfunding success
In online fundraising, the first few donations are the most difficult to get. Knowing what to do is not always intuitive. Fear not! The Safe Sponsors Team can shine some light on the 5 key elements that was originally published by our technology platform partner, FundRazrs.com.
“creating a short, simple video on YouTube and linking it to your campaign has been proven to double your donations. It helps people to connect with your cause and makes it more real to them.”
Motivate donors with your title and description
People respond to urgency. Use words in your title that motivate people and specify a timeline, e.g. by Oct 15th.
Example of a plain title: Buy an iPad for Sarah
Example of an optimized title: Sarah urgently needs an iPad to communicate. Help!
In the description make sure that the who, what and why are addressed in the first 3-4 sentences.
Example 1: “Our daughter Jane has autism and she cannot speak. Our doctor says that an iPad with a special autism app will help her communicate with the world. This is incredibly important as it will immediately impact that way she interacts with us. Please help us give Jane a voice by next month.”
Example 2: “My name is Jonas Lewis-Anthony and our UK band, The Four Roads, needs your help today to make a life-changing event happen. We’ve been invited to play at the International Kingston Buskers Festival in Canada on October 12-15th but lack the funds to cover all our expenses. We our offering great rewards, like downloads of our music or a dedicated YouTube video, to our supporters. Time is ticking. Please help our Canadian dream come true by donating by October 7th!”
Double donations with great visuals
Your campaign photo should show people an interesting image that identifies your cause or project.
Better yet, creating a short, simple video on YouTube and linking it to your campaign has been proven to double your donations. It helps people to connect with your cause and makes it more real to them. Click on the band image or this link for a great example.
Reach out to family & friends for initial donations
Use the tools on your Safe Sponsor Manage page to send direct messages starting with family and close friends. The first 2-3 donations create huge momentum. Email or personal message the campaign to as many people as you can. Include text in your message that calls people to action, encouraging at least a ‘like’ or a ‘reshare’, even if they cannot donate.
Example: “I’ve started a fundraiser for my daughter Jane. She really needs this tool to be able to communicate. It’s important that we raise the money right away. Can you please donate a few dollars and help by sharing the campaign with your friends? We understand that not everyone can donate but each share or ‘like’ is worth its weight in gold. Thank you so much.”
Share and reshare! Every share could be worth $10+
Share news and status updates on your campaign at least once or twice a day on Facebook. Be sure to stress its importance and ask people to re-share. According to industry research, each share of an online fundraiser is worth approximately $10.87 USD in donations! The Facebook algorithm will also feature your campaign more often in your network’s News Feed with this frequency. The more people that you reach, the more money you will raise. So get people involved.
Here’s what a recent customer said:
“I’ll be honest, I was scared of what people would think. Asking for help can be difficult. I had no choice but to push those feelings aside and ask our loved ones for help… this platform provided a wonderful way to do so.” – Mrs. R.