Online Fundraising: Link Your Heart Out
Thank you to all who have created Friends & Family fundraising websites. Together, we’ve raised over $7,000 online already! Let’s keep up the momentum!
So, now that you have a fundraising webpage, how do you make the most of it? Check out these tips to promote your fundraising webpage as well as detailed instructions on how to use three of the most common online tools: e-mail, Facebook, and e-mail signatures. Please contact Cindy Levin at [email protected] if you have questions.
Repetition, Repetition, Repetition
Post early and often. Whether you’re using e-mail, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin or other social media, repetition is the key to getting people to notice. Announcing it once is not enough. People may not have time to notice it or make a donation the first time they see it, so reminders are very useful. With social media, your followers may not even see it if they don’t happen to be using Facebook or Twitter right at that particular moment.
Get Creative . . . and Always Link
Use your imagination and get creative in your short messages about why people should donate. Perhaps you can mention how it affects you personally, or better yet how it affects potential donors personally. Maybe you can share different facts about poverty or our successes. Maybe you can make a video about the campaign. Just remember to always include the webpage address (URL) wherever you mention the fundraiser so that people can easily get to it with just one click!
How To . . .
- Segment your contacts into close friends, old friends, family, work, etc.
- Draft an e-mail for each group and personalize whenever possible
- Make sure you are logged out, then go to the Friends & Family online homepage and search your name under “Search for Participants” and choose to “View” your page.
- Once you’re at your individual page, copy the URL from the address bar and paste it into your e-mail
- Don’t just stop at one e-mail. Plan a schedule of messages from now until March 31.
- Don’t forget to do a final update and thank you to everyone!
This is how to link to your RESULTS fundraising page on your status update. You can use your personal Facebook page and also your RESULTS group Facebook page if you have one.
- Make sure you are logged out of your Friends & Family page, then go to the Friends & Family online homepage. Search your name under “Search for Participants” and choose to “View” your page.
- Once you’re at your individual page, copy the webpage address (URL) from the address bar in your internet browser.
- Open your Facebook page and paste the URL into your “Update Status” bar. Be sure to include a brief message urging people to visit your Friends & Family page and to give to RESULTS.
- Every few days, post about a different ways RESULTS impacts your life or helps empower people in poverty and always including the URL. Report your progress, too. Examples:
“I’m halfway to my goal! Please donate today http://friendraising.towercare.com/Markslist/campaign/display/profile.do?campaignId=7749
(Note that Twitter will automatically shorten your URL for you to give you more space.)
E-mail Signatures
Set this up in Outlook, Hotmail, Gmail, or whatever e-mail platform you use. Usually you can find a signature setup under “Preferences.” Compose a clear single-line action and include the webpage address (URL). Example: “I’m raising money for RESULTS to bring us closer to ending poverty! fundraisingpagelink.com” (Don’t write “fundraisingpagelink.com” . . . Replace fundraisingpagelink.com with the actual URL)
Your signature will be seen every time you send out a message. You may not reach new people this way, but it will be a convenient and soft reminder to folks you’ve already asked in case they just forgot to donate.