Fundraising is key to any non-profit’s success and survival, but also not as easy as it appears. No matter, what is your fundraising purpose, attracting donations is basically an act of gauzing the human impulse and alluring them to fund a cause. It’s a fact that people enjoy helping others, but the fact remains that people need to connect with your cause.
Attract the attention of donors by honestly telling your story: It is always wise enough if you portray your story honestly. People donate when they can connect to your story. Ask your donors to reach out to your website if you have a long story.
Customize your Donations: It is always better to customize every email or message to be sent to every donor.
If you are targeting a personalized donation, look for more than throwing up an email chunk that will lie in spam. Try to craft a piece of an email that will be more appealing in terms of transparency, as donors are more willing to contribute only when they find it real.
When asking for charities, inform the prospective donor of the tax rebate they will be getting on giving donations.
Craft a sense of urgency: Another essential aspect is to create a sense of urgency amongst the donor. Convey with clarity what will happen when donations are received on time. For e.g., It will help the patient undergo cancer treatment on time. Also, state what will happen out of lack of donations, sometimes negative consequences could be portrayed in a positive light of frame, and it will help attract donations at the right time.
Take advantage of email: Craft an email that is informative, easy to relate or connect to, and yet could be sent to multiple people at the same time. You can ask your friends, colleagues, or family to forward the email to their own groups.
Be specific: Sometimes, when you are asking for donations, it is ideal to state the exact figure. For E.g., $300 would help in the surgery for correcting smiles on the face of Jennifer. As much as possible, include numbers, list expenses, and make a checklist.
Make the donation process easy: People don’t like to go undergo a lengthy process to initiate a donation. Thereby, making the donation process as simple as possible. Always attach a link to your fundraiser in your appeal. Make the donation button easily visible to the prospective donor.
Make to donation form simple: In case a prospective donor has visited your website and left the site without making donations. Always remember that he/she could be your potential future donor. Therefore, include a small form to collect their details on the website like their name, location, telephone number, age, and email address. Again, it should be lime lighted that every single donation counts, and even $5 can make an impact. It will help the lesser-income people from getting embarrassed. Quite often, people hesitate to donate when they feel what difference their contribution will make if the treatment cost is too high. But when people are concerned that even $3or5 can help pay one day’s food bill for the needy, it can create a difference!
Don’t get scared of Rejection: No matter if you have tried a lot in crafting an alluring website with potential storytelling and still found out that some visitors didn’t donate. Well! It’s completely fine, and there is nothing to be embarrassed about failure as they are not terrible people but might have gotten distracted. The whole art of attracting donations is catching on to the impulsive behavior of prospective donors. Thereby, politely reach out to those who did not donate for the first time and keep in touch with them for any future project.
Transparency: An essential aspect of any fundraising program is transparency. The prospective donors want to know how the funds are going to be utilized, how things have been before, and what the outcomes of donations made are. It is ideal for including everything that is a cost to you- from the big-ticket item such as surgery cost of hefty medicines like chemotherapy. Include all the medical, hospital, and ambulance charges in your bills.
The most prominent mistake that could be ever made is being vague in asking for donations. It will neither attract anyone’s attention nor will it be effective.
Attachment and associations: Research, the victim for whom you are fundraising and try to relate them to a particular ethnic group or friend circle. It will foster a sense of belongingness in the group; they will be encouraged to donate and could spread positive word of mouth to attract donations.
Conclusion
summarizing it all! Fundraising is a noble cause; when you go via proper preparation, you can end up attracting huge attention! In short, get better funding to support your cause, and although nothing is more efficient than using social media platforms, you cannot ignore personalized meetings and connections. Therefore a combination of both is perfect for making your campaign a huge success!
