Charity is a good thing. We can all agree on that. Whether it’s to raise funds for a medical charity, a charity that helps the homeless, or a charity that helps children gain access to education, there are various institutions which depend on the help of others to make ends meet. If you’re considering putting together a fundraiser for charity, we salute you. It’s a fine and noble thing to do. A well-executed charity campaign can literally change the way people think about the causes it supports.
While starting a charity appeal can be exciting, it can also be a little daunting. Let’s be honest – thousands of people are asking for money on the internet every day. If your charity appeal isn’t perfectly pitched, it’s likely going to fall short of its target. Even large, well-recognized charities sometimes fail badly with their campaign because of poor communication, or poor execution. If the big players can’t always get it right, how can you make sure you’re giving yourself the best possible chance of delivering the result you want for yourself, and the cause you believe in? An unsuccessful fundraising campaign is a waste of the time and effort you’ve put in, and also a disappointment for the charity which is relying on you. Nobody wants to see that happen.
While there’s no such thing as a surefire way of persuading people to hand over their money to you for free, there are a few things you can do which can bolster your chances of success. Most of them rely on common sense and a little bit of promotional flair, and we’ve listed five of them below.
- Make It Easy To Donate
This should be basic, but it isn’t because so many people feel awkward about asking strangers for money. Because of that sense of awkwardness, they’ll hide the donation link at the bottom of paragraphs of almost-apologetic text explaining why they want people to donate, and what they’re going to do with all the money. You do need that content (see below), but you also need to make it easy for people to give you their money even if they’ve only skim-read the text. Your ‘donate’ button should be large, and clearly visible on every page of your site, and every post you make on social media. It should also involve as few clicks as possible.
If you want inspiration for how to go about this, look at a profession who rely on parting people from their money as quickly as possible. Mobile slots websites like Amigo Slots UK are excellent at this. They’ll list all the content their customers want to see – i.e., lots of mobile slots games – front and center on their website. Before you even see them, though, the most successful mobile slots sites have a ‘play now’ or ‘pay into your account’ button which is given a more prominent slot on their page. If mobile slots players just want to play without reading all the promotional text, they can do so. People who just want to donate to your campaign quickly should be able to do the same. Some SMS services will allow you to keep 100% of all funds donated by text, o make sure you pair up with one of them, too.
- Be Passionate
You believe in your cause. The first thing you should do is make a donation yourself. This sets the tone for the level of donations you’re likely to receive. If people log onto your campaign and see that the first donation is $5, they’ll likely donate $5 themselves. If it’s $10, they’ll give proper consideration to donating $10 instead of $5. Nobody likes to feel cheap! Your passion should be reflected in the amount of your own money you’re willing to put in.
Your level of passion should also come across in the text of your campaign. Use emotional language. Use specific examples of what a donation – large or small – can achieve for your campaign. If you have a personal story to tell, then tell it. As any salesperson will tell you, people don’t buy products. They buy people. If your audience believes in you, they’ll donate. If you’re not a natural at using promotional language, find someone who is, and get them to handle communications for you.
- Don’t Stand Still
Your campaign should look and sound like it’s fresh all the time. That means you don’t just set your webpage, social media accounts, and other tools up to collect money and then just leave them there. They’ll quickly feel stale. Be noisy. Be quick to thank people when they’ve made donations. Make regular posts to update people on the progress of the campaign, and how far you still need to go to reach your target. As you get near to it, you’ll likely find that people who’ve already donated will chip in again to get you over the line.
Keeping a blog is a good way of doing this. Blogs are personal – and so they give your campaign the personal touch we’ve already discussed. They also demonstrate progress. If you can update people every day or every week – and get an email out containing that update – it keeps your campaign fresh in people’s minds. Don’t let people forget about it; broadcast your progress like your life depends on it.
- Use Pictures And Videos
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. We don’t know who ‘they’ are, but we agree with them. The right picture can do more for your campaign than five paragraphs of text could ever do. Whether it’s a picture designed to inspire people, or a picture designed to shock them into action, make your fundraising efforts both visible and visual.
There’s no longer a good reason not to use videos in the modern age of fundraising, either. Consider posting a video of the charity you’re supporting going about their work. Also show the impact that a lack of funding can have on your cause. Remember to appear in the videos yourself, and speak directly to the camera. Again, if you’re not a confident speaker, find someone who is and make them the figurehead of your fundraiser.
- Ask For Help
Not everybody who sees your fundraiser is in a financial position to assist with it. They’d probably love to help you if they could, but they can’t – or can they? Even people who can’t afford to pitch in financially probably know friends who could. Their friends therefore need to be aware of the campaign, and that’s the best way they can help you.
While some of us feel uncomfortable asking for likes and shares because it feels desperate, charity is born out of desperation. If funding was available for the cause you supported, your charity wouldn’t need to exist! Directly ask your friends to help with your fundraising efforts by sharing them far and wide. We don’t just mean on one post either – we mean every time you post an update. That’s the only way to reach as wide an audience as possible.
