Top ten tips
Get your fundraising off to a flying start and make fundraising fun by following our top 10 online fundraising tips.
1. Ask your closest family and friends to get your fundraising started
Having a few large donations at the beginning will encourage other friends and supporters to do the same.
2. Make your page eye-catching
Include good quality photos to grab people’s attention. You could have a photo of yourself running a previous race, a funny photo or even a video or both! Use the thermometer or pie chart so supporters can see how far you are from your goal.
3. Captivate your readers
Make your personal message clear, concise and effective. You could include a powerful case study from Barnardo's or talk about your personal reasons for taking part, be they moving or funny. Let your personality come across and keep your supporters interested.
4. Promote your page wherever you are
The more you remind people about your event, the more likely they are to donate. Create your own web address ending with your name or identifiable team name so people will remember it. You could also make some cards to give the url name out to people you meet.
5. Use social networks to promote your event and inform your supporters
Don’t just email, whether it’s Facebook, MySpace, Twitter or Linkedin, exploit social networks. Make sure you use the ‘share’ application on your page. Use status updates to let your friends and family know about your training progress, encourage them to donate and always include a link to your page. You could also write a blog.
6. Promise something different!
Threaten to dress up in a ridiculous outfit if you raise over a certain amount to spur people on! You could even get others invovled by asking sponsors to vote for what they think you should wear.
7. Personalise your emails
Make sure people feel their support is valued - a personal thank you is powerful. It is also good to write personalised appeals for support, changed according to the particular group from your contacts you’re emailing.
8. Spread the word
If the company you work for, group you are involved in or university you attend has an e-newsletter or intranet, ask them to include your fundraising event and of course the link to your page. You could also contact a local newspaper, publication or online resource.
9. Raise money offline
Add funds to your online page… Hold an event, like a cake sale at work or university, to promote your cause and raise extra funds. Equally, use your contacts - any friends who don’t want to just donate could fundraise on your behalf by having a dress down day at work for example, boosting your total.
10. Send Reminders
Your contacts may need reminding to sponsor you. Try not to bombard them with too many emails, but sending a few encouraging reminders is always worthwhile as they might not have had time to donate when you first emailed. Include your fundraising progress to persuade them, for example you just need a few more donations to reach that goal.
