You want to raise money for a good cause... but how?! There are many ways - and what I'm telling you here is my personal experience! The other day I thought about the different ways we've raised money with the Internet... over 70,000euro! If you missed out, you can still donate to www.tjeko.info :)
Some big campaigns - some small.
Some we reached - others we just changed the goal a bit (who tries to raise 200,000euro for his/her first project?! We agreed to be 'satisfied' when we reached 28,000euro instead!
To those of you that are looking to start a fund-raiser yourself, here are my random advises!
1. Determine your goal!
What is it you want to reach? Why do you want to reach THAT? What are you willing to 'sacrifice' to reach that goal (because it is going to take some kind of sacrifice for you!)
I told you already that I had some ambitious goals before that I had to 'fine tune' a bit - but in general you need to really be honest AND ambitious. Don't assume all your friends are going to support you, simply because they are your friends...Seriously, how many 'requests' have you ignored lately. Those friends probably thought out of all people YOU would support them - and you didn't. Surprise, surprise: this is about to happen to you too! Don't take it personal - you'll find that help might come from others ways you didn't expect!
2. Investigate your options.
There are many great platforms that can help you reach your goal - so find one that fits your needs. There won't be a single one that's going to cater to ALL your needs - but one might be more suitable that the other. Know that all of them are going to take some of the money-that's just a given. But realize there are fundamental differences between them!
Some that come to my mind:
These are just a few of the choices you have. What I found as a European, you;ll be limited to a service that includes a payment system that is catered to the standard of your country. For example, in Holland hardly anybody has a credit card... so we had to include I-deal in our options. That's really really limiting - so we ended up manually updating our achievements.
One other thing to realize: there are some fundraisers that will only sent you the money if you REACH YOUR GOAL!! That's a great and safe way for people to join - but it also can leave you with no cash at all after working very hard to get there...
3. Include visuals and rewards to your project.
Again, see how others are doing it - and learn from them. What triggers you (especially helpful if you want 'strangers' to become supporters!). Pictures? Video? GREAT REWARDS!?
What is the 'WIN' for your supporters - how is it going to help them!?
This is as simple as really making them feel they did something GREAT by supporting you. I tried to make an effort to THANK everybody within 48 hours of their support.
4. Get some initial backers before you go public!
Nobody likes to support something that doesn't have any believers yet. So first target your intimate friends. The ones you would call if you were bleeding to dead on the sidewalk...OK maybe the ones that you know are going to support you period. Tell them personally about your project, and converse you hope they can help you before they ask others. Once you have about 25% of your needed goal, go public. You'll see that it will attract a lot of small givers! They love the idea they can be part of your project - it seems it's going to work!
5. Invest your time - and then some!
Online fundraising or crowd fundraising is not an easy task. It will require lots of time. Before you start you need to have a clear project description, perks and momentum. You'll have to spent at least 30 minutes EVERY DAY to do good follow-up, updates and promotional activities.
Ask others to help you - ask others to share (they won't probably do it if you don't show them the possibilities!
I love the power of including your whole social-network in achieving your social-profit, non-profit or charity goal. It's an amazing feeling when your friends actually start helping you reach your goal!
Shoot for the stars - there is more for you to explore!
And tell me if you have other tips!
Some big campaigns - some small.
Some we reached - others we just changed the goal a bit (who tries to raise 200,000euro for his/her first project?! We agreed to be 'satisfied' when we reached 28,000euro instead!
To those of you that are looking to start a fund-raiser yourself, here are my random advises!
1. Determine your goal!
What is it you want to reach? Why do you want to reach THAT? What are you willing to 'sacrifice' to reach that goal (because it is going to take some kind of sacrifice for you!)
I told you already that I had some ambitious goals before that I had to 'fine tune' a bit - but in general you need to really be honest AND ambitious. Don't assume all your friends are going to support you, simply because they are your friends...Seriously, how many 'requests' have you ignored lately. Those friends probably thought out of all people YOU would support them - and you didn't. Surprise, surprise: this is about to happen to you too! Don't take it personal - you'll find that help might come from others ways you didn't expect!
2. Investigate your options.
There are many great platforms that can help you reach your goal - so find one that fits your needs. There won't be a single one that's going to cater to ALL your needs - but one might be more suitable that the other. Know that all of them are going to take some of the money-that's just a given. But realize there are fundamental differences between them!
Some that come to my mind:
- www.kickstarter.com
- www.indigogo.com
- www.fundrazr.com
- www.onepercentclub.com/
These are just a few of the choices you have. What I found as a European, you;ll be limited to a service that includes a payment system that is catered to the standard of your country. For example, in Holland hardly anybody has a credit card... so we had to include I-deal in our options. That's really really limiting - so we ended up manually updating our achievements.
One other thing to realize: there are some fundraisers that will only sent you the money if you REACH YOUR GOAL!! That's a great and safe way for people to join - but it also can leave you with no cash at all after working very hard to get there...
3. Include visuals and rewards to your project.
Again, see how others are doing it - and learn from them. What triggers you (especially helpful if you want 'strangers' to become supporters!). Pictures? Video? GREAT REWARDS!?
What is the 'WIN' for your supporters - how is it going to help them!?
This is as simple as really making them feel they did something GREAT by supporting you. I tried to make an effort to THANK everybody within 48 hours of their support.
4. Get some initial backers before you go public!
Nobody likes to support something that doesn't have any believers yet. So first target your intimate friends. The ones you would call if you were bleeding to dead on the sidewalk...OK maybe the ones that you know are going to support you period. Tell them personally about your project, and converse you hope they can help you before they ask others. Once you have about 25% of your needed goal, go public. You'll see that it will attract a lot of small givers! They love the idea they can be part of your project - it seems it's going to work!
5. Invest your time - and then some!
Online fundraising or crowd fundraising is not an easy task. It will require lots of time. Before you start you need to have a clear project description, perks and momentum. You'll have to spent at least 30 minutes EVERY DAY to do good follow-up, updates and promotional activities.
Ask others to help you - ask others to share (they won't probably do it if you don't show them the possibilities!
I love the power of including your whole social-network in achieving your social-profit, non-profit or charity goal. It's an amazing feeling when your friends actually start helping you reach your goal!
Shoot for the stars - there is more for you to explore!
And tell me if you have other tips!
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