Jacques’s Tips for Fundraising
1. Start early: if you know you’re going to be raising money, aim to send out your first emails about a month ahead if time.
2. Pace yourself: along with #1, I’ve found that people typically don’t react well to being contacted more than once a week by group email. In a four-week campaign, I’ll usually go with one message in the first week, one in the third, and two in the fourth.
3. Tell me why it matters: this is a very important piece, especially in your first contact, but also in later emails. This has three parts: why does the cause matter, why are you doing what you’re doing (biking, headshaving, etc), and how, if at all, are the two connected.
4. Making progress: when you do send out subsequent messages, be sure to acknowledge how far things have come and how generous your friends and family have been. This can be by naming names, or generally giving appreciation.
5. Give options: especially in this economy, not everyone will be able to donate money. Give them some other ways to contribute so that even non-financial donors can feel like they’re a part of the cause. These could include:
- registering to participate themselves,
- reading more about the cause,
- volunteering,
- forwarding your email,
- attending an event
7. Say thank you: this is probably the most important part, but it can be the hardest to keep up with, especially as things spiral toward the finish. Public praise is great, but a quiet note of thanks is appreciated and makes people want to participate again in the future. Maybe send a photo of you at the end of the fundraising event.
8. Build year-to-year momentum: Many fundraisers are annuals, so if you have a natural inclination to a particular cause, you might be planning to do it again next year. Don’t wait until next year to start recruiting (at least in a “soft sell” mode) next year’s new participants. Plant the seeds now, and this year’s donor could become next year’s new top fundraiser.
