With more and more people cutting ties from landline phones (especially millennials), fundraisers are looking for new and creative ways to reach their target audience. Even e-mails can be a tough way to reach this audience, with more advanced technology and methods of screening for ‘SPAM’ mail.
Enter crowd funding, an online fundraising activity – the goal of which is to raise a large amount of money through small gifts in a short period of time. Crowd funding is a growing, popular form of fundraising in today’s age. Many non-profits have seen an upward trend in the dollars raised and new donors who make their first gift online during a crowd funding events. Political candidates often call this same online crowd funding ‘money-bombs.’
So what are the top 5 most important tasks to complete when planning a successful crowd funding event?
1.) Plan, plan, plan.
Communication is key, and you need to be prepared with a time line of when you will announce the specific date(s) of your crowd funding event. Plan when you will post your social media updates, when you will blast e-mails, etc. Decide if you will advertise your fundraising efforts on other websites, and make sure your giving page’s message is uniform with your crowd funding day message. Coordinating a plan will make executing your crowd funding communications much easier, and will be the key to its success.
2.) Leverage your current network to bring in donors who aren’t in your network.
Reach out to current supporters and urge them to support you in your crowd funding efforts. Also ask them to share with friends leading up to the crowd funding event about your mission, why it’s important to give, and how they can help. Encourage people and make it easy for them to share social media posts about the crowd funding event you are planning.
3.) Incentivize and motivate people to give.
Finding someone to match total dollars raised over the course of your crowd funding event can move people to make a donation they may have not made before. Or perhaps promising ‘swag’ to the first 50 donors who donate will motivate people to make a gift they wouldn’t have made otherwise.
4.) Have a clear fundraising dollar amount goal.
People are less likely to make donations when the terms aren’t tangible. When you throw out a dollar amount you need to raise, it gives people a reason to give money towards the cause and it gives supporters a sense of urgency. Be sure to include a reason why you need to raise this set fundraising goal and how a $10, $20, or $50 gift can help reach your goal and make a difference.
5.) Thank supporters promptly and properly.
Crowd funding is a fairly new animal in the fundraising industry. In a world where people are bombarded with messages and communications in multiple forms, it is important to thank those who answered your call to action. Be sure to thank donors in a timely manner. Chances are, they aren’t expecting to be thanked in a timely manner, if they expect to be thanked at all. Surprise them and make them feel a joy every time they give to your organization or candidate by going above and beyond their expectations. They will be more likely to give next time around.