Thinking about fundraising? This is how you do it!
Karen
I had intended to do something to help a good cause for some time; but for a while didn't quite know who to help (or how). When I met Christey and learned about Just Peoples, I was hugely inspired by the projects they were collaborating with. There were so many great things going on, so it was very easy to find a project which I really wanted to help.
However, for a while I still wasn't sure I could really raise enough money, like the people who I saw who were fundraising already. But advice and reassurance from Just Peoples gave me the confidence to go for it. To that end, I've put together the following advice based on what worked for me - hope it helps!
1) Most important of all, choose a project which you are really, really passionate about. Read the personal stories of the people involved (which Just Peoples will provide you with) and go with the one that gives you the feels. People get a lot of requests to donate e.g to fund raisers who happened to get a marathon place from their charity. While there's nothing wrong at all with that, my lovely donors told me that my plea really stood out, as they could see that it was an amazing cause which I genuinely cared about. This makes a big difference in deciding whether to click the "donate" button for a lot of people.
2) Get friends / family / colleagues actively involved in helping you fundraise. In my case, Tom and Hameed ran the Spartan race with me. This really helped me with the fear of not meeting the target, and meant that their family and friends wanted to donate to them, giving us access to a far bigger pool of people willing to help.
3) Use photographs in your requests for donations - people connect with these, and it really allows people to see just how direct the impact of their money will be. Also, make it clear that you will provide updates when the project happens, which Just Peoples will also help you with. Seeing your project coming to life is fantastic, and will give your donors the best thank you for their generosity, which you don't usually get when donating to a charity.
Karen with Tom and Hameed
4) Use a variety of methods to reach out to people. I found that social media posts did result in some great donations, but these are easy to scroll past for some people - no matter how good your click bait may be! I decided also to email groups of friends and colleagues directly, with pictures and some text about the project and what we were doing, with a link to the Just Peoples website. On top of this, we walked through our office a few times collecting cash directly, which we recorded and donated using our own cards on the website. Anything you can do to make it less hassle for people to donate will result in more cash :)
5) Be persistent - don't be afraid to remind people a few times of what you're doing and that you really appreciate any help they can give. This doesn't need to pressure people to donate, but remember that a lot of people will intend to donate and then forget or get distracted. We've all been there, so some gentle reminders of the amazing thing you're doing is no bad thing.
6) Finally, enjoy it! Rather selfishly, feeling that you're doing something good is super rewarding, and you can use this positive vibe to get more people involved.