All posts from the Fundraiser tips of the day category
Tell your story
For all that we champion new technologies at JustGiving, sometimes it’s the simplest things you can do that are the most effective, and telling the story of why you’re fundraising on your JustGiving page is one of the simplest. Don’t just rely on the ‘Raising money for’ box: by personalising your cause you make it real for your readers and they will be that much more likely to donate.
Tell us about your JustGiving page
Experience shows that any publicity you can get for your JustGiving page will help increase donations and you don’t have to go far to get it! If you’d like to have your JustGiving page featured on one of our blogs, send your link along with a few words about yourself to ‘featured@justgiving.com‘. You never know, you might even end up as our Fundraiser of the Month.
Winter closing in? Move your fundraising inside.
With the temperature dropping and the days growing shorter (can something ‘grow shorter’?), it’s understandable that most people don’t want to be fundraising outside at this time of year. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop. If you’re of the active persuasion, why not move your fundraising on to the treadmill or the exercise bike? Or forget distance altogether and go for repetitions, getting people to sponsor you per push-up/pull up/squat.
A sense of humour goes a long way
Whether it’s running the London Marathon dressed as a wolf or suffering for your chosen charity by confronting your fear of spiders, a sense of humour can go a long way towards encouraging visitors to your JustGiving page to donate. Have a think about how you might put a humorous twist on a traditional fundraising activity.
Once your event is over, update your JustGiving page
Another piece of advice that might seem obvious, but is often overlooked is once your event is over, update your JustGiving page.
Your supporters want to know how you got on, so if you ran a marathon, for example, let them know your finishing time. Or, if for some reason the event didn’t go exactly as planned, let them know why.
Similarly, the more photos and videos you upload, the better. You never know, you might even elicit some extra donations.
Also, if someone stumbles upon your JustGiving page after the event, they might be less inclined to makje a retrospective donation if the page looks unfinished.
Use a smartphone to live-update your sponsors
It used to be the case that sponsors would have to wait for their fundraiser to return from whichever far flung corner of the country/planet they were running/cycling/swimming in before getting an update on how it went. Not any more.
With the advent of “smartphones” - that is, mobile phones with PC-like functionality and Internet access - you can now update your sponsors live with photos, your Twitter/Facebook status and even your GPS location!
The benefits of this are twofold. First, it makes the sponsorship process more interactive and therefore more interesting for your sponsors, which can lead to extra donations. Second, it allows your supporters to reply with messages of encouragement when you need them most, while you’re actually taking part in the event!
Include your JustGiving link in your e-mail signature
Liz Baxter wrote to say include your JustGiving link in your e-mail signature along with a short message about what you’re doing.
For example, Liz is trekking the Inca Trail in South America to raise money for Kent Kids Miles of Smiles, which provides both residential and respite care for sick and disabled young people from Kent. So Liz’s message could read:
I’m trekking the Inca Trail in aid of Kent Kids Miles of Smiles. Sponsor me here: www.justgiving.com/liz-baxter
The message needn’t be any longer than that. There’s just enough information to pique people’s interest and get them to click on your link where they can read more.
Design a fundraising T-shirt
Yesterday we asked you to e-mail us your top fundraising tips. First out of the gate was Graham Sanders with a classic: design a fundraising T-shirt.
With more and more T-shirt design websites like teepay.com popping up all the time, it’s never been easier to design your own T-shirt, and the fundraising benefits are manifold. A T-shirt is a great way to announce your presence at an event, and if there’s a group of you taking part, T-shirts become a uniform. You can even sell your T-shirts and give the profits to your charity.*
During Movember (the month formerly known as November) Graham will be growing a moustache in aid of The Prostate Cancer Charity and has designed this snazzy T-shirt to compliment his efforts. You can view Graham’s JustGiving page and sposnor him here, and you can chart Graham’s progress on the Huw David Design blog. As you can see from this photo, it’s still early days!
Don’t forget to keep sending your tips to featured@justgiving.com.
*Unfortunately, we cannot claim Gift Aid on any T-shirts sold through your JustGiving page. If you do decide to give away T-shirts in exchange for a donation, please make sure you donors un-check the ‘I’m not getting a ticket, product or service in return for my donation’ box on the donation page.
Send us your tip
Over the past few months we’ve provided you with a wealth of fundraising tips on the Runner’s blog, but it’s not all just giving at, er, JustGiving. We want you to give something back. So send us your top fundraising tip and in exchange, we’ll feature your JustGiving page on the blog. Can’t say fairer than that. All you have to do is send your tip to featured@justgiving.com with ‘Tip of the day’ in the subject field.
Talk to your charity
It may seem like an obvious point to make, but when you’re looking for fundraising ideas, why not talk to your chosen charity? It can be easy to select a good cause from afar and just get on with it, but a quick phone call or e-mail might reveal something you haven’t thought of, and charities are usually only too happy to help.
