Fundraise

Five Steps to Effective Fundraising

FIRST STEP: Plan your strategy for personal success
 
MAKE IT PERSONAL. Think about why the Walk is important to YOU. Consider how you will use that to persuade prospective donors or team members.
 
SET A PERSONAL FUNDRAISING GOAL.  If you walked last year, increase your personal fundraising goal by 25%. It’s also powerful to LEAD BY EXAMPLE. Donate a small sum to your own fundraising to show your friends and family how serious you are about this cause.
 
SECOND STEP: Get noticed
 
DECORATE your personal donation page with pictures, quotations, facts, personal motivations or whatever you think will inspire people to donate and encourage them to ask their friends to do the same. Include a bit about who you are, where you come from, and, of course, why you have decided to join the Walk.
 
DRAFT AN EMAIL asking for support. You can write about why you walk and how little it takes to make a difference (see How small steps lead to BIG results for some great information). You can also use one of our sample
emails attached to this Toolkit. Send emails to everyone you know. Have a family member that hasn’t caught up to the internet age? Print it and mail it the old-fashioned or give them a call.
 
INCLUDE A LINK to your personal page in every email and letter that you send. Be sure to post it frequently on your social media accounts as well. (Check out the Social Media Tips for more info.) The more people who know, the more people will donate! You’ll be surprised at the people that choose to support you.
 
THIRD STEP: Recruit or join a team
 
SET A TEAM MEMBER GOAL. Get input from your friends before setting the number and make it realistic. You can always increase the goal if you are getting close. If people can’t make it to the walk, convince them to become a
Virtual Walker instead! They will still count towards your team.
 
If you had a team last year CONTACT each member, and ask them to join you again and to increase their personal goal just as you did.
 
If you did not have a team last year, MAKE A LIST of everyone you know who may want to join your team. Send a great letter or email telling them about the Walk and Festival and ASK them to join you.
 
FOURTH STEP: Make it fun
 
Get creative!  CHALLENGE your team members to help make your team the largest, or the highest money raiser, or the team with the most people with curly hair or blue eyes.
 
HOST a party to get your team excited. If you meet or exceed your goal before the Walk, think about having a “Goal-changing Party” or something else special to mark your success.
 
HELP your team be successful. SEND EMAILS reminding them of the Team goal and help them with fundraising hints like those in the Toolkit.
 
FIFTH STEP: Stay in the spotlight
 
STAY ORGANIZED. Track your donations, thank donors and new team members, and let everyone know about your team’s progress. They might be encouraged to help you meet certain goals!
 
KEEP YOUR PAGE UPDATED. Donors love to hear stories about your passion for the cause, your fundraising tips and triumphs, and even your training regimen! Post these consistently to your personal fundraising page and on social media.
 
REMIND your supporters via phone, email, or social media to tell their own networks about the Walk so they can join your team or send donations. Don’t be afraid to BE PERSISTENT! Sometimes that extra push is all someone needs to take action.
 
ATTEND the Walk and have fun at the Festival. Remember to THANK your team members, supporters and donors again when it is all over and REMIND them that we will do it again next year!
 

This info and more tips can be found in the Fundraising Toolkit (PDF).