Fundraising Tips to improve your effectiveness

If you’re an individual raising money for a cause that you care about or a nonprofit organization finding ways to supply and motivate your supporters to raise money by the virtue of your fundraising event, these tips will provide you just what you need.

Here are some simple fundraising tips to improve your effectiveness:

1. Make a List

Make a list of friends, family, co-workers, work out buddies, etc i.e. all the potential donors.

Think creatively here. Do you have neighbors, sports club members, doctors, etc. that might support you? Remember, it doesn’t hurt to ask so make the biggest list you can by considering everyone you can think of!

2. Set a Fundraising Goal 

Make sure to set a goal because having something to aim for always helps. And 9 times out of 10 you’ll turn out doing better than you thought so aim high!

Most supporters set their personal fundraising goals very high to motivate themselves and their donors (i.e. friends and family). Usually, you set your goal when you start but remember, you can always go back and enhance your goal as you start to see the fundraising dollars come in.

Remember, you’re raising money for a reason you care about. Inspire yourself to raise more than you ever thought you could.

3. Send Hand Written Letters First, Not Emails

Emails are faster and can provide instant outcomes, but good old-fashioned handwritten letters exhibit a personal touch. Give thought to making your initial requests via handwritten letters. If possible deliver it personally!

Your friends will never throw out your handwritten mail letters before they open and read them, but even friends with the best motives can easily lose or forget your email in an overcrowded “inbox.” You can use emails as a follow-up to those who haven’t responded to your letter.

4. Remember Your Inspiration

Always remember that There’s a reason why you are supporting this cause and show that same energy to your fundraising efforts.

Try including a personal message about why you’re supporting the cause as you go about setting your fundraising goal and sending out personal appeals to your friends and family and how the fundraising efforts are important to you. The more personal you will make it the better.

5. Use Online Fundraising Tools

Using an online tool will help you handle your fundraising efforts. For eg, Blackbaud’s Everydayhero provides you the ability to build your own complete fundraising page with the ability to set your fundraising goal, send email appeals, write a personal message, and track progress.

This is an amazing resource, not just for your donors, but also for you as you can keep records of your fundraising campaign. You should invite all your contacts to visit your personal web page.