Tips and Tricks for Fundraising with the Delaware Charity Challenge
Charles Vincent
One recurring question that has come up as the initial promotions for the Delaware Charity Challenge has started is: "How can my team raise money once we're in the Delaware Charity Challenge." There are many ways, and so we wanted to provide a short reference as to some of the more basic ones that can be accomplished by using your teams' fundraising page on CrowdRise. So here are two steps and seven tips for starting a fundraiser and raising money for your cause using CrowdRise.
STEP 1: CHOOSE A TEAM AND CREATE YOUR CHARITABLE LIFE PROFILE PAGE. Sign up on CrowdRise to create your own Profile. Your Profile Page is meant to show everything you're doing to give back. It's basically a summary of your Charitable Life. You can upload photos, videos and stories to make your page super compelling. From your Profile Page, you can start or join as many Fundraising pages as you want.
STEP 2: SHARE YOUR FUNDRAISER. Share your Fundraiser with all your friends by selecting the ASK FOR DONATIONS button and then share your page via email, Facebook, the Facebook Messenger Service, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Ask everyone you know to donate to the cause you picked and be sure to tell them about CrowdRise's Best Promos Ever so they can see the cool stuff they can win if they donate to your cause.
TIP 1: SET A GOAL: Know how much money you want to raise. Telling people about your goal makes it easier for your friends to know how much to donate. An ambitious target will normally results in higher donations. We are encouraging teams to set a goal of $5,000 to $10,000 to raise for their charity.
TIP 2: START EARLY: The sooner you start your efforts, the quicker you will reach your target goal. The fundraising challenge will start on January 1, 2015 and run until May 1, 2015, so the earlier your team is set up, the better. Remember, the top three charities that collectively raise the most money will win part of the Prize Pool.
TIP 3: KNOW HOW THE MONEY WILL BE USED: Be prepared to answer questions about where the money is going and who will benefit. Try to give specific answer. They will meet with a more generous response than a vague indication. The charities are a good source for the answers to this question if you are picking one you are not as familiar with.
TIP 4: GET YOUR FAMILY INVOLVED: You've sent out your Crowdrise link on Facebook and Twitter. Increase your network by asking your family directly to do the same on your behalf. Ask them to donate first since no one likes to be the first person to donate. Most people will donate if they see that others have done so first. Remember, the other teams in the Delaware Charity Challenge are doing the same thing, and every team is competing to raise the most money for their cause.
TIP 5: STRESS THE UNIQUE NATURE OF THE DELAWARE CHARITY CHALLENGE: The Delaware Charity Challenge is a new event, and running in the 5K or the Adventure Challenge relay is easier said than done. Your team is trying to put together it's collective best times and win, or at the very least, join forces to raise money for a good cause and run for fun. If you have are a seasoned runner (and even if you are not), you could set a time-goal that you will train to achieve. If you're feeling really brave you can say that you will double all donations if you don't meet that time goal! This depends upon the size of your bank account and how confident you are!
TIP 6: TELL THEM IT'S TAX DEDUCTIBLE: This is what you say "Your donation to a US-Based 501(c)3 charitable organization through CrowdRise is 100% tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Network for Good provides an electronic receipt at the time of the donation. The receipt you get via email shortly after you complete your donations meets all IRS requirements as a record of donation. If you are asked to provide a paper receipt for IRS purposes, please print out a copy of your email receipt or send a request for a duplicate receipt to crowdrise@networkforgood.org. Be sure to include your first and last name and the email address you used to make the donation and you'll get a copy of your donation receipt."
TIP 7: KNOW HOW THE CHARITY GETS THEIR MONEY: Your organization can choose to receive its donations through Network for Good or WePay, both best-in-class payment processors. In either case, CrowdRise (and the Delaware Charity Challenge) doesn't touch the cash. This is really important and a key benefit to the CrowdRise system and why Delaware Charity Challenge is using CrowdRise. Additionally, CrowdRise is committed to transparency and compliance (as is Innovincent and the Delaware Charity Challenge) and that's one of the main reasons why the biggest non-profits and events in the world use CrowdRise.
Donors will make donations to your charity of choice by using the Network for Good secure credit card processing service. Charities will receive their payments less the Transaction Fee in 30 days or less.
Other ideas or suggestions? Feel free to contact us and we'll add them to a future post.
Large portions of the ideas and content in this post have been taken from CrowdRise's article, 11 Fundraising Ideas That Really Work and also from The Hapalua's Tips and Tricks for Fundraising page.