Michael MacLennan

If you’re planning charity fundraising through an event – whether it be pushing your body to the limit or challenging yourself in other ways – then you’re doing an excellent thing.

The thing is, so are millions of others, so why should anyone specifically donate to your efforts?

This is the question that haunts any of us who have pledged to fundraise for a good cause this summertime. More and more are signing up to events fundraising for reasons that can be very close to their heart, and this means that there is a wealth of choice. It can be easy for people to tire of seemingly seeing all their friends and family asking for donations, then feeling less compelled to cough up some cash.

For that reason it is important to think about how you present your fundraising efforts online. As a charity trustee and former charity Head of Digital, I have compiled some tips for once you have set up your fundraising page through an online platform. (If you’re unsure which of those to choose from, find some advice here.)

I’m using these for my own fundraiser – I am running the London Marathon for water charity Just a Drop – but it felt mean not to share. Contrary to some more cynical thinking, I don’t believe we’re all competing for the same pot of money – potential donors are unlikely to have a set amount that they will donate to fundraisers; instead they are much more likely to give each somebody makes a compelling enough case.

And how do you do that? Well, in no particular order:

• Find a strong, emotive core message: The audience is scrolling through hundreds of Tweets, so it’s always helpful to ask the question of why your post is the one that’s going to make them stop and think. If you can create that curiosity, then you are a crucial step closer to them taking an action
• Show don’t tell: Where possible use photos, videos, and other visual content to tell stories of what fundraising will help achieved – and has helped achieve if you have raised money for the same cause before – so that the audience knows where their money will go
• Keep telling the story: Many people won’t donate from a single post, but from seeing a story told through multiple posts. Always think about who the followers are, and tell them something simple that will be of interest to them, then putting link at end to drive to donation
  • From a JustGiving report on fundraising on social media: “Using social channels to thank your supporters is a great way to make a public acknowledgement of how their donation has helped you make a difference. For example, pictures or videos that show the impact of the funded project, or a blog post that explains how funds raised from a marathon will be used, are both excellent and transparent ways to thank donors and fundraisers. This is crucial, as research has shown that 63% of individual donors want to know where the money they’ve given has been spent.”
• Provide a clear call to action, but justify its presence first: Since social media fosters limited attention, make sure you have a call to action at the end – driving the audience to the location where they can donate – which is clear and simple. However, it must also feel earned from what precedes it. You need to earn them taking that next step
• Build an engaged audience: Thank those who share posts or who are otherwise supportive (such as commenting). Doing so can make them feel a proactive part of the campaign
• Create a content calendar: Plot out the weeks leading up to the event. Are there any crucial dates? It’s helpful to think about how the story can be told over this period, and any ideas jotted down. It doesn’t need to be in huge detail, but creating a rough calendar can help provide some structure as well as some inspiration for what to post about.
• Celebrate milestones: set some milestones on way to achieving main target, and post when these are reached, thanking those who have donated and encouraging those who haven’t already to do so
• Build a team dynamic: If taking part with a team whose individuals have their own social channels, can help to share and engage with their own posts about the challenge. Tag them in your own posts to build that fun feeling that being in a group brings
• If on Twitter, make use of hashtags: #GivingTuesday and #CharityTuesday is popular and usually trends weekly on Twitter, so think about content to post on this day which is aimed at a broad general audience.
• Have a catchy URL, use it on EVERY post: Would use something like Bitly – https://bitly.com/ – to create a short and more memorable URL which can be attached to each post, and mentioned in any video content

Hopefully some of those help. If there is anything else you think would be useful for others, please let me know and I’ll look to include. Thanks and best of luck!