What you need to know
First of all, if you’re looking to enter the world of fundraising then well done you! You’ll be making a difference to a charity, raising awareness for it and giving your time and effort to good causes. One of the important things to remember is that you don’t have to ‘go big’ to make an impact. Fundraising is effective on any scale and even if you don’t make much money, the fact that you’re raising awareness and the visibility of a charity can be equally as valuable. There are a few things that you’ll need to consider before you start fundraising to make it a worthwhile activity; here are a few handy hints.
Ideas
Check out our list of fundraising ideas here – it contains over 80 great fundraising ideas for all types of causes
Knowledge
It’s essential that you do a bit of research around the charity you’re fundraising for or if you’re a part of the charity, know the key facts. Before people part with their money, they will want to know a general overview of the charity and what it is aiming to achieve. You need to be able to answer the questions that people will have for you and communicate why the charity you’re fundraising for really makes a difference. People are inundated with charity requests, so building confidence in your charity and standing out are important.
Timescale
Before you start fundraising, you need to be realistic with your goals and the timescale you’re giving yourself to raise money and awareness in. Having a more focused campaign within a short period of time can be more beneficial than a long-term campaign with less focussed resources.
Audience
Try to decipher the best ways to fundraise. Look at the charity you’re trying to raise money and awareness for and do some research around who is most likely to respond to fundraising. Certain issues will strike a chord with specific demographics, that’s not to say you only need to appeal to them, but using particular fundraising strategies that will work best with different demographics is worth looking at.
Platforms
Fundraising isn’t just about physical presence and asking someone for donations on the street or a cold calling campaign, you can fundraise in many other different ways. Online fundraising is a way of creating more far reaching awareness for a cause and you can spread your message in fun and constructive ways.
Partners
There are lots of ways that the charity you’re fundraising for can partner up with other platforms in order to increase donations. Here at TheGivingMachine, we team up with thousands of online retailers and charities, so that your charity can benefit from free online donations from the public. It works by allowing people to sign up and turn a small percentage of their purchase total, from a participating retailer, into a free donation towards their chosen charity. If someone picks your charity to donate to then you’ll benefit every time they make a purchase through a chosen retailer online. It’s a way of providing long-term revenue and it’s at no extra cost to the person making the donation.
