How to help your crowdfunding supporters succeed

Make sure they know your organisation well

If your supporters don’t know the ‘why’ of your fundraising efforts, it will be difficult for them to communicate their own ‘why’ with others. You can support them by hosting information evenings as part of your recruitment, or giving them a handy ‘fact sheet’ of who your organisation is, and what project or aspect or your organisation the crowdfunder will be supporting. Make sure you have a clear mission statement and keep it to one sentence.

Help them set a goal

It’s important for your supporters to know how much they’re aiming to fundraise so that they can set their own fundraising strategy. Some supporters may be capable of raising $100, others $10,000. Spend time with them to go through their network to try and figure out how much they should be able to raise by asking different people in their lives.

Create template communications

Communication is key, not just between you and your supporters, but also between them and their potential donors. Not everyone is a confident communicator, however, so it’s important to provide them with a good foundation to build on. Create a fundraising toolkit for your fundraisers, which should include multiple examples of a good fundraising email, Facebook post, or text message. You should include all the key points of your campaign, such as what your organisation is fundraising for and why, what your target is, and a little about your organisation’s mission statement.

Provide photos and graphics

Having eye-catching photos and graphics can help boost the number of people reading your fundraisers’ posts and emails, so send through at least two or three images which they can use throughout their fundraising. These can be simple like a campaign or organisation logo, or a photo of your project in action, or perhaps something a little more complex like an infographic. (If you don’t have much experience designing images, Canva has great templates and colour palettes to help you get started.)

Post from your organisation’s Facebook page

Time-poor fundraisers may struggle to get enough posts out about their fundraising, or your crowdfunding campaign. If you posts regularly from your own organisations page, you make your fundraisers’ lives a lot easier, because they can then share your post directly. (If you’re concerned they won’t see it, just drop them an email or a message with a link to the post and ask that they share it.)

Create a community

By ensuring your supporters feel as though they’re part of your organisation, they’re more likely to commit to their fundraising. Create a sense of shared ownership and celebration by:

• Organising a meet-up
  If you’re running a campaign with a few (or more) supporters, setting up team spirit and comradery will mean individuals are more likely to successfully fundraise. An easy way to get started is by hosting a pre-campaign meetup for anyone planning on fundraising or supporting your crowdfunder. This also allows you to touch base with your fundraisers, ensure that they’ve created a fundraising page online, and reiterate the fundraising strategy for the campaign, including any events or stunts which may be organised.
• Creating a space for discussion
  Social media has made online communities much easier to form. Rather than needing a Forum, you can invite all of your fundraisers to a Facebook group, where they can share ideas that have worked, encourage each other when things aren’t going to plan, and celebrate when they are.

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