Top 5 Tips on Creating the Best Crowdfunding Campaign for your NGO
Crowdfunding?is a means of raising funds through?crowdsourcing, in this case, on the internet. The process is simple compared to traditional offline fundraising and uses the power of the internet to increase visibility and establish trustworthy relationships with donors. Platforms like Wishwa.org make it easy for NGOs to create their fundraiser pages in a few basic steps and go live in a matter of minutes. Once launched, donors from around the world can conveniently browse your fundraiser page and make a contribution almost instantly.?
“Crowdfunding has helped me save valuable time, money, and energy in the fundraising process so that I can spend more time on the real mission at hand. I wish I knew about this sooner!” - Mr. Madhu Srivastava
Although setting up a fundraiser with?Wishwa.org?is fairly intuitive, we have a?few tips and tricks to help you make one that is truly successful.?
Here are our top 5 tips for building the best NGO crowdfunding campaign -?
1.Plan your campaign.
Planning is essential to a good campaign. It helps you define your goals and work strategically and effectively towards an end result. In this stage, we recommend?defining a timeline, setting a realistic financial goal, and creating a convincing story.?
Timeline?- You will need to choose the appropriate time and duration of your campaign. Launching the campaign before your organisation has a working website, for example, might make it harder for donors to believe in your mission. Additionally, you will need to set a realistic duration for your campaign, so that all the fundraising efforts can operate within a timeline, and so that your resources are not spread thin across an undefined period of time. This can also involve launching the campaign strategically around a time that is thematic to the cause. For example, if your campaign involves collective funds for a Women’s Rights organisation, you can choose to launch it around Women’s Day. Being thematic helps donors create stronger mental associations so the next time they see a post saying ‘Happy Women’s Day!,’ they may recall your campaign.
Financial Goal?- This is a critical feature of a successful fundraiser, and will need to be thoroughly scrutinised before launching. A donor who is not familiar with your mission will want to understand exactly where their money is going. It helps to break down all the costs involved in your project, and give a thorough explanation as to which expenses their donation will benefit. Infographics are a creative and engaging way to go about doing this. Visit?this guide?to learn how to create a comprehensive and attractive funds allocation sheet.?
Convincing Story?- This is arguably the most important feature of a good fundraiser. People connect with emotion, and you want your donors to be moved enough to choose your fundraiser among all the rest to donate their money. How can you convey your message in a way that makes a complete stranger feel attached to it? You might achieve this by writing out the story of one person or a group of people, who are affected by the cause. Add photos, real quotations from their experience, and if possible, a short video that helps you connect with the people/cause that will be receiving the donation.?Click here?to read more about how you can create a convincing story for your next fundraiser.
2. Define and attract your donor network.
A successful crowdfunding campaign focuses on gaining visibility with the right donors. These are the people who will resonate with your cause the most, and who can understand your mission. A good exercise in figuring out who they are is to create a persona of the ideal donor and imagine where they spend their time. Are they on Linkedin? Are they at a café? Are they chatting on Whatsapp groups? Defining this will help give your campaign direction as to where to concentrate your marketing and promotional efforts.?
If you are looking for donations from large organisations, it helps to make strong relationships with those at the top. If you are able to get an in-person meeting, you can thoroughly explain your NGO’s mission and vision, otherwise, consider connecting with them on Linkedin or through e-mail.
Another good exercise is to identify groups of people who have established communities where your campaign may be successful. For example, a fundraiser for Blue Cross India might gain more attention successfully if promoted on a Facebook group concerning Pet Adoptions in India. Ask around your communities, and identify a few groups online or offline, where you can share the details of your campaign.
3. Create communication materials.
A good campaign has good online and offline marketing materials to define the theme and purpose of its mission, as well as attract potential donors.?
At Wishwa, we take care of all basic marketing and will launch your campaign on all our social media platforms to increase YOUR visibility, engagement and donations.
This means you can relax a little, and focus on what really matters: your cause.
Although our?in-house designers?take care of your basic marketing, it is helpful to define the narrative of your campaign beforehand, so all stakeholders have a clear idea. We also recommend creating an additional mix of media for your fundraisers including -
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When writing content for your campaign, try to focus on what their donation could mean for those in need, and also what their donation could mean for THEM. What is the incentive to donate here?
Your campaign should include graphics to share on social media, whether that be Facebook, Linkedin, Whatsapp or wherever else your target donors may be. It is important to design your materials and messaging in a way that conveys the urgency of your mission, as well as be emotionally appealing so as to connect with people sincerely. You might also want to prepare specialised marketing materials to target each of your various donor personas (see 2nd bullet point!)?
For offline materials, you might consider posters or brochures you can drop door-to-door, flyers to hang up in your community centres or even a short message to shout out on your local radio or news channels! Offline marketing efforts, however, can often be time-consuming and expensive, which is why free crowdfunding platforms like Wishwa.org exist to help NGOs like yours reach your goals!?
4. Launch your campaign on a crowdfunding site.
This step is the easiest part. Just follow our handy guide HERE.
5. Promote your campaign.
Wishwa’s fundraising platform makes it super simple to start your promotions by creating a landing page and all basic marketing materials to get your campaign off the ground.?CLICK HERE?to see our current fundraisers to get a better idea.?
Once your landing page is live, you can now redirect traffic to your campaign! In steps 1, 2 and 3, you will have prepared a plan including a timeline, marketing materials and a financial goal. Now it’s time to put that plan into action.?
Send emails, messages, and reminders and be sure to make use of your favourite social media’s newest features.?
Post every day!?Online, content disappears in a matter of seconds. Sometimes, the first time people see a post is not enough to get them to click on it. Post often and make it count! Keep your messaging short and sweet, and use eye-catching images, colours and headlines to attract potential donors or at least get people curious about your campaign! You can also consider paid social media ad campaigns, budget permitting.
Make connections!?Especially if you are looking for donations from organisations. It may seem simple enough to walk in, make your pitch and walk out with a cheque, but in reality, it helps to create strong relationships with prominent people in these organisations beforehand.
Thank your donors.?Okay, people are donating now. Make sure to thank them! Their time and money are getting your NGO closer to its goals.?
Providing a gift or a reward for donors is a great way to do this. For instance, for every donation above Rs.10,000, you could send the donor a custom T-shirt or stationery set. Adding personal touches like gifts will help donors remember your NGO and their contribution (it can also be free promotion!)?
Next, be sure to send out custom ‘thank you’ emails using the donor's name and explaining how much their contribution means to your mission. Finally, give them an option to stay in touch, and sign the message with the name of someone in your organisation (preferably the founder!) Luckily, Wishwa.org already takes care of this part. Click?HERE?to read more fundraiser FAQs.
There you have it! The top 5 tips for building the best NGO crowdfunding campaign!