Toolkits For Your Fundraisers

If only that were true. Many professional fundraisers learned as they went. Maybe there were a few classes involved, a mentor if you were fortunate, but most cite very little “formal” training. When they remember that first donor call... well... it can give us all flashbacks! That feeling of insecurity, excitement, or questioning how to bring up the request you have in mind.... After all, when is the right time to ask for money?

I bet a lot of your fundraisers feel like that- Thrilled to do the work but not completely comfortable putting themselves out there, making the ask. Hoping they don’t go through all this effort and only raise $25. It’s discouraging and disheartening to not hit your goal, especially when it is publicly visible. Fundraiser page success is crucial because their fundraising experience is a reflection of their supporter experience. If they feel appreciated and aided when they fundraise for you, they will remember it, especially the next time you ask for their participation.

As you may know, having passion is not enough sometimes. They may also need a little hand holding. That is where toolkits come in! These are organization-branded guides that provide the instruction and guidance for insecure advocates. They help keep your events on brand and your messaging consistent.

Available Toolkits

• DIY Fundraising Toolkit
• Team Captain’s Toolkit
• Page Owner’s Fundraising Toolkit
• Repurpose our Fundraising Tips
• Toolkit for Events
• Toolkit for General Campaigns

The best toolkits have at least one or all of these components:

1. Instructions to create a page
2. Recommendations for personalizing the page’s content
3. Preferred or on-brand images and logos
4. Sample copy for social media posts, emails, or calls to action
5. Fundraising tips
6. Participation instructions (especially if requesting fundraisers track fitness with Strava, live stream video, join teams, etc)
7. A list-generating exercise for identifying who to solicit money from

Toolkits can (and should) be tailored for each initiative (event-based vs. DIY), participation type (team captain vs. page owner), user experience (repeat fundraiser vs. first timer), or goal (tools to help you raise your first $50). Often times, once you create one, you can copy and paste to easily produce others.

Don't Forget:

• Share toolkits with participants for coaching and instruction via email.
• Save as a PDF. Add a link to your toolkit on your campaign page or upload images that provide relevant instructions.
• Create a Facebook group for your fundraisers. You can feature 1 tip per day to coach them to continued success while building community.
• Feature Rockstar fundraisers, first-timers, or seasoned pros on your newsletter, Facebook group or event page.
• Help first-time fundraisers set an appropriate goal. Then, when they smash it, help them know they can edit the target and continue fundraising.
• Set a little friendly competition.
• Encourage self-donations.
• Send some swag. You can either associate it with fundraising levels (like $75 raised gets you a free T-Shirt) or participation type (repeat fundraisers get a coffee gift card).
• Recruit your most successful fundraisers; ask them to record a quick video and share how they ask for donations, thank their donors, motivate the community, etc.
• When launching your campaign, identify your previous fundraisers and ask them to participate. You can use text like: Good news <first name>! We’ve launched our <crowdfunding> efforts early this year and we want you to be the first to know! Our records show you supported these efforts last year- thank you! Will you help make this year a success by donating early? We suggest a gift of <last years gift x2> to help us reach our goal. Your donation will ______.

Create your own fundraising toolkit (or borrow one of ours) to help coach your supporters to increased page success! Consider pulling your favorite parts or instructions of these various guides together in a document. Then, add your organization’s branding and share with your page owners.

Need another pair of eyes to review your toolkit? Just comment on the post below and I would be happy to take a look!