Setting Up a Fundraising Page
Using a fundraising platform like JustGiving or Facebook Fundraising is a quick and easy way to collect your sponsorship and share your story. Whether you’re running a marathon, shaving your head, or celebrating an event like a birthday or christening, these pages will take the hassle off your hands and get the donations straight to CLAPA.
These platforms are quick, easy and free. You can set up and share a fundraising page in minutes, and with our helpful tips, that sponsorship money will soon come pouring in.
Making the most of online fundraising
Set a target
Pages with a fundraising target raise 46% more! If anyone’s on the fence about supporting you, they’re more likely to donate if they’ll get to help move a progress bar just a little closer to your target.
Help your donors feel like they’re a part of something by setting a target and celebrating every milestone.
Tell a story
The most important part of creating a good fundraising page is explaining to people why you’re raising money in the first place, and nothing does this quite as well as a personal story and some eye-catching photos.
You don’t have to be a world-class author to bring your story to life, you just need to write from the heart. Talk about your experiences with cleft lip and palate, how this affected you, and how CLAPA has helped you and others. Think about what inspired you to fundraise in the first place – what are you hoping to achieve? What kind of difference could it make?
Make it as personal as you’re comfortable with, and share photos if you can.
Our ‘Your Stories‘ page has some tips on how to do this, as well as some questions and prompts to get you going. You might also like to read over some other fundraising stories to see what’s inspired others like you. Once you start writing, you’ll be amazed at what comes out!
Top Tip: If you’re not so comfortable with writing, why not share a video instead? Jot down a couple of things to talk about, find a good spot to record, and tell everyone why they should support your fundraiser.
Share it far and wide
Post it, tweet it, WhatsApp it, pop it on your company’s intranet, just get your page link in front of as many eyes as you can! JustGiving has some great tips to help you promote your fundraising.
The people you share it with might not be too interested in the specifics of CLAPA’s work, but they will be interested in your connection to cleft, your journey, and your dedication to fundraising. Take a few good lines from your story to create a short but compelling post that will get people interested enough to click, and let your full story do the rest.
Top tip: If you’re on LinkedIn, post it there to round out your profile and maybe even make connections with people in your network who are also affected by cleft.
Add updates
Keep your page fresh by sharing updates on your training, or your progress if it’s a long-term challenge. Include screenshots from your training or step-counting app if you’re using one.
If your challenge is something you’re training for like a run, a few out-of-breath photos after your training will do wonders to get people invested in your fundraising. If you’d like to get a CLAPA t-shirt or running vest to use in these photos, just ask.
You can also post messages to thank your donors for their support and share how excited you are to be inching closer to your fundraising total!
Top tip: if you’re handy with a camera phone, you can live stream updates directly to your page. This could be you mid-run, or a spontaneous announcement about reaching a fundraising milestone, getting your CLAPA vest delivered, whatever you’re excited to talk about.
Celebrate!
Once you’re done, celebrate every penny that was donated to your fundraiser. Make a big, exciting announcement at the end of your challenge or fundraiser to shout about how happy you are with your achievement, and how you’re delighted to have raised what you did. Not only will this make your donors feel proud of supporting you, but it’ll also make others more likely to support you in the future if you have any other plans.
Top tip: 20% of donations come in after an event has finished, so keep your fundraising page open while you celebrate to make sure everyone gets the chance to support you.
Contact
Get in touch at [email protected] if you need any help along the way – we’ll be happy to help!