Online fundraising has become increasingly popular these days as those who run charities, other nonprofit businesses, or who have a project that needs a quick boost realize that investors are easier to reach online than through almost any other method. Online fundraising has replaced other funding methods for a cause and is not expected to be paid back, such as direct mail and in-person solicitations.
Our services include help with online fundraising, but we wanted to provide this information first.
Online fundraising challenges
Most types of online fundraising do, in fact, fall into the crowdfunding category, whether for charity, a band, other arts, or an event. Online fundraising can be a very successful way to raise meaningful money, but there are pitfalls or at least cautions you should know about. For example:
Online Fundraising and Cautious Investors
Remember that people may be cautious and even skeptical when they read an online fundraising pitch. They likely do not know you in person and cannot be sure that you are truly planning to use their money for the purpose you state. Using a reputable personal fundraising website is a good start, and providing multimedia to help people really see the project will help. There is nothing like before and after pictures or a video of what you used the money for so far to gain people’s trust.
Proper Preparation for Online Fundraising
Ensure you have a well-planned project before posting your online fundraising pitch. This will not only help you attract the money you need, but it will also ensure that you will definitely spend it. It is very difficult to give money back that was collected from the crowd, and of course, it will be hard for you to raise money again if you build an online reputation of not being trustworthy.
Realistic Expectations
Be reasonable in both your target and your expectations. Of course, your own feelings about your project or purpose are very strong, but that is the same for your “competition” in the online fundraising sphere. Browse through other pitches before you post your own, and you’ll see that donors have a lot of very compelling choices. This may motivate you to sharpen your pitch, but it should also humble you regarding your goals and expectations.
Online fundraising success
Once you have refined your pitch, set reasonable expectations, and made things look and feel compelling, the next step toward online fundraising success. Is choosing the best crowdfunding website for your project or purpose. Look for a website that has similar types of pitches as yours and seems to produce success. While choosing a site where you will have the most or at least a lot of competition may seem strange, you are more likely to get funded this way since others with similar needs have likely done their homework. The site must be promising, and investors are more likely to go to the top sites to make their choices.
Continue to Refine Your Pitch
So now you have chosen your online fundraising site and posted your pitch. The next step – and one that many people do not do a good job following through with – is to stay in touch and continually refine your site and make sure your potential investors are seeing your progress. Many investors do not jump in immediately but rather follow a project for a while to see how much work is going into it. And, of course, if you get any questions, answer them right away and with a lot of thought.
Conclusions and Our Services
This is all general information, and we will update this topic often, but what you have here is good general advice that we hope gets you started toward online fundraising success!
We can help you make connections and would be happy to talk to you about your online fundraising needs and your pitch.
