We’re not kidding. Those stats are real. And, they’re all because organizers keep their supporters updated. How? We’ve got a really amazing tool called the campaign update tool. You can access it straight from your Campaign Manager and you can easily create a real-time update that is instantly sent to your donor base. It helps you to raise more money and keeps your supporters informed and engaged. Some quick instructions on how to post an update with our Campaign Update Tool...
A few more quick notes...
Back Getting press for your Challenge campaign can sometimes seem daunting, but the truth is, local press wants really good local stories. By participating in a Challenge, you’re able to shine a light on your cause while also showcasing the fun Challenge model in a way that resonates to a new group of supporters. Here are some tips and be sure to look for the pre-built press release template in this Toolkit under the Resources section…
Back A widget is a snippet of code that you can embed on your own website to create a direct donation link to your Challenge campaign without your donors even needing to leave your website. It makes it seamless for potential donors on your own site to directly give to your Challenge campaign. And, it’s incredibly easy to set up.
If you're interested in obtaining your widget code, please Contact Us after the Challenge launches and we'll send it over as soon as possible. Once you have the code, copy and paste that into your website html. If you don't know how to do that, just send the code to your web person and they'll know what to do with it. Back We cannot stress enough how important it is to thank your donors and supporters as fast as possible after they donate. The more appreciated they feel, the more likely they are to give again. And again. In fact, we’ve found that first time donors who get a thank you within 48 hours are four times more likely to give a second time.
You can use our prompted thank you tool that you’ll receive when someone makes a donation. Or, you can get more personal and write a direct email. You could even follow either of those tactics up with a handwritten thank you note. But the real message here is make it fast. Back Yeah, you read that right. We have case study upon case study where organizations just like yours had a large donation and instead of just putting that bad boy in as an individual donation, they actually used it as leverage to create even more donation volume. More on those case studies in a minute...but first, let's do a little word problem. Bob is your best donor. He hears about the Challenge and reaches out to let you know he wants to give your organization a $10,000 donation. Awesome. Here's the thing though...if, instead of him just doing a direct donation to your page, you ask Bob if you can use his donation as a match, you now have something to message about to your community that brings a sense of urgency and a tangible goal to shoot for. Your donors will want to help you hit that goal to unlock the match and therefore will give..a lot. So now, you're asking your supporters to give and once you raise $10,000, the $10,000 match will get released. Kind of like magic, your awesome $10k gift turned into a $20k really awesome gift. Thanks Bob. You've got a match, now what? Timing - Take a look at the Challenge calendar and decide when this match will work the hardest for the best return. Do you want to win a big Bonus Challenge? Do you want to try to jump from 4th to 3rd late in the game? Do you want to take advantage of an event you have planned during the Challenge? Plan it carefully and thoughtfully to maximize its impact and consider limiting your matching campaign to just a few days to capture the excitement. Spread the word - As soon as you've planned the dates of your matching campaign, make sure you're all set to go with multiple emails, social posts, calls, and newsletter inclusions to spread the word that you want as many donations as possible to reach your match goal. Let them know the deadline and keep the urgency going throughout the entire timeframe. Tangible Storytelling - Use your match to tell your story. Connect the match dollar total to a tangible use of the money. Let them know what this could mean to your organization and reinforce the important work your organization does to make it even more impactful. Back to those case studies Match dollars have been used by so many organizations to really create momentum, urgency and raise lots of money for their cause. Here are two examples of how nonprofits have turned match dollars into huge mini campaigns within their Challenge. Cure JM Foundation’s $25,000 Match The Story: Cure JM secured a $25,000 match during the CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge and leveraged it to win a $25,000 Bonus Challenge. The Message: Cure JM emailed their entire database, shared on their website and posted on social media too. They created urgency and let their donors know that they needed to raise the most by midnight on November 29th to secure the $25,000 match and $25,000 donation from CrowdRise. The Result: That $25,000 match had a hand in them winning the $25,000 Bonus Challenge prize money by rallying their community to raise over $168k from over 1,400 donors during the match duration. That's a leverage of over 7:1 on the initial $25,000 match. Cure JM continued that momentum and went on to place 1st in the CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge and won the $100k grand prize. The Multiple System Atrophy Coalition’s $235,000 Match The Story: The MSA Coalition received a $235,000 match for their CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge campaign and turned it into leverage to help raise an additional $243k throughout the entire Challenge. The Message: The MSA Coalition got the word out on their website, through email, on social media and made it a point to let everyone know that their donation would be matched dollar for dollar. The Result: The MSA Coalition raised over $243k from over 1,700 donors. They placed 3rd in the CrowdRise Holiday Charity Challenge and took home an additional $25k Grand Prize. Back If you have an event or are planning an event around the timeframe of the Challenge, you’ve gotta leverage it. We have a bunch of tips and ideas on how to really tie in your event to your Challenge fundraiser and how to help raise even more money for your campaign.
Back The best things you can do with your new team is keep them engaged, informed and appreciated. They are setting up fundraisers on your behalf and you want to make sure they’re successful at helping your organization raise lots of money for your cause. So, make sure to reach out right away and thank them for joining the team. We’ve got an email in the Email Drafts section that you can customize and that spells out all the next best steps. In addition, look through the messaging calendar and emails drafts for communications you can send before and during the Challenge. If you have incentives you can use, make sure to communicate those with your team members. Maybe it’s the first team member to raise $500 gets a gift card or everyone who raises at least $50 will get a tee shirt from your organization.
Back Bonus Challenges are weekly contests and sweepstakes that help you keep the momentum going throughout the campaign and win additional prize money. They’re really fun and you can easily access all of the Bonus Challenge details in the Grand Prizes and Bonus Challenge section of this Toolkit. For example, make sure you know exactly when Bonus Challenges start and end each week and what each Bonus Challenge is all about. Maybe there’s one that will revolve heavily around team member involvement, if that’s the case, you’ll want to communicate with your team members in advance to get them ready to go on the start date. Or, maybe it’s a Bonus Challenge that is about matches and matches will only be awarded to the first X amount of donations. Well then, you’re going to want to make sure you’ve got donations ready to roll in when that Bonus Challenge starts. Preparation and organization is everything.
Back We’re always asked what the best strategy is for maintaining momentum and fostering lots and lots of donations. And, while we have specific strategies we’ve outlined in many of these blog posts, we will say that repetition is major and a huge key to success.
We know it seems like a lot to email your board three times before the Challenge begins to set up a fundraiser for a cause. We know it seems like a lot to send 10 campaign updates throughout the Challenge and ask for donations. We know social media posts take time to write and can be a challenge to get on a calendar. But, these things just work. They do. So if you need to appoint someone to manage your calendar, craft your messaging, and stay on top of continually asking for help in the form of fundraisers and donations, then we highly suggest you do so. Be repetitive, ask multiple times, stay on top of it...it will definitely pay off. Back We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. This is supposed to not only be a fun and engaging way to raise money for your cause. But it should also be relatively easy. Don’t get us wrong, this isn’t something you can be a part of, sit back and relax, and expect donations to flow in. But, when we say easy, we mean that we want to provide all the tools, tips, assets and expertise to help you execute a successful Challenge campaign...and make all that much easier.
That being said, you’ve got to encourage your team members to be just as prepared. Use our email drafts in the email drafts section, show them how to use the campaign update tool and keep them informed every step of the way. Make sure they know what Bonus Challenges are coming up in the future, make sure to reach out to them at key times during the Challenge (day before, start date, middle of the campaign, day before it ends, morning that it ends) make sure you read every single section of this Toolkit. From pricing to FAQs, to calendars and press releases, it’s your one-stop-shop for all things Challenge. Back |