The end of the Challenge is so, so, so fun and so, so, so unexpected. Anything can happen. We’ve seen 5th place jump to 1st place, 2nd place come in with a $10 margin, etc. So, make those last days, hours and minutes really count.
But, don’t let your supporters wait until the final seconds to donate. Reach out via your campaign update tool and use our customizable email drafts to remind them that you need all the help you can get, but, donations do take time. Their donation needs to be fully processed by the time the Challenge is over. So, don’t wait until the last second and realize a donation didn’t get through that you counted on. As soon as the Challenge is over, the donate button will turn off and that will be it. We’ll send an email officially closing the Challenge. At that point, it can take up to five (5) business days to verify the winners. As soon as we have the official winners, we’ll email all of the Challenge participants to announce the grand prize winners and update the Challenge page. The best part of the Challenge is that even if you aren’t one of the grand prize winners you still get to keep the money you raise. Pretty awesome, right? Back If you are a winner of a Grand Prize or a Bonus Challenge, you are a "Conditional Winner" and will not receive a Prize until you are verified and declared an "Official Winner" according to the Challenge rules. Here's a little summary of how the verification process will work...
When each Bonus Challenge and the Challenge ends, CrowdRise will reach out to conditional winners with instructions. If your prize (or total prize amount in the Challenge) is $600+ USD, you will be required to submit an affidavit of eligibility, liability and Publicity Release or a declaration and W9 within 48 hours. Only then will you be declared an "Official Winner". If you do not return your required paperwork within the required period of time, you will forfeit your opportunity to win and we will choose another winner, time permitting. Official winners of the Grand Prizes and Bonus Challenges will receive the funds won Post-Challenge. Back The Challenge Checklist is a list of actionable items you can use to make sure you're all ready to go on launch day and that the Challenge is super successful for your cause. That might have been the longest sentence ever. Your Page
○ Has at least 5 compelling pictures that illustrates your cause. ○ Contains a video to help further demonstrate your mission. ○ The Story section of your page contains text about the Challenge, your mission, what every donation means to your cause, what all money raised and won will go towards. Your Team ○ Make sure you have at least 5 fundraisers on your page. Remember, a $25 donor is great, but a $250 fundraiser is a game changer. ○ Email every board member separately to encourage them to become fundraisers. ○ Email your staff to encourage them to become fundraisers. ○ Email your supporters to encourage them to become fundraisers for the Challenge. ○ Do you have an email ready to go for your fundraisers to get them ready to go on launch and throughout the Challenge? ○ Create your own donor incentives. Maybe you have tee shirts you can give away to the five people who donate the most during a particular week or a day off to a staff member who raised the most money. ○ Get an email ready for launch day to send to your list of supporters. ○ Check out the Email Drafts section for lots of drafts you can customize and get ready to send before and during the Challenge. Charity ○ Make sure the Toolkit is bookmarked so it's always easy to reference. ○ Share the Toolkit with your staff and anyone else who needs to be on the same page. ○ Have an email list created and ready to go full of good solid donor contacts including board members. ○ Make sure you know which days you are going to be sending email communications. Utilize the calendar in the Toolkit to get ahead of the game. ○ Get ready to use Social Media to further your Challenge messaging. Use our customizable social media posts to get started and make sure someone on your staff is ready to post content, point out big donations, create momentum by giving a countdown of days left, talk about current Bonus Challenges, etc. ○ Come up with incentives you can use to engage donors and fundraisers and talk about them in emails, on social media, your fundraising page and in your campaign updates. An example would be ‘Donate at least $50 to our cause today and we’ll send you a [YOUR ORGANIZATION] tee shirt. Contact Us if you have any questions and we can help. Click Here to download a printable checklist Back There’s so much value in corporate partners, media partners and your trusty big donors so make sure they’re engaged from the beginning and help take your fundraising efforts to the next level. How?
✔ Reach out to partners or big donors and request a fiscal match to help provide more incentive for donors to give and make your donations go further. If someone is willing to match your dollars raised up to $15,000, you immediately have a message to talk about, urgency to capitalize on and money ready to add to your bottom line. ✔ Encourage corporate partners and local retailers to help your charity reach new donors through messaging, marketing and promotions. ✔ Hit the pavement and ask any local groups and past sponsors to talk about your Challenge in their newsletter or visually in their store-fronts. ✔ Utilize a celebrity (famous or local) to help spread the word about your campaign. Have them post about your fundraiser on their social media and get them to offer an experiential prize as a donation incentive (win a trip to my premiere or hang out with me at XX event). If you have a celebrity connection and need help coming up with ideas that work, Contact Us and we will dig right in to help. Back |