ASCV 5K & Family Fun Day

 

Tips to Help You Jumpstart and Keep Fundraising!

Start early. The sooner you start, the sooner you will see the wonderful response.

Set an ambitious (but reachable) goal and tell everyone. You’ll be amazed how easy it is to recruit supporters if you give people the opportunity to support you. If you meet your goal, raise it!

Have an elevator pitch. Develop a personalized concise response to “Why is the ASCV important to you?” Most of your network wants to support you first and the non-profit second.

Write a letter or email. A meaningful letter about your participation is an easy way to tell your story. Include a link to your online fundraising page. Check out the templates that we have provided to help you start this process!

Know the facts. We have provided facts and stats about the ASCV and autism that you can use when talking to people about the importance of the work of the Autism Society.

Educate people about where their gift goes, and don’t apologize for asking. People are eager to support you and are often just waiting to be asked :).  Every dollar raised for the 5K & Family Fun Day supports the work of the ASCV to provide: 

• Social & Recreational Activities from Pre-K to Adulthood 
• Family Outings & Events 
• Camps for Kids & Adults 
• Support Groups
• Scholarships & Financial Assistance Advocacy Initiatives ... & Much More!

 

 

 

How to Raise $1,000 in a Week

Day 1: Love Yourself – Kickstart your fundraising and donate to your own campaign! People are more likely to give if they see that you’ve already donated!

Day 2: Make It a Family Affair – Ask five family members to donate at least $50 each. You’re $250 closer to your $1,000 goal!

Day 3: With a Little Help from My Friends – Ask ten friends and neighbors to make a $25 donation. That’s $250, a quarter of your goal!

Day 4: Workin’ Hard for the Money – Ask your boss for a company contribution or see if they offer a matching gift program. Don’t forget to ask your co-workers to support you and submit the appropriate paperwork for their matching gifts. If you’re a student, ask classmates and teachers to contribute.

Day 5: Get Social – Share your fundraising page on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and ask for contributions. If 20 connections donate $10, that’s $200!

Day 6: Sponsor Me Please – Ask your favorite local business to sponsor your campaign with a $100 donation.

Day 7: Find Your Community – Are you part of a book club, religious community, meet-up group, running club, or yoga class? Whatever you are into, ask 20 fellow attendees or members to donate $5.

 

 

 

Who to Ask When Fundraising

Individuals

• Immediate family
• Distant family
• Work acquaintances
• Friends
• Classmates
• Professors and instructors
• Neighbors

Groups

• Your religious and spiritual groups
• Alumni networks
• Clubs and organizations you belong to
• Social media followers

Businesses & Corporations

Talk to people you know at businesses you frequent. Many are willing to support community-based efforts. Many corporations offer matching gift programs; don’t forget to ask your donors if their companies match donations. An added bonus: Gifts of $1,000 or more from a business receive sponsorship visibility benefits. This is a great incentive when asking for large gifts! If you have questions about sponsorship, please reach out to adira.knopf@ascv.org.

 

 

 

Guide to Effective Storytelling

Good storytelling is essential to having a successful online fundraiser. Online fundraising campaigns can go viral when they have relatable, inspiring, or moving stories.

People make decisions about whether to donate to a fundraiser based on its story. And putting together your thoughts and ideas into words doesn’t come easy, especially if you’re not a natural wordsmith. But, we’ve got your back if you’re experiencing writer’s block. This is a guide to making your story awesome and engaging!

Stories that are honest, clear, personal, well-written, and easy-to-read do the best. The story itself doesn’t matter as much as how well you tell it.

 

Here are a few things to keep in mind when writing your story:

Be honest. Donors value transparency when it comes to supporting nonprofits and fundraisers. Be clear and transparent about your reason for fundraising and what you specifically plan on doing with these funds.

Make it personal. Your nonprofit’s impact is the most important component of your fundraiser. Your story needs to represent your nonprofit accurately and come from you. Write in your own voice and tell your nonprofit’s story from your own perspective.

Grammar and spelling matter. You’re not going to be arrested by the grammar police if you make an honest mistake — all we’re saying is that your story needs to be readable. That means spelling words correctly, using sentences, using proper capitalization, and refraining from using slang or curse words. This is important because it shows professionalism and that you put time and effort into writing your story. You can use programs like Grammarly, Google Docs, or Microsoft Word to check your spelling and grammar.

Make it readable. People spend an average of 58 seconds on a website. If people come to your fundraising page and see a giant wall of text, they may take one look and get out of dodge before you have a chance to make your case. Use paragraphs and bullet points, break up the text in your story with photos, and make it visually appealing and easy to read so people will stay on your page to read your story.

 

Here are some tips to help you write your story and make it as strong as possible:

Make your first paragraph a summary of why you’re fundraising. People may not read your second, third, or fourth paragraphs, but most people will at least skim the first paragraph of a page. Try to answer each of the following questions in one brief sentence:

• What does my nonprofit do?
• How would a donation affect my organization?
• How can a donor support my organization?

If you are having trouble answering these questions concisely, try this exercise: how would you describe your organization to a child?

Stick to the subject at hand. Make sure everything you write ties into your fundraiser’s purpose. Everything needs to circle back to the reason for your fundraising in the first place.

Paint a picture for your reader. While it’s important to stick to the facts, you don’t want your description to be too matter-of-fact — that can be boring, and if your story is boring, people won’t read it. Add some colorful details to your story to help people connect to it. So, if you’re fundraising for a new addition to your animal rescue, who are the animals you rescue? What’s most special about your location? Make a list of three things you think are interesting and important to know about your nonprofit and work those items into your description.

Put key sentences in bold. Putting key sentences in bold will draw people’s eyes to them (remember that most people have very short attention spans) and make your description look more appealing. To make a sentence bold, highlight it and press “Control + B” or “Command + B.”

Use bullet points and numbered lists. You have the option of adding bullet points or a list to your description. This can help you structure your thoughts if you’re struggling to write in paragraphs, and it will make the information you want to itemize easier to read.

Add photos. Adding photos to your story can make it so much more entertaining! If you need help adding photos, please reach out to: adira.knopf@ascv.org

Add a video. “Don’t tell me, show me,” was what we learned about writing in school. You can take that advice literally by adding a video to your story. If you need help linking your video, please reach out to: adira.knopf@ascv.org

 

If you’re really feeling blocked, here’s a basic structure you can use to construct your online fundraising story.

Paragraph one: Write three to four sentences. Define two to three key messages that you want supporters to know about your nonprofit. What is your mission? What is your vision for your work? Why do you do what you do? Why are you fundraising for this particular nonprofit? Include a “call to action” (such as “please donate”). Put your call to action in bold.

Paragraph two: Write two to three sentences that define two to three key messages about your fundraising campaign. What are you trying to achieve and why? Your top-level nonprofit key messaging gets filtered through your campaign messaging, creating talking points that speak to your nonprofit’s mission and core values & communicate why your current campaign is important.

Add a photo: Add a photo to the middle of your story. This will help inspire people to keep reading! You can wrap the text in paragraph two around your photo.

Paragraph three: A third paragraph is optional, but if paragraph two is more than 4–5 sentences long, start a new paragraph. (Remember what we said about walls of text being hard to read!)

Paragraph four: Wrap it up! Write two sentences: thank everyone for reading, thank people in advance for donating, and repeat your call to action from paragraph one. (And put it in bold again for even more impact.)

 

If you’re really feeling stuck … try what’s called a “brain dump.”

Go into a word processing program or grab a pen and paper, and just start writing what comes into your mind about your campaign and why you're fundraising.

Don’t worry about making it perfect or even whether what you write makes sense — just write, and once you’ve got your ideas and feelings out, you can work to structure them into a story that makes sense (using the four-paragraph structure above).

Info from: https://blog.mightycause.com/storytelling-for-online-fundraisers/