9 fundraising tips to promote your fundraiser
To run an effective fundraiser, you need to get the word out. You can have the most worthy cause in the world, but if no one knows about it, you’ll never meet your fundraising goals.
We’ve pulled together nine tips to help you find potential donors to support your fundraising efforts.
1. Write a descriptive fundraiser title
Your fundraiser title is an important aspect of your fundraiser—that’s why we made tools to help you create one.
- The title of your fundraiser should be clear, concise, and memorable.
- Include names, where applicable, to personalize the fundraiser, as well as detailing what the cause is supporting.
- Try starting your fundraiser with a verb, such as ‘help,’ ’support,’ or ‘donate.’ This will inspire new supporters to take action and encourage online donations.
- Example: “Help _____ Knock Cancer Out!”
- Writer’s block? No problem. Our smart GoFundMe tools will use your fundraiser story to suggest a few fundraiser titles. Select whichever suggested title you like best, or tweak it to suit you.
2. Craft a compelling fundraiser story
When writing your fundraising campaign story, put yourself in your reader’s shoes. Ask yourself: What would turn you from a passive observer to an active supporter? The key is to make the reader feel something.
- Introduce yourself and explain why the cause is important to you. A personal touch goes a long way when reaching potential donors.
- Include all of the key details of your story and how donations will make a difference. Explain what the funds will be used for and how you’re connected to the cause.
- Break down the costs that make up your fundraising goal.
- For example, “How the funds raised will be used: $1,000 will be used for medical transportation and $9,000 will cover Jennifer’s unpaid leave from work to care for her children.”
- Write in an honest and heartfelt way, using emotive language.
- Aim for at least 550 characters to tell your story. Use FAQs to add any additional information to your donation page.
- Read our ultimate guide on how to craft an effective fundraising story and get inspiration from other successful GoFundMe fundraisers.
- Our new enhanced story tool can help. Start your fundraiser story and, once you’ve written around 50 words, click “Enhance”. We’ll provide suggestions on word choice, grammar, tone, and formatting to help you create a great fundraiser story.
3. Choose high-quality photos for your fundraiser
One of the best fundraising strategies is adding high-quality, personal photos and video to your fundraising page to help new donors connect with your story.
- Choose a clear, high-resolution feature photo for your main fundraiser image. Avoid using stock imagery if possible.
- If you have more images or a YouTube video that will help tell your fundraiser story and show donors what you are fundraising for, you can add them in the fundraiser description or a fundraiser update.
4. Use suggested fundraising goals
Setting a fundraising goal is a key piece of the puzzle. It allows supporters to check in on your progress and provides incentives for them to donate. It also helps with outreach by giving you a reason to post about how your fundraiser is going. Here’s how to do it:
- Deciding on a fundraising target can feel tricky, but we’re here to help. We’ll suggest a goal amount based on fundraisers with similar locations and categories that found fundraising success on GoFundMe in the last year.
- Using our suggested fundraising goal is a great way to elevate your fundraiser to match other causes on our platform. You can always choose a goal amount different from our suggestion, and edit your goal at any time.
- One great fundraising tip is to share when you reach milestones to encourage repeat donations.
- Example: ‘We’re 80% to goal, can you help us reach 100% by the end of the month?’
5. Try our smart social media tools
Creating a fundraiser is just the start of the journey. To make a successful fundraiser, you need to reach beyond loved ones and local community members. Sharing your fundraiser on social media is an effective fundraising tool and will help you reach a broader network of potential donors. Don’t worry, you don’t need to be an expert to make an impact.
- You can use the social media ‘share’ buttons on your GoFundMe to share your fundraiser link on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, Nextdoor, and by email.
- When you click ‘share’, we’ll use your fundraiser to automatically generate a custom social media caption, images, and videos that are ready to post across platforms. You can also edit any text suggestions.
- Read our guide for more tips on how to master social media fundraising strategies.
6. Share your fundraiser beyond social media
While sharing on social media is an essential way of getting the word out, sharing your fundraiser in many different ways helps increase its visibility. We’ve seen that each time someone shares their fundraiser in a new way, it can lead to a 2.5x increase in the fundraiser’s visibility.
- Our guide on sharing your fundraiser without social media provides plenty of fundraising tips to help get the word out.
- There are plenty of ways to tell people about your cause: try word of mouth, email, fliers, and old-school mailers.
- Ask friends, family, and local community members to help share information, too.
- If you find the process of asking for donations awkward, read our piece on How to Ask for Donations.
7. Be specific when sharing your fundraiser
People are busy, and you have limited time to grab their attention and inspire them to donate. So remember to be specific when sharing your fundraiser.
- Avoid simply sharing the fundraiser link. Include a sentence or two about why you are fundraising to help donors understand your goals.
- Example: “I am raising money to help my uncle ______ get a new wheelchair. His old wheelchair is broken, and he cannot get around without it. Please consider donating $10 to help me get him a new wheelchair.”
- Consider asking people for specific donation amounts. Whether it’s $5, $25, or $50, we have seen that a suggested donation can help donors decide.
- For example: “Will you consider donating $20 to my fundraiser to help rebuild our family’s kitchen after the recent storms affected our home?”
8. Post regular updates to your fundraiser
One of the top fundraising tips is to post an update to your fundraiser within seven days of starting it. Then continue doing so every week or at major milestones to keep donors engaged and encourage them to keep sharing.
- Post updates when you’re halfway to your goal and when you’re one week away from needing the money.
- When you continue to follow up with supporters, it can really make a difference. Our data shows that text, photo, and video updates can help you raise 3x more.
- Share your updates on the social media platform(s) you use, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp, etc.
To learn how to add an update to your fundraiser, check out this help center article.
9. Thank your donors
Thanking your supporters is an important way to show your gratitude and also to enlist further help. Elevating the donor experience with a personalized note or gift shows them how much their support means.
Here are a few ways you can show your appreciation:
- Use the ‘thank your donors’ feature on your fundraiser dashboard to individually thank donors for their support.
- Some people like being thanked publicly, and your thank-you message might inspire others to give too. You can thank your donors via social media as a way to publicly show thanks.
- Write a thoughtful letter or email.
- Consider something extra special for major donors to show your gratitude. If you want to think outside the box, here are some creative ways to thank them.
- If you can’t afford a gift, consider contacting some local businesses to see if they could donate gifts for your cause. Offering to post the gift on social media and your donation page might inspire businesses to support.
To learn how to thank donors using your fundraiser dashboard, check out this help center article.
Create your fundraiser today
Now that you’ve got the know-how, it’s time to set up your fundraising campaign. GoFundMe is the perfect, trusted fundraising platform to launch your fundraiser.
We’ve got plenty of fundraising resources on our blog. Be inspired by these examples of effective fundraising ideas on the GoFundMe platform, as well as learning from mistakes successful fundraisers avoid.