What to do when your fundraiser stalls
When a crowdfunding fundraiser is launched, generally, there’s an immediate interest, which can lead to a flurry of donations. But sometimes after a few weeks or even days, these donations may stop and the fundraiser may suddenly come to a halt. The longer your fundraising fundraiser stalls, the harder it may be for you to recover and create momentum again.
To keep this from happening, it’s important to find ways to maintain the momentum during your fundraiser and keep people stimulated. This way, not only do you have a strong start to your fundraiser, but you’ll have a strong finish and better chance of reaching your goal. Crowdfunding has helped thousands of people in Canada reach their goals, whether you need help paying bills or you’re fundraising for a cause close to your heart.
Understanding the problem: Why fundraisers stall?
There are a number of reasons why a fundraiser may lose momentum. Consider the following causes:
- There’s a difference between early momentum and sustained engagement. Maybe you led with a strong launch, but if you’re not posting updates or sharing your fundraiser, engagement may drop off.
- Maybe your closest supporters, like immediate family and friends, have already donated. This can lead to network saturation. Instead of sharing your fundraiser with the same group of people over and over again, try branching out and expanding your network.
- Your content is fatigued. Maybe you’re not posting meaningful updates, or your story doesn’t seem fresh or new. Or maybe, you’re just sharing in the same way over and over, hoping for different results.
It usually takes 30 to 60 days to determine whether your fundraiser is stalling, and at this point, you should try revival strategies such as network expansion or posting fresh updates.
Stay social
A large part of your fundraiser’s success will come from the number of times that it’s shared on social media channels. Using networks such as Facebook and X will help your fundraiser stay relevant and gain the maximum amount of exposure.
Don’t just share your fundraiser once and then expect that to be enough—continue to share it multiple times per week and encourage your friends and family members to share it within their networks too. There are ways to do this without sounding repetitive. For example, you can repost with new updates each time, or look into engagement optimisation for when you’re getting the most views.
There are additional ways you can use social media to your advantage:
- Follow organisations that are related to your cause. For example, if you’re raising money for breast cancer, follow breast cancer organisations that you could reach out to for advice.
- Follow marketing and crowdfunding experts on Facebook and X for tips on how to use social media to best promote your fundraiser.
- Use a unique hashtag for your fundraiser so that when it’s continually used on social media, it will link to your fundraiser posts and people will start to recognize it as being associated with your fundraiser. Be sure to use hashtags intentionally; use emotionally charged language, insert a few broad tags, and limit the number of hashtags you use to best fit the platform.
10 great tips to keep the fundraiser momentum going
1. Ask for advice
Sometimes the best way to generate new donations is to simply ask for advice rather than asking for money. Try reaching out to your network for ideas related to your cause, such as suggestions on ways to make your fundraiser more successful, things they’ve seen in their own community, or how you can use social media to gain more exposure. Engaging your network will likely entice people to donate to your fundraiser and share it within their social channels as well. The golden rule of crowdfunding is: “When you ask for money you get advice. When you ask for advice you raise money.”
2. Update your fundraiser
Posting updates to your fundraiser will help it stay relevant, grab attention from newcomers, and compel people to feel compassionate about your cause. Adding updates also helps to communicate the progress of your fundraiser when you reach certain milestones, and you can be sure to mention ways that people can still help your fundraiser reach its goal. Make sure that every time you post an update to your fundraiser, you’re also posting an update on your social media channels so your network can see the latest news as well.
Aim to update your fundraiser weekly, with similar social share amounts. You can also update it whenever you reach an important milestone. Whenever you post your updates, you can mention any challenges you’re facing, express gratitude to your supporters, or give a progress breakdown. A great way to increase social engagement is to add a photo or video so people are less likely to scroll past your update and you can convert social media followers into donors.
3. Expand beyond your immediate network
To avoid network saturation, try to get your fundraiser in front of more people than just your immediate family and friends. Identify potential “second-ring” supporters, such as your family’s colleagues, friends of friends, alumni networks at your current school or alma mater, and others in your local community.
Reach out to groups in your community that align with your cause and ask them to share your fundraiser with their followers to get the word out. You can also expand your network professionally, leveraging LinkedIn groups.
You may also ask for volunteers who can help get the word out about your fundraiser. Spreading the outreach workload will get your fundraiser in front of more potential supporters.
4. Photos and videos are must-haves
Adding photos and videos to your fundraiser is a vital way to visually connect with your supporters. Adding new high-quality photos and videos keeps your fundraiser up to date and will help to prevent it from stalling and losing momentum. GoFundMe has found that fundraisers with at least five photos raise significantly more than those with just one photo, and fundraisers with more than two videos raise more than those with none. For further tips on the importance of incorporating great visuals into your fundraiser, read How Images Can Lead to Fundraising Success and Videos Are Powerful Fundraiser Tools.
5. Refresh your story
Throughout your fundraiser, be on the lookout for story fatigue. If it starts to feel stale, you’ll need to rebuild the narrative arc. To do this, redefine the central theme of your story and build around that. Practice emotional resonance techniques to appeal to your supporters. Be specific and clear about the story and your desired outcomes, and the impact that any donations would make. Consider also updating your visuals to match the story refresh, whether it’s new photos and videos or new branding in the form of logos or progress charts.
6. Build a fundraising team
Build a fundraising team willing to share the workload with you. You can ask your family, friends, and colleagues to join, or anyone else who may be passionate about your cause and have the time and capability to help.
Once you’ve built your team, assign roles to each person so you can focus the proper amount of energy on key areas. One person can be in charge of posting online, another in charge of local outreach, yet another in charge of updating the fundraiser, and someone should also be tasked with sending thank-you letters to donors. Ensuring your team is well-coordinated and that responsibility is shared improves consistency by focusing your group’s energy on what matters most.
7. Stay active offline
Don’t forget to promote your fundraiser offline, too. Make cards or flyers to pass out to friends and family or when you’re out and about, and keep a collection box in your office and other local businesses that will allow it. Hosting offline fundraising events is another great way to rally support and donations for your cause. During events, contributions can easily be made to your online fundraiser via donation stations that can be set up with a laptop showing your fundraising page. Our fundraising ideas page offers a wealth of great offline initiatives to complement your online fundraiser.
8. Look at other fundraisers for help
Research similar fundraisers and get a feel for what actions they took when their fundraiser stalled or was in a slump. You can also look at examples of successful fundraisers to see what techniques they used to maintain momentum and raise donations, such as how often they update their fundraiser and share it on social media, and whether they have a Facebook page or blog. Using a successful fundraiser can be a great model for new ideas to boost your fundraiser donations.
9. Invest in your fundraiser
Think about spending a little money to raise more money. Hire a good photographer or videographer to put together a great video, for example. Or find a local college student studying one of these disciplines and ask if they would be willing to contribute their time and skills on a volunteer basis or for a discounted rate. You can also do some low-cost advertising of your fundraiser on social media, especially Facebook, which will help get your fundraiser in front of your network of friends and family. Just $10 in advertising can often raise 10 times more in donations.
10. Reach out to local media
Reaching out to local media outlets is a great way to ask for your fundraiser to be featured if you feel it’s newsworthy, especially in your local area. Try contacting journalists via email and social networks, and be sure to include details about your cause, why you think it should be featured, how it (or you) relate to the local community, a link to your fundraiser and your contact details. Our article, How to Get Local Media to Cover Your Fundraiser, contains several tips to get you started on the right foot.
Measuring your revival success
Once you’ve implemented your revival strategies, you’ll need to measure your success. Watch for key engagement and donation signals like increased donations, increased social shares, and increased post engagement. You can also track KPIs to benchmark your improvement; consider things like donor retention rates, donor conversion, and cost to raise a dollar, and compare these metrics to your past performance.
Sometimes it can take 3 to 6 months to revive a fundraiser, but you should be seeing results by the end of the 6-month period. Continue to track your improvement and performance so you’ll know when to adjust your fundraiser again.
If you’re ready to crowdfund for a personal or charitable cause, start your fundraiser now and raise money today.