Tips on How to Ask for Donations When Crowdfunding for A Social Cause

There are many situations where people may need financial help. Crowdfunding is one of the best ways to ask for such help. However, most people don’t even know how to ask for donations. Here are a few tips to ask for donations while crowdfunding:

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Telling a Truthful Story

The story is the main thing when it comes to asking for donations for fundraisers. People need to believe that their money is going towards a good cause. If they can connect with the story, they will be ready to donate willingly. Going through a few successful fundraisers might help in understanding how to tell a story. The story should be honest and should answer the following questions:

• Who is the one who needs the funds?
• What is the fundraiser’s relationship with that person?
• Why are these funds needed?
• What will the funds be used for?

Personalizing Donation Requests

One best way to get positive responses for donation requests is to customize these requests as per the individual interests of each potential donor. This works well when the person raising the funds knows the person to whom the request has been sent.

While there are people who may respond better to lighthearted and warm donation requests, there are others who might prefer a formal approach. Understanding this is very important to personalize donation requests.

Personalization depends on the interests of the potential donor, his or her relationship with the beneficiary, reservations that they might have, and the reasons behind them. Most of the time, it makes sense to send a personalized fundraising letter to each of the potential donors. Although time-consuming, this is one of the most effective ways how to ask for donations.

Creating a sense of urgency

Conveying a sense of urgency becomes very important while sharing fundraisers. The donors need to know by when they should contribute and what is going to happen if they don’t contribute by that day. Although the consequences may be negative, it is important to frame them positively, to trigger the philanthropic impulses of the potential donors.

Making use of the email

Emails can be very easy to share, especially when it comes to forwarding only the non-personalized part of the donation requests. Crafting a particular block of text that the receivers need to forward, will make it that much easier to share. This doesn’t require the users to have any social media account. Also, emails are a lot easier to track. There are many fundraising email templates to explore. They can make it easier to achieve the goals of fundraising.

Making it Easier to Donate

The convenience of donating plays a major role in making a fundraising campaign successful. Many crowdfunding platforms have great templates for fundraising. They come with Call-To-Action buttons that make it easier for potential donors to understand their next steps. With so many payment methods, they make it very convenient for potential donors to select the best payment method they are comfortable with.

Being Specific While Requesting

Potential donors would need specific information while donating to a cause. They should be given clear-cut reasons that will answer their question on why they should donate. While drafting the fundraising campaign, it is important to be specific about:

• Current situation of the person for whom the funds are being raised
• The main purpose behind fundraising
• The outcome that is expected out of this fundraiser.

Also, it is better to be very specific about the list of expenses that are to be met from the funds that are raised through the campaign. A checklist needs to be made and additional costs, if any, are to be listed. Personalized donation requests would be more effective if they include the specific amount that the potential donor is expected to donate. Transparency would be much appreciated here.

Being creative in asking for donations

There is no particular formula that can be used when it comes to how to ask for donations. The objective should be to make the fundraiser stand out from the rest. The approach used should fit the fundraiser and should motivate individuals to donate and share the donation requests. A few ideas to make unique fundraisers include:

• Starting the donation request with a favorite poem or song of the beneficiary
• Including images and videos to make the request more compelling
• Addressing the myths and fears associated with crowdfunding and reassuring the donors beforehand

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The Bottom Line

Understanding how to ask for donations is good, but it is also important to note that not every person will be ready to accept these requests and donate money for the cause. A lot depends on the kind of mental and financial situation that the person is in when he or she receives the request. While polite follow-ups are necessary, it is also important to suggest ways in which the potential donors can support the campaign, without having to spend money.