Have you ever wondered how other organisations raise tens or even hundreds of thousands of euros? How do they reach so many supporters? How do they communicate with them? Check out our free e-book with the best strategies and success stories of online fundraising.
Why are success stories worth knowing?
Because in the clash between theory and practical experience, the latter usually wins.
In fundraising, the right combination of narrative, social media promotion and available tools becomes a recipe for surprising success. Finding the right combination for your fundraiser is a real challenge. Practical experience can be a game changer. And, of course, you can gain that experience yourself after organising hundreds of fundraisers over many years. But it's much easier and more convenient to learn from the experience of other Organisers.
Success stories are the essence of practical knowledge that works and delivers the results you dream of. Each one is different because so much depends on the goal of the fundraiser and the resources of the Organiser. And each one can be an inspiration that will make your fundraiser a success!
That's why we have created a free ebook for our users, containing 13 stories of successful fundraisers. In our ebook, you will find stories of foundations, companies and individuals. Take a few tens of minutes to read the ebook and gain the knowledge that other Organisers have worked for months to achieve. All you can lose is some time - perhaps on public transport or just before bedtime. All you can gain is the equivalent of many months of planning, looking for ways to make your fundraiser stand out and getting to know the advanced features of 4fund.com.
Check out our ebook for free
Check out our ebook for free
Check out one of the success stories and let us persuade you to download our free e-book!
A Case Study: Ronald McDonald Foundation
This fundraiser took place on zrzutka.pl, the parent company of 4fund.com. We want to draw your attention to this particular case because this fundraiser used a tool that has been tried and tested on zrzutka.pl and has recently been made available on 4fund.com - a Fundraiser on behalf of Organisation.
Fundraiser on behalf of Organisation is a modern tool that allows NGOs to conduct fundraising collaborations easily and securely. The principle is simple. The Organiser chooses from the catalogue the Organisation they want to support. Then creates a fundraiser, and adds a description and photos. The fundraiser remains invisible until the Beneficiary Organisation accepts it. The NGO then has time to familiarise itself with the project. A fundraiser becomes visible to the Donator when the Beneficiary Organisation (called Fixed Beneficiary) accepts it.
At the end of the fundraiser, the Organiser can pay out the funds only to the Fixed Beneficiary account. Donators can be confident that their money will go directly to the Organisation they have chosen to support.
Zrzutka.pl ensured the safety and transparency of this fundraising campaign. But the idea that made it a success came directly from its Organiser, Piotr Binkowski.
Piotr was moved by the problem of parents wanting to accompany their sick children to the hospital. Although they can be together 24 hours a day, many children's wards do not have extra beds for carers accompanying young patients. In the context of a short stay, this is not a big problem - a parent can bear a lot of inconvenience if the child's welfare is at stake. However, during a longer stay the lack of rest facilities takes its toll.
The Ronald McDonald Foundation is known worldwide for its concern for the welfare of children and their carers in hospital wards. Piotr decided to join forces with the Foundation and do something extraordinary to raise awareness of the cause. He decided to swim across Loch Ness!
This kind of thing does not happen every day. But without the power of social media, no one would have known about it. Peter took to Facebook and Instagram to tell people about his campaign, announce what he plans to achieve and count down the days. His posts also contained links to the fundraiser, which people could donate to at any time.
As if that weren't enough, Peter's fundraiser also featured special offers! Donors were able to buy adorable hand-knitted Nessie mascots. The colourful monsters are now adorably displayed on Donators shelves, reminding them of the good deed of helping Piotr raise money for 13 beds to go to hospitals in Gdynia and Wejherowo. An unusual idea, unique offers, the support of a well-known foundation and the power of social media made Peter a success.
Want to find out what has worked for other Organisers? Download the free ebook and check out 12 other success stories!
Key Elements for a Successful Campaign
In our ebook, we have listed all the ideas and strategies that have led Organisers to success. Some of them are very individual, but some work well regardless of the goal and form of the fundraiser. Here are the key elements needed to make every fundraiser work:
Communication
Without communication, there is no relationship, and without relationships, there is no engaged community. So when you've got a big project coming up or hoping to get regular support in a subscription model, you need to make Donators feel like they're part of your story.
Although the fundraiser description is just one of many tools to increase engagement with your story, it is worth doing well as it is responsible for the first impression of your project. You can't edit the description after verification, but updates remain available. Use them often and keep your supporters updated on the progress of your project. You can also use Donators email addresses if you have something groundbreaking to say.
You don't have to worry about the language barrier when you create your communication on 4fund. We automatically translate your fundraiser description into 27 European languages.
Promotion
This is probably the hardest part of fundraising. Many Organisers are embarrassed to ask for money, even when their situation is troublesome. Shame paralyses not only individuals but also volunteers or organisation staff.
Remember, there is no shame in asking for help. The internet is a huge public space in which you can meet people with similar values. Maybe your fundraiser will make them feel better today! Nothing makes us feel better than supporting a major initiative close to our ideals.
Think about these people while communicating your fundraiser on social media. Try to create a daily story with a link to the fundraiser. You don't need to make new posts every day. One post every 2-3 days is enough. If you've got profiles on multiple social media platforms, communicate the fundraiser on each. Chances are your audience will vary from channel to channel.
If your actions are not having the desired effect, check out our ideas for promoting your fundraiser. If you can afford it, consider using paid Facebook Ads (you can set them up yourself or let us do it for you). Google Ads can also be a good idea to reach a wide range of donors.
Budget
The budget you need to run a fundraising campaign is usually inversely proportional to the size of your fundraising goal and the amount of personal effort you plan to put into it.
For projects with goals of thousands of euros, it is impossible to ignore the advertising budget or the labour costs of the people involved in running the fundraiser. However, you can optimise the commission charged by the fundraising platform regardless of the amount raised.
On 4fund.com there is no fee regardless of the amount raised or number of payments. Eliminate inefficient costs and reallocate your budget to activities that will get your fundraising campaign off the ground!
Find out why 4fund.com is the right choice for you to achieve your goals.
