Fundraising: one of the most painful, but important things you will ever do

As college students, many of us have encountered fundraising in one form or another. Whether you were helping run a bake sale for your school or raising money for a charity, you probably quickly realized that all your hard work, time, and effort did not materialize into the cash flow you expected. Despite the fact your expectations were cut short, every time a contribution big or small was made, it gave you a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and pride that you were doing something good.

Over the past 3 years, I have held three events to raise money for Samaritans, a teen suicide prevention and awareness organization in Boston. When I first got involved, the organization was struggling to find a way to get teenagers involved in a cause exclusively focused on their own demographic. To help show teens the value of giving back to this cause, I decided to create a fundraising event that teens could participate in.

Although I have watched my mom fundraise for my entire life, I never realized how hard it was until I had to do it for myself. After sending out close to 100 e-mails to my closest family and friends, I was shocked when I got less than half of them to respond. Despite the low response rate, I was remarkably successful at raising a significant amount of money from friends, family, companies and people who bought tickets.

The most rewarding part about fundraising is how you feel after you do it. Knowing how much I helped the organization and their constant gratitude made me realize not only how important it is to raise money, but also how persistent, hard work can pay off when it comes to helping a cause.

Although I am still very far from an expert at fundraising, I thought I should share some tips with you guys that I have learned over the years about how to effectively fundraise:
 
 
Tips:

• Fundraise for a cause that means something to you—personal stories and investment in the cause is very important.
• Make a budget and see what kinds of things you can get donated “in kind” or “services to be donated”—people waste their time focusing on small raffle items when they should be looking at their budget and finding out what they could get for free.
• Aim high.
• Be grateful for any donation big or small.
• Have a specific donation in mind that you are asking for.  
• Target people or organizations that the cause resonates for.
• Don’t be afraid to ask family members or friends for money (chances are it will be more uncomfortable for them to shut you down).
• Focus on people who owe you a favor.
• Recruit other people to help you out to fundraise.
• For e-mails, make your messaging easy and concise.
• Make it easy for them to donate—don’t make them jump through hoops.  
• Be persistent.
• Give them something for donating (t-shirt, party, etc.).
• Try to find a way to thank people seven times—this may sound a little bit aggressive, but I can tell you first hand that it is surprisingly easy.
• Let donators know after the money has been raised what their money has helped to accomplish.
• Use social media to your advantage.

 
Image source: http://media.snipesoft.net.nz/files/ee411873cc929c3fd9d47ff71ded9343Fundraising%201.jpg