7 Habits of Effective Personal Fundraisers from CauseVox

I’m really excited to share this free ebook from the folks at CauseVox. They have worked with many organizations and individuals looking to fundraising online and are constantly sharing back what they observe and learn from the campaigns on their platform and elsewhere. In creating this recourse, they also reached out to others in the sector (like me!) to gather more advice, broaden their perspectives, and pull together more insights. If you’re looking for a resource to help you focus in on just what makes a great personal fundraiser, look no further!

Download the free ebook 7 Habits of Effective Personal Fundraisers

Here’s an excerpt and overview of the 7 Habits:

1. Personalize your fundraising
The most effective online fundraising campaign is a personal one. The most effective fundraisers use their personalities to promote their campaign as well as personal stories. Your relationships with your friends, family and coworkers are compelling enough reasons for your network to give to your cause.

2. Use multiple ways to raise awareness
Reach out to your personal network of friends, family, and co-workers. A personalized email is the best way to get donations. Social media is helpful to reach new audiences, too.

3. Keep up the human connections
Helping other people connect with the cause and need by focusing on being human. Meet people face-to-face to help them understand your passion for and commitment to the cause.

4. Emphasize how everyone can make a difference
Show that even small contributions will amount to big, tangible results. Let donors know exactly where their money is going and how much of a difference it makes.

5. Your cause is worth the effort
Getting donations for a cause isn’t easy. You’ll have to persevere through some dry spells and be assured that your efforts matter (because they really do!).

6. Remind others to contribute
Update and share progress with friends and family. This is an opportunity to remind others of your fundraising progress and how they can help.

7. Be appreciative
Always thank your donors and supporters! They want to be recognized and your appreciation goes a long way.

A big thank you to Rob Wu for including me in this resource!

What other habits, tricks, tips or trade secrets for personal fundraisers do you have? Would love to hear any other resources or tools you recommend!

Author: Amy Sample Ward

Amy Sample Ward is trainer, author, and community organizer focused on the intersections of technology and social change. Amy is also the CEO of NTEN, a nonprofit that supports organizations fulfilling their missions through the skillful and racially equitable use of technology.

1 thought on “7 Habits of Effective Personal Fundraisers from CauseVox

  1. Thanks so much for telling us about this book! I really
    liked the overview of the 7 habits you posted. I have done lots of personal
    fundraising for social causes, and also have led teams of fundraisers, and I
    think all of the 7 habits are very valuable to keep in mind. Number 5 (your
    cause is worth your effort) reminded me of a lesson I learned from a
    professional fundraiser: If you believe in your cause, you will want to and feel good about asking
    people to contribute, because you are know the real impact that the money can
    have on individuals and society. In the long-term, you are asking people to
    invest in something that will positively impact society, which will benefit
    everyone, including the donors themselves.

    One tip I have is that usually when starting a personal
    fundraising campaign, it can be difficult to send large numbers of personalized
    emails asking for donations. I’ve found that in the mass email, if you state
    that you will personally contact everyone that donates to thank them and to simply
    “catch up” with them about their lives, friends and family are more proactive
    about donating. Of course, you have to follow through and actually send that
    personalized thank you, and make some time to speak with your donors about what
    is going on in their worlds.

    I really like that number 4 is on the list – “Show that even
    small contributions will amount to big, tangible results. Let donors know
    exactly where their money is going and how much of a difference it makes.” Too
    often social-mission driven organizations do not have the detailed information
    about impact that they are having, to which donor time, money, and effort
    contribute. I’m trying to help raise awareness of this through my work and my
    blog (http://bit.ly/qoMmg0). If anyone wants to share stories about organizations
    that have great information about their impact that you can share with donors,
    or even organizations that you wish had better impact assessment, please email
    me! Emily.rotella@gmail.com.

    Thanks again for posting about this book, I can’t wait to
    read the whole thing!

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