(1) Be reasonable in your expectations of how much you feel you can raise - set a reasonable number and focus on that and if you go over - great!
(2) More important than raising money is building awareness and creating a connection with people. Always be authentic and focus on sharing your passion about the cause you are supporting. Genuine excitement and passion for something are infectious, so be sure to open up and tell people why you personally are so committed to your cause.
(3) Even if people are unable to donate today, let them know that they can still help out by building awareness and ask them to join your cause's e-mail list, snail mail list, facebook fan page, or to follow you on twitter. People who can't donate today may be able to tomorrow. Also, never be rude to someone who is unable or unwilling to donate.
(4) Photos speak a thousand words - donors really respond to pictures and short stories (most of them don't like long-winded responses)...here are some one-liners we use to help people get a picture of what BeeHive School is doing without talking off their ear:
- "Niall started the school from his living room with eight students and five years later it's grown to over 150!"
- "The school is so succesful that they now have to turn away students in order to keep class sizes small."
- "The cornerstone to Niall's success has been his intensive and on-going teacher training program. Niall recruits local people and trains them to teach at an international level, thus providing an international level of teaching within a Malawian context"
- "Niall's school in like a mini-united nations. Most students are Malawian or Zambian, but their are also Muslim, Indian, and Caucasion students - Niall has created a school where diversity flourishes and intolerance of any form is not accepted."
(5) Give your donors a concrete idea of what there money can buy. Often times donors are surprised and invigorated by how far a smaller donation of $20 can go in a place like Malawi.
$20 will buy seven iron sheets for the new roof (27 are needed)
$50 will buy one metal door or window
$250 will buy 52 pinboards
$5,600 will build a bathroom block (2 needed)
$12,000 will build one classroom
(6) Donors never respond to an e-mail (it's too easy to ignore) - best are phone calls and talking in-person. If you can find a venue (like a church, club, rotary club, gym, university, etc.) to speak at then that can be effective.
(7) Flea markets or outdoor markets are a GREAT place to talk to donors because (a) they are there on their own accord and you aren't coming up to them randomly, and (b) they are expecting to spend money, so they're sort of already in that mind set. If you go to a market place - be sure they're selling a variety of items (not just fruit/vegetables or art or whatever it may be) and set up a booth with colorful pictures and be prepared to talk a lot. The best thing to hand out are not fliers (since most people just throw them out and they can be expensive for a small non-profit), but small business cards with your website on them, which are cheaper to print and fit in their pocket.
(8) Have an event at your house - a friend of ours had a big party at his apartment and charged a $10 cover. He also recommended a $2-3 donation for drinks and appetizers. It was to raise money for AIDS. We've been thinking of doing something similar soon.
We hope that the information will be helpful to all you out there fundraising for a good cause. Please be sure to share any good ideas that we should add to the list and if you have a moment, please check out our work with the BeeHive School in Mzuzu, Malawi. Thank You!
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