Now, at the end of high school, everything seems to change - you break up with the colleagues you lived with for so many years, you have to go to college and the weight of the words "adult" and "responsibility" begins to press on you.
In addition, you are in the situation of organising fundraising and you do not know exactly what and how to do it. We are with you in this process, and in the article below you have some tips to guide your steps:
1. Really understand what you are doing and properly position yourself
How you feel about money and the relationship you have with money will directly affect the way you approach the donor and the way they will perceive the approach. In other words, you don't have to position yourself at a lower level than the donor just because they have the potential to help. You need to understand that, to the same extent, you also have the potential to put them in an extremely privileged position, that of helping and changing lives. Funding is relational, not transactional. Donors want to feel part of a meaningful experience, they don't want to feel like an ATM.
2. Give them measurable results
Let donors know what their personal and social impact is. For example, instead of saying that their help will allow you to study abroad, tell them how it will help you study abroad, what are the benefits of this experience and who or how you will impact more from this experience.
Mention the successfully completed campaigns of the Adoptămstudenți.ro platform - you will show them in this way that these campaigns are achievable and that they were made through the contribution of people like them.
3. Emotional connection and sharing similar values
Fundraising is not about convincing, but about connecting. The message you convey must be relevant to donors and they must resonate with what you tell them and the cause you represent. Make potential donors feel part of a community of people working side by side for the same purpose and working on the same principles and values.
4. Tell them a story
Stories are the way people conceptualize their existence *‘People don’t store data, they story it’. So you have to wrap this process in a story and make the donors feel part of that story.
Some elements that make a story ‘good’:
- To illustrate a ‘journey’ of the main character, of the hero, that is, of you
- To disclose a problem or an ‘obstacle’ in the main character’s journey
- To emanate a feeling of hope
- To awaken in the listener the desire to get involved and participate in this story
5. A negative answer does not mean that the discussion cannot be fruitful.
If the answer is no, first of all, don't take it personally. Ask why - of course, without holding them accountable. Explain to them that you want to understand what you can do better and that helps you in your process further. Also, ask them if they can direct you to another person who would resonate with the cause you represent.
6. Several negative responses are, to some extent, normal
Studies show that, of the possible donors to whom the cause was presented, depending on their selection process, the negative response rate is on average 70%. Of the 30% who seem to donate, only half will actually end up donating. There are multiple reasons and they must be well understood in order to make a good strategy for interacting with donors.
First of all, people who can donate are very busy. Therefore, it is extremely important that the actions they need to take to help you are kept to a minimum. Avoid sending them long texts to read and successive links until they reach the message you want to convey. Simplify and seek direct contact with donors, face-to-face or by phone. Be consistent and clear, including the above tips in your speech. You are responsible for drawing conclusions and following up.
Then, donors may be exposed to multiple donation opportunities so your story needs to differentiate.
In addition, donors need to resonate with the cause, and it is up to you to pass it on.
Good luck!
Here are some materials that can be useful:
A text by Larisa Sonieru and Corina Pârvu
