FUNDRAISING GUIDE: PEER-TO-PEER FUNDRAISING Nearly 80% of our schools, students recieve some sort of financial assistance for their course. However, that doesn t always cover everything and we want to help you make your Outward Bound experience possible. By using our FREE fundraising platform, you can recruit your family / friends / supporters to help offset the cost of your program. Follow the steps in this guide to get set up.
Step One http://bitly.com/bcbobsfundraise CLICK CREATE A TEAM This is really important! Make sure to create a team for your school or group before making any individual pages. Your supporters can always join your team after you have it set up. We ll see that part next.
Step Two ENTER YOUR TEAM NAME Please enter your school, group or organization name in the team name area so we can easily identify you. We ve entered a default headline for your page but you can change it to something more fun! Click CREATE TEAM and then select your team photo. You can use our logo or select your own by selecting CHANGE.
Step Three FUNDRAISING PAGE This is your landing page to share with your community and start fundraising. You can post updates under the MY STORY section, track fundraising efforts across your team members and have one easy place to send all your potential donors. PRO TIP: Use the built-in social share and email buttons just below the photo on the upper right. You can share directly to facebook, twitter or by emailing your family / friends. MAKING A DONATION The process for your donors and supporters couldn t be easier! Once they click MAKE A DONATION they will land on the page to the left which will guide them through the process of donating to your group s program. Rest assured this works perfectly on both a desktop computer and a mobile device too!
Extra Credit: Manage your page MANAGE YOUR PAGE Click MANAGE in the top right (next to your photo) and get access to a suite a features to help you succeed. We ve made it easy to send pre-formatted emails to family / friends to ask for donations, keep donors motivated as you reach certain milestones along the way and manage all your incoming gifts during your campaign. We also feature our top campaigns on our social media pages, website and email communications so our supporters and alumni will know about your page.
Extra Credit: Set up individual pages CREATE YOUR OWN FUNDRAISING PAGE When someone clicks JOIN TEAM from your team page, they can create their own personal fundraising page to channel funds toward your program s team goal. Some may just want to send a donation, but those are truly moved by your cause will step up to help you hit your goal faster. The default goal is $250, but your fundraisers can change it to whatever they d like. PRO TIP: For schools, this is a great way to create mini-fundraising pages for various classrooms or special groups to compete with each other in the fundraising process. It can be a lot of fun to see who can raise the most and/or reach the goal fastest. We ll reward top fundraisers from each campaign with sweet BCBOBS prizes too!!!
FUNDRAISING BEST PRACTICES You re all set-up, Now what?! THE FIRST 24 HOURS OF YOUR FUNDRAISER 1. MAKE A DONATION TO YOUR PAGE People are more likely to make a donation if they see you believe in it enough to make a contribution yourself. If you can t do it yourself, make sure there is at least one donor on your page before you start sharing the link. 2. PERSONALIZE YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE Your fundraising page comes standard with some suggested copy we wrote for you. However, people are more likely to give if you add to that with some of your own inspiring content to tell people why you want their support. 3. EMAIL 5-10 OF YOUR CLOSEST FAMILY, FRIENDS, COWORKERS Resist the urge to email everyone you know and post immediately to social media. Trust us! Write a personal email to 5-10 of your closest contacts and tell them about your goal, why you re doing it and how they can help. Make sure to incude the link to your page. SOCIAL MEDIA 1. TAG, TAG, TAG Help your friends and family feel important and thank them on social media by tagging them in a post, with the link to your donation page. 2. CONSIDER THE 4:1:1 RULE Once you ve made your initial push, keep the momentum going by posting some non-ask posts about our cause, why you re involved, photos of your fundraising efforts or events. The rule is for every four of those posts, you can post a direct ask and a soft ask which is usually a piece of related content (link, photo, video) with a link to your donation page. 3. USE THE EMBEDDED SHARE LINKS You can share your page directly from Classy by clicking on the social icons. Your friends and family can share their donation the same way on their donation receipt, pretty cool! DAY 2 SEND TO 10-15 OF YOUR CLOSEST CONTACTS Those closest to you are statistically most likely to donate. By starting here, you ll increase your odds of having a solid base of donations before you promote on social. DAY 3 EMAIL TO ANYONE ELSE YOU KNOW Now you can start to reach out to co-workers, extended family, neighbors, church members, or anyone else you think will open your email. DAY 4 TIME TO GET SOCIAL We have some helpful tips to keep in mind when promoting on social, but feel free to go wild here. Post your progress often, and let people know how to give. You re 75% more likely to reach your goal if you follow these steps and don t rush your way into social right away!
WE RE HERE TO HELP Hanibal Gnahoui 410.448.1721 x6035 HGnahoui@outwardboundbaltimore.org