I just released a new guide! Check it out here. It’s all about crowdfunding personal expenses. Get Funding for Education,Travel, Volunteering, Emergencies, Bills, and more.
The hallmark of great crowdfunding campaigns is a set of compelling rewards. The more GoFundMe campaigns I look at, the more I am convinced that both crowdfunding reward tiers and pitch videos are underutilized on the GoFundMe platform.
Just recently, Indiegogo reported that “Campaigns with a pitch video raise an average of 114% more than campaigns that don’t.”
I can’t help you make your video, aside from providing you with some killer video tips to keep in mind. However, I can help you brainstorm rewards that you could incorporate into your GoFundMe project! Check out the list below and leave a comment if you find the article to be helpful.
Volunteering Campaigns
When you are raising money for a volunteer initiative, you need to put your business cap on and think as a social entrepreneur.
Why would people support this volunteer initiative? What do they get out of it?
1. Sponsorships for Businesses
Corporate responsibility is a growing sector and is becoming increasingly important, as brands strive to stay relevant on social media networks.
By incorporating sponsorship tiers into your GoFundMe campaign, you can give companies the opportunity to support your volunteering initiative, while also helping them gain brand awareness in a new demographic. In addition, it’s a great way they can show their stakeholders that they are giving back to the community, which is always a good PR story.
2. Images, Videos, and Thank You Cards.
Sharing images and videos of your volunteering experience via a blog or other publishing platform is a great way to thank backers for supporting your GoFundMe initiative. In addition, it’s content that businesses in your sponsorship tier can share on social media to demonstrate how they are giving back.
If your work deals with an underprivileged demographic, you could also have these individuals share their stories via thank you cards or video to showcase how you are making a difference in their lives. You should use images, video, and other types of content to transfer the emotions you feel when volunteering (happiness/satisfaction) to your backers.
3. 1-for-1 Promotion
Although not specifically a reward tier, one way that you could rally support for a volunteering initiative is to approach local businesses about a 1-for-1 promotion.
As an example, a local business might agree to donate $5 to your GoFundMe campaign for every customer you bring to their pizza shop in the next week. You would use flyers or handouts to track which customers the business received from your promotional efforts. Your local community could enjoy food and their hard-earned money would have the added side effect of benefiting a cause!
4. Accountability and Impact Measurements
You might not think of it this way, but donating money is really an investment. When you give money to the Red Cross or a Hurricane Relief Fund, you are expecting that money to be put to work and make change. You value the change the funds make more than just having the money sit in your bank account.
The best way you can thank your backers is to hold yourself accountable and provide reports as to where the money is going, what impact it is making, and how your volunteer efforts are moving a cause forward. You could do this through reports or blog posts.
Education Fundraising Campaigns
Personally, I think education fundraising campaigns are the hardest type of campaign to raise funds for on GoFundMe.
Other young adults and adults are also going through the expensive university system. They are working at part-time jobs, going to class, taking out loans, and not getting much sleep. That’s the price of becoming educated so that you can have a higher earning power in the future.
Though you may receive some charity donations from your social network, I first urge you to think whether or not you need funds for your education campaign, or if it would “just be nice.” If it’s the latter, don’t do it.
You could also consider using a platform like Upstart to give up a portion of your future income in exchange for funds.
5. Work Pro Bono or Volunteer
Using the skills you learn from your education to date and with your new education, you could work pro bono for non-profits and underprivileged demographics in the area. This could include teaching senior citizens how to use laptops to teaching a non-profit how to use social media. You could also agree to give back to the community by volunteering your time and labor.
6. Intern
If you could find a local company or entrepreneur to sponsor a portion of your education, you could agree to work for them as an unpaid intern (likely menial tasks, but any small business would welcome the extra hands). You could also agree to help promote their products or services on campus as a on-campus-representative.
Medical Costs & Emergency Campaigns
From my research, the majority of donations towards medical cost/emergency campaigns come from an individual’s local network and local community. Yes, there are places like Reddit’s charity section that you can use to gain stranger awareness or, if the story is compelling, there are instances where you can gain support through news stories.
I would strive to use your rewards to show appreciation for your donations that go beyond just a simple “thank you” note.
7. Host a get-together
Have you ever heard of fundraising dinners, where by “buying a plate” you are supporting a cause? You could take this same approach to raising funds from your local network or community. You may even be able to get donated foods from local restaurants for the event.
8. Show Your Thanks (literally)
You could make a poster, Facebook cover image, or section of your blog/website that highlights all of the incredible supporters (names/faces) that were willing to help you through a tough time.
9. Group Hangout Thank You
If you are expecting to receive pledges from around the country, you could also provide access to a group google hangout to say thanks to all your supporters face-to-face, as well as get to know them a little.
More Reward Ideas
25 Kickstarter Reward Ideas – Click here.
15 Indiegogo Reward Ideas – Click here.
