Improve Fundraising Effectiveness With Your Story

5 key elements to help you promote your next fundraising campaign using your unique story.

Share your story to be heard.

One of the most important things you can do when fundraising for any group is to develop your story.

Your story is the information that supporters need to know about who your group is, but told in a compelling way.

Being able to articulate the value of your organization will make your job significantly easier when getting supporters to purchase from your fundraiser. Plus, it will cost you nothing but a little bit of your time.

People connect emotionally with a good story, so making sure yours grabs their attention is vital to maximize your fundraising results.

Clearly relaying your fundraising goals through storytelling helps people understand who your group is, what you’re raising money for, and tells them why their support is important.

People want to understand and care about the groups they’re giving money to. Crowdfunding sites are proof of the effectiveness of a compelling story to promote a fundraiser! The difference between a successful crowdfunding campaign and one that never reaches its target is the ability to connect the reader with the cause.

So, what are the key elements to telling your group’s story effectively while fundraising?

1. The Basics of Telling Your Story

Start by listing key details about your group in point form and build from there.

Ultimately, you want to tell your supporters about important milestones such as:

How your group got started
Who your members are
Any significant accomplishments or struggles you’ve faced
What you are raising the money for!

2. Make Your Story SIMPLE.

Your story needs to be relatable and engaging, but it doesn’t have to be overly long or complex.

In fact, you should aim for ‘short and sweet’, we all know that humans have the attention span of goldfish these days!

The best ones will give you enough information to get people intrigued, and then tell why their support is needed!

We want to make sure our message is as concise as possible while still connecting with the audience.

This is especially true if you are sharing your story through email where you don’t have a face-to-face connection with your potential supporters.

Keeping it short and sweet has added benefit of making your story more share-able, so if someone asks your supporter about the fundraiser, they can relay your purpose for you much more easily!

3. Personalize Your Messaging Wherever Possible!

When we personalize our story and share why it’s important to us as an individual, we can help others feel more connected to our group.

People love to see the passion for a cause and it can help them feel like they are part of something bigger.

So don’t be afraid to let them know why this organization is so important to you!

4. Always be AUTHENTIC

Remember the most important thing is speaking from the heart.

When small groups promote a fundraiser, they are usually approaching friends and family who aren’t as concerned if you followed some structured template or if the perfect grammar was used.

It’s far more important to tell an authentic story than a ‘perfect” one!

5. Wording Matters

While you don’t need to follow any particular template, it’s still a good idea to read over your message before sending it.

PRO TIP: Look for the words “we” and “ours,” can you replace some of these with “you” and “yours” statements?

Many experts in the field recommend using these more personalized words because it gives the reader a sense of inclusion and importance that can translate into increased sales.

For example, the statement “You have always been there for this team in the past and with your continued support we will be able to go all the way to Provincials.” is far more compelling than “We would like to go to Provincials this year. Please support our team.”

You want your audience to feel like they have the power to make this happen for you because they do! It’s a small, but significant change that can reap big rewards.

Storytelling takes practice so don’t give up if it takes time to develop your message. Sometimes the best thing you can do after writing is to walk away for a few hours.

Remember that you aren’t just selling a product, you are selling your group. People will give more money and more often to groups they feel personally connected to.

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Are you a school, sports club, or non-profit in Alberta or Winnipeg?

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