Emergencies happen, and it comes mostly without any announcements. Emergencies drain us emotionally and financially. In fact, nearly two-thirds of Americans don’t have enough savings to cover a substantial emergency crisis. If you are one among them and you need help during a crisis, emergency fundraising might be the best option to get back onto your feet.
Emergencies are not necessarily floods, earthquakes, or fires. It may be personal such as a medical emergency, accident, or job loss. Let’s see some of the emergencies that may necessitate the need to start an emergency fundraising campaign.
- Unexpected medical conditions such as a transplant, cancer, high-cost treatment disease
- Road accidents
- Natural disasters such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, fires, and hurricanes.
- Pandemic
- Loss of job
- Lack of finance to survive
- Being orphaned
Starting an emergency fundraiser on a trusted online fundraising platform is a great way to get started. By creating a campaign page, you’ll be able to update your friends and family about the situation and what kind of support you need from them. Let’s see how to go ahead and plan a successful emergency fundraising campaign.
Talk about people
You might have a financial goal in mind for your emergency fundraising campaign. But do the donors care about it? They care about how their funds will benefit the cause. So keep the stories of people centerstage. Tell real stories and share real impact as if you are talking to each individual donor and not to a group. Make an impactful video, upload images, and write the story to evoke sympathy. Describe the circumstances of the emergency you or your loved ones are facing and show them how urgent your need is.
Create a sense of urgency
Humans by nature tend to procrastinate until any task becomes urgent. It is the same with donations. It isn’t that they are not willing to give. Many of the visitors who view your campaign page will give. But for the others who want to delay the donations, create a sense of urgency. Of course, it is an emergency fundraising campaign and your message should be clear, consistent, and URGENT. Stress how urgent it is to collect donations for the cause. A trick is to embed the visual thermometer on the page. This updates real-time as donors give funds. Share it as much as possible when it is nearing the goal because people tend to donate to see the goal is reached.
Form a team
As soon as an emergency occurs, get the help of your family and friends to set up an emergency fundraising campaign. Form a team and assign roles for every individual. Your focus is to communicate the situation to the public and keep getting their attention. Digital coordinator, strategist, copywriter, spokesperson, leader, manager, set up various positions as per their strengths and macro manage tasks to ensure your campaign’s success.
Share it on social media platforms
Popular social media platforms such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are the best tools to spread the word quickly about your emergency fundraising campaign. Make a separate account on Facebook for the emergency fundraising campaign and include the Donate button. Embed the website’s donation page in the Instagram bio. For other channels, share the link to the landing page created on the fundraising platform. Accompany it with a brief description urging people to donate. Get in touch with influencers through messaging. See if they are willing to talk about it or at least share the link on their page.
Cross-channel sharing
Social media is the best medium to share your emergency fundraising campaign. But it isn’t the only channel to focus on. Call your friends and family, or even text them, or email them. You can contact local radio channels to spread the word. What about some outdoor advertising? Print flyers and drop them in the post boxes of your local community homes. If you have a budget on hand, try paid ads on Google and on social media channels. If you have a high-profile patron, leverage the connection to get donations.
Street fundraising
With online fundraising in the boom, the traditional ways of fundraising have been largely ignored. Even the pandemic and the subsequent social distancing norm have made things difficult. But, whenever possible, deploy an army of street fundraisers to get an honest face-to-face engagement. Your team can spread out in the community and visit homes and large organizations to get as many donations as possible. They can even stand outside metro stations, set up a stall at events, or stand at the side of any busy street to keep the donations coming. Let your online and offline fundraising events run in parallel.
Make real-time decisions
The best thing about setting up a campaign on a fundraising platform is that you can track real-time donations. Set up your campaign metrics and see how far you are from your financial goal. Find what works more and what channels are driving donations to the campaign. Adjust your campaign process as you go to maximize its effect.
Get technical
By registering your emergency fundraising campaign on a fundraising platform, you get the benefit of Donate Now button to embed on your blog or personal website. Other benefits are varied modes of payments making it easy for donors, real-time data tracking, QR codes, and shareable links. A dedicated landing page for your emergency fundraising campaign is a great technical start to drive up donations.
Show gratitude to donors
A simple Thank You message to your donor will show them that their donation is appreciated. A donor who is thanked within 48 hours of making a donation is more likely to give again. Try sending personalized messages to the donors, if possible. Otherwise, a general Thank You message with a brief description of how the contribution has helped the cause will pay off in the long run.
Conclusion
So there you have it! These are some useful tips for running an effective emergency fundraising campaign. If you would like to raise money for any emergency cause, set up your campaign on a trusted fundraising platform. It will give you the necessary boost to share the word and achieve your financial goal within no time.
