Create A Fundraiser Guide
Campaign Creation Guide
This guide provides suggestions on how to fill in the fields on the Create Fundraiser form. We have also provided, hopefully, helpful information about best practices to use when launching a Crowdfunding fundraiser.
Campaign Name:
This is the title of the campaign that will be displayed on the fundraiser page. Make it something that is specific to the campaign. For example if the campaign is for a family who suffered from a fire and need help recovering make the title something like, “Adams Family Fire”. This simple title describes the Who and the What.
Keep it simple and short. More detail will be added in later sections.
Short Description:
Add a Short Snappy description of the campaign. This information is displayed at the top of the fundraiser page, in search results and in category listings.
The main goal here is to provide enough information so a potential donor can understand what the campaign is for and encourages them to learn more. Try to keep it to around fifty words or so.
Following the “Adams Family Fire” example “The Adams family home was burned to the ground on the 18th. The father was injured during the fire and doctors say he should not return to work for a few months.”
Again Who and What are the important aspects of the Short Description. If the campaign is for an artistic project for example the who would be the artist and the what would be the artistic project they are raising money for.
Fundraising Goal:
An easy one, how much money do you need to raise. It is best to know how much you need to raise with the fundraiser. Keep it within reason, if you say you need a million dollars to rebuild a boat dock your campaign is not going to get any traction. The Full Description, below, should contain information that tells how the money will be used.
Length in Days:
The length of the campaign should be a reasonable amount of time 30 to 60 days usually produces better results than 6 months or longer. Urgency of the need matters.
Full Description:
Think about the description of the campaign and organize it based on Who and why your need the funds. Personalize it as much as possible. Our best advise is to write a draft then bounce it off a couple of friends. You can save the Create Fundraiser form as a draft and comeback later to finish it.
The description should normally be between 300 to 500 words. You do not want to write an essay, people will not read it all, especially on a mobile device. So be as concise as possible while providing enough information for people to understand who you are and why you are asking them to donate to your cause.
The Media button can be used to upload and insert images into the content wherever you feel it will be pertinent. The media will be inserted at the current cursor position so you can write a paragraph then insert an image starting on the next line. You can also click on an image and drag it to a different place in the content.
There are several icons in the bar above the text input area. Most are self explanatory, you can hover over each to see a tip for how it is used. Highlighting some text and clicking on the Link Icon will add a URL link to the text highlighted. Great way to insert a link to a Home page or social page without having to show the whole URL in the content, looks cleaner.
Featured Image:
Having a featured Image that relates to your cause is a great way to catch someones eye. Ideally it should support the text in the Short Description. The image will be displayed at the top of the campaign page and is in addition to the images in the Full Description area of the page. It will also be the image used in campaign listings pages, listings by category and search results.
Video:
Yes, upload one if you have one. If you do not have one think seriously about creating one. The video does not have to be professional quality. You can use your phone to record a video.
If filming people working for or supporting your cause try to have them smiling and looking towards the camera as they work. The video can be anything that supports the purpose of your campaign, from testimonials to people helping out after a disaster.
The video should be uploaded to one of the services like Youtube or Vimeo. Once live on the service copy and past the URL into the Video Text Box. You can also past the Video Embed code from the service into Video Text area. That’s it, do not add additional text only paste in the URL or video embed code. Anything else will not work.
Donation Options:
You do not have to add Suggested Amounts. It is a good idea to add some if you are offering incentives for donations. For example if you are a musician raising funds to purchase time in a recording studio you could offer a copy of the CD for a 5 dollar donation, a signed CD cover for 10 dollars, or a video of the recording session for a 20 dollar donation.
Suggested Donation Levels are not a bad idea with any campaign. It provides the donor with the opportunity to click an easy option for the donation.
Donors will be able to enter any amount they want or select one of the Suggested Donation levels.
Your Details:
Name and Email are required. We need to be able to contact you if needed.
Your Done, click the Save & Preview button. Your campaign page will display. There will be an edit link on the page so you can come back and make changes as needed. You can also go to the Dashboard and click the fundraiser tab to return to the fundraiser form to edit it.
When you are happy with your page just click the Submit Campaign button to make your campaign live and start Receiving Donations.
For additional tips and information about Fundraising and Crowdfunding check out the guides below.
