A quick guide to planning your fundraising campaign

Harbor to the Bay is a unique organization. Everybody involved in the planning and execution of this endurance-based fundraising event does so on a volunteer basis. Nobody is paid a salary and 100% of the money raised by the participants is paid to the event’s official beneficiaries. Many people still say it can’t be done and that because you have to use some of the proceeds to cover your own expenses people are reluctant to donate. We have proved them wrong year after year.

We couldn’t do it without you. Harbor to the Bay does have a dedicated core group of participants that has been riding with us every year since our first ride in 2003. Each year we also attract many new participants that may not have much experience, if any, in conducting a fundraising campaign. Since everything hits the fan after the fourth of July holiday, now is a good time to start thinking about getting started.

Grassroots fundraising means you will be reaching out to your personal and professional networks to recruit their members as donors and fundraisers and they in turn pass the message on to their networks, and so on, creating a chain reaction where your message reaches a wide population of donors. You can be much more successful, and your fundraising can be much less stressful if you have a plan.

(Based on “A First-Timer’s Guide to Event-Based Nonprofit Fundraising” by Maksim Kalashnikov, April 2007)

Determine your Target Audience.

Create an inventory of all your networks such as: family, friends in Massachusetts, friends in New Hampshire, friends in California, college friends, work friends, members of any club or organization you belong to, etc.

Sequencing.

Filter out those networks that for whatever reason you don’t want to include in this campaign. Sort the remaining networks into an order in which you will reach out to them. Your family and close friends may be willing to donate just because you’ve asked and they will forgive you if your technique is not yet perfected. Reach out to that most loyal group first. Not only can you use them to test and hone your communications, but this will build up your fundraising totals so that you can reach out to those networks who will be more willing to donate once they see that your campaign has gained momentum.

Timing.

Use your networks wisely and not too frequently. For each network, time your campaign to avoid conflicts with vacations, school, exams, other people’s fundraising and anything else that may compete for your donors’ attention and dollars.

Channels.

Figure out the best method for the contact, such as e-mail, telephone or face-to-face. Sending one e-mail message to a whole group of potential donors is the most popular way of grassroots solicitation. Recipients can then easily forward your message to their friends. Use the link to your donation page on the Harbor to the Bay website in your e-mail message. Consider following up on your e-mail with a phone call or in-person reminder. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other popular online networking sites have proven to be invaluable.

Crafting the Communication.

Donors get tons of mail every day. Make your message brief, with the most important information at the top and the weight at the front of each paragraph. Your message can be short because you can include a link to forward your donors to the website. Here is a link to 3 templates that we previously posted. You should be able to easily adapt these to your needs.

Anchoring.

You may anchor the donors’ expectations about the amount you would like them to donate. The Harbor to the Bay website helps you do this by providing a personal donation page that displays your fundraising progress and the goal you have set for yourself. Personalize your Harbor to the Bay donation page by including your own photo, personal fundraising message and fundraising goal.