Volunteer Fundraising Ideas

We’re delighted to have hosted many great volunteer fundraisers and during this time, we’ve learned a lot about how volunteers can raise the money they need.

 

The most effective way is to start an online fundraiser on our site. It’s easy, fast and free to start. Explain where you’re going, what you’ll be doing and the costs involved. Giving a breakdown is a great way to build trust with your donors.

 

Furthermore, your desire to go on this trip is likely to have been fueled by passion. Capture this by making a video of yourself talking through the trip and your fundraiser. Fundraisers with a video are shown to raise much more than those without so it’s worth investing the time. Donors will feel your passion and it’s also a lot more likely that they’ll share your page with their own friends.

 

Imagine visiting a fundraising page that just has a single picture versus visiting a page that is packed with photos and actually has a video of the fundraiser talking through the project. The latter is exponentially more powerful.

 

Once you’ve created a great fundraising page, share it with everyone you know and take advantage of all ways of getting in touch. Facebook is your most powerful tool but don’t forget other networks you might be a part of, email, calling people up and even meeting in person!

 

Offering rewards in exchange for donations is particularly appropriate when it comes to volunteer fundraisers as the chances are that you’ll be visiting a place that looks a lot different to home. Here’s an example of the kind of rewards you could offer:

 

$10 or more – You’ll get a postcard from me explaining how everything is going

 

$30 or more – The previous reward + I’ll make you a video of me volunteering. I’ll also get the people around me to give you a shout-out!

 

$50 or more – Previous rewards AND I’ll pick you up a great souvenir

 

$100 or more – All other rewards and I’ll make you dinner when I’m back for being so awesome! I’ll also give you a public shout-out on Facebook to thank you for your extreme generosity.

 

 

 

 

Remember, tailor rewards according to the amount you need, what you can offer and what you think your friends and family would appreciate.

 

As your fundraiser ticks along, make sure you keep your everyone updated on progress and prompt those that haven’t donated to contribute something, if possible. Remember, not to spam or overwhelm people with donation requests. Four to five updates on Facebook throughout the duration of your fundraiser is often seen as reasonable.

 

Once your fundraiser expires remember to thank all those that donated or helped in some way. Now it’s time to fulfill those rewards and enjoy your time volunteering!

 

Finally, we’ve launched a partner program and are looking to expand our reach, especially to reputable volunteering organizations as volunteers often need to fundraise.

 

If you help us partner with your volunteering organization, we’ll pay you a $100 referral fee. That’s often just a case of letting your organization know that you’re fundraising for program costs on our site and that they could join our partner program to get extra benefits. If you’re looking to take advantage of this, get in touch.

 

Happy volunteering!