A very sincere thank you and congratulations to Tiffany Norton and Coastal German Shepherd Rescue for being chosen as November’s Charity of the Month!  Their fundraising page for young and beautiful German Shepherd, Faith, has exceeded their goal and isn’t showing any signs of stopping.  As a result, Faith and CGSR will receive a $50 donation from Firstgiving for their hard work. 

By sending out multiple email blasts, placing a widget on their homepage, and adding a button to their email signatures, Coastal German Shepherd Rescue has proved that a little bit of effort goes a long way.  Check out Top Tips for Fundraising Online for more ideas.  Are YOU doing all you can to promote your fundraising efforts?

Read some tips from Tiffany to learn how Firstgiving helped her and CGSR "bring in the funds".  And don’t forget to read about Faith and everything that she is overcoming.

1)       How did you hear about Firstgiving?

I had a fellow dog rescuer tell me that she had success with Firstgiving and urged me to try it.  I had never seen a Firstgiving email or platform, but decided to look into it.

2)       How did Firstgiving change your fundraising experience?

Firstgiving was so user-friendly and uncomplicated.  We were able to raise an amazing amount of money very quickly.  Our response rate with Firstgiving was incredible.  The funds started coming in within 5 minutes of activating our page!

3)       Do you think you would have raised as much money without your fundraising page?  Why or why not?

No, we would not have raised nearly the amount of money that we did with Firstgiving.  The email blast makes donating very easy—busy people can just take a second to click and make a donation.  No checks to write, no envelopes to stamp… very easy and it brings in the funds!

4)       What promotions do you think worked the best (ie email, the widget and button on your homepage, the button in your signature, etc)?

I think it’s a combination of all these components that makes Firstgiving a success.  I personally liked the button in my signature line, as I send oodles of emails out every day and probably reached people that I did not originally send the Firstgiving email to.  The widget is great… we put it on our webpage and it served as a constant reminder of how much we have raised—and how much was still needed.  The email, though, is by far the most lucrative feature.  The key seems to be sending it out far and wide and asking others to pass it along!

5)       Will you use Firstgiving again?

Yes, we will certainly use Firstgiving again.

7)       How is Faith doing?

Faith is doing great!  She came through the first surgery with flying colors and is recuperating.  The physical therapy is doing wonders for her “new” leg and she is already putting weight on it.  The 2^nd surgery is four weeks out and we expect her to be able to run/jump like every dog should!

Congratulations again to Tiffany and Coastal German Shepherd Rescue.  Hugs and doggie kisses to Faith!