A: Make it easy for them to do it, and they will! Here are some ideas:

-In addition to the donate button on your website, create a “Fundraising” or “Fundraise with us!” section on your site. Put it where someone who wants to volunteer or give a monthly donation could find it easily (for example, right below “Volunteer with us”). Link to your organization’s start page on Firstgiving. Here’s an example.

-Highlight the fundraising pages and stories of people who are already fundraising for you on your organization’s website. Here’s an example.

-If you’re hosting an event, commit registrants to a modest fundraising minimum in order to participate in the event. Consider providing an incentive such as a registration fee waiver for fundraisers who exceed the minimum. Here’s an example.

A: Yes. Definitely.

A: In fact, there is! We have a Firstgiving “widget” that you can post to your blog, and it links right to your fundraising page. For complete instructions on how to get it going, click here: http://help.firstgiving.com/widget

A: Not irrational, exactly, because we all have experienced this, and it’s annoying. You don’t want to spam your potential donors, or ask them to donate 50% of their income to your fundraising page. And hopefully, since they know you, if you’re asking them to do something they’re not able to, they’ll tell you.

But don’t let fear get in the way of your “ask.” Remember that you are doing an admirable thing by raising money for charity, and most people will be happy to support you. People usually feel good about giving, especially when they know they are making an impact. By creating a fundraising page for an event or any other purpose, you are providing people with an opportunity to make a difference.

One more thing, since we have the floor–being pesky about thanking people is probably a risk you can afford to take. Be sure to let people know how thankful you are when they donate!

A: Your email should be easy to read, so try to get to the point pretty quickly. Include enough information to grab your reader’s interest, and leave them hanging enough to want to go to your fundraising page to read more (and make a donation). We know, it would be easier if we had a formula for you? But different situations will require different solutions. As we mentioned in the webinar, spend some time thinking about how to tailor your message to your donors. This should get you off on the right foot.

A: Good point, it only stays up for about a week. Here’s another place to use your best judgment. You can probably re-post your status more often than you send out email updates, but you don’t need to re-post every 5 minutes. Then again, you probably won’t have something new to say about your fundraising page every 5 minutes. Try to include some other relevant information when you re-post, such as “www.firstgiving.com/yourpagename 85% to my goal!”

There’s also a little box under your profile picture where Facebook encourages you to write something about yourself. If you post your fundraising page link here, it will stay until you delete it. (Hat-tip to one of our webinar attendees for this brilliant idea).

A: You can always write out the link to your fundraising page or follow-up with an email, but some people just won’t be inclined to head toward a computer to make a donation. Make it as easy as possible for your donor. If he or she is just not the online donor type, have them write a check out to the organization (get in touch with the organization directly to find out where to send the check). You can record the donation in the “money raised offline” section of your fundraising page, so it will be reflected in you fundraising total.

Alternatively, have your donor make the check out to you and use your own credit card to make the donation online in their name. Be sure to explain what you’re doing, and maybe even give your donor the option of which process to use.

A: If someone has expressed interest in donating to your page, they probably mean it. There’s always the chance that something could have come up that would preclude them from giving at that particular time, but chances are it’s just been pushed to the back burner. They’ve made some kind of verbal commitment, so don’t be afraid to follow up. Consider sending out one last update email to the effect of, “If you’ve already donated, thank you! If you’ve been waiting, now is a great time because my event is happening this weekend!” Keep it light and, if it feels more comfortable, send a general message out to all your supporters rather than trying to follow up with one-on-one asks. And if they don’t give this time, perhaps they will next time!

A: Use your judgment here. If you’re fundraising for the same organization all year, it might be difficult to ask people to donate more than once to the same organization, unless you know they are particularly enthusiastic about that organization’s work.

Consider also how much you are asking people to donate. For example, over the course of a year, you might want to create one page with a $1500 goal or 3 pages with $500 goals for 3 different events, rather than 3 pages with $1500 goals. This is easy to do, since it doesn’t cost anything to set up a page!