It's time to rally your courage and open your heart.
An open conversation from the heart is what it will take to connect with and move the crowd. Start brainstorming with questions like these:
Why am I passionate about this cause?
Why should donors care about this cause?
How is the world going to be a better place because of this campaign?
Why might donors decide not to support this campaign? What explanations can I give to get them to change their mind?
What is a personal story I can share with my supporters?
Know this...you don’t have to be perfect. Just be real and transparent. People want to hear about the real and honest you. You are worthy. You are important. So let it out. Maybe go check out other campaigns that have been successful that are similar to yours. See how they did it, and how they updated and communicated with their donors.
Imagine a friendly group of people sitting in your living room with smiling faces. They are there to hear your story. They want to hear it. Start by sharing simple and honest words from your heart. Write them down.
Get honest about how you feel right now in your current situation. Share what is really going on and what you are feeling: pain, anger, sadness, or maybe happy and inspired. Whatever the real emotions are, own them and let it out. Add this to your draft.
Now share a vision of success with your imaginary audience. What will the world look like when this campaign has reached its goal? See it, feel it, share it. Then, add it to your draft.
If your story is long or continually evolving, break it down into episodes. Don’t write a novel. Use the update feature to write the next episode. Updates are best for filling in details and sharing about the journey toward your goal. It’s never one and done. You will need to add more than the original story. Updates are vital for success.
Campaigns that update often (every 5 days) raise 200% plus more funds.
Fun, happy, inspired or mad, sad, and hurt. Emotions are powerful and can influence people to contribute.
Describe the situation. Help people see and feel what is going on.
Don’t be vague. Make your request clear. For example, “Give $20, $50 or $100 today to help me reach my goal of $1,000 by December 31.
Be specific and transparent. Share the hope this will bring. “$1,000 will allow me to pay for high-quality hearing aids for my grandmother.”
Describe the impact of these donations and how the world will be different because your audience chose to give.
Keep people in the loop with regular updates. If you have begun to spend donations mid-campaign, share how you’re spending them and the impact they’re making.
Now that you’ve written your story, let’s add photos and videos to make it even more impactful.