Ideas for a successful crowdfunding campaign for your church based event.

Every cause is different and these differences have to be suitably incorporated into the fundraising campaign. For example, a fundraiser campaign for disaster relief will vary from a fundraiser campaign for a church event.

These differences may seem trivial in nature, but are to be kept in mind when promoting the event and the campaign. With this article, GiveCentral aims to give you a few fundraising and crowdfunding ideas for your next church based event.

1. Start a social media campaign! Social media presence is a must for any cause looking to raise funds online. With crowdfunding being the hottest mode of fundraising, establishing a social media presence only seems obvious. Posting updates on the campaign and other particulars is a good place to start. After setting up a social media account or a page, brainstorm with your team for ideas on how you want to be recognised on the internet. Come up with “hashtags” that define your church and your church’s goals. Taking inspiration from the ALS Ice Bucket challenge, engage people by organising an event and invite people to become associated with your organisation. You can orient your campaign around a person or a group of people. Select a person to become the face your organisation online. This helps for people to recognise your church and its activities.
2. Campaign website! Open up a dedicated campaign website for people to acquaint themselves with your church and its activities. Flood the website with details regarding the people in your organisation, your organisation’s mission, how close you are to achieving it, and the help you’re seeking from people. Be bold in your statements and direct about your requests. Let people see where their money will go to and provide an option for people to donate to your organisation. Without cluttering the website with unnecessary details, provide as much information as you can for the donor to read. This will help them take a more informed decision.
3. Use appropriate technology! Kickstarter is probably the first company that made crowdfunding popular. It managed to raise huge amounts of money in a short period of time. While the Kickstarter platform is compatible for many types of crowdfunding campaigns, church events haven’t had much success with it. That is why, it is important to use technology that is tailor made for your kind of campaign. Websites like faithlauncher.com, fundedbyfaith.com, and indiegogo.com, are tested and proven to deliver for church based crowdfunding.
4. Ask creatively! There’s no doubt that you’ll have to request people for money. Many people usually make the mistake of being too subtle with their requests. This is ill advised. Ask directly and ask clearly. Making a video for this purpose is an effective way of asking people for money. Ask a young pastor in your church to help with the video. Ask him to tell the story of your church and appeal for donations and help.
5. User testimonials! Finally, when you have the donations rolling in, you can set up a page to broadcast user testimonials. This helps in establishing trust between you and the potential donor. Ask people who have already donated to your cause to speak for you and your church event. Also, you can ask people who are involved with the event or are directly affected with the event to provide you with a testimonial.

GiveCentral hopes that, with these ideas in mind, you have a successful event. All the best!