My birthday was last weekend. Three weeks before I celebrated, Facebook asked me if I wanted to recruit my friends to celebrate my birthday by giving a donation. I got curious and posted on my FB page a fundraising tool. I really didn’t know what to expect but was curious to see the reaction of my friends. I chose Big Cat Rescue as my charitable foundation of choice. Would you be posting a fundraising tool on your FB for your birthday? A few tips below if you want to raise money for a worthy charitable organization.
Raising funds on FB takes more than just posting on FB. As for anything in life, you need to be passionate about a charity if you are going to be asking your friends to give money to your charity of choice. I really did not ‘promote’ my request to give to Big Cat Rescue because I wasn’t quite familiar with the organization. I wanted to take a tour of the premises and get involved before asking my friends but my schedule wouldn’t allow me to take the time to investigate until last minute. The result?
I did not feel the urge to ask my friends to donate. It turns out that when I finally took the guided tour at Big Cat Rescue, I fell in love with the program. It is one of the largest accredited sanctuaries in the world dedicated to rescue abused felines and to prevent extinction of big cats in the wild. Visiting the sanctuary and listening to the commitment of the volunteers was enough fuel to spread around my friends but by the time I did it, it was too late for my fundraising.
It also seems that during this time of the year, people may not be in the mood of giving. According to qgiv.com, the most popular time of the year for givers is between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day. Sadly, I couldn’t change my birthday to the end of the year. Perhaps throwing a party and requesting a donation instead of a gift would have motivated my friends to donate money. I think this tactic would have been more effective.
Running visuals for people to see what kind of work the charity provides is important because your friends may not be aware of your charitable organization. I asked friends in California to donate to my cause without giving them a reason to view the non-profit website or see what the organization was all about. Needless to say, passion for the cause will make you think about strategies like this and inform your friends about what you believe in.
In a few words, if you are ready for your friends to celebrate your birthday by donating to your favorite cause, make sure you take an active role if you want to see results. Inform your friends of your intention. Give them the materials they need to believe in the cause you are passionate about. Enlist your friends with more than just a FB notification. Personally involve them in your fundraising activity by throwing a party, or sending a personal email advocating for the cause. Giving to charity is still part of our DNA but we need to be encouraged in order to take the first step. Happy Birthday and good luck with your fundraising event!
For more information about Big Cat Rescue please visit - https://bigcatrescue.org/
