Fundraising Guide
Thank you for raising critical funds for the DREAM this winter season with friends, colleagues, family and others in your network!
Over the course of the race, we recommend sending 3-5 pieces of outreach to your network (an intro, an update, and an "urgent" note). See more on this, including samples, towards the bottom of this page.
Here are some tried and true fundraising strategies, followed by a recommended outreach schedule:
Strategy 1: Have fun! People like to give to efforts that are engaging and have positive energy.
Strategy 2: Make it personal. At the end of the day, your network will donate to the cause because they care about YOU. Share why this work matters to you. Personalizing your fundraising page with a photo and 2-3 sentences on why this matters to you can make a big difference.
Strategy 3: Use personal challenges to incentivize giving. Through the event platform, you can easily set up personal challenges with small fundraising goals that roll up to your total goal. Once the challenge is funded, you then complete it.
Strategy 4: Share your involvement with EVERYONE! It turns out that people really love hearing about what their friends, family and colleagues are up to. Don't be shy, we promise you won't ruin any relationships by sharing this event with your networks (in fact, they'll learn a little more about you and your passions)!
Strategy 5: Don't look at it as asking for money! One of the biggest anxieties we have about fundraising is the idea of asking for money from people. We encourage you, instead, to think about this as sharing DREAM's mission and your involvement in the DREAM Scholarship Fund, and then simply ending with, "I'd really appreciate your support, you can donate here if this resonates with you." That'll do the trick.
Recommended outreach schedule:
Week 1
- Social: Post on social media (you can do this directly through the platform or by yourself, with the link to your page).
- Email or Text: Send an "introduction" to your network! (see sample emails & texts below)
Week 2
- Email or Text: Send an "update" to your network! (see sample emails & texts below)
- Email or Text: Send one personal outreach email to a friend, family member, or colleague.
- Personal Challenge: set a small fundraising goal.
Week 3
- Social: Post an update on social media.
- Email or Text: Send the "urgent" email to your network! (see sample emails & texts below)
- Email or Text: Send one personal outreach email to a friend, family member or colleague.
Week 4 (after holiday drive is over)
- Email or Text: Send the "thank you" email to your network! (see sample emails & texts below)
Sample Outreach Emails
Notes:
These are suggestions for you to riff off - please personalize them!
It can be helpful, when sending emails for weeks 2-4, to add the new emails on top of the previous emails.
If you are offering a matching incentive of some sort, make sure to highlight that in your emails!
Week 1: Introduce the campaign to your network
Subject: Hope you’ll support my work with DREAM!!
Body:
Hi Everyone,
Happy holidays! I’m reaching out to share an organization that I volunteer for, in the hopes you will consider supporting me.
I sit on the advisory board of the DREAM Program in [DREAM Region]. I am helping the organization launch here and I couldn’t think of a more important mission to support children in my community, especially at this moment in time.
DREAM supports children in low income households, with the mission of closing the opportunity gap in resources, enrichment experiences, and positive role models.
It’s an exciting moment where we are looking to raise seed funding to launch. … We have a great director hired and
You can read more about the organization on their website www.dreamprogram.org. And I’m hopeful you’ll consider donating this season on my personal fundraising page here: [LINK].
[MATCH For every gift given, I am pledging to…]
Thank you for considering!
[Your Name]
Week 2: Provide an update to your network
Subject: (One week in!) Hope you’ll support my work with DREAM!!
Body:
Hi again!
I'm one week into my holiday fundraising drive for DREAM, and raised $[XX] so far towards my goal of [Goal]!
A huge thanks to those who have already given to my campaign. [LINK]
Please consider supporting today - your support would mean a lot to me!
[Link]
Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
*consider at this point also sending some very personalized emails to 2-3 individuals you know well.
Week 3: Send a more urgent ask to your network
Subject: (Only a few days left!) Hope you’ll support my work with DREAM!!
Body:
Hello Everyone,
I’m nearing the end of my holiday fundraising drive for DREAM, with the goal of helping bring mentors, summer camp and adventure trips to children in low-income households in the [Greater Albany area].
If you’ve been meaning to support, now is the time! I’m almost to my goal, any amount is greatly appreciated.
[Link]
Thank you so much,
[YOUR NAME]
Week 4: Time to celebrate and say, “thank you”
Subject: Thank you! (still time to give )
Body:
Hi everyone - one last email, just to say, “thank you!” You helped raise over $X for DREAM, which will help us enroll new youth and offer fantastic and enriching programming.
This has been a lot of fun for me and I deeply appreciate all the support.
There is still time to give - if you can help take us the final leg with a donation, we'd greatly appreciate it! [LINK]!
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season,
[YOUR NAME]
