JustGiving blog

You’ve asked your family. You’ve asked your friends. You’ve asked them again. Now what?

Last week I was contacted by one of our lovely fundraisers who found a great way of getting past this all too common situation of ‘fundraiser fatigue’, and so I had to share this idea with you. Without further ado, I will hand the stage over to our guest blogger this week, Andrea Britt.

10 steps to become a social champion (to stop soliciting more cash off friends and family)

*ping* One New Email… “Please! I’m only at the 50% point with only 2 weeks left to go… if you’d like to sponsor me here’s my page.” All sounding very familiar? Judging from forums and blogs it is quite common.  Fundraising panic. I dread to think how hard this must’ve been pre- online donation options such as JustGiving! Even seasoned runners and fundraisers struggle at times (possibly even more so – how many times is it polite to ask for sponsoring?), so while wallowing in a recovery bath after a run I tried to think of a new way to fundraise. After all, if the days of knocking on neighbours doors are gone and the plethora of emails and facebook statuses and tweets taken their place, how can digital campaigning be properly used?

Now, I’m an experienced marketing manager but a novice runner – no, that’s an exaggeration – I’m a walker who truly believed I could not run. Here’s the proof. In fact, a lot of people still find it amusing that I’m doing the London marathon, hence a lot of support has been from the incredulous as opposed to the truly supportive. A central problem was that my body was the biggest disbeliever of them all. It must be similar to if Charlie Sheen entered a monastery for 100 day purification. So I have built up quite a dependency on my recovery routine of arnica baths.

Then it came to me, what about if  A.Vogel atro bath oil sponsored me? I can tell other runners and my friends about it as I swear that it’s made a difference to my aches and pains in this journey of learning to run, so it is a very genuine endorsement. I called them up and asked if I could be their social champion and for every new fan I introduce to their product page they sponsor Outward Bound Trust. It took a little convincing and negotiation as I didn’t have a similar example to show them what I meant but finally it was all systems go!

So, if you’re struggling to fundraise here is what you do in 10 steps:

1. Go to http://www.avogel.co.uk/outward-bound and click like and then click share.
2. Think about how you can do the same.
3. What do you use that has made an effect on your training?
4. If you’re from an international background look for a product that is internationally available.
5. Work out what’s in it for them- (advertising, consumer engagement, charity)
6. Google the company and try and find a name for the promotional marketing manager/ e-marketing manager.
7. Call them up, if you don’t have a name ask to speak to the social media manager (they might not have one but then ask for the marketing manager regarding a social media campaign). You’ll be nervous but that’s OK, it really is an idea where everyone benefits. Bring out your inner Tom Cruise: “Help me help you help me!”
8. Maybe mock up a page as an example or show them my page as an example (weirdly, there doesn’t seem to be any other examples) and see if they’d like to do something similar.
9. Use some catch phrases: social media champion, corporate social responsibility, local community involvement. J
10. Tell your friends what you are going to do, ask them to support you as it means they don’t have to have guilty consciences about not sponsoring you- all they need to do is share the page! And then set a time frame and have fun (I set a time frame a little too short but live and learn eh?)

Just a thought, maybe if you’re still struggling with the funds post 17^th April, approach someone to sponsor your recovery process!

Tags: corporate, corporate sponsorship, fundraiser fatigue, fundraising ideas, guest post, Social media