Module 4: Online Fundraising

How To Fundraise Using Online Donation Pages

To help with fundraising efforts, Unite For Sight creates a personal donation fundraising page for all of its volunteers. As a volunteer's network of supporters donate, Unite For Sight automatically records the donations and sends an email to the volunteer as each donation arrives. All donors also receive a receipt for tax purposes, and the donations are tax-deductible to the full extent provided by U.S. law.

• Think of everyone in your network as an investor in your volunteer experience with Unite For Sight.
• Email your fundraising webpage link to all of your friends and family to encourage them to donate on your behalf. Write personal emails to each person in your network of supporters.
• Personalize your email message. Tell your friends and family about your excitement to volunteer with Unite For Sight to eliminate preventable blindness and restore the sight of patients living in extreme poverty. Also send them some links to videos about Unite For Sight, and tell them about the impact that your volunteering and fundraising will have on the community. Speak from the heart. Remind your donors also that 100% of their donation provides eye care to patients living in extreme poverty. Your email should communicate your passion for your fundraising efforts and why it is important to you and to the patients abroad.
• Do not underestimate the power of statistics and facts. 80% of all blindness is preventable or curable, which means that 36 million people are needlessly blind. Everyone in your network of supporters has the power to restore a person's sight.
• Send a reminder email to your network of supporters about 1-2 weeks after your first email, and another reminder email a few weeks after that.
• After a friend or family member donates, ask them to send your fundraising webpage link to their family and friends, and so on.
• Think far and wide, and don't forget to tell everyone you know about your fundraising efforts.
• Notify all of your friends on Facebook that you are fundraising, and send them a link to your fundraising page.
• Contact local newspapers, notify them about your upcoming volunteer trip and your fundraising efforts, and ask that they write an article about your efforts. Be sure that the article also encourages the readers of the newspaper to donate through your fundraising page.
• Remind supporters that they may want to donate to Unite For Sight on behalf of someone's birthday, wedding, anniversary, birth, etc. The donors may wish to submit a donation to Unite for Sight as a gift for one of their family or friends.
• If your birthday is approaching, ask your family and friends to donate in honor of your birthday.
• Change your email signature to include a link to your fundraising page. It will reminder everyone you email that you are fundraising.

  1,500,000 patients served, 74,226 sight-restoring surgeries sponsored 8,900 fellows trained
  80% of blindness is preventable.  36 million are needlessly blind.  Take action to eliminate preventable blindness today: INSERT YOUR FUNDRAISING PAGE HERE

Click To View Examples of Volunteer Fundraising Pages

• Christine Yeung's Fundraising Page
• Eli Levitt's Fundraising Page
• Sophie Brigstocke's Fundraising Page
• Indu Voruganti's Fundraising Page
• Kate Golub's Fundraising Page
• Lauren Lisann's Fundraising Page

How To Use Facebook To Fundraise

• Status Updates: Update your Facebook friends about your fundraising efforts three times per week, and include your fundraising page link each time.
• Groups: Create a group for your fundraising. When people join the group, their friends will see the link to your group and may join, too. Encourage everyone in the group to donate at least $5.
• Wall Posts: When someone donates, write a thank you note on their Wall.

Set High Fundraising Goals

• In one month, the Obama campaign raised $150,000,000. Astonishingly, the average donation was under $100, which means that he had a huge number of donations of modest size. You, too, can raise a substantial amount from a lot of modest size gifts.
• You can hope that everyone in your network of supporters will donate at least $50. Multiply $50 by the total number in your network of supporters in order to reach your fundraising goal. You will likely find that some in your network will donate $100 or $200, while others may donate $10 or $20. You can hope for a minimum of at least $50 from everyone in your network.

Get Your Network of Supporters To Encourage Their Network of Supportes To Give

• Each of your donors have their own network of supporters. If you have twenty in your network of supporters, and they each have twenty in theirs, you have increased your network by 400.
• If you convey your passion for volunteering and fundraising for Unite For Sight to your network of supporters, you can engage them in also workin gto fundraise for your cause.
• Make your network of supporters feel that they are part of your team and part of the global team to eliminate preventable blindness. Remember to thank everyone in your network who becomes part of your fundraising team.

Go To Module 5: Fundraising Events >>