You can create a fundraising website to raise money for your favorite charity.
Online fundraising is growing in popularity, as more nonprofit organizations are finding the internet a viable way to increase funding for worthy causes. Whether you're an established nonprofit, a start-up with vision, or simply starting a project to raise money for your favorite charity, creating a fundraising site is easier than you may think, and there are several options for doing so. Many of the options have do-it-yourself features that allow you to create a site without any previous experience. These options also allow you to solicit donations from your online network and keep track of your fundraising goals. When creating your site, be creative and share information about your cause. Doing so will generate interest that you can translate into dollars.
Instructions
1. Register for an account with Firstgiving and create your own fundraising web page to support your favorite charity. Firstgiving is ideal if you're participating in a charity walk, or a special campaign sponsored by an established nonprofit affiliated with Firstgiving. The site walks you step by step through setting up a personal page for your cause, and you can easily email your contacts pre-written correspondence from the site. It also collects and tracks donations made on your behalf that are sent directly to your designated nonprofit. If your charity is a national or international organization, such as Habitat for Humanity or United Way, it's more than likely among the 8,000 plus nonprofit organizations using the site.
2. Sign up for a free website, such as Wix or Free Webs, if you're interested in building a fundraising site from scratch, without needing special webpage coding skills. There are hundreds of professional user-friendly templates on these two sites that will make building your fundraising site easy. You can incorporate a PayPal button to accept donations, and use the widget features to track your fundraising goals. After you build and publish your free website, you can also secure a custom domain name that excludes the name of the free website. For example, your freesite may read www.Wix.com/yourfundraisingsitename.com, along with a small banner ad at the top. Both can be removed, and features to enhance your site can be added, for a fee ranging from about $4 to $20 dollars per month.
3. Start a simple blog to communicate about your cause, and your fund raising efforts, on a regular basis. You can also include a donate button on your blog for those interested in supporting your cause. Wordpress, Tumblr and Blogger are a few of the blog sites that offer the equivalent of building your own web page.
4. Make your fundraising website informative and persuasive. Share your personal story about why you're passionate about the cause, and why others should support it. Include photos of those in need, along with success stories and quotes from those who've benefited from money previously raised. Encourage others to spread the word about your efforts and your progress towards your goals. Include a forum or comments section, where people can spark discussions about your cause. Include as much information as possible on your fundraising site. Add a frequently asked questions section, if needed.
Tags: your fundraising, your cause, about your, fundraising site, about your cause, favorite charity, free website