You can be a multiplier for the things you want to succeed! Fundraising can be really hard, and many projects and organizations you care about struggle to cover their budget. It really sucks when we see a favorite event or project shut down due to money. Here’s how you can help.
- Make a donation or purchase of your own, to the extent of your personal budget. Even if you can only give $5 this is still important. It’s part of what you’ll share to encourage others to support. “Hey, my favorite comics artist has a new book out. I just bought a copy!”
- Rebroadcast calls for support from the folks you want to help. Retweet, boost, share a link on Facebook, etc. This is a basic step, but often it works better than paid advertising.
- Write your own personal message to tweet or post with a link to the main fundraising page. Talk about why the thing you’re supporting is important to you. Share that through places you participate. “This is the first comic I found that really represented people like me. It would mean a lot to me if you supported their Kickstarter.”
- Don’t forget your coworkers! Do you have a company Slack, message board, or relevant email list? These can be bigger networks that won’t have heard about the thing you’re promoting because you have different friends and social lives. Also, if you’re donating to a registered charity, your company may have a matching donation program that will double what you’re giving.
- Share your personal message with your own friends and family. This is more one-on-one than the previous steps. Send emails and direct messages or mention it over launch or coffee. Think about why they might be interested in the thing you’re supporting.
- Follow up on step 5. If there’s a deadline, aim to remind people about one week before and one day before. “Did you donate yet? They need people to do it before the matching campaign ends tomorrow.”
- Repeat previous steps as often as you’re comfortable. People usually need to see the information several times before they take action.
- Consider who has the biggest budget to help: some folks have more spending money than others, and companies can usually spend more than individuals, if there’s a sponsorship possibility, a way to spend their training budget, or a charitable donation they can write off. For a finished product like a book, a company might be willing to buy copies for a whole team or one per office location.
- Check in with the person or organization you’re helping to see how the fundraising is going, and if they have specific requests. They might want to do a targeted pledge, like $500 by 5pm and you could help promote that and ask people to participate. They might also be looking for in-kind donations, like supplies for their community space. Look for ways you can connect them with specific resources.
If you found this information useful, please back the Recompiler Year 3 Kickstarter. Your support helps us continue to publish through 2018.