Soft Power Education has teamed up with www.justgiving.com to make your fundraising as simple as 1 2 3.
What is Justgiving?
Justgiving is a website which enables you to create your own fundraising page for a sponsored event or you can make a one off donation online. You can completely personalise your fundraising page with a photo, personal message, totaliser and much more.
Why are we part of this?
It is a quick, easy and 100% secure way of donating. You can reach friends all over the country and even the world to donate to your event meaning more money for Soft Power. It is secure for you and hassle free for us, plus they automatically claim the Gift Aid on all eligible donations.
Does Soft Power have to pay to belong to Justgiving?
This is a question we are often asked and yes we do. However, we have a very nice supporter who pays the monthly subscription for us so we don't have to worry about it! A small percentage of the monies raised goes to Justgiving to cover their costs but in all it is a great way for our supporters to maximise their fundraising. As a guideline for every £10 donated by a UK tax payer, Soft Power Education will receive between £11.84 and £11.94 depending on the credit card used.
How do I get started?
Click the button on the right and follow the instructions.
Our Top Tips for a Successful Fundraising Page
- Personalise your page - Make your page as compelling as possible by adding your own photograph and text. Make sure your page communicates the reason you have chosen to raise money, and why you believe Soft Power Education deserves support. Be creative!
- Email your family and close friends first - Before sending an email to your entire address book, ask your closest friends and family to donate first. An empty page can be a little intimidating, so do make sure to capture a couple of donations before contacting your entire list of potential sponsors. People tend to match the amounts already listed on the page, so do target your most generous supporters first!
- Tell everyone you know - Email your family, friends and colleagues with a link to your page, but don't forget other groups of potential supporters: former colleagues, old school and college friends, fellow members of a church, club or PTA — you may be surprised how many would like to sponsor you.
Encourage them all to pass on the message to anyone else who might support Soft Power Education. Also think of those people living in different parts of the UK or abroad. The Internet is global — so make the most of it!
- Contact your local media - Publicity in the local media can be an invaluable fundraising tool. A few lines in the local paper, or an appeal for sponsorship on your local radio station, can yield amazing results.
With Justgiving, attracting sponsorship couldn't be easier — readers and listeners can simply visit your page and sponsor you direct. The best way to get some publicity is by sending out a press release.
- Keep your page updated and email your friends - again! - Be persistent. It takes more than one round of emails to reach one's target. Encourage people to re-visit your page by regularly updating it.
Change your picture, post updates on your progress and, if you are taking part in a sporting event, keep a training diary. Let supporters know how much you've raised so far. An email update is interesting for those who've already supported you and a nudge for those who haven't. You know what it's like - people mean to donate, but sometimes they don't quite get round to it on the first request!
- Use your own email as well as the facility on the page - Because you are already familiar with your own email system, you can set up groups and you'll be able to send more emails at once than you can via your sponsorship page. Some of your potential supporters may feel more comfortable opening an email that comes from you personally through an email address they recognise.
- Change your email signature at work and/or at home - After your name and title etc, add a line at the bottom including the address of your web page. This will raise awareness of your event and ensure every email you send has the potential to prompt a donation.
- Communicate what a donation will buy - Let your supporters know what their donation will buy for Soft Power Education. It is more compelling to tell someone £10 will pay the wages of a Ugandan builder for a week, or £20 will buy 6 tonnes of sand for building a classroom, than to ask people to support a generic cause. You can find this information in our What it Costs section.
- Put a notice up in your gym, church, college, children's school - Don't just rely on email. A simple poster asking people to visit your fundraising page can reach people whose email address you don't have. You might also consider printing some flyers to hand out to people when you see them.
- Ask to be on your company's website - See if your company would be prepared to add your web address to its public website or private intranet. Many companies like to promote the charitable and public-spirited efforts of their staff and you could get a lot of extra donations from this. Some companies may even offer a "matched giving" scheme where they offer to match any amounts you have raised, so this action could help you reach your target even faster.
- Personalise your thank you email - When you create your page, you have the opportunity to personalise the thank-you message each donor automatically receives. In addition to expressing your thanks, use this opportunity to ask supporters to pass on your web address to anyone else who might be interested in sponsoring you. If you have already created your page, you can log in to your account to personalise the thank-you message at any time.
- Keep fundraising after your event - Some 20 per cent of all donations through Justgiving come in after people have completed their fundraising event. So don't stop fundraising once you've crossed the finish line. Update your page and email your supporters with news of your success. Remind those who haven't yet donated to do so, and ask others to donate again in recognition of your achievement.
- Finally - make sure to thank everyone who has sponsored you!