Time for fundraising!
Fundraising is one way that you can invite members of your community to participate with you in your year of service.
Let that sink in!
You’re inviting people to participate with you in service. What an amazing opportunity for them! I hope you can see fundraising that way, and not as a slog to ask for money. Personally, I (alison) get really excited about fundraising. So if you feel discouraged, reach out! I would be glad to support you in scheming and storytelling.
I know that each person who discerns a call to YAV comes from a different community and social location. You may be connected with lots of people who have lots of resources; you might be connected with lots of people who love you but don’t have many resources; you might be coming to YAV with only a few people supporting you. Or you might be in a totally different situation! Wherever you are is okay. Here’s how I see it: Fundraising is a way to support the work of the program, yes. But it’s also a reason to talk to your community about what you’re doing, a tool for leadership development, a skill you might use in a future job, a challenge that calls you to reflect deeply on who supports you and how, and a practice of gratitude. That’s a lot of things! And only some of them are about the money you bring in. I expect that you will work hard and creatively to share your sense of call to YAV and to invite people to participate. However much they donate is up to them. At the end of the day, we don’t want this program to carry a financial cost to you. I’m asking you to make a real commitment to fundraising. My commitment is that I’ll walk with you every step of the way, and that we’ll work through your successes and shortfalls together.
Remember this, too: professional fundraisers say that when you're asking for contributions, you should expect to hear "no thanks" 50% of the time. You'll need to ask a lot of folks to support your year -- or put another way, you have the opportunity to tell a lot of folks about this great thing you're doing!
Let that sink in!
You’re inviting people to participate with you in service. What an amazing opportunity for them! I hope you can see fundraising that way, and not as a slog to ask for money. Personally, I (alison) get really excited about fundraising. So if you feel discouraged, reach out! I would be glad to support you in scheming and storytelling.
I know that each person who discerns a call to YAV comes from a different community and social location. You may be connected with lots of people who have lots of resources; you might be connected with lots of people who love you but don’t have many resources; you might be coming to YAV with only a few people supporting you. Or you might be in a totally different situation! Wherever you are is okay. Here’s how I see it: Fundraising is a way to support the work of the program, yes. But it’s also a reason to talk to your community about what you’re doing, a tool for leadership development, a skill you might use in a future job, a challenge that calls you to reflect deeply on who supports you and how, and a practice of gratitude. That’s a lot of things! And only some of them are about the money you bring in. I expect that you will work hard and creatively to share your sense of call to YAV and to invite people to participate. However much they donate is up to them. At the end of the day, we don’t want this program to carry a financial cost to you. I’m asking you to make a real commitment to fundraising. My commitment is that I’ll walk with you every step of the way, and that we’ll work through your successes and shortfalls together.
Remember this, too: professional fundraisers say that when you're asking for contributions, you should expect to hear "no thanks" 50% of the time. You'll need to ask a lot of folks to support your year -- or put another way, you have the opportunity to tell a lot of folks about this great thing you're doing!
We ask that you do two things to form the basis of your fundraising effort:
- Use your personal fundraising page to collect online donations. (Remember to submit the information we need to create this page as soon as you can.) Using this page (through Donorbox) instead of something like gofundme means that donations are tax deductible and we are able to send a thank you letter to each of your contributors. It also makes it easier for you, as your Donorbox page is linked with the TBYAV bank account, so you won't have to worry about transferring any money.
- Write a fundraising letter and send it to potential supporters. See the guide below! We suggest you send your fundraising letter to anyone to whom you would send a graduation announcement or birthday note. Think expansively! Don't forget groups: your home church's Session or Mission Committee, the Presbytery in which your home church is located, your campus ministry, your bowling club, your parent's Rotary Club... send those letters far and wide!
Try writing a letter with these five parts:
- Introduction. The first paragraph should say what the letter is about, why you’re writing. Be up front that you’re writing to ask for support, don’t wait and let people be surprised. Think of this as an old-school essay intro paragraph, with your thesis sentence being something like “I need to raise $(X) amount by (Y) date and I am writing to ask for your help in meeting my goal.” This helps people focus, indicates that you’re serious about what you’re asking, and is basically just honorable (just like if you’re meeting with someone you tell them what the meeting is gonna be about when you set it up).
- What are you doing? The second part should be a clear and concise description of what you’re raising money for. What is the YAV program? What does it mean that you will be a YAV in Tucson? What are one or two cool or intriguing facts about YAV? What can you include that might pique someone’s interest? This is just basic good sense: you’re asking for folks to become partners in your YAV service, so you want to clearly tell people what you’re asking them to invest in.
- Why does it matter? This can be harder or easier to write depending on who you're writing to. I suggest you focus on why this matters to YOU. You’re sending this letter to people who care about you, or who at least know you, so talking about why this project matters to you will translate to them caring about it. For YAV, I’d suggest using a mix of personal and general in this section - and it can be as simple as 1 or 2 sentences. “This is important because (X), and i feel passionate about it because (Y). I am hoping to grow or change through (Z).” kind of thing.
- Invitation. Hey, I know this can be the hardest section to write. You’re going to want to obfuscate, speak abstractly, and generally not be direct. RESIST THOSE URGES. Fundraising requests are most effective when they are actual REQUESTS - clear invitations to participate, with concrete actions and methods. It will always be more effective to say, “Could you make a $50 donation to help me meet my goal?” than to say, “If you could support me in some way, that would be great.” or similar. Tell people what you need, and let them decide how to respond. You are involved in something amazing here, and you’re giving people a chance to get involved with you! Making a financial contribution makes someone a partner in service with you. Give them the chance to participate! Don’t make them guess what you need. Include a clear statement of HOW they can donate, too - a link to your fundraising page, the address where they can send checks, etc. Make it easy for people to contribute.
- Gratitude. As folks are partners in your project, you’ll want to treat them that way. Mention how you plan to keep in touch with your donors, or how you plan to thank them. Postcards from the Tucson? Blog updates? Personal phone calls in January? It should be something personal, as well as doable -- not too heavy a lift for you in the midst of starting something new and complex in Tucson. Think - if you have 100 donors, what will be feasible? You gotta follow through. Finish your letter by expressing gratitude for how folks have already supported you, or thanks for considering, or thanks for reading… just, whatever gratitude you can include. Gratitude feels good, for you and for the reader. And it's real! Anyone who reads your whole fundraising letter is already supporting you by learning about your intentions for YAV and considering your donation request.
