Often, the story associated with your fundraiser is very personal and moving.   We know it can be tough to talk about such a personal  story but by talking with the media you are now reaching out to people in your community who may want to help, but don’t know about your fundraiser.   If you are comfortable talking with the media, this can really benefit your fundraiser.  Remember, if the media is interested they will probably want to interview you and the beneficiary so be prepared!

Now, lets get down to it, here are some steps you can take to reaching out to media groups in your area:

Step 1. Do your homework!

Take a moment to research some local media outlets.  The Today show might not be interested in your story, but your local ABC station might be because it is a story that appeals to its local demographic.

Put together a list of some of the local media groups in your area including TV stations, newspapers and local bloggers.  Make note of their area of interest.  For instance, You wouldn’t want to email a sports blogger about a fundraiser unless it has an angle that fits in with what they normally write about.

Step 2. Get the contact information.

First, think about how you prefer to reach out to people.  Do you love talking on the phone?  Then make a phone call to your local station.  Are you better over email? Put your writing skills to good use (check the next step for more on writing a press release) and collect email addresses to send over your story.  Don’t be afraid to reach out to more than one organization in your area.  Some groups may not be interested but others might be.

Step 3. Write your press release.

Just like your fundraising page, the press release is where you really get to tell your fundraiser’s story.  We’ve attached a press release Word document template that you can download to use as a starting point.  Download this template and fill in the first section with information about your fundraise.

Take time to think about what makes this story special.  Here are some examples of story angles that may make this stand out:

• Does the person you are fundraising for have a rare disease or have they beaten the odds?
• Are you fundraising for a person who has made a big impact on their community?
• Have you raised a lot of money in a creative way?
• Do you have an upcoming fundraising event like a spaghetti dinner or motorcycle ride?

Be sure to include this information in your press release, and explain why this story will resonate with the media group’s audience.

Step 4. Send over your release and FOLLOW UP.

Email or call your contact and share your story.  Often calling a local newspaper or TV station can be very effective if you are prepared to give a short 15-second explanation of your story, and then offer to email over your press release.

Do you have a favorite reporter or blogger?  Why not reach out to them specifically.  Tell them why you their there work and why you thought this story might be of interest to them.

Follow up your initial contact with a phone call a few days later to touch base and find out whether there is any interest in your story. Keep in mind, getting press is a lot like fundraising – you want to walk to fine line of being persistent without annoying your contact.

Above all, don’t get discouraged if the groups you reached out to don’t immediately call you for an interview.  These things can take time, and sometimes, unfortunately, people just aren’t interested.  It doesn’t mean your fundraiser isn’t awesome, it just means it might not fit their audience.

OK, I know this may seem daunting but remember, this is just one more outlet to tell your fundraiser’s story.   So get out there and share!

Template for press release

If you don’t have a blog, ask your friends to post the widget on their blogs or websites.  This is an easy way for them to show you support and help spread the word about your fundraiser.

Actually getting the widget into a blog or website may seem a little scary to those who aren’t very familiar with ‘code’ or the language that tells your computer what the widget should look like, but I promise it isn’t as bad as it seems.  Don’t worry, until I started working with GiveForward widgets and their code kinda scared me too.

So how does it work exactly?  Well first go to a fundraiser page and click on the link that says “Grab this fundraiser’s widget!”.  That link will lead to a window that looks like this:

Once this window opens, copy the code on the right.  Next, go to your blog or website and paste it into your main text entry box.  Once you’ve pasted this code, preview it to ensure it looks correct.

Not sure where your main text entry box is?  Check with your blogging service.  Here are a few links to some of the main blogging services and what they say about adding widgets:

• WordPress
• Blogger
• Tyepad
• Live Journal

Once the anxiety and adrenaline has subsided I have an idea to make you feel better; take a tip from one of our donors and use the refund you get to make a difference by donating it.

GiveForward has so many amazing fundraisers on our site that could use any extra help, whether $5 or $50.  Need some inspiration?  Head over here and browse some of the extraordinary people raising money for everything from chemo treatments to medical equipment.

Happy tax day!

(Important note: you can’t claim these donations on your taxes but you can claim them for good karma.)

Since an extra  iPad is not typically incorporated into a family’s budget, many parents of autistic children are seeking other ways to be able to welcome this life-changing tool into their child’s life.  GiveForward allows these families to achieve this dream; and here’s how:

- Since iPads start at $499, having an achievable goal is a key element to starting your fundraising efforts off right.  We recommend starting with a goal a little higher than the price tag in order to cover fees and the cost of apps. With a concrete goal of only $750, for example, donors know that anything they can afford to give will get you that much closer to your goal.

- Expressing how an iPad could change the way your child communicates with you is the most important part.  Make sure your donors know how many obstacles can be conquered with their help in getting an iPad.

- Reach out to your immediate friends and family first and tell them about this great fundraiser.  Emailing only your closest network first will be very effective because they know your child best.  These members of your personal community are the ones who care most about giving your child the best quality of life.  Before you know it, they will be spreading the word to their friends about your fundraiser getting everyone to make a contribution in honor of Autism Awareness Month.

Since GiveForward was mentioned the in San Francisco Chronicle in December 2010, we have had an incredible number of fundraisers come to us looking to raise money to make this dream come true for their child.  Parents, therapists and strangers alike are supporting this growing trend in the autism community, some raising their goal in as little as a day!  We even have a fundraiser, iPads 4U, organized by the founder of a great app resource site, Apps for Children With Special Needs.  It makes us very proud to see so many families able to make such leaps in communication abilities with their children because of this.

Make sure to honor April as Autism Awareness Month by providing this resource to someone you know or giving to one of the many iPad for autism fundraisers on GiveForward.com

Here are the best of the best from our Fundraising Coaches:

1. Personalize your fundraising page. People want to know the person behind the cause.  Explain who or what you’re fundraising for and why it is so close to your heart.  If your friends and family see that you are passionate about your cause they are more likely to give generously.  Need inspiration?  Check out these ideas on how to personalize your page.

2. Get the word out. The more people you tell about your page the better it will do.  Talk about it with everyone you meet, you never know when someone might be interested.

• Email everyone you know!  Even if you haven’t spoken to them in years you’ll be surprised how many people will decide to donate.
• When you reach out to your friends and family, ask them to share your cause with their friends and family.  We have an easy to use “Tell-a-friend” button on your page, encourage them to click away!
• Set up a Facebook group that includes a link to your GiveForward fundraising page.  This is another easy way that friends and family can spread the word to their networks as well.  Tell people to invite others and get the word out there.

3. Send updates. This ties into personalizing your cause.  By keeping friends and family updated on the progress of the fundraiser and the cause, people will be much more invested in the outcome and will be inclined to encourage others to get involved.  Plus, while some people may donate the first time around, for most people it takes 2-3 friendly reminders to get them to make a donation.  It is OK to be respectfully persistent.  Read more here about how and when to send out email/Facebook updates.

4. Be strategic. While it is important to let everyone know about your efforts, we suggest emailing your closest friends and family first.  This is a great way to build momentum.  Your inner circle of friends and family will tend to be the most generous donors and if they donate first they can set the tone.  If colleagues and other acquaintances head to your fundraising page and see donations from others, they will be more likely to follow suit and make similar sized donations. Read more about strategic fundraising.

5. It is OK to adjust your goal. Again, building momentum can really impact how successful your fundraiser ends up.  People love watching how their donations bump that little needle up on your fundraising meter.  But if your goal is too big, donors may feel like their contribution didn’t have much of an impact.  By setting a modest goal for yourself and quickly reaching fundraising milestones like 10% and 25% of your goal you can build a lot of momentum and get your donors excited about helping you reach your goal.  If you end up flying through your fundraiser and think you need to increase your goal – go for it! Read more about why people who set modest goals end up raising more money.

6. People like to win stuff. A great way to get people to donate is by offering them a raffle prize.  For instance when you email your contacts you might include a note that you will be raffling off a $25 Starbucks gift card to the first 25 people who donate.  This creates extra incentive and encourages people to donate sooner rather than later.  Check out more tips here.

7. Tell your story. Local media is usually more than happy to write about your efforts, particularly if you are holding an event such as a fundraising dinner or bake sale.  Check out our simple tips to learn how to get your story in the paper.

8. Make your campaign go viral. The most successful fundraising campaigns are the ones that go “viral” on the internet.  The results can be incredible with hundreds of people donating across the country and raising thousands of dollars for a cause.  Although not every campaign will go viral, here are some tips to help get you there:

• Make sure to get off to a good start with a big donation off the bat.  This will give you great momentum and get people talking about your campaign.
• Ask friends and family to spread the word.  When you send out your email appeal, make sure to ask everyone to forward the email to others or share the GiveForward page by using the “Tell-a-friend” button.
• Start a Facebook group with a link to your fundraising page.  Invite all your “Facebook friends” and ask five “real friends” to invite everyone they know to your group as well.
• Create a 24 hour Facebook Awareness Campaign where everyone donates their status message for one day.  Learn how here.
• Get bloggers involved.  If you know anyone who blogs, reach out to them.  Bloggers are always looking for new content but make sure it fits in with the theme of their blog (ex. if they’re a mom who blogs about parenting, make sure to highlight how your fundraiser is helping kids).

9. Thank your donors. Make your mom proud by displaying your good manners and thanking people who have supported your fundraiser.  When you create your fundraising page you can draft a thank you message that automatically goes out whenever someone makes a donation.  Additionally, you can send a thank you email to each donor individually by logging into your account and clicking on the “My Donors” tab.  From there you can send a personalized thank you email.  For those who go the extra distance by spreading the word to others or making a big donation, make sure you go the extra distance for them as well and send a hand-written note.

10.  Have fun! Last but not least, always remember to have fun.  Fundraising shouldn’t be a chore but a way to spread the word about something you care about.  If you’re excited and positive about the fundraiser’s progress your friends and family will be too.

Step 1. Find a donor ahead of time willing to match up to $500, $1000 or some similar amount.  If you don’t have a single donor willing to contribute this amount, try asking 5 friends to each donate $200 and pool the money for a total of $1000.

Step 2. Create your group on Facebook with the message “For every person that joins this group, $1 will be donated to help [NAME OF YOUR FRIEND] fight cancer [OR FILL IN THE BLANK WITH ANY ILLNESS]“.  Ask your friends to ask their friends and spread the word to as many people as possible.  Also, make sure to let people know that the total amount will capped at $500, $1000 or whatever number you choose, so that your generous matching donor isn’t on the hook if 5000 people end up joining your group.  You might also want to set a time limit (e.g. two weeks).

Step 3. Once you have a large enough group, you can start asking group members for donations.  We’ve seen that the most successful fundraisers create a sense of urgency with their donors by creating time-sensitive “mini goals”.  For example, you might write something like:

“We’re trying to raise $2000 in the next 48 hours for [NAME OF FRIEND].  Please help us reach our goal by donating and spreading the word to your friends.”

Or if you can get someone to agree to become a matching donor, you might write something like:

“If we can raise $1000 in the next 24 hours, a generous donor has agreed to match it with another $2000.”

While this strategy takes a little bit of extra planning, we’ve seen it work incredibly well for our users in the past. Here is an example of a fundraiser on GiveForward that used this technique to create a Facebook group of nearly 4,000 members in just one week.  In total, they ended up raising over $88,000 on their GiveForward fundraising page.  Hopefully, this strategy will work as well for you as it did for them.

These events don’t have to be extravagant; a simple bar night, dinner function, bowling party or (legal) poker tournament could give your fundraiser a big boost. Simply think of what type of fun your friends might like to have and plan your event accordingly. If you already have a fundraising page set up on GiveForward, you can use that to sell pre-sale and/or raffle tickets in addition to collecting donations from those who can’t attend the event but would still like to contribute.

The inspiration for this fundraising tip actually comes from the “Team Nicole” fundraiser, which has just organized a cornhole tournament for September. Each team’s $40 entrance fee will go towards helping Nicole pay for breast cancer treatment, as will 15% of all food sales at the event and any donations made by spectators. It’s too bad we can’t get to Virginia for this tournament, but we’re sure it will be a smashing success!

If you need ideas on how to plan your own bar night, bowling party or soirée, here are a few more examples of people who have thrown successful fundraising events. You can check out their pages to see what they did right!

Organizers of the “Minty Python Benefit” fundraiser sold raffle tickets and earned more than $20,000 to help a young girl with a rare type of brain cancer.

Organizers of the “Ronai-Going-Away Party and Fundraiser” sold pre-sale tickets and raffle tickets on their GiveForward page and raised more than $12,000 to help pay for chemotherapy and radiation treatments for their friend.

The combination of online and offline fundraising is clearly one that we wholeheartedly recommend. If any of you decide to throw a cool event that happens to be in the Chicago area, please let us know; we’re always up for a good time to help out a good cause!

In this blog, Ethan suggests four of the best, most simple strategies to apply to your Facebook usage as you work towards achieving your goal. The four things I would like to suggest you do now: read the post, adopt the techniques, raise those funds, and poke us.

Why an anti-fundraising tip? Because when you, a friend or a loved one is facing huge medical bills, the reality is that fundraising is only half the equation. The other half of the equation is reducing your medical bills so you will not have to raise as much money — in other words, anti-fundraising. For example, if your medical bills total around $200,000 and you need to raise that much money on GiveForward, it can be a rather daunting task. But, if you can lower those bills to around $100,000 or even $75,000, your goal becomes much more attainable. We’ve seen a family raise over $85,000 for medical bills on GiveForward before, so we know it can definitely be done!

Previously I have mentioned patient advocate, Kairol Rosenthal, author of Everything Changes: The Insiders Guide to Cancer in Your 20s and 30s, and her awesome expertise in the often confusing world of cancer. On her blog, Kairol shares tips on how to go about getting your medical bills reduced.  The first two tips include:

“1.  Have a positive attitude. Your odds are good: 50% of people who ask for reduced costs get them, plus your chances might be higher using these savvy strategies.

2.  Talk to the right person, face-to-face: Your doc, your doc’s or hospital’s office, business, or billing manager.  Don’t do it by phone or letter.”

Please visit Kairol’s blog for the rest of the tips.

As Kairol Rosenthal explains, haggling is no longer left to the savvy flea market customer.  While employing the eight tips will take time, effort, and as Kairol puts it, “chutzpah,” that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t try.  Consider it another step in reaching the medical bill trifecta– reducing costs, raising money, and ridding yourself of the bills once and for all!

To read more from Kairol, please visit her blog.