The fundraising world is a large and complex one, so it’s not surprising that there are a number of myths surrounding this world. We’ve broken down the five most common fundraising campaigns myths to help you start out on the best foot possible.
1. Donors will come to you
The most common misconception in fundraising, and in crowdfunding in particular, is that donors will come to you. Whilst we certainly wish this was the case (how great would that be?), the majority of the work you will be doing during your campaign is reaching out to your network to secure donations – and this isn’t always a negative!
One of the greatest things about fundraising is that it gives you a unique opportunity to build and foster a community of supporters who connect with what you do and want to support this.
The bottom line is that fundraising isn’t just ‘set and forget’, there is a lot of work involved behind the scenes.
2. Fundraising is easy
Whilst we’re not sure anyone has ever said that fundraising is easy per say, there is definite misconception regarding the amount of work that is required before, during and after a campaign. When looking at a successful fundraising campaign, keep in mind the iceberg metaphor – what you see on a campaign page is just the tip, the majority of work is happening behind the scenes.
Successful fundraising campaigns will have started groundwork months in advance of the launch. This includes mapping out and segmenting networks, creating a marketing plan and roll out strategy, touching base with core donors, gathering assets for promotion and teasing out a case for support.
A good place to start is to read our blog post on how to develop your strategy and plan.
3. The bigger the target the better!
Fundraising campaigns are exciting, and a lot of buzz can be built around them, so it’s tempting to fall into the idea that the bigger the target the better – this is not the case. People give to success, not distress so it’s important that your campaign looks like it has momentum and is gearing up for success. If you set your target as $1,000,000 and are trying to get people to donate when you’ve raised $500 of this, it’s a difficult sell.
When setting a target, a general rule of thumb is that your core supporters (or those you know will give) should make up at least 30% of your target. With this in mind, you can reverse engineer your target by getting a sense of the amount that your core supporters will give and then going from there.
Keep in mind that, on the ACF, you can raise your target at any time so always start modest, and raise where needed.
4. Asking for money is embarrassing
There is a definite stigma attached to fundraising that ‘asking people for money is embarrassing.’ Whether this stems from personal awkwardness around asking or perhaps cultural traditions, we are here to dispel this myth and make you feel more comfortable with ‘the ask’.
The two main reasons people don’t give are:
- They haven’t been asked
- They don’t know you need the funds
This bleeds into our first myth of donors finding you, people aren’t able to read your mind, they won’t magically find your campaign and give to it – you have to put it out there.
Another thing to remember is that you’re not asking for yourself, you’re asking for the project and are providing an opportunity for people to be involved with your art.
5. People in Australia don’t want to give
There seems to be a myth floating out there that Australians love to tighten the purse strings and aren’t likely to give – we’re glad to say that the data says otherwise! A 2022 study found that Australia is actually ranked fourth most generous country among 119 countries with 3 in 5 Australians making a financial donation to a charity.
When breaking this down a little further, studies show that the majority of Australians who do give to charities give because they care about the cause, feeding back to the idea that you are not asking for money for yourself but are creating an opportunity for people to be involved in something they are passionate about.
…………….
If you’d like some more tips and tricks, get in touch with our team and set up a 15-minute consultation.