Gifts Who to ask? Ways to ask Ask for donations from family and friends Your friends and family care about you and want you to succeed, so they will likely feel compelled to give a gift in support of your passion or interest. Ask for donations from professional contacts Your coworkers and professional contacts may be willing to contribute if you express your passion and the importance of your campaign. Don’t be afraid to ask for a gift or if they’d be willing to share your campaign. Ask for donations from any person or organization that may have a common interest Reach out to individuals, companies, and organizations that share a common interest with what you’re raising funds for. An example would be asking a local grocery store to make a contribution of you’re raising money to go on a trip overseas to help reduce hunger. Ask for donations from companies and businesses Know what you’re asking for. Give the person in charge a detailed list of what your monetary needs are. Ways to ask Email (best way to ask for a crowdfunding gift!) In person Over the phone Text message Be sure to include the URL to your campaign! Social media Be sure to include the URL to your campaign early in your posts so potential donors don’t have to click on “see more”. When identifying the people within your network to ask for gifts be sure to include family, friends, professional contacts such as co-workers, your peers, companies, businesses, and potential people or organizations that may have a common interest with your efforts. Email is the number one converter for crowdfunding gifts, but be sure you’re using social media, making in-person asks, as well as over the phone whether it be calling or sending a text message. If and when you do text, be sure to include the URL to your campaign so it’s quick and easy for someone to navigate to your page.

Gifts Tips for success Be honest Let potential donors know where the funds will be going and why you’re asking for their help. It’s okay if people say no Not everyone will be able or want to give to your campaign. That’s okay! Just be prepared for people to say no. Instead, ask if they’d be willing to spread the word through social media. Ask the right people Ask people who have a relationship with you or an interest in what you’re raising money for. Matching gifts Find a sponsor Finding a sponsor to match donations made to your campaign can be a significant asset. Think about your mission and who might share your vision. Remember: donors who make large gifts to Penn State, in most cases, already have a specific, assigned contact within Penn State development. You must talk with the Office of Annual Giving before approaching a donor. Do not feel that you are limited to past donors. If one of your alumni, personal networks,  or a group of your parents have the capacity to establish a match, then ask for their help. If you are able to find a sponsor, all gifts to your campaign will be matched 1:1 up to the amount of the given match money. Matching sponsor prospects It might seem unfavorable to seek matching gifts from people before they’ve donated, but doing so can be favorable to your campaign. Donation response rates increase by 71% when matching gifts are mentioned in fundraising campaigns, and the average donation amounts jumps up by 51%. If you’re trying to convince people to give to your campaign, letting them know about matching gifts can be the extra little push they need to make a contribution. Source: fundly Promote matching gifts on your page Include a few sentences explaining your matching gift and the importance of it. The match doubles a donors gift and impact without having to give more money from their own pockets! Remember that when asking for contributions, some people will say no. There are several circumstances where someone won’t be able to give – so instead ask that they perhaps share your campaign instead – whether through social media, email, word of mouth – because it’s just as important to spread the word that you’re raising money for your efforts as it is to receive actual contributions. As for matching gifts, we encourage you to find a sponsor and in our context, a sponsor is someone who can make a large contribution to your campaign and offer that contribution as a match. So what I mean by that is every time someone comes to your page, their gift will be match dollar for dollar. Whether that be a 1:1 ratio, 2:1, 3:1, and so forth. You can work with your sponsor to determine the match ratio. And what this does, is incentivizes potential donors to make a gift because their dollar will have more impact.