Courage Classic Storytelling 101
Have you personalized your fundraising page yet?
A recent Blackbaud Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Study shows that participants who update their personal page typically raise at least 7 times more than participants who do not update their pages and have the potential to raise up to 18 times more.
How to tell your story
- If you have a personal story of why you are riding, share it! It doesn’t need to be long – just a paragraph or two about why this ride means so much to you and why you are fundraising. The more compelling your story, the more compelled people will be to donate to your ride.
- Be sure to add personalized photos to your page – of the person you’re riding for, you training, etc. Photos are one of the most compelling ways to get people to donate to your ride.
- If you don’t have a first-person connection to the hospital, you can still talk about why you are riding. Perhaps you were motivated by a friend’s or neighbor’s child’s experience. Or maybe you know one of the caregivers who are riding, and they’ve talked about why this ride means so much to them. Or you may just be passionate about children’s health. Regardless, the more that people know your personal reasons for riding, the more likely they are to give to your ride.
- If you are riding for a team, consider using the team’s fundraising copy as your own personal story to demonstrate why you are riding.
- Check out the Top fundraising individuals and teams to see how they effectively told their stories.
- Think about stories that have inspired you to take action recently. What did they do well?
- If you’re really stuck, ask a friend to help you out. If you have friends in communications, journalism, marketing, writing, etc., even better!
- Share existing stories from Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation’s website as you look to raise funds on social media.