Friend-Raising Tips for "The 1 Campaign"

Thank you for joining FixNation to reach 1 Million donors to help 1 Million cats! The 1 Campaign will be successful one person, one page, at a time!

STEP 1: Create your fundraising page at http://fixnation1.stayclassy.org

STEP 2: Once set up with your basic info, you can customize this page uploading photos of your own cats; write a personalized message about how near and dear this campaign is to your heart, or simply use the provided format we’ve already set up for you!

Give a little:

STEP 3: Once you have set up your page, you should be the first one to donate to yourself. Why? You don’t want to have your family and friends that you’ve ask to help support you visit your page and see $0. This can psychologically be off-putting making people think “Well I don’t want to be the first one to donate.” Remember generosity is contagious. Studies show witnessing acts of kindness or giving inspires others to do the same.

Tell the world (strategically):

STEP 4: After making a donation to your own page, spread the word to your closest friends and family members first. These are the people who know you best, they know your passion and they love and care about you. They will more than likely donate to your cause without hesitation. This is a good way to build traction.

STEP 5: Your second wave of asks and spreading the word about your fundraiser is to then reach out to all of your friends, co-workers, and extended family via email and on Facebook and Twitter. Consider changing your timeline photo to show your support! Click here for a custom timeline image.
When you message friends, be strategic! Simply posting this on your wall to 500 of your Facebook friends may not be the best approach. Instead, start out by using direct e-mail appeals or posting individual “asks” to friends Facebook pages to get some donations coming in. There’s a common psychological phenomenon called the “bystander effect” that happens when a group of people collectively fails to help someone in need. We’ve all heard stories of people needing medical attention being passed by throngs of seemingly uncaring pedestrians. The problem is that the people passing by tend to think, “It’s not a big deal if I don’t help, there are so many other people here that someone inevitably will.” With everyone thinking this way, no one winds up helping. That’s the bystander effect.

Give thanks:

STEP 6: Say “Thanks!” Once the donations begin to roll in, tag and thank each new donor through social media. And as you already know, when you tag someone, your post gets shared to his or her friends too! The Tag and Thank approach is great because it lets you reap the benefits of another common psychological phenomenon- social influence. You are starting out by letting everyone know that people are already donating to your page! By presenting things in this positive way, you are able to use social influence to your advantage. And you remember what we said about generosity? It’s contagious, so pass it on!

Keep going!

STEP 7: Finally, you always want to keep your followers updated with what’s going on with the campaign and what’s new and exciting. Are you closer to your goal? Has someone donated a generous amount of money to you? Remember, you don’t want to make every post on Facebook and/or Twitter an “ask.” Another great strategy is to set sub-goals for yourself each week. For example, week 1 you want to raise $25. Let everyone know how close you are to reach that goal. i.e., “I need to raise $25 by the end of this week and I’m only $10 away! Who’s going to help put me over the top?”

If you follow these simple steps, soon enough you’ll be on your way to reaching your $100 fundraising goal – or perhaps even more!