FUNDRAISING TIP: The Importance of Following Up

Someone once told me that for the average person it takes 6 “asks” before they actually remember to make a donation. This surprised me because asking someone six times for money seems like quite a lot! Think about it though: between work, taking care of kids, taxes, etc. often times a letter from a friend asking for a donation gets lost in a stack of bills or an email ends up in a spam filter or filed away in a folder of “things to deal with later.”

It is CRUCIAL that you FOLLOW UP with your potential donors! In many cases people genuinely want to make a donation and support you and the Best Buddies cause but they simply forget!

Because asking people for money over and over again can feel like “nagging” and can be a bit uncomfortable, I would like to suggest “UPDATE EMAILS”.

The Update Email reminds people that you are still training and fund raising for the Audi Best Buddies Challenge without directly asking them again for money. Check out this example:


Hello Family and Friends,

I wanted to send you a quick email to update you on my progress for the upcoming Audi Best Buddies Challenge! So far (thanks to generous support from many of you) I have raised $500 which puts me one third of the way to my total goal!

THANK YOU so much for all of your support! I am have been so touched and impressed by how generous you all have been.

I also wanted to keep you posted on how my training is going. I tried spinning for the first time last week and am now really getting into it! My longest ride so far has been 20 miles so I am making progress towards my goal of being able to ride 50 miles on June 5th!

Thanks so much for your support and encouragement and if anyone has not yet had time to visit my personal web page and make a donation please visit: INSERT LINK TO PAGE HERE

Thanks!
INSERT NAME


*Don’t forget it is also really important to follow up with those that DID MAKE A DONATION. Thank you emails or hand written notes go a long way to show how grateful you are and will help inspire this donor to support you again in the future!