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Fundraising Tips
Register Early. Across Swim Across America last year, 58% of our swimmers registered during the last 30 days of the event. This leaves you with very little time to manage an effective fundraising campaign. The early you register, the more money you will raise. Last year in Chicago, people who registered more than 10 weeks prior to the event raised 96% more than those who waited until the last 10 weeks.
Use the Convio Software. Did you know the SAA website has free software from Convio that allows you to create a personal page, upload contacts, manage an email campaign, send thank-you notes, etc.
Set a Stretch Goal. You want to set a goal that stretches you. A good goal should make you a little nervous about achieving it. If not, you haven't set it high enough. And when you do reach your goal, consider raising it. You can make it competitive too. Tell your friends how your goal or your team's goal is higher than theirs.
Update Your Personal Page. You want prospective donors to know how you've been touched by cancer and why you're swimming. Many people never update their personal page, and as a result, they're not telling a good story. Donors open their wallets for a good story. So in your personal page and in your emails, the more personal you make it, the better! Don't believe us? Last year, swimmers who didn't update their personal page raised $329 on average, while those who did raised $1,085 on average!
Upload Your Contacts. Don't be afraid to reach out to lots of people. I'm frequently surprised by the people who donate - it's never who I think it would be! You often don't know who has been touched by cancer, and how appreciative many of them will be that you're getting in action, and especially that you're swimming in the lake to do it. Convio allows you to upload contacts from your email account, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. This can take a little more time, but is well worth the effort.
Send At Least 5 Emails to Your Contacts. Last year 45% of our Chicago swimmers didn't send a single email using the Convio platform! Those who did raised 74% more than swimmers who didn't. I uploaded more than 1,000 contacts into Convio, and by sending a single email each month, Convio distributed 6,712 individual emails and I was able to raise $13,525! It's important to send multiple emails because people's email boxes are swamped. The first email they receive they may not open. On the second email, they may actually read it and think "I should sponsor them, but I don't have time now". On the third email, they may think "Oh yeah, I meant to sponsor them, I need to do that". By the fourth or fifth email, they actually take the time to click on the link and make a donation. So be persistent!
Use Social Media. Update your Facebook and LinkedIn pages frequently, making a short request, and providing the url of your personal page. You can also update your friends about how you, your team, or the event overall is doing against goals.
Get in the Conversation. Email and Facebook can be great, but often a personal conversation with someone can be the most effective technique. Think in particular about those people who you thought might donate but haven't yet, or those you know have been touched by cancer. Call them or talk with them face to face.
Explain How the Funds Will be Used. One of the most unique aspects of Swim Across America is that the money we raise locally, stays locally. So make sure you tell prospective donors that proceeds will fund early-stage cancer research at Rush University Cancer Center in Chicago. Many donors react favorably to hearing details about how the money will be spent. Legendary Chicago fundraiser Phil Dodson goes into a lot of details about this, and he's raised more than $160,000 for SAA over the years, so this is a good tactic to emulate. Here's what you can say: "Proceeds from last year's event is funding a multi-disciplinary research team led by Dr. Jun Sun, who is studying how modulating vitamin D receptor levels could prevent colon cancer. The project hopes to gather enough data from the study to apply for a larger grant from organizations such as the National Institutes of Health."
Mention Donations Are Tax-Deductible. Make sure to mention that SAA is a 501(c)(3) organization (our Tax ID Number is 22-3248256). Many higher-income people especially are eager to find tax deductions.
We believe that if you combine these simple techniques with some creativity and persistence, you can have tremendous fundraising success.
Good luck fundraising. Let's kick cancer's butt!
