YouCaring, the leader in free online fundraising, is proud to announce its partnership with the American Childhood Cancer Organization (ACCO). ACCO is recognized as a true pioneer in the ongoing fight against childhood cancer and the promotion of childhood cancer educational materials and national and international awareness. YouCaring’s goal is to help the families of children battling this awful disease by offering resources, support and a free platform to raise funds for medical expenses and other costs involved in treatment.
A cancer diagnosis turns life upside down, and we feel the last thing families should have to worry about are financial burdens caused by the high costs of cancer. Research shows families fighting this disease are twice as likely to go bankrupt as those who are not.
Utilizing the power of your social networks to drive awareness and support, crowdfunding offers an effective way to quickly drum up support online from family, friends and potential donors all over the world.
YouCaring’s Top Tips for a Successful Crowdfunding Campaign
1. Tell an Engaging Story
When telling your fundraising story, it’s important to explain your situation honestly and clearly communicate what the funds will enable you to do or provide to a loved one. Highlight your fundraising goal, a deadline if you have one and any specific details that help paint a personal and compelling picture about your cause. Answer questions such as who the fundraiser is for, what happened, and why it’s important to you. We also suggest finding similar YouCaring fundraisers that have successfully reached their goals and using them as a template for your own campaign.
2. Name Your Fundraiser
When choosing your campaign name, make it short, descriptive and simple to find when people are searching for it online. It’s also highly recommended that you always include the first and last name of the beneficiary in your fundraiser title since people generally always type this into the search field on YouCaring and in Google. Another insider tip is to include a unique hashtag within the title of your crowdfunding campaign. This will help people find your campaign online. To learn more about choosing a name for your campaign, see our post Great Ideas for Naming Your Online Fundraiser.
3. Upload Quality Images
Photos play an important part in your fundraiser’s overall success. High-quality images have a powerful effect on your potential supporters’ ability to develop empathy toward your cause. Data shows fundraisers with at least five photos raise more than twice as much as those with just one photo. As your campaign progresses, we recommend adding new images to keep it updated and engaging. For more ideas about the ways photos can benefit your campaign, read our article How Images Can Lead to Fundraising Success.
4. Make a Video
A video is one of the most effective ways to tell your story, elicit empathy for your cause, and emotionally connect with your potential donors. Using videos also drastically improves your chances of fundraising success. We’ve found that fundraisers using videos raise more than 100 percent on average than those that don’t. You can upload videos when you have campaign updates or if you’d like to make a thank you video for your donors. Either way, it’s a powerful and impactful way to communicate with people.
5. Share Often on Social Media
Using social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter is vital to the success of your fundraising campaign. With the click of a button, you’re able to instantly share your fundraiser with your friends and family and request that they help promote your campaign to their social networks as well. It’s also beneficial to create a unique hashtag to include in your posts. This way you make your campaign easier to find. Be sure to check out our post Creating and Using Social Media to Promote Your Fundraiser for additional tips.
6. Post Frequent Updates
Updating your crowdfunding campaign often will greatly impact your fundraising success. We suggest that you post text, photo and video updates at least once a week. This will help keep your fundraiser from losing momentum or stalling mid-campaign. We also recommend sharing good news as well as bad news in your updates so your supporters can stay up to date on your progress. Always make sure you’re sharing all of your updates to Facebook and Twitter, as well as a blog if you have one.
7. Create a Facebook Page For Your Fundraiser
Aside from having a personal Facebook account, many people have started creating public Facebook community pages specifically based on their campaign. Utilizing a Facebook page is an excellent way to promote your campaign, post daily or weekly updates, add photos and videos, maintain momentum and engage your supporters. It’s also a great way to continue motivating others to share your campaign and your posts to their social networks—the more exposure you have, the more donations you’ll receive.
YouCaring Fundraiser: Brayden’s Brave Battle
Image URL to be inserted in blog and photo ID: Brayden de Besche
On June 5, 2015, at the age of 2, Brayden de Besche was diagnosed with high-risk stage IV neuroblastoma. Since his family did not have any warning signs, the cancer had metastasized to his skull, upper and lower spine, pelvis, upper arms, femurs, tibias, thorax, lymph nodes and bone marrow, and one large mass developed next to his abdomen. For 15 months since his diagnoses, Brayden’s treatment includes at least 6 rounds of high-dose chemotherapy, radiation, surgery to remove tumors, multiple back-to-back stem cell transplants into his bone marrow and any other possible treatment to give him a chance at overcoming this disease. You can learn more about Brayden’s battle on his Facebook page, Brayden’s Brave Battle – Facebook.
YouCaring Fundraiser: Please Help Little Monroe Beat Cancer!
Image URL to be inserted in blog and photo ID: Monroe Okola
Monroe Okola was diagnosed with high-risk stage IV neuroblastoma in August 2015 at only 4 years old. Monroe’s family left behind their business, jobs, family, friends and all that is familiar to them to go to New York City so Monroe could be treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The facility treats more pediatric neuroblastoma cases than any other institution in the world and has a team of doctors who only handle neuroblastoma patients.You can learn more about Monroe’s fight on her Facebook page, Team Monroe – Facebook.
Start Your YouCaring Campaign in Partnership With the ACCO
Ready to begin collecting donations for medical expenses for a child cancer patient? You can create a free YouCaring fundraiser today. In addition to raising funds for cancer treatments and other costs, those wishing to contribute in other ways can start crowdfunding for kids with cancer to raise awareness, fund research or pay tribute to a loved one who passed away.