Fundraising is about solving problems. It’s about connecting with individuals, communities, and associations who care about this problem and are motivated to help. To cultivate an audience, think crowdfunding with value and follow these six fundamental steps for effective donor development.

1. Stake Your Ground
Identify the problem. Explain your objective in simple language. Your mission statement should be clear and concise, informing donors about your need and how they can help. Does the library need tables and chairs for the new children’s room? Does a local artist need crates to ship paintings for a gallery show?

2. Offer a Value
Be frank. Explain how your organization is unique. Highlight your expertise and experiences in order to illustrate how you are qualified to manage this fundraiser. By emphasizing your specialization, you showcase how you are aptly skilled to solve this particular problem.

3. Keep Communications Open and Two-Way
Once you’ve crafted your message and begun focusing on donor development, keep communications open. Consider feedback both positive and negative. Your donors are more than a source of crowdfunding. They are people who care about your objective and are willing to help. Cultivate a sense of community by listening to and acknowledging feedback. Let them know their opinion matters.

4. Diversify Your Communication Methods
Communication is key. Your audience wants to know the latest developments in your fundraiser. Build off standard offline methods of direct mail and phone calls. Become interactive by employing online tools. Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and social bookmarking are dynamic ways to disseminate information quickly. By utilizing multiple channels of communications, you can reach a wider array of demographics.

5. Share Your Content
Showcase your experiences and real world results. What hardships and obstacles have you faced—and overcome? How have you succeeded? What accomplishments are you most proud of? Which case studies would effectively engage and interest donors?

Then, consider how to share these experiences through pictures, video, and well-written stories, or vignettes.

6. Show Your Gratitude
Regardless of the contribution, show your gratitude. Acknowledge donors who’ve subscribed to your newsletter, posted on your Facebook fan page, or simply spread the word about your campaign. Through the community’s support and fundraising efforts, you are able to meet your objectives. Through their help, you succeed. In exchange, your gratitude acknowledges their part in that success.

There’s fundraising and there’s project based fundraising. In a general fundraiser, the campaign collects money for an organization as a whole, such as the Girl Scouts, a community clinic, or a business fraternity. Money is raised and then donated to these groups who use it as needed. Project based fundraising is different and simple.

Create a Distinct Goal

Project based fundraisers define their goals as an item, supply, or need. These campaigns utilize the power of crowd funding to collect donations for a specific purpose. Donations are earmarked for a particular need such as the community clinic’s new x-ray machine or the business fraternity’s scholarship that provides tuition assistance for members in need. So instead of giving money to the Girl Scouts in general, funds are directed toward the purchase of new vests. As a result, the drive’s objective become extremely transparent to the donor.

Break Down the Goal

By implementing a project based campaign, organizers of a campaign can diversify their goals into monetary and tangible parts. So, if a school needs $1,000 for new art supplies, organizers can compartmentalize the needs into $500 for paper, $300 for paints, and $200 for clay. When goals are identified, donors know where their money is going. They don’t feel as if they’re throwing it away. Instead it becomes a gift.

Think Crowd Funding for Individuals, Non-profits & Associations

Both groups and individuals can execute project based fundraisers. Non-profit organizations such as orphanages can raise money for pajamas and books. Individuals such as writers, filmmakers, and musicians can amass capital to market new books, movies, and albums. Religious communities can sponsor afternoon programs for school-aged children. By implementing project based principles, goals become manageable and attainable.

Evaluate Donor Trends

During these campaign drives, organizers may also evaluate which projects appeal to donors the most. Are people donating to disaster relief? Park benches? Abused animals? A project based fundraiser can identify trends, enabling organizers to predict future behaviors while continuing to service community needs through social philanthropy.