9 Secrets of Fundraising on Facebook.

Photo by Vivianna_love (Flickr)

Picture this. You are preparing for your next fundraiser and say to yourself, “I know I can handle the training, but how can I do a better job of fundraising?”  The answer is to work on your storytelling.  Every day we are bombarded with ads, news, emails, tweets, and pokes. There are many things that catch our attention, but few things that KEEP our attention. When we invite people to hear our story, it is important to remember emotional connections lead to donations.

Facebook has taken an increasing amount of our already limited attention spans. This leads many people to think, “Great! I can just repeatedly post about my fundraising efforts on Facebook, and people are sure to donate!”  As with everything in life, it is a bit more complicated than that.

Yes, Facebook can be an effective fundraising tool, but you can’t approach it in the same way you might approach a written letter. Fundraising on Facebook is about telling your story in an engaging way and inviting your donors to be a part of that story. All the Facebook apps in the world can’t replace the power of the story only you can tell.

Here are a few quick tips to help you get started:

Use Facebook to regularly update friends and family on your training and fundraising efforts. Don’t put the same message up on your Wall every time. Let your friends and family know where you are in your training and fundraising. Be excited about what you are doing! People want to see their friends and family accomplish great things. It inspires them to do great things themselves.

Example of an effective update.

Tell your story using photos and video.

Have you fundraised using Facebook? Share any tips, tricks, or ideas that have worked for you in the comment section.

Q&A with Leigh

Leigh sporting her NFE tri-top.

Leigh is among our growing rank of triathletes. We asked her 10 questions about herself and her experience with the team.

10. When you were 5, what did you want to be when you grew up?

At five, I was very interested in the animal world. I liked butterflies and frogs and rolly pollies. Horses were my passion, but I never owned one. I was not aware of careers at 5 years old, but over the next few years, I learned about ‘animal doctors’ and for many years I thought about going to vet school. Although I did not be come a vet, I still love animals and am curious about how biological systems work.

9. What is your favorite quote?

This is a tough question! Most of the quotes I know and think about are from the Bible, but I also love English poetry from about 1600 to 1800. Something I say to encourage myself is “Trust in the Lord and do good.” This helps me gain perspective by focusing on the present and not to focus on worries or things out of my control.

8. What was your most embarrassing moment? (Or the most embarrassing moment you are willing to share.)

I don’t really have an answer about a “most” embarrassing moment. However, I am pretty clumsy, so I have lots of little embarrassing moments. Sometimes I run into things, fall up the stairs, or spill my coffee on something important.

7. How did you hear about NF Endurance?

I learned about NF Endurance through my sister Tracy Draper who joined the team in Florida for the Disney marathon events. She was a team member, then became a captain and now is an employee and participant in many events nationwide. Her enthusiasm for the work, the teams, the organization is just fantastic.

6. Could you tell us a little bit about your hero?

Joshua Velasquez is my hero. Joshua loves video games, soccer and the Man Versus Food TV show. He was diagnosed with NF at 10 months when café-au-lait spots appeared. He began some therapies right away and  has been monitored frequently every since. Currently, there is evidence of UBO’s (“unidentified bright objects”) on his brain and many café-au-lait spots on his body. Also, he has a plexiform neurofibroma on his chest. Joshua has annual exams to monitor his condition, but thankfully, his health is good and he is leading a typical teenager’s life!

5. Why did you choose the Iron Girl Triathlon in New York??

I decided to do this race because I had hurt my back muscles on a few occasions last winter. I decided, “Enough! I must get in shape again!” I had been a cross country runner in high school and enjoyed many different kinds of sports. My dental hygienist mentioned that she was entering the race. I checked it out and decided it was just the fitness goal that I needed. I started training in May with the race in early August.

Leigh posing with her medal.

4. How did the race go?

The race was tough! I did well for a short training season though. I finished 147 out of about 730 women. The swim was chaos, the bike was great, and the run was misery… I had a great time. It had been 28 years since I did a triathlon so I was happy with the result.

3. Any plans for your next race?

I might try the Iron Girl again or another local triathlon in summer 2011. The Iron Girl event was very well organized, and it was fantastic racing with all those women. The encouragement and team spirt was great — and still the competition was very strong. I hope that the next triathlon I try has no lake weeds to swim through!

2. What is your favorite brand of running shoe? Why?

I honestly do not have one. Twenty years ago I would have said Saucony because they had the coolest tread. Now, I am not familiar with the different brands or their relative strengths. What do you prefer? Any advice is welcome! (Share your favorite brand in the comments, and we’ll get your suggestions back to Leigh.)

1. What does being a part of this team mean to you?

For me, it means racing for a purpose larger than just self-improvement. I wanted my efforts to have larger benefits beyond my own physical fitness. As soon as I registered for the event, I contacted my sister who works for NF Endurance and asked how I could run to raise funds to fight NF. It was truly my pleasure to help by raising awareness among my colleagues about this cause and wearing the NF Endurance tri-top to spread the word among the other athletes.

Keep an eye on the NF Endurance events page for our growing list of official triathlon events. http://nfendurance.org/events

Refocus Your Reason for Running

By: Janet Carney

I started running five years ago for the Children’s Tumor Foundation when my daughter Grace was first diagnosed with NF1. I was online one night trying to find out all the information I could about this disorder, which I had never heard of before but that now affected my family. I have always been athletic, but never, and I mean never, a runner. However, I am an emotionally charged person, and when I saw this opportunity to actually make a difference and do something, I signed up.
I honestly had no idea what a marathon really was. Well, 10 months later I found out — it was truly one of the hardest but most rewarding journeys I had ever experienced. For the next two years, I trained and raised money in hopes of making a difference for Grace and all those who had NF.
Last year, however, something started to change. Running started to become more about me rather than my daughter and so many others like her. I still wore my NF Endurance shirts to all of the races, but I pretty much forgot about fundraising.

This year I decided to give the whole fundraising thing a shot again and signed up for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half Marathon. I only made the minimum $600 my goal, and I was okay with that.

However, I was not prepared for what happened to me while at this event.
I felt overwhelmed by the way my heart had become so immune to why and for whom I was running.  As I sat at the pasta dinner the night before the race in Tukwila, Wash., I was humbled by the people surrounding me. They were taking this journey much more seriously than me. Their hero was not themselves for finishing marathon after marathon, but their heroes were their daughters, sons, friends, neighbors.

And, some even run for strangers. One lady was running no connection to NF other than to be part of a charity. This gal had raised more money than me, and I have a daughter with NF! At that point I recognized what had happened and decided to refocus, regroup and return to the reason I had started running: Grace.

Today I run for my daughter, for the sisters, the sons, brothers and friends of all the wonderful people I have met through the Children’s Tumor Foundation and NF Endurance. They are the reason I choose to get out of bed when I don’t feel like running 16 miles or six or whatever is on my schedule that day. I vowed that I would never again forget. I truly am honored and blessed to be a part of this amazing group of men and women called the  NF Endurance Team.

Janet Carney is a wife, mom and member of the NF Endurance Team. She recently completed the Seattle Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, and she along with Team Grace will ruNFor Grace in Portland on 10.10.10 in the Portland Marathon.