FUNDRAISING 101

(AND HOW TO GET STARTED)

Getting Started

Are you interested in being a fundraising leader? Here are a few steps you can take to make a successful campaign:

1. Read Through This Page The information below will help you decide whether you really want to invest your time and energy in sponsoring a project. It will also give you a few specific projects that need funding as well as a form to fill out to start the conversation about beginning a campaign.

2. Know Your Network If you still want to lead a campaign, begin by making a list of everyone in your network, including family, friends, co-workers, and your social media followers that you can ask to support your fundraising effort.

3. Make A Plan Consider how you will reach your fundraising goals. Will it come from an email campaign, an event, or a flurry of social media posts?

4. Share Your ‘Why’ Your friends and family probably don’t know why you care about the project you are going to sponsor. Whether it’s a clean water project, or building a church building, or providing Bibles to a community, you have a reason you want to get involved. People will be excited to hear your story and will likely want to get involved if you take some time to clearly communicate it.

5. Go Do It It’s time to start. Send your first email, write your first post, or call your first friend. Fundraising isn’t magic…it just takes time and personal connections. Let us know when you start…we’d love to share your fundraising stories or posts to inspire others to join the effort.

Fundraising Tips

1. Telling your story is the most important thing. Your supporters and potential donors want to know why you launched a campaign for Designs For Hope and what makes you passionate about the project you chose. Make it personal and share how you hope it will make a difference in the community it will go.

2. Sharing your milestones excites donors. Let others know when you’ve reached certain markers in your fundraising ($500, $1,000, 50%, 75%, etc.). The more good news you share the excited people become.

3. You need to actually ask. People have so many choices on what to spend their money on, including which nonprofits they should give to.

4. Don’t expect everyone to give the first time you ask. Don’t be discouraged when your initial efforts aren’t immediately met with a response. For most donors, it takes multiple communications and additional information before they feel connected enough to give. Keep people in the loop.

5. Most importantly, THANK YOUR DONORS! All donors will receive an acknowledgment from Designs For Hope, but we also recommend that you thank them for their support of your campaign. They are giving because of you and the relationship you have with them. Also, please let all your donors know when the goal has been reached! It’s a great time to celebrate the collective generosity of your friends and family.

Contribution Facts

1. You may be asked if Designs For Hope is a 501(c)(3) organization. Yes! All donations are tax-exempt. Our EIN number is 26-4784563.

2. We can accept checks from your donors for your campaign. Please have them make it out to Designs For Hope and mail it to:

   Designs For Hope

   P.O. Box 1177

   Trussville, AL 35173

Projects that need funding:

1. Sponsor a Pastor We provide Solar Electricity (Solar Cube) and Clean Water (Water Filter) resources to all our partner pastors. You can start a campaign to support a pastor for $250.

2. Sponsor to Refurbish a Water Well There are thousands of water wells not being used today due to a broken pump. Hundreds of thousands of people, who once had safe water, now resort to going back to dirty water sources due to this issue. We can refurbish a water well for 15% of what it normally takes to drill a new well. The cost to refurbish a well is $1,500.

3. Sponsor Solar Electricity for a Church in South Asia Most of our rural church partners do not have electricity. This is a useful tool that will allow the church to meet at night and to run instrumentation. The cost to supply solar electricity to a church is $1,000.

4. Sponsor the Construction of a Church and Water Well in South Asia We are partnering with ministries who are going into villages where there are NO believers and “bringing light to the darkness”. Our partners are building a small church and drilling a water well so that the community will come to receive clean water and learn about the Living Water. We would like to build 100 churches in the next few years! The cost for a church building and water well in these villages is $10,000.

5. Sponsor the drilling of a water well in Africa When you invest in a community with water scarcity and provide the real blessing of clean water…true transformation can begin. It is a real, tangible way to share the love of Christ in a practical and spiritual way. The cost to drill a well in Africa is $10,000.

Let’s Get Started

If you are ready to get started fundraising, let us know by filling out this form. We look forward to hearing from you and working with you to bring change to areas around the world that need it so desperately.