Tips for a compelling campaign story

There are two key aspects in a great fundraising story: trust and urgency.

Trust is the fundamental element you should build between yourself and the potential donors. To gain that, you need to be completely honest and transparent about your cause. 

• It starts with an introduction of who you are and your relationship with the beneficiary. You need to reach out to and convince people far beyond your own social circle to get a significant response in crowdfunding, so prepare from your very first step by telling them about yourself. 
• Explain in detail on the challenge and difficult situation faced by the beneficiary in need and why people should help him/her. Support the story with appropriate pictures or video to make it more touching and convincing.
• Provide relevant materials to justify the credibility of your story. For example, medical reports and hospital bills are essential for medical campaigns. 
• Elaborate on the usage of the funds by giving a breakdown of the amount and how is going to be used for. This is to let donors have a better grasp of the impact they could make. 

Urgency is another critical feature of strong fundraising, but often gets neglected. Like you, most donors are constantly bombarded by other matters seeking their attention and wallets. So, it’s your job to compel supporters to act NOW. Not tomorrow, not next week. Deciding they'll give later is almost a default decision not to give. 

• Set a time limit. Knowing your cause runs out on a certain day, psychologically motivates donors to give.
• What gets the most attention is when you talk about your donors. Use their name, use second person narrative will create a stronger sense of urgency
• Let the donor understand the consequence if the he/she doesn’t give: it may be a disease that requires immediate attention; or children from underprivileged region not getting basic education and they have to continue their life in poverty. 
• Use time-based trigger words in your story:
  • now
  • immediate
  • today
  • soon
  • urgent

There are a few other minor tips also attribute to a compelling story:

• Be grateful - please always express your gratitude to your donors
• Be positive - although there is a difficult situation at the moment, if you can show the donors how they can join you in making the world a better place, you’re more likely to inspire them to get and stay involved.
• Be serious - show that you really care about your cause by avoiding things like a single line story or plenty of grammar mistakes.