Crowdfunding is a full-blown industry in India today, a major influence in finance and funding. While equity crowdfunding is non-existent in India, thousands of nonprofits and underprivileged patients have been running enough campaigns in India to have raised over Rs 500 crore collectively in the past three years alone.
Platforms like Impact Guru have seen crores raised in the span of a couple of months alone, towards personal, nonprofit and medical fundraisers. We asked campaigners from a variety of causes what major steps and tips they followed to make their crowdfunding India experience a hit. Here are seven tips that helped them out!
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Moksha, an adventurous rider who raised funds to educate 100 underprivileged girls:
Do something unique for the cause you’re passionate about and make sure you’ve noticed. To promote girl education and raise funds, I rode my motorcycle from Kashmir to Kanyakumari! It truly made a statement, if I say so myself. Before my ride, I shot a video where I spoke about my objective, why I was riding, and what the cause meant to me. I talked about being a single mother who was also a passionate motorcycle rider, how important I felt being brave and outgoing was in a society where girls are discouraged from being so. I was beyond thrilled when my story appeared on India Today! Getting press coverage really boosted my fundraiser and helped get the donations pouring in. In fact, I was able to surpass my goal amount in a matter of a few weeks!
Yamuna, a law student who raised funds to compete at a competition in Singapore:
You need to be bold and display your personality to stand out and help people make a connection. In fact, the competition I was participating in required me to display these skills as well, and I think this helped my donors believe it was worth helping me get there! If people can see for themselves that you are capable of the change you want to make and can relate to your cause, crowdfunding India can be easy. I shot a video to appeal to donors and this truly worked for me. Donors could clearly see the perseverance and determination I had towards my cause.
Harish, a father who turned to crowdfund for his medical treatment:
What helped me attract attention the most was my story. I had used up my savings to save my daughter from a rare disorder that was causing her organs to fail one by one. This happened when I was sick myself and needed a liver transplant urgently. I had a unique, emotional story that could move my audience and encourage them to donate. Though I had retired from social media for months, I went back to it, knowing it would fuel my campaign. It was a valuable platform that helped me reconnect with old friends. I posted updates about my health and my fundraiser every alternate day and used images as well. This helped expand my network of donors quickly.
Casa Vida, a nonprofit that rehabilitates victims of sexual abuse:
We offered donors handmade handkerchiefs created by the victims themselves as a reward, a token of appreciation for their contribution. It’s true that donors aren’t looking to gain something from donating to a nonprofit cause. But it’s also true that while they don’t look for financial gain or profit, they wanted to take away something special that would serve as a reminder of their generosity. We provided them with an item that had a powerful story behind it. We believe this added a great personal touch as it brought the donor closer to the people they had impacted, and that’s a rare thing when it comes to fundraising online, but entirely possible!
Find more inspiring stories like these on various crowdfunding India platforms like Impact Guru!
