We've put together four simple steps to help you make your Extra Life fundraising page more appealing to prospective donors. Take 15 minutes and follow these four steps to help tell people what you're doing (Extra Life), why you're doing it (For The Kids) and who you're doing it for (your local Children's Miracle Network Hospital).
Start with a picture - sounds simple right? Nothing says "you" to prospective donors more than a picture of...well...YOU! Think of your picture as your greeting and first impression. Having a nice picture at the top of your page is more inviting to your friends and family members than our logo or a picture they aren't familiar with.
By default, Extra Life fundraising goals are set at $100, but since you're taking the time to read this, you're obviously no default Extra Lifer. The more your goal means to you, the more it will matter to your donors. Jeromy Adams, the founder of Extra Life, set his goal back in 2011 for $5,415; the total of $5 for every day his friend Tori spent fighting leukemia before she passed away. It was an ambitious goal and one that made him nervous, but it meant something to him. It turned out that it meant something to his donors, too and who helped him almost DOUBLE his goal.
You don't need to have a personal connection to your children's hospital in order to set a good goal. Maybe you set a goal to raise $10 for every healthy year of your own childhood or a quarter for every child treated at your local children's hospital!
A good goal is going to help shape your entire Extra Life campaign and it's going to give you more interesting things to talk about when making your appeal to your donors. It's also going to feel much more gratifying to you when you reach and exceed your goal, too.
After you have added your picture and personal goal to your fundraising page, it's time to explain why you're raising funds for your local CMN Hospital through Extra Life. Our best advice to you is to keep it simple.
Have a personal story or connection to your local children's hospital? Share it with your donors. Feel free to delete all of the default text and make this your Extra Life. You don't need to explain everything about the whole Extra Life program. Just explain who you are, what you're doing to raise money and that all of the dollars you raise will stay local in your community. You may also want to explain your fundraising goal and tell your donors how much you'd appreciate their help reaching it.
Some of the most successful Extra Life fundraisers share one common approach; they share their reason for participating in Extra Life in the form of a video. Look back at your personal narrative, prepare a few words, look right into your cell phone camera, hit record and let er' rip! Tell your visitors why you are playing games to heal kids.
You can upload your video to any popular video service like YouTube or Vimeo and then add it to your Extra Life fundraising page. Feel free to share it on your social media pages, too! If you have time, consider updating your video regularly as you get closer to the day of the Extra Life event, tracking your progress and sharing your excitement about the people who donated to your campaign.
Here is a video that Nick from the KBMOD.com team recorded to explain his reason for participating in Extra Life. We might not all have stories like his, but we do have a story. Whether you know someone treated at a CMN Hospital or are just thankful for having been lucky enough to never step inside a children's hospital, what matters most is that you're genuinely sharing your story, your feelings and your mission with your donors.
That's it - you've done it! If you followed the steps above, you've set yourself up for a successful Extra Life year. Now it's time to play games, heal kids.