Finding supporters to fundraise for your charity is a brilliant way to increase donations and promote your cause. Knowing how to find these fundraisers is a crucial skill for any charity (see Follow These 6 Easy Steps & Find Your Next Fundraiser) but it is equally important to know how to to properly support them once they've decided to raise money for you.  By supporting your fundraisers you can motivate them to raise more money, better promote your charity and, crucially, create a lasting relastionship and a long-term supporter. Here are 6 quick tips to help you do just that:      1. Thank them immediately Help your fundraisers to feel supported and motivated by thanking them as soon as they set up their fundraising page. Send them an email to show your appreciation and make them feel part of a team, while also reminding them how much you appreciate their efforts. When thanking fundraisers make sure you reiterate what their support will mean to your charity, ideally with specific examples of what the money they raise will go towards; images would also be a great addition. These "thank yous" will help them to visualise their goal and hopefully motivate them to raise even more!      2. Help promote their page Add the unique Localgiving URL for your fundraiser's page to your website, email signature, social media and other promotional materials. This helps to support them while also encoruaging new donations and showing potential supporters that you have a relationship with your fundraisers. Creating a public, as well as a personal, narrative between you and your fundraisers is they key way to show your support as well as encourage donations.      3. Create a sense of community If you have more than one fundraiser, then put them in touch with one another. For example, if two people are running the same fun run or marathon they may be interested in training together and supporting one another. Similarly, you can invite them to meet the people who will benefit from the money they raise - this will help to inspire and motivate them. When it comes to fundraising, people often respond better to group activities. By bringing your fundraisers together you can inspire a sense of solidarity for your cause - this is also more likely to encourage your fundraisers to get their friends and families involved, creating more fundraisers and ultimately more donations for your charity!       4. Make them feel special Publicly celebrate their milestones on social media and personally celebrate them via email. Milestones may include their first donation or a quarter of a way to their fundraising total. By doing this they will not only be aware of your appreciation but will have something to share with their personal networks; motivating those friends and family members to give and develop a greater awareness of your cause. Similarly, personalise your support: if they are running a marathon or doing a bike race then send them specific tips or advice related to their event. This type of advice is easily accessible online. Finding relevant information and sending it to your fundraiser shows you’ve gone the extra mile to build that relationship.  5. Ask them for feedback Ensure your relationship with your fundraisers is a dialogue. What would help them with their training or further inspire them to fundraise? Have their networks of friends and families given any feedback about their fundraising efforts or your cause? This shows you are interested in their progress and, importantly, will also help you to better personalise your appeals to supporters in future.    6. Highlight their story Feature their story on your website, your newsletter or social media outlets. Encourage them to send their unique story e.g why they're fundraising for you; they could even set up a personal blog to update people on their progress. Also follow them on social media so you can stay up to date with their progress and ensure they have everything they need such as charity information/branded materials.    Building meaningful relationships with your fundraisers is key to generating longer-term support. By showing how much you appreciate them you can instil a sense of pride in what they are doing and ensure that they feel their contribution is making a real positive difference. We hope these quick tips help you to ensure your fundraisers feel fully supported. With a little luck, they might fundraise for you again in the future and even encourage their friends and families to do so too!   Further information and material        If you want to learn more about supporting your fundraisers, as well as a range of tips on how to make the most of online fundraising, then click here to find slides from our 'Inspiring Online Fundraisers' webinar that we hosted during Small Charities Week.  Click here to download the poster                      

Mick Pembleton has held on to the top spot on the #Localhero leader board from day one. His skydive for Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW has, so far, attracted 84 unique donors and raised £1,357 for the charity. We spoke to Mick about his involvement with Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW and how the #Localhero campaign has helped his fundraising.  Why Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW?  Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW train assistance dogs to increase the independence and wellbeing of disabled young people and children on the Isle of Wight. Mick first heard of the charity through a friend of his who worked in their offices as well as numerous neighbours who volunteered. He said he was drawn to Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW primarily because they were locally based.   I like the thought that the money raised goes to a small, local charity where it can have a real effect rather than a national one, where the money might get 'lost' amid general costs - this feels much more personal. Mick had been to many previous fundraising events for the charity as well as helping out with moving and collecting donated items from local charity shops. He was already keen to do a skydive, and had one booked in for June. He then had a conversation with the charity about how they were looking for a #Localhero and felt the opportunity was too good to miss; especially as the charities new training grounds are in the hangar of the airport where he will be doing his jump! Mick said on doing his skydive The idea of freefalling is appealing and I've always fancied base jumping and bungy jumping but I am very scared of heights. I can't wait to do the jump but it will definitely be a once in a lifetime thing! How do the charity support you?  Mick told us that Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW have been hugely supportive of him as a fundraiser I really didn't want to go round asking people to sponsor me with a sponsor sheet but with the Localgiving link I could tell people the details then it's up to them if they wanted to go ahead - it doesn't feel like I'm pressurising anyone. Ability Dogs 4 Young People designed and printed some leaflets to give out and have been encouraging people to sponsor me on my behalf. They also put posters up around the airport and given some to some of their supporters to display. They also put details of the jump on their website, Facebook Page and Twitter. The charity invited me to the Training Centre after puppy class to meet all the puppies and volunteer puppy parents and I got to chat to everyone involved and they will all be coming along with the puppies to watch me on the day! Mick is hoping to raise enough money buy a new puppy for the charity and fund its training for the first year I can raise a bit more money and somehow hold on to the top spot on the leader board I might reach £2500 which is exactly half of what's needed so that would fund it's first year with the charity. How has #Localhero helped?  We also spoke to Mick about the #Localhero campaign and whether he felt it had had an impact on his fundraising event The #LocalHero Leader board has definitely helped in spreading the word - having the possibility of getting an extra £1000 has really inspired everybody. I know the charity has been explaining to people who don't know me that this is a really effective way of donating because their £5 could turn into £1000! So as well as getting support from my friends and family I've had people sponsor me who want to support the charity. It's also been great advertising for the charity to be on the Leader board with Localgiving and being mentioned on Twitter and such. Mick will be doing his skydive on Tuesday 23rd June, help MICK'S BIG JUMP for Ability Dogs 4 Young People win some extra money for Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW and keep him at the top of the #LocalHero Leaderboard. Each new donor = another point in the competition so any donation, big or small, can make a huge difference. Support Mick now:  https://localgiving.com/fundraising/micksbigjump  

On 8th December we will be launching our Christmas Top 40 appeal campaign, so this is the perfect opportunity for your group to create your first appeal page! How to create an appeal page Appeal pages work in a similar way to fundraising pages. They include target bars and the facility for your supporters to leave comments. Funds raised through these pages are defined within your reports, making tracking your donations quick and simple. Please click here for our 'How to create an Appeal page' resource with an easy step-by-step guide to help you set up your first appeal.   How to run a successful appeal campaign You can also click here for our 13 tips for running a successful appeal which takes you through everything from making your ask to thanking your supporters.   Christmas Top 40 campaign Our Christmas Top 40 campaign will be running between 8th December and 8th January and we will be awarding £100 to the first 40 groups to raise £100 through a Localgiving Appeal page. In addition to 40 prizes of £100, the appeal to raise the most money between the campaign start and end dates will win our bonus Top Spot Prize of £1,000! So, even if you aren’t ready to set up your page from the 8th December, you could still win the top prize over the month that the campaign is running. Please click here for our more information about the campaign.  Contact Us If you have any further questions or need any assitance please give us a call on 0300 111 2340 or email us on help@localgiving.com.

How you interact with your fundraiser once their event is over is crucial when it comes to converting them into a long-term supporter. In this blog we will be looking at 4 simple ways to keep your fundraisers engaged in your charity and your cause. 1. Publicly thank them for their support Use social media, emails or a newsletter to publicly thank your fundraiser for their efforts. Let everyone know how much they raised, what they did to raise it and, crucially, how much it means to your charity.  Thanking your fundraiser publicly also gives them a chance to share your message of appreciation with their personal networks, creating extra publicity for your charity and potentially inspiring a whole new group of people to fundraise for you in the future. 2. Invite them to visit you in person A great way to build a relationship with your fundraiser is to invite them to a team meeting or event and thank them face-to-face for their efforts. If possible, introduce your fundraisers to beneficiaries to remind them what their funds will be going towards and how people's lives will be positively affected. Read about how one group, York Carers, did just that for their fundraiser, Tony Ives.  3. Keep them up to date with your progress If your fundraiser was raising money for a particular project then send them updates of how it is going. Including images and testimonials from people the project has helped can be a great way of adding meaning to these updates. If you are sharing this information publicly then make sure you acknowledge which fundraiser(s) made it possible. Thanking your fundraisers in this way lets them know their efforts where worthwhile and could be the first step in turning them into a long term advocate for your cause.  4. Don’t forget to thank your donors too!  We all know that with each new donor comes the opportunity to raise further funds for your group, so make sure you thank them as well. Make a note on your database of which donors came from which fundraisers, as this will help you to better personalise your communications and provide an indication of what kind of fundraising event may appeal to them in the future.  The focus of these tips is to make sure your fundraiser feels appreciated, that their efforts have made a difference and crucially that they are a helpful part of your cause. By doing this you are much more likely to fundraise for you again and hopefully encourage their friends and family to do the same! Further Information If you are still looking for fundraisers or want to know how to support them while they fundraise for you them during then check out our previous blogs or contact us at help@localgiving.com  You can also click here to download this poster