7 Ways To Gain Traction (And Donations) On DonorSee

Congratulations! You just finished uploading your very first project to DonorSee.

The first thing you want to do is make sure you’ve completely filled out your profile. After you've done that, it's time to start getting the word out.

How to get the word out?

DonorSee is designed to amplify your voice. When you have needs, we help you tell your story in a dynamic way to your community of supporters.

Think of DonorSee as a targeted Instagram page for your donors. A page where donors have opted into seeing you post stories of needs and expect to be asked to help. This all happens within the platform that has been designed to engage your audience while not overwhelming them.

Just like you want to increase your follower count on social media, when you post a DonorSee project, you should share that project broadly. Our partners who share widely raise significantly more than their peers who post infrequently or don’t share with their own support systems.
So, how do you grow your donor base through DonorSee?

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1. Share your first project on your facebook page!

Include a call to action like Margot or Sarah. Your followers on social media are the type of people who are most likely to give to some of your projects. And, getting them to give and leave a review will help you add legitimacy to your profile for new donors.
A donor needs to have given over $5 to one of your projects in the past 100 days to leave a review. Don't just ask your friends to give $5 - you might be surprised by how much they’d give if you don’t put a dollar amount on your request.

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It's even better if you directly link one of your project videos instead of just using your DonorSee profile. This way the video will be dynamic and should help attract additional attention. (We have a step by step guide here)

https://www.facebook.com/NeemaProject/posts/3168215746565597

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2. Write an email to your inner circle explaining how you are using DonorSee

Your inner circle are people who are currently supporting you or are invested in the success of your organization. Explain that DonorSee is a crowdfunding and storytelling platform that you are using to engage your community. DonorSee builds on traction - so it would really help if they chose to Follow your profile and helped share your projects when you post.

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Followers will get smart notifications whenever you post a new project. We have built in anti-fatigue systems that keep donors and Followers from getting overwhelmed by emails. And, your inner circle are the best people to help share your projects broadly.
People can follow you by clicking the “Follow” button directly under your profile icon. If you share your URL followed by a “?follow” (like https://donorsee.com/howms?follow) it will immediately prompt them to follow your account.

In addition, you might want to use this email to do a bit of bragging about yourself. Over 80% of applicants to DonorSee fail to pass our rigorous vetting process. Well done!

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3. Post another project

We’ve found that potential donors like to ‘shop around’ on your profile before choosing a project to give to. On average, they view 3.5 videos before deciding to give. Because of this, you want them to see a couple of your projects so they can choose the one that resonates most with them.

Each project you post gives donors insights into who you are and the work you are doing. It’s helpful for them to learn more about you and helps ensure you don’t run out of projects that need funding. You always want to have 4+ unfunded projects on your profile at any time. Some donors give hundreds of dollars towards all active projects - you want to be one of those active projects.

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4. Include a link to your profile in your email footer

This is a simple action that can help build massive awareness. Include your DonorSee link in the footers of your personal email work email, and newsletters.

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5. Share your link and projects on social media

Partners who post every new project on Facebook or with their community are the ones who raise the most from the DonorSee community. DonorSee is designed to maximize donation traction by encouraging sharing and small transitions - transactions from people who might not otherwise give to your larger campaigns.

Your DonorSee projects can be shared on many platforms. Experiment with which platforms have that right combination of reach and interes

• On Facebook:
• Download your videos and upload them directly to Facebook along with the DonorSee project link. (Here is a step by step guide)
• You can also try the “link in comments” technique to get more engagement. We highly suggest A/B test sharing the video vs. sharing the link to see which gets more traction
• On Instagram:
• One of the most high-impact ways to leverage Instagram is to put your DonorSee link in your bio. Instagram users, especially, are looking to engage in charity in a more personal way. DonorSee allows you to give donors up-close-and-personal access that they can’t get anywhere else.
• Don’t forget to mention DonorSee your posts and point your followers to the link in your bio
• On Twitter:
• Partners can share their projects on Twitter and tag DonorSee and DonorSee can retweet
• On LinkedIn:
• Use a similar strategy to Facebook: upload video directly and provide the link
• You can also post regular updates: i.e. we just hit 50% of our goal!

6. Email your mailing list

Once you get your profile somewhat more established you should send out a dedicated email to your email list asking specifically for followers. Asking for Followers is a simpler ask than asking for donations. And, it often causes curiosity and leads to converting people who otherwise wouldn't give otherwise. The compelling nature of video based stories really resonates with people - so you want to get the video clips in front of as many people as possible.

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7. Get featured on podcasts

There are many great podcasts that might love to feature you. Gret loves interviewing our Partners. We prioritize Partners who are doing great things through DonorSee and have been raising significant amounts on DonorSee - which is a sign you are connecting well with your donors and the DonorSee community. Reach out to your Partner Coordinator if you are interested in being featured!

Finally, make sure all your projects are high quality and are eligible for the Staff Picks category on DonorSee!