Ask for Donations - Send a Solicit Gifts E-mail in 5 quick steps
There are mainly two ways in which you could solicit friends online: Predominantly, use the power of the page, and the eloquence of the printed word, to persuade participants to give.
Select the link provided for more information on a step.
Before you can send an e-mail:
You must have logged onto the Participant Center.
You must have uploaded or entered Address Book entries into your Address Book.
Select the E-mail icon. Or if you are on the Participant Center main page, in the lower half of the screen, select the Send an E-mail link.
On the Choose a Message Type and Template screen, decide on the Message Type that is appropriate for gift solicitations, namely Solicit Gifts.
Then, use the Solicit Gifts pull-down menu to select a sample message if you wish to send a ready-made message that is customized to the cause. Or select the free-form appeal if you wish to create your own message.
Press Go.
You will see the Compose the Body of Your Message screen. This is where you compose the body of the message.
Enter information in the compulsory fields on the Compose the Body of Your Message screen. The mandatory fields are prefixed by an asterisk.
In the Your Name text box, enter your name. This will display in the 'From' field of the e-mail when the recipient view it.
In the Your E-mail text box, enter your e-mail address. This will also display in the 'From' field of the message when the recipient view it.
Select the recipient(s) you wish to send your message to.
If you have already added these contacts to your address book or if you have uploaded the desired e-mail addresses, you can highlight these in the box on the right. All added contact addresses will show up in the box on the right, alphabetically organized.
If the desired e-mail addresses have not been added to your Address Book you must type the e-mail address(es) of potential friends into the box, one on each line.
Each address should be on a separate line, like this:
urmi@convio.com
kathy@convio.com
Or, separate addresses by comma's like this: urmi@convio.com, kathy@convio.com.
Click the Add Recipient button to choose who you wish to send the message to.
Suggest to the recipient what the message is about, in the Subject line of the message page. This would depend on the type of the message you are sending: For example, for this Solicitation. The subject you entered in the Subject Text box on this page, will display in the Subject line of the message when the recipient views it.
Now, on to the most important part of this task - Composing your Message.
If you chose a sample Solicit Gifts message to send to your contacts,
You will see some pre-filled text in the body of your message. Depending on how the organization has set it up, you may be able to customize your message. You could add your own text to the message text, but not change the existing text. Click here to view example.
Or, you may be able to modify all the message text.
Be sure to include a link to your Personal Page and/or the TeamRaiser Information Page so that a potential donor
If you choose a Free Form Appeal of the Other Type,
Only the Your Name and Your E-mail fields will be pre-filled.
You can enter any text that is appropriate for soliciting gifts in the Body text box.
Press Send.
You will return to the Choose Message Type and Template screen. Your message will have been queued for delivery to the selected recipients.
Sending an E-mail to ask is your first line of communication. Also, be sure to use your Personal Page to convey your message:
Emphasize the importance of the cause through meaningful text.
Inspire others to donate by illustrating your message with eloquent images.
Provide a Progress Chart that will demonstrate how your team is doing in the fundraising effort.
These are the three components that you can use to your advantage to attract, engage and retain participants. Click here for Help!