Raising funds and awareness
Leverage your community
Let’s be honest. Both the yoga and cancer industries have not fully figured out how to best support all the necessary participants in their industries. Although some yoga businesses are making significant money, being a compassionate and experienced yoga professional does not bring financial windfall and actually can be challenging to making a livable wage. And for yoga participants sometimes the costs of classes or memberships can be barriers to start a yoga practice or to maintain one. In the cancer world, costs of healthcare, limitations of health insurance and restrictions on policies, makes receiving a cancer diagnosis one of most costly things in life and over 30% of cancer survivors face significant financial strain post diagnosis. For all most cancer survivors and patients, paying for basic bills from housing, food and medication can be daunting.. so how does some one afford a yoga class for $20?
At yoga4cancer, we experience this everyday in our businesses, within our community of survivors and teachers. Over 50% of our financing comes from charitable giving or grants that require time, focus and commitment. We use these fund our work (learn more here) BUT we ask our community to do the same. Together, we are better!
What is your goal?
People in our community have successfully used crowd fundraising to do the follow:
- Raise funds to participate in Teacher Training Programs
- To set up and fund ongoing yoga4cancer Classes
- To provide books, props and support to cancer centers or community centers
- To help support research projects.
- Raise awareness and find clients!
Or ALL of the above!
Yes, the primary role of any activity is achieve fundraising goals but this type of work also raises awareness and drives engagements within the cancer community. For many, that is a goal as well to ensure the success of any future class, project or outreach. Basically, there isn’t a reason to NOT do some crowd fundraising. So let’s get started.
Fundraising made easy.
GoFundMe and Indiegogo are a do-it-yourself online fundraising service that has helped thousands of people raise millions of dollars in online donations for the fundraising ideas that matter to them most. GoFundMe allows regular people to accomplish extraordinary things with easy-to-use personal donation websites. From exciting life events like weddings & graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents & illnesses, the GoFundMe or Indiegogo fundraising software remains one of the best ways to raise money online.
These sites are able to accept donations immediately. You can use this page to get your family, friends, colleagues & community to provide support for your yoga4cancer certification. It’s a great way to get our ‘team’ involved and build a network of people invested in your advancement.
STEP #1: Create a Campaign
Setting up a campaign can take as few as 5 minutes and have extraordinary impact. Based on your preferred site GoFundMe and Indiegogo, please follow specific details to set up your campaign. Please follow the below tips for success:
- Tell a story. YOUR story. Explain as much as possible and create a compelling reason for people to give.
- Include images, details and photos
- Record a video with your ask via YouTube or any smart phone. It doesn’t need to be perfect.. just something personal. Put yourself out there.
- Set realistic goals and timeline.
Check out Veronica’s example of raising over $3,000 here.
STEP #2: Promote and Share… then repeat!
Once you have created your page, you must now tell people! It is your community that will help you achieve your goal. Ways to share:
- Send emails with the link to the campaign page
- Share on Facebook or Twitter – Make sure you explain why you need help and what you plan on doing with your certificate. Include or tag Yoga 4 Cancer (#yoga4cancer or @yoga4cancer) as we will help and promote.
- Send text messages or make phone calls.
- Host a donation class and promote the campaign.
- Share with your local studio or cancer center. Can they promote or provide a donation?
- Your employer! Often employers will provide matching grants to support education pursuits.
Then.. do it again! Sharing one time or even a few will not be enough. People need reminders and focus. Make the noise that your initiative requires!
STEP #3: Track Performance and Follow up!
During and after the campaign, be sure to follow up and thank people. Have them share in your success!
After you have received your certification, contact your campaign contributors and share your certificate. Thank them for their contribution. Offer to host a thank you class and have them witness your skills. This will soon open doors for future clients and potentially ongoing funding.
Get them to be part of your ongoing efforts to support the cancer community. Will they give again to set up your yoga4cancer class?
Check out Teri’s Campaign here.