HOW TO BE Your Own. StandWatch Academy Fundraising Superhero

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1 HOW TO BE Your Own StandWatch Academy Fundraising Superhero

2 Before You can Raise Money, you need to register your fundraising page 1. Go to and click on the Become a Fundraiser button 3. Create an Account and Follow the Instructions 2. Select As an Individual If you want, we can set-up your fundraising page for you. Before we do, we ll need you to provide: 1. A good profile photo of your smiling face 2. a good address 3. A short three sentence explanation as to why you want to attend the academy Let us know if we can help.

3 now that your page is set-up, it s time to start raising some money. Here are some suggestions on how to be successful. Step One Believe in the Cause and Know Your Mission The first thing people will ask when you tell them you are raising money for a StandWatch Academy project is, What the heck is StandWatch Academy? You can answer that question with one simple sentence: StandWatch Academy is a veter-led organization that teaches high-school students how to conceptualize, launch, and grow their own social enterprise, nonprofit, or small business. FActoid 1 Unemployment is typically higher for young people. You want to explore ways to earn a living while helping people. FActoid 2 StandWatch Academy is a Christian organization that works closely with Teays Valley Christian School. FActoid 3 If we want our kids to stay here, they need to know how to create a job rather than find one. FActoid 4 No other organization tries to team veterans and students in this way.

4 What Can Your Money Do? When someone donates to StandWatch Academy, they re doing more than supporting a great cause. They re actually buying an experience that supports the community. But unlike other charities, we want to make sure our donors can actually identify where their money is going, so we ve set up some preset donation levels. If you want to know more about how we used our resources on our last expedition go to www. standwatch.org/swexpedition/. $25 When you donate $25 it allows us to pay for a student s food for one day during the retreat. $50 A $50 donation will pay for all course materials that a single student will use as they write their business plan. $2450 $2450 provides a full scholarship to a single student to include all airfare, ground transportation, food, course materials, and activity fees for a week long expedition. $500 $500 will pay all of the transportation costs for a single student. $100 A $100 donation will provide food for a single student for over half the retreat. $1000 A $1000 donation will pay nearly half of all costs associated with sending a student on a StandWatch Academy expedition. $300 $300 will pay the airfare of a single student.

5 Step Three Spread the Word The most essential part of any donation campaign is to tell people about what you are doing. While there is no real substitute for the good old-fashioned handshake, social media is a fantastic tool for getting the word out to a huge number of people. Here are some suggested posts that you can make to Facebook or Twitter, and an you can send out to all your friends, family, and relatives. I am raising tuition money for a position on StandWatch Academy s (SWA) latest youth leadership expedition. SWA uses veterans and small business owners to teach high school students how to create their own small businesses and social enterprises. I want to learn how to create a job so I can stay here after I graduate. Go to [INSERT LINK] to help me. Help Me Learn How to Start a Business Dear [Insert name of recipient], I have been accepted into a veteran-led leadership training program called StandWatch Academy (SWA). SWA teaches high school students how to conceptualize, launch, and manage their own non-profits and small businesses. I m really excited about it! The centerpiece of the program is a retreat where we will go on a seven-day trip to develop our own business plans while picking-up some leadership training in the process. Ultimately, the trip has two objectives; motivate and inspire me and my fellow students by introducing us to areas of the country that have inspired others throughout our nation s history while SWA instructors help us complete our plans in a cooperative, peer-based setting. The retreat is scheduled to begin in June, but I need to have my tuition paid by May 15th, If you can help sponsor me, by the time the course is over, I will know how to create rather than find one after I graduate. This will also help me get into college. In this area, that is an incredible opportunity. If you can help, go to [Insert your team fundraising link here] and donate. All the money goes to support my tuition. Thanks! I have been accepted to StandWatch Academy s youth leadership program and can really use some support with tuition. If you can, go to [INSERT LINK] and help me out. [Your name]

6 Step Four Be innovative and think outside the box The last step is to think of a way to make your fundraiser unique and personal to you. Think about the activities you enjoy and see if there is a way to incorporate those into a small event where people can make donations to help support your efforts on our behalf. It doesn t have to be anything dramatic or grand in scale. It can be as simple as telling people that you will not shave for an entire month for every $100 that you raise. The key is to make it fun, and make it your own. Other ideas include things like: Host a golf tournament Hold a bake sale Hold a backyard BBQ and invite friends over to support the cause Go on a hike, bike ride, or run and get a sponsor to pay for each mile you complete Hold a 5K Have a hot dog eating contest

7 In case You re asked: Here is a more in-depth explanation of StandWatch Academy and it s origins StandWatch Academy (SWA) is an outdoor leadership course that leverages the vast experience veterans and small business owners to teach young people how to conceptualize, launch, and lead their own social enterprises, issue campaigns, missions, and nonprofit organizations. The end result is a young person with the confidence, leadership ability, and basic entrepreneurial skills needed to create economic opportunities for themselves and their communities. We believe that this is the best way to create an entrepreneurial mindset in depressed areas where economic opportunity is lacking; one motivated young person at a time. The SWA leadership course teaches entrepreneurship, business planning, team-building and leadership skills in an dynamic setting that encourages students to test their mental and physical endurance in a supportive environment that s free of distractions. The courses teach the following: 1. Leadership and followership 2. Innovation, adaptability, and creativity 3. Social entrepreneurship Ultimately, our expeditions have two objectives; motivate and inspire the kids by introducing them to the areas of the country that have inspired others throughout our nation s history while helping them complete a short business plan for their nonprofits or social enterprises. During our latest Southwestern Expedition, ten students completed all of the research and prep work they needed to write their business plans, while seeing things they might never see again. Each student chose his or her issue and approach to fixing the problem, and they include things like improving the foster care system through a faith-based initiative, coming up with new ways to fight poverty and the opioid epidemic, and lifting people up by starting a clothing and apparel company that places its manufacturing shops and good jobs in disadvantaged communities across the United States.

8 We believe that every young person should know that, no matter what their economic condition, creating a job is infinitely better than finding a job. StandWatch Academy s leadership course motivates and prepares young social entrepreneurs to bring about significant social change in a setting like no other. A lot of nonprofits strive for sustainable change. Our academy creates the leaders that can make that happen. There is little doubt that being outdoors produces tangible benefits for people. Witnessing the incredible scale of God s earthly creation places everything we know in context. There is no better place to learn about one s ability to enact change in this world than through outdoor discovery. Besides this, using an outdoor approach benefits students by: Placing them in a distraction free environment where technology doesn t play a role. Teaching both self-reliance and how to operate as part of a team; an extremely tricky thing to do and something that we believe can ONLY be achieved outside of a traditional classroom. Providing a sense of adventure and excitement that may be absent for some students in a traditional classroom environment. Students will apply leadership and problem solving skills while experiencing the majesty of God s natural wonders. It s a transformative experience that can t be found in a classroom setting. After completing a course, students are left with validated plans for their own nonprofit organizations, valuable business strategies, and leadership experiences that will benefit them as they grow older. It s a win for students, and it s a win for the communities where they live. Refer People to Our Website:

9 The top things to do after making a fundraising page 1 Start by making a donation to your own fundraising page. Other people are more likely to donate to your page when they see that someone has already contributed. Donating some of your own money also demonstrates to potential supporters that you are serious about helping the cause. 2Personalize your fundraising page, by adding your own text, pictures, or video. Remember, your potential donors will be interested in the cause, but they are primarily interested in you. Make sure you tell them why you are getting involved and what your connection to the cause is (it doesn t have to be long). 3 Send individual s to your five closest contacts and ask them for donations first. Getting your inner circle to donate to your page will help you build up some momentum. It s also good to start with the people you are most comfortable with! The Big How To List Think about your fundraising strategy like peeling an onion from the inside out. The best fundraisers start by asking their closest contacts first (the core) and progressively working outward to more distant contacts (the outer skin). Question: Why would you do that? Your closest contacts are the ones most likely to donate, more remote contacts are less like to donate. Studies show that as you make progress towards your fundraising goal people become more and more likely to donate to you (success breeds success!). When you start with your closest contacts and work outwards, you ensure that you build up progress from your core supporters before you reach out to the people who are less likely to donate. This means maximizing your chances of successfully meeting (or exceeding) your fundraising goal! Getting Started Action Items: Day 1 - #1: Send to 10 very close contacts (family and your closest friend or two). Day 2 - #2: Send to close contacts (your entire circle of good friends). Day 3 - #3: Send to as many other contacts that you feel comfortable sending a message to (co-workers, friends of friends, distant relatives, your entire address book, etc.). Day 4 - Social Media & Beyond Promote via Social Media to anyone who will listen. And, don t be a afraid to send follow up s! Your close friends and family won t mind hearing from you a few times. How to Write Your s to Friends & Family There is no perfect formula for writing an asking family and friends for donations, but there are some best practices to guide you:

10 Writing a General Start by explaining your connection to the cause and why it s important to you. Describing how the cause has touched your life is probably the most important element of your message. In a sentence or two explain the good work the organization is doing to advance the cause. This helps potential supporters understand where their money would be going and what it would be used to accomplish. 1. Be clear to potential supporters about what you are looking for; make a direct ask for financial support 2. Include a link to your fundraising page. 3. Thank your contacts for their time and support. Writing to your Closest Contacts You know your closest contacts better than anyone does. Don t feel like you have to stick to a predefined formula. If a one line message is going to work, go ahead and do that. If a longer personal message will work best, do that. Just make sure you include a direct request for support and a link to your fundraising page at the end of your message. Always remember when you re writing to your contacts, just be yourself. If something feels forced or inauthentic, scrap it. The best ways to use Facebook and Twitter to fundraise Start fundraising through Facebook and Twitter after you ve sent out your initial batch of s. Get started on Facebook by tagging the people that have already donated to you and thanking them for their donations. When you tag someone your post gets shared in your activity feed and the other person s activity feed too. This also sets the frame that people are already donating to your page (remember success breeds success!). Set internal goals (e.g. 200 dollars by the end of week two, 400 dollars by end of week four, etc.). Use your social media accounts to give updates of your progress towards each goal and ask for people to help you get over the next hurdle. Don t make every post an ask. Share inspiring news stories or other positive anecdotes about the cause too! Consider offering your own gifts to friends and family who help you reach your goal. It doesn t have to be anything extravagant, just a token of your appreciation. How to follow up with people who don t respond initially By setting internal goals (e.g. 200 dollars by end of week two, 400 dollars by end of week four, etc.) you accomplish two things. First, you create more urgency when you ask friends and family for support. And second, you give yourself a built in reason to follow up. Reach back out to non-responders when you re approaching one of your internal goals. If you set a few internal goals, you can plan on sending a couple follow up s. Remember people can easily miss or skip over your initial outreach! Include progress updates in your follow up messages and consider including any inspiring stories or personal anecdotes you have about the cause. Remember to continue using social media! Social media is a softer medium for communicating with your contacts and it s more acceptable to frequently post updates in those channels. The Key to raising money for any cause is to believe in what you re doing. Having confidence and persistence is critical, Follow a plan, set reasonable goals, and you ll do it.

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