Creating a grassroots fundraiser is a great way to support a cause that you care about. A grassroots fundraiser empowers you to raise awareness and promote giving to your favorite nonprofit organizations among your friends and family.

Create and Submit a Grassroots Fundraiser

To create a fundraiser for your favorite organizations, just go to an organization's main page in givezooks! and select 'Start a Grassroots Fundraiser.'  If the organization that you're interested in does not have a givezooks! presence yet, you can invite them to join [add link].

After selecting 'Start a Grassroots fundraiser,' will be asked to either log in to givezooks! or create a new user account.  After logging in or creating an account, you will be lead through a four-step wizard, during which you will create your grassroots fundraiser. The steps below outline the detailed process.

Step 1 - About You

If you already have a givezooks account, your profile information will be defaulted and you can add or change it as needed.  If you have just created an account, tell us about yourself and it will be saved with your profile.

Your profile in givezooks is a way for you to share as little or as much information about yourself as you want. To simplify the donation process to your favorite Nonprofits, you can put in your contact information – it will be used to default the appropriate fields as you donate. If you are fundraising for a Nonprofit you may also want to add a profile photo, so that you can include it in your Fundraiser and personalize it even more. The information will be available in the 'About Me' section of any of your Fundraisers.
Below is some more detailed information about filling out your profile and how it is used.

Name  

It's just that easy - put in your first and last name. You may also choose to keep them private by checking the boxes below your name.

Display Name  

Display Name is optional, but you can put your nickname, any pseudonym or alias.

Phone Number  

You can put your phone number in if you want (we won't call you), but it will be used if you donate to cut down on typing in your contact information. You may also choose to keep it private by checking the box below your phone number.

Tags  

You can choose some tags that define your interests. They will be used to make the site more relevant for you (e.g., Environment, Education, Autism).

Address  

You can also put your address in if you want (we won't stop by unless we're invited). If you donate, it will cut down on the need to type in your contact information. Also, you may choose to keep it private by checking the box below your phone number. Putting in your Zip will also determine which Community or Geographic region your searches will apply to, but you can always change your preference to search in other locations.

Profile Photo  

If you are fundraising for an organization it is nice to include a picture of yourself so that it will show up in the 'About Me' section of the Fundraiser. If you want to change the photo, just upload another one and the old one will be replaced.

Step 2 - About Your Fundraiser

Fundraiser Type

Let us know if you are raising money for a specific event or in honor of someone

• Tribute (Memorials, Diagnosis)
• Celebration (Birthday, Wedding, Anniversary, Birth)
• Sporting (Runs, Walks, Hikes)
• Other

Fundraiser Name

This will either be Assigned or Unassigned and is based on there being an individual associated with it as the Appeal Manager.

Goal Amount

This is the name of the Appeal Manager if they are assigned.

Short Summary

This is the email address of the Appeal Manager and can be clicked to send them a direct email.

Your Story

Tell Your Story! This is the heart of your fundraiser and should include a personal story that will encourage your friends and family to give to your favorite cause.

When done, you can move to the next step.

Step 3 - Add Media

The Media section allows you to upload images or link to a video or slide show. Adding Media to your Appeal can really reinforce key messages in your appeal with a visual element.  People like to be entertained, so give them something interesting to look at that will inspire them.

Adding a single image
Select the Single picture option in the Media Section. You can then Browse to find an image on your local computer. Finally just select upload and the image will be added to your Appeal and re-sized if required.
If you already have a few images uploaded, you can just drag the one that you want to the area where the current image is displayed.

Adding a slide show
Select the Slide show option in the Media Section. You can then Browse to find an image on your local computer. Finally just select upload and the image will be added to your Appeal and re-sized if required. Continue to follow this process until you have all of the images uploaded that you want included in the slide show.

The images will display in the slide show in the order that you upload them.

If you want to remove an image from the slide show, just select the X next to the file name and the image will be deleted.

Adding a video or other slide show
Select the Embedded video option in the Media Section. You can then paste the Embed code from your favorite photo or video site in the field. Finally just select Update and the video/slide show will be added to your Appeal.

Promote Your Grassroots Fundraiser - Spread the word

Sending a Link to Your Grassroots Fundraiser in an Email to Friends and Family.

Sending a link to your grassroots fundraiser in an email to friends and family is the easiest and the most efficient way to promote your fundraiser so you can start raising money for your favorite cause right away. There are three easy ways to do this: you can simply copy the url from your browser window and then paste it into the body of an email; you can click on the ‘Get a link to send to friends’ icon on your page; or you can click on the ‘ShareThis’ icon in the navigation bar. With each of these methods, you’ll be writing an email to friends and family that contains a link to your grassroots fundraiser. Make your subject line and note grab the recipient’s attention! Tell your personal story about why the cause is important to you, and keep in mind that the recipient of the email is a click away from reading the story on your grassroots fundraiser page, so you don’t have to tell the whole story - give them an appetizer that makes them want to read the complete story, where the will have ‘Give now’ button nearby.

Creating a Blog for Your Grassroots Fundraiser

When you’re logged into your grassroots fundraiser, just click on the ‘Create New Blog Post’ on your ‘Customize the Grassroots Fundraiser’ in the lower right hand corner. Include updates about the logistics of your fundraiser or just fun posts that will keep people coming back. Adding new blog posts keeps everyone in the loop, and improves the odds of your fundraiser appearing in search engines.

Promoting your grassroots fundraiser by publishing a recruitment widget, sending an email to friends and family, putting a badge on your social networking site, and creating a blog on your fundraiser page will email.