Simple Steps to Setting Up Your Good Wishes Profile Page:
Once you have created your account, go to the site and click "Login", located at the bottom of the page. Log on to the site using the username and password with which you originally set up your account.
You will automatically be directed to your profile page. Be sure to upload a profile picture and enter your personal information in the fields provided. This information will be displayed on your Good Wishes page for donors to view. Tip: keep your bio and goal summary statement as concise as possible.
When you have completed your profile page, be sure to click SAVE. Saving your information and uploading an image may take a few moments.
Setting Up a PayPal Account With Your Email Address:
Choose an email address that you currently use. The email address saved in your profile will be linked to all PayPal donations that come through the site. It is very important to set up your PayPal account with the same email address saved in your profile.
If you currently have a PayPal account, enter the same email address in your profile page.
If you do not have a PayPal account, visit PayPal and create a personal account with the email address that you will be using for your One Hundred Good Wishes profile page. Once your PayPal account has been created you are ready to receive donations.
NOTE: Eventually you will need to validate your PayPal account in order to raise amount limits and make balance transfers by linking a bank account to your PayPal account. It is very easy and usually only takes a couple of days to complete. Please be aware that PayPal is an extremely secure web site, so your account information is very safe.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Using Social Media to Kick Off Your Adoption Fundraising Campaign
Let's explore a few ways to use social media to kick off your adoption fundraising efforts. Go to http://onehundredgoodwishes.com/ and log on to your account. Log on to the site using the username and password with which you originally set up your account. You'll be directed to My Profile tab. Click on "Your Good Wishes Link" located on this page. Use this URL address to spread the word about your adoption and your One Hundred Good Wishes page. Below are some ways to get started:
Social Network
- Think about the communities in which you and your family are involved such as school, neighborhood, church, family, co-workers, friends, email contacts, etc. You know more people than you think! Determine how to best reach these communities whether it be though email, Facebook, etc.
- Invite your friends and family to help spread the word to their social network, by asking them to click the "Spread the Word" link on your Good Wishes homepage.*
- Consider starting a blog or Facebook page, if you do not have one already, so that you may reach a broader audience.
- Ask close friends to consider taking up a love offering at their church, in their small groups, Bible study, dinner club, civic club, etc. to donate as a good wish. *
- Launch your fundraising campaign by copying and pasting your One Hundred Good Wishes Homepage URL link into an email to your contacts inviting them to give a good wish.
- Keep family and friends updated on your adoption and fundraising goal through periodic mass email.
- Ask friends and family for their help. Send an email listing ways that they can help spread the word to their contacts. Refer to (*) for ways they can help.
- Add your One Hundred Good Wishes homepage URL address as a link on your Facebook page in the status bar.
- Post a note in Facebook inviting your friends to give a good wish.
- Thank your donors for their good wishes in your status bar and keep your Facebook friends updated periodically through your Facebook status.
- Ask family and friends to post a link to your good wishes page in their status bar on Facebook.*
- Import your blog into Facebook Notes.
Blog
- Add a banner to your blog. Banners are available in your Good Wishes Tools tab.
- Write a post on your blog about your One Hundred Good Wishes fundraising effort.
- Ask blogger friends to post a banner on their blog that links to your Good Wishes page.*
- If you have a blog, you can import posts into your Facebook notes. How? Click on your "Notes" tab on your Facebook homepage. In top right box "Notes Setting", click on "Import Blog" and type in your blog URL address. You can also edit the privacy to allow "anyone" to view your notes, gaining more exposure.
Managing Your Fundraising Campaign: What to Do When You Receive a Good Wish
Once you have begun to spread the word, you will begin receiving good wishes from family and friends!
You will be notified by One Hundred Good Wishes and PayPal through email when you have received a good wish.
1). You will be notified by PayPal that a donation has been submitted. Here is an example of the email that you will receive. (You want to make sure that you receive PayPal notification before your confirm a Good Wish):
"You've Got Cash!
This email confirms that you have received a donation of $25.00 USD from Mary Poppins (marypoppins@hotmail.com
------------------------------
-----
Donation Details
-----------------------------------
Confirmation number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Donation amount: $25.00 USD
Total: $25.00 USD
Purpose: 100 Good Wishes Donation
Reference: User-X
Contributor: Mary Poppins
Phone: XXXXXXXXX
-Mary Poppins' confirmed address
-----------------------------------
Mary Poppins
1234 Spoonful of Sugar Lane
Happyland, USA 1234
2). You will be notified by One Hundred Good Wishes through email when you have received a good wish. Here is an example of the email you will receive:
A Good Wish from Mary Poppins
"I can't imagine a more loving and welcoming family than the one you will be joining. Not all of us are born under a lucky star - but sometimes, we find our way to one. "
From: marypoppins@hotmail.com
Donation Amount: $25
Confirm Donor
Confirm that the payment was submitted through your PayPal account first and click this link to Confirm Good Wish or login to your Good Wishes Admin to confirm.
Your donor also will receive the following email when they submit their good wish:
"Thank you for submitting a Good Wish to The XXX Family through One Hundred Good Wishes. If for some reason you were unable to complete your donation with Paypal, click The XXX Family PayPal Link to try again. If you would rather send your donation directly to The XXX Family, email XXXXXXXXXmail.com.
The purpose of this site is to allow you to become part of your friend's adoption journey by giving a good wish, helping to offset the costs involved in their adoption expenses. As you may know, adoption is a costly endeavor. Most domestic and international adoption expenses average $7,000 - $40,000. Cost of travel, staying in-country for a given length of time, orphanage donations, US and foreign government fees as well as placing agency service fees contribute to the overall expense.
Become an Adoption Advocate! Click Here to spread the word.
We believe more families would consider adoption if there were access to more assistance available. Our hope is that this site will offer you the opportunity to generously give a financial gift. Though your donation is not tax-deductible, your gift will go directly to the family you have chosen to support by using Paypal.
Sincerely,
One Hundred Good Wishes! "
3). Confirm the donor by following the link in the email from One Hundred Good Wishes. See sample below.
"Confirm Donor
Confirm that the payment was submitted through your PayPal account first and click this link to Confirm Good Wish or login to your Good Wishes Admin to confirm."
4). Go to Good Wish Admin page, by clicking on the links in the email from One Hundred Good Wishes (mentioned above). Click on "Confirm a Good Wish" if you did receive notification from PayPal that your donation was received. Clicking this link will publish the donors' picture and good wish on your home page. It will also automatically send the following email to your donor.
"Dear Giver,
You are receiving this email to notify you that your gift to The XXX Family has been confirmed and your good wish has now been published! To view your good wish, click here.
Your good wish is now part of this family's adoption story and will serve as a priceless keepsake for their child. Again, we at One Hundred Good Wishes thank you for your generosity. You are truly helping bring families together!
Help spread the word! Invite others to give a Good Wish to The XXX Family by clicking this link."
Sincerely,
One Hundred Good Wishes!
5). If you received an email from One Hundred Good Wishes that a good wish was received, but you never received an email from PayPal to confirm the transaction was completed, first check your spam mail to make sure the PayPal email is not in this folder. Then login to your PayPal account and see if the transaction occured. If you did not receive the transaction, then this means that the transaction was not completed by the donor.
So what you'll need to do is login to your One Hundred Good Wishes page, click on Donor tab, then click on "Email PayPal Error Message". This automatically sends an email to your donor letting them know that their PayPal transaction failed and it will give them a link that they can click to complete their transaction.
You can also make a note that the Email PayPal Error Message was sent to your donor on X date so that you can follow up at a later date. The donor may choose to just send you a check. In that case, you can click on "Confirm a Good Wish" to publish their good wish once you receive their donation via mail.
You will be notified by One Hundred Good Wishes and PayPal through email when you have received a good wish.
1). You will be notified by PayPal that a donation has been submitted. Here is an example of the email that you will receive. (You want to make sure that you receive PayPal notification before your confirm a Good Wish):
"You've Got Cash!
This email confirms that you have received a donation of $25.00 USD from Mary Poppins (marypoppins@hotmail.com
------------------------------
-----
Donation Details
-----------------------------------
Confirmation number: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Donation amount: $25.00 USD
Total: $25.00 USD
Purpose: 100 Good Wishes Donation
Reference: User-X
Contributor: Mary Poppins
Phone: XXXXXXXXX
-Mary Poppins' confirmed address
-----------------------------------
Mary Poppins
1234 Spoonful of Sugar Lane
Happyland, USA 1234
2). You will be notified by One Hundred Good Wishes through email when you have received a good wish. Here is an example of the email you will receive:
A Good Wish from Mary Poppins
"I can't imagine a more loving and welcoming family than the one you will be joining. Not all of us are born under a lucky star - but sometimes, we find our way to one. "
From: marypoppins@hotmail.com
Donation Amount: $25
Confirm Donor
Confirm that the payment was submitted through your PayPal account first and click this link to Confirm Good Wish or login to your Good Wishes Admin to confirm.
Your donor also will receive the following email when they submit their good wish:
"Thank you for submitting a Good Wish to The XXX Family through One Hundred Good Wishes. If for some reason you were unable to complete your donation with Paypal, click The XXX Family PayPal Link to try again. If you would rather send your donation directly to The XXX Family, email XXXXXXXXXmail.com.
The purpose of this site is to allow you to become part of your friend's adoption journey by giving a good wish, helping to offset the costs involved in their adoption expenses. As you may know, adoption is a costly endeavor. Most domestic and international adoption expenses average $7,000 - $40,000. Cost of travel, staying in-country for a given length of time, orphanage donations, US and foreign government fees as well as placing agency service fees contribute to the overall expense.
Become an Adoption Advocate! Click Here to spread the word.
We believe more families would consider adoption if there were access to more assistance available. Our hope is that this site will offer you the opportunity to generously give a financial gift. Though your donation is not tax-deductible, your gift will go directly to the family you have chosen to support by using Paypal.
Sincerely,
One Hundred Good Wishes! "
3). Confirm the donor by following the link in the email from One Hundred Good Wishes. See sample below.
"Confirm Donor
Confirm that the payment was submitted through your PayPal account first and click this link to Confirm Good Wish or login to your Good Wishes Admin to confirm."
4). Go to Good Wish Admin page, by clicking on the links in the email from One Hundred Good Wishes (mentioned above). Click on "Confirm a Good Wish" if you did receive notification from PayPal that your donation was received. Clicking this link will publish the donors' picture and good wish on your home page. It will also automatically send the following email to your donor.
"Dear Giver,
You are receiving this email to notify you that your gift to The XXX Family has been confirmed and your good wish has now been published! To view your good wish, click here.
Your good wish is now part of this family's adoption story and will serve as a priceless keepsake for their child. Again, we at One Hundred Good Wishes thank you for your generosity. You are truly helping bring families together!
Help spread the word! Invite others to give a Good Wish to The XXX Family by clicking this link."
Sincerely,
One Hundred Good Wishes!
5). If you received an email from One Hundred Good Wishes that a good wish was received, but you never received an email from PayPal to confirm the transaction was completed, first check your spam mail to make sure the PayPal email is not in this folder. Then login to your PayPal account and see if the transaction occured. If you did not receive the transaction, then this means that the transaction was not completed by the donor.
So what you'll need to do is login to your One Hundred Good Wishes page, click on Donor tab, then click on "Email PayPal Error Message". This automatically sends an email to your donor letting them know that their PayPal transaction failed and it will give them a link that they can click to complete their transaction.
You can also make a note that the Email PayPal Error Message was sent to your donor on X date so that you can follow up at a later date. The donor may choose to just send you a check. In that case, you can click on "Confirm a Good Wish" to publish their good wish once you receive their donation via mail.
Fundraising Strategies: Using Facebook
Facebook is an excellent social networking tool for which to spread the word to friends and family about your One Hundred Good Wishes fundraising page.
Below are instructions for a few ways that you can utilize Facebook:
~STATUS/LINK~
1). On your personal Facebook Homepage, click on your status box.
2). Type in the box what you'd like to communicate to your Facebook community, for example, "We're raising support for our waiting child's orphanage. We invite you to give a good wish!"
3). Paste your One Hundred Good Wishes Page URL into this box. You'll see your Good Wishes page pop up below.
5). Then click Post to share with your Facebook friends.
Below are instructions for a few ways that you can utilize Facebook:
~STATUS/LINK~
1). On your personal Facebook Homepage, click on your status box.
2). Type in the box what you'd like to communicate to your Facebook community, for example, "We're raising support for our waiting child's orphanage. We invite you to give a good wish!"
3). Paste your One Hundred Good Wishes Page URL into this box. You'll see your Good Wishes page pop up below.
5). Then click Post to share with your Facebook friends.
~ASK CLOSE FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS IF THEY WOULD ALSO POST A LINK TO YOUR GOOD WISHES PAGE BY USING THE INSTRUCTIONS ABOVE.~
~POST A FACEBOOK NOTE~
1). On your personal Facebook Homepage, click on the Notes tab.
2). To the right of the screen, click on the "Write a new note" button.
3). Here you can write about your adoption journey and include your One Hundred Good Wishes page link. It works a bit like a blog so you can upload a picture too. If you have a blog, you can even cut and paste into your notes page regularly or have your blog posts imported automatically into your notes. How to import your blog into Facebook? Click on your "Notes" tab on your Facebook homepage. In top right box "Notes Setting", click on " Import Blog" and type in your blog URL address. You may need to post at least one note before Facebook will give you the option to import your blog. You can also edit the privacy to allow "anyone" to view your notes, gaining more exposure. For more information, go to Facebook Help Center.
4). You can tag people who you'd like to read it. You can also mark your privacy as public or just friends, etc.
5). Click on the "publish" button.
~THANK YOUR DONORS IN YOUR FACEBOOK STATUS AND KEEP FRIENDS UPDATED PERIODICALLY ABOUT YOUR FUNDRAISING PROGRESS~
This is not only a great way to thank your generous donors publicly, but also an ongoing way to generate awareness of your fundraising efforts and keep supporters updated on your progress!
If you've had other successes with fundraising on your Good Wishes page using Facebook, please share in the comments below.
Fundraising Strategies: Recruit Ambassadors
Use this fundraising strategy to raise support from friends of friends.
Recruit 10 or more of your closest friends, donors, family, etc. to serve as you One Hundred Good Wishes ambassadors or advocates. Send them an email by logging into your Good Wishes account and clicking the Email tab. When you use this email form, links to your Good Wishes page are automatically included in your message. You'll also receive a copy of your sent email in your inbox.
Ask your Ambassadors/Advocates to help you by doing the following:
1). Post a link to your Good Wishes page on their Facebook page. (They can do this by going to their Facebook profile page, and writing in their status bar, and attaching a link to your Good Wishes page). Easy, right?!
2). Help share your story by clicking on "Spread the Word", located above your picture on your Good Wishes Page, emailing 10 of their closest friends, co-workers, family to ask if they would consider supporting your adoption journey. When they use the "Spread the Word" button, the email automatically contains a link to your Good Wishes page. They can customize their message or use the one provided. You'll receive a copy of the emails sent from this "Spread the Word" tool.
Recruit 10 or more of your closest friends, donors, family, etc. to serve as you One Hundred Good Wishes ambassadors or advocates. Send them an email by logging into your Good Wishes account and clicking the Email tab. When you use this email form, links to your Good Wishes page are automatically included in your message. You'll also receive a copy of your sent email in your inbox.
Ask your Ambassadors/Advocates to help you by doing the following:
1). Post a link to your Good Wishes page on their Facebook page. (They can do this by going to their Facebook profile page, and writing in their status bar, and attaching a link to your Good Wishes page). Easy, right?!
2). Help share your story by clicking on "Spread the Word", located above your picture on your Good Wishes Page, emailing 10 of their closest friends, co-workers, family to ask if they would consider supporting your adoption journey. When they use the "Spread the Word" button, the email automatically contains a link to your Good Wishes page. They can customize their message or use the one provided. You'll receive a copy of the emails sent from this "Spread the Word" tool.
3). If any of your Ambassadors have a blog, ask them to feature your cause in one of their blog posts. Your friends and ambassadors can also publish your banner to their blogs. Just send them the HTML code listed in the Tools tab.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
One Hundred Good Wishes, A FREE Fundraising Web Resource for Adoptive Families
We've officially launched One Hundred Good Wishes! www.onehundredgoodwishes.com/ is now available to adoptive families who are in process of adopting and are home-study approved!
One Hundred Good Wishes is a free fundraising web-based tool for adoptive families wishing to raise partial or full support for their adoptions. We understand the significant financial challenges of adoption and seek to provide an easy resource for adoptive parents to reach out to others and inspire the opportunity to give, through monetary donations, to your adoption endeavor.
One Hundred Good Wishes website was inspired by the Northern Chinese tradition called Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes" quilt - a tradition which engages others in the celebration of a new life. Like the tradition, we have created this web resource for which adoptive families can use not only to share their adoption journey and gather good wishes from loved ones, but also as a tool to raise financial support for their adoption endeavors.
Even if you are not currently adopting, you can help us spread the word about this FREE web resource for adoptive families.
One Hundred Good Wishes is a free fundraising web-based tool for adoptive families wishing to raise partial or full support for their adoptions. We understand the significant financial challenges of adoption and seek to provide an easy resource for adoptive parents to reach out to others and inspire the opportunity to give, through monetary donations, to your adoption endeavor.
One Hundred Good Wishes website was inspired by the Northern Chinese tradition called Bai Jia Bei, or "100 Good Wishes" quilt - a tradition which engages others in the celebration of a new life. Like the tradition, we have created this web resource for which adoptive families can use not only to share their adoption journey and gather good wishes from loved ones, but also as a tool to raise financial support for their adoption endeavors.
Even if you are not currently adopting, you can help us spread the word about this FREE web resource for adoptive families.
- Become a fan on Facebook and invite others in the adoptive community to join.
- Send the website link to fellow adoptive parents who might be interested or know someone who is interested in raising support for an adoption.
- Post the website link on your FCC and other adoption-related message board, on your blog, Facebook page, Twitter, etc.
If you are in process of adopting and would like to set up a One Hundred Good Wishes page to raise support for your adoption endeavor, please email courtney@onehundredgoodwishes.com.
You can visit our website at http://www.onehundredgoodwishes.com/ for more information and find us on Facebook.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
