One of the keys to raising more funds is to give your fundraiser a catchy name that tells your story succinctly and makes it easy to find in a search. On our platform, we’ve seen how far a great fundraiser title can go towards fundraising success. When naming your online fundraiser, use an effective name along with our other fundraising ideas to maximise attention, shares, and donations.
As with a compelling or memorable film or book title, a great fundraiser title can attract both attention and money. A strong fundraiser title should do four things:
1
Capture the interest of the general public
2
Describe who the fundraiser is for and why it’s happening
3
Convey a specific tone or emotion through your fundraising story
4
Use keywords that make it easy to find
Your title should include the first and last name of the individual or the name of the organisation receiving the funds. People seeking to donate money on GoFundMe often search for a particular person or cause.
Similarly, if your cause is related to a known disaster, consider adding its name to your title. People who want to donate money to those recovering from the disaster will be able to find your fundraiser more easily.
Adding a name to the title also makes your story more authentic and adds a personal touch that people find compelling – whether they know the person or not. Wouldn’t you be more likely to donate to a fundraiser called “Life-Saving Surgery for Jane Smith” than one called “Surgery Fundraiser” or even “Help Me Pay for Surgery”?
Make sure that the tone of the title matches the cause you’re fundraising for. Fundraisers for memorials require a respectful tone. Fundraisers for school plays and similar events can get a boost from witty or sweet titles.
If you’re struggling to know what tone could work best, you can look at other people’s campaigns for inspiration.
Ideally, you would like the tone to strike a balance between engaging and informative. Depending on the context, it can be your choice about how serious to make this.
The images and videos you use should match the tone of the text used as well. It’s good to bear in mind where these images come from and if you have permission to use them.
Have you ever searched for an old friend online but found it nearly impossible to track them down because they had a very common name? The same thing can happen to people searching for your fundraiser.
To make your fundraiser easy to find, choose a name that’s clear and distinct. One good approach is to use a combination of terms that people are familiar with (words people are likely to use when looking for a cause like yours) combined with words that are unique to your fundraiser.
The name of your online fundraiser is more than just a headline on your fundraiser page. Like the title of a book, it can either attract people or put them off. Many people will decide whether to click through and read about your cause based solely on your fundraiser’s name.
To inspire more clicks on your fundraiser, use words that stimulate interest or compassion, tell a story and inspire action. If appropriate, be clever and make it fun! What makes your fundraiser different from other, similar causes? Which words get to the heart of how your fundraiser will change someone’s life? Read some real GoFundMe examples:
An easy way to find inspiration when naming your online fundraiser is to look at successful fundraisers with strong, catchy names. Take a look at successful GoFundMe fundraisers like these to get naming ideas:
Once you’ve come up with a few potential names, run them by people you trust for feedback and ideas. Evaluate all the finalists against a list of essential features. Your list might include:
We’re here to help you learn how to make a donation page that gets great results. For more advice and ideas on how to start a fundraiser online, read our top fundraising tips. Start your fundraiser today.