Online crowdfunding India has become a dynamic new alternative to conventional ways of funding medical expenditure. This includes being an alternative for loans and insurance. Crowdfunding is essentially using the power of the community to fund a medical venture. However, much of it goes beyond the community, i.e. it reaches the crowd. That is the USP of crowdfunding in some sense. And the community plays a major role in taking it to the crowd.
How are we differentiating between community and crowd? The community of funders is the first group of funders – friends and family who contribute within 48 hours of the start of the fundraising campaign. This group will now play an important role in sending the fundraiser across to their friends and family. If your immediate community is dynamic, you have better chances of running a successful crowdfunding India campaign.
This is particularly true for medical crowdfunding. While in NGO crowdfunding, you might have more time to realize your target; medical crowdfunding runs on stipulated time. A large section of the people who opt for medical crowdfunding involves friends and family of individuals who may have terminal or very serious illnesses. So, what do you, as a friend do when your ill friend opts for crowdfunding for their treatment?
The first thing you can do is to contribute to your friend’s crowdfunding campaign. This will not come as a surprise but the contribution got within the first 48 hours often determines the fate of the crowdfunding campaign. Typically, the first contributors are friends and family and their contributions mean a lot. If your first contributors are enthusiastic, then they will behave in certain ways that will draw more contributors.
Secondly, the most useful thing you can do is to publicise the fundraiser on social media with your friends and family. Your friend may not have the time and energy to talk to a whole lot of people because of their illness, but you can. Send personal messages to your friends and family. The very idea of crowdfunding is to share resources. So, if you know someone who identifies with your cause and has the resources to support you, do talk to the person.
Thirdly, make a page for the crowdfunding campaign. From there share news about your friend’s condition and post regular updates about the money that you have received. Moreover, make a poster for the campaign with all the relevant information in it. Now, share this poster through Whatsapp messages. Share it from Instagram. Make sure the most active people on these sites share it too.
Fourthly, never underestimate the power of the time honoured and nearly always successful email. Mailing people details imparts a sense of urgency and legitimacy to your campaign. Make sure you have mailed at least one hundred of your contacts out of whom at least 20 will pass it on to their contacts.
Lastly, remember that for every contribution you have got, someone has bothered to care about your friend. Never forget to thank them profusely. Apart from this, make sure you update every single contributor with the condition of your friend. This makes them feel like part of the treatment process.
Crowdfunding India is a very low investment, easy to use way of funding your treatment. Please make good use of it and together create a positive crowdfunding culture in this country so thousands in distress may be benefitted.
