What is Fund a Need
Fund a Need is a fundraising technique where each item is often related to a fixed outcome. It may be a form of medical treatment, the purchase of a piece of technology for a school, or even an item your participants get to take home.
In a Fund a Need campaign, donors can submit a pledge until all items are taken. The price of the item does not increase unlike in auctions, but donors can enter a higher amount than the minimum requirement. When they pledge, it means they will be charged the amount they enter.
Example:
A charity is raising funds to buy school books and school uniforms for a class. In that class, there are 30 students. Each student will need their own set of books and half of them will need new school uniforms.
A set of books is $100
A set of uniforms is $50
Since we need 30 sets of books and 15 sets of uniforms, our goal is to get a total of $3750. This will be the minimum amount you will raise if all items slots are taken, but you can raise more if the donors are generous enough to enter a higher amount.
With Fund a Need, donors will be able to choose to fund a set of books or the uniforms (or both). If they want to sponsor 2 students, then they will need to pledge again.
With the Fund a Need example above, we will show you the steps on how to set it up in your admin console.
1. Enable Fund a Need
If you don't see the Fund a Need the navigation menu, you will need to enable it first:
Go to Settings > General Settings
Enable Fund a Need
2. Add Items
Go to Fund a Need > Add Items
Click the Add Item button
Enter all the item details in the right side menu
Item Name - in our example this would be Books or Uniforms
Item Code - enter a 3 letter code that donors will use if they pledge through text (e.g. BKS or UFM)
Starting Amount - amount for 1 set of books or uniforms
Item Short Name - this is the item name that will show on the text message they receive
Number of Pledges Accepted - quantity of the set of books or uniforms
Category - this is optional
Description - add a description of the item
Image Upload - add an item image that would appear on your event page
On your event page, it will look something like this:
When they click the Pledge Now button, they will be asked to log in, and enter their credit card information, address, and pledge amount. They need to enter the minimum pledge amount or higher. Once they submit, they will be charged for that amount plus fees.
Note: Make sure your Fund a Need is activated and your payment processor is connected to make it work.