The Ultimate Guide To Medical Fundraising

When your close friend or member of the family is diagnosed with an illness or chronic medical condition, it is natural that you do whatever possible to help them feel better. 

One of the main concerns during medical treatment is money. The patient or their family may have drained their resources to collect the treatment costs. Sometimes, even the insurance will not cover the entire expenses.

How then can you help reduce the financial burden? Medical fundraising is a powerful tool to gather funds required for medical treatment and its associated costs. There are many instances when people have got a second life through medical fundraisers!

Start crowdfunding by registering on a good medical fundraising platform. It is a powerful tool that when executed properly, can help you to cover the procedure costs, doctor visit costs, prescription costs, and even personal expenses for the patient such as rehabilitation and therapy costs.

Let’s take a look at some tips to consider before starting a medical fundraiser on custom fundraising software.     

1.  Medical fundraiser title

With donors having so many options to choose from, how do you differentiate your fundraiser from the rest? What is it that catches the attention of the donor first? It’s the title of your medical fundraiser. It has to evoke sympathy and convey the message clearly. 

For instance, “Martha’s Fundraiser” makes no meaning. Instead, “Help Martha Fight Cancer” or “Help Martha Pay For Surgery” or “Covering Expenses For Martha’s Recovery” is specific and strikes the right tone. 

Ideally, in addition to being catchy, your title should make it easy for others to search for it or find it on the fundraising platform.     

2.  Include photos and videos

Unfortunately, there’s little scope for “if possible” here. You must include photos and videos. Period. They draw potential donors in and make your fundraiser appear genuine. People feel motivated to donate when they are able to see and feel it through the images and videos.

Don’t hesitate to put images or videos of the suffering patient. This is the truth and it’s the reason why you are raising funds. It’s not vulnerability or helplessness. It’s hope. It’s what inspires people to donate.

3.  Keep it real

Just because you have set up a medical fundraising page doesn’t mean you can set any goals. Estimate the money you’ll need so that it looks convincing to the donors. 

Start by calculating the out-of-pocket insurance maximums. Add the uncovered bills including the visit to specialists, transportation, and stay charges. 

Start first with a conservative goal and then gradually increase your target when you have raised at least 60% of your first goal.

4.  Get it personal

Effective medical fundraising campaigns are detailed and personal. Start by thinking about the recent fundraisers that caught your attention. Was it because of an eye-catchy title? Did it trigger your emotions? 

Write a thorough description of the recipient’s health status and why they are in need of funds. Write the medical processes required and their costs. 

Update the health record with a small para or some photos of the recipient as you keep getting funds to update the followers or donors. The progress will also inspire many new donors to donate for medical expenses. 

A video of the patient thanking the donors or asking for help can also feel a connection.

5.  Spread the word

You start crowdfunding to accept donations from people. The key to it is, of course, a crowd. You have to get the word across by sharing the medical fundraising page link with your family and friends. They, in turn, share the link with their network. 

Appeals by email campaign can get you results whereas Facebook posts can work wonders for many. 

Usually, a third of the goal is met by donations from family and friends. The second third comes from their acquaintances, and the final comes from the network of strangers who may emotionally connect with the cause or may be large-hearted.  

6.  Select a good custom fundraising software

The start of crowdfunding is by creating a medical fundraising page on good custom fundraising software. But among the hundreds available online, how will you select the best? There’s no easy way out. 

Go through each of the websites and their reviews. Go through some of the fundraisers set up on the platforms. See the costs involved. 

A popular medical fundraising website may not be the best for your needs. Instead, select the one which meets your goals. For instance, if you are expecting to raise funds from the local community, pick a fundraising software that lists fundraisers based on user location. Similarly, some websites may be the best for emergency fundraising. 

The platform you select is also crucial to the success of your medical fundraiser goal.

7.  Online fundraising ideas

Sometimes, you can’t be solely dependent on the online fundraiser to meet your goal. Although setting up a page on a custom fundraising software is the first step for crowdfunding, you should explore alternative online options. 

Emails, paid ads, and influencer promotions are some of the other easy fundraising ideas to complement your online fundraiser link. Promote the link through these approaches to increase possible donations.

8.  Offline fundraising ideas

You could go back to traditional fundraising ideas such as sending birthday cards or hosting events. But again, the process is laborious and it depends on how fast you would want to raise funds. 

You can piggyback on some other fundraiser or event to make it easy. You could even approach religious institutions or other organizations that earmark some amount for medical donations. 

We suggest you put maximum effort into your online fundraiser to meet the emergency medical costs. You can then try the other traditional fundraising ideas to raise donations for long-term medical costs such as therapy or medications.

Wrapping Up

Medical expenses are the leading cause of bankruptcy in the United States even though many people have insurance coverage. Many people are turning up to online medical fundraising platforms to solicit donations from family, friends, and strangers. It’s an attempt to help their loved ones.

GivingX is a custom fundraising software that lets you set up a mobile-responsive online donation page to collect donations from your friends and even strangers. All it takes is a few clicks to set it up and share it with your network asking for donations to cover the medical fees.

With GivingX, you can manage your campaign from anywhere. Start crowdfunding today!