crowdfunding for charity

[papyruscrow.livejournal.com]

Hi all you awesome people!

I'm interested using crowd-funded creativity to raise money for a charity, Mercy Corps Mongolia, which is doing a lot of important but unglamorous work, like setting up school lunches, rehabilitation therapy for elders, technology training, that kind of thing. I have until July to try and get some money together - this is for a big charity event, the Mongol Rally, which has about 200 groups driving from London to Ulaanbaatar.

I just now joined livejournal specifically to do this sort of thing (getting to meet cool people and read about their lives is sure an awesome bonus), since I've seen lots of good work and networking on livejournal. I had an account once, but I've long been out of the habit of using it, and I bet people would be pretty annoyed if I came back only to beg for money. :) So I'm starting over with a new account.

I plan to try different things and see what people are willing to support: I dabble a little in writing, drawing, calligraphy (Mongolian calligraphy, which is pretty neat), and glass sculpture, but I'm not awesome in any of them.

I want to hear the experiences of anyone else who's done creativity-for-charity. What did you try? What worked, what didn't, what would you do differently, that sort of thing.

(I know about the Big Auctions For Well Connected People Who Have Fallen On Hard Times, but I am not so connected nor my cause so urgent, so I don't think that model does me any good.)

I have three specific questions, for people who have experience in fundraising for a specific cause:

1. Should I keep my creative offerings thematically tied to Mongolia?
2. Are there any resources for doing creativity-for-charity I should know about?
3. Should I set a specific amount of money I'm trying to raise? Overall? Per event? Will it inspire donors (and me?) or would it just be depressing?

Comments

Hmm...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

I haven't done crowdfunding for charity myself, but I recommend that you browse this community's "Memories" file. It has posts with tips on how to do crowdfunding in general, which you may find helpful.

[jenny_evergreen]

Speaking mostly from observation, I'd say keeping it thematically tied is good, but also just trying to offer something different is good.
Also, I think target amounts (speaking as someone who donates to things) are good, and not depressing. There should always be an overall goal, and per event is optional and might be too much for some people; it might be better to keep those goals to yourself and share if asked.