http://encommunity.alvarum.com

How to customize the colors of your profile

From your charity profile go to the edit screen and click on change „look and feel“. Here you can either choose between four different color templates provided by Alvarum or make an own color template. So if your charity has a given design, find out the color codes (ask your PR responsible) and enter them in the „create custom template“ section. The colors you choose will be preset for all campaign and initiative fundraising pages.

How to add a banner to your profile

If you are in the „create custom template“ section you can also add a banner to your profile. The optimal banner size is 940 pixel wide and between 120 and 150 pixel high. Uploading a banner with other measurements, could make you pages look ugly! If you don’t know how to create a nice banner in the right size, ask a volunteer that has these skills or a designer that you might know. The banner you choose will be preset for all campaign and initiative fundraising pages.

Customize campaign and fundraising pages

Also you preset the colors and banners for all other pages, your campaign or team leaders and initiative fundraisers can still be creative and change your templates according to their wishes. It works just the same why.

Log into to your Alvarum account and give it a try right now!

When to start an online donation appeal page?

A succesful online donation appeal is much more like a fundraising page from on of your supporters. It has a motivating story, a goal and a deadline. That’s why you should create your donation appeals usually around a occasion like:

• The end of the year
• Festivities
• Disasters and emergencies
• Very urgent needs

How to create your online donation appeal page?

Setting up an online donation appeal page on Alvarum only takes a couple of minutes:

• Go to your charity profile
• Click on „fundraise“ and choose individual fundraising page
• Log into your Alvarum account
• Qualify the page as „official donation appeal“

Now that the page is created you have several options to customize your donation appeal page. You can

• Change the page author name to your charity
• Add a call to action to the page title
• Write the story („description“) of your donation appeal
• Set a fundraising goal and a deadline until the goal needs to be reached
• Upload some mobilizing pictures
• Add a fundraising goal to the appeal
• Customize the colors and add a banner
• Change the suggested donation values or add examples to it

You can always change these settings later, if you need to.

How to make your online donation appeal a succes?

The most important thing now is to spread the page to potential donors. Communicate about your appeal and never forget to link the page:

• Make some personal calls to loyal supporters to get the first donations.
• Send an email to the relevant segment of your database.
• Write about it in your blog, newsletter and other media.
• Post it on your social networks and ask people to spread it further.

Plan several cycles of communication. Start with close supporters first. Make regulary updates on the progress of your appeal to remind people.

Three examples for succesful donation appeals on Alvarum

Do you need some inspiraton for your donation appeal? Have a look at the most succesful donation appeals on Alvarum:

• Appeal for disaster relief
• Appeal for urgent needs
• Addition to capital campaign

Two events with different formats 

The charity proposed to its members and supporters to participate in two very different fundraising events. They were notably different because of their type of challenge and their location, which helped to engage a broad spectrum of fundraisers.

Those events were:

- The Roll’solidaire (29th of  September), a 8km tour that participants could make on foot, roller-blade or a scooter. To take part, each participant had to create a fundraising page on Alvarum and to raise 200€ of donations. The roller-blade world champion Taïg Khris was supporting this event which gathered about hundred-twenty participants and allowed to raise more than 45.000€.

- The campaign  DEFIMICI 2012 (6th of October), was promoted under the theme “Montrons ce que nous avons dans le ventre” (Show what we are able to do). Everyone was invited to organize an event or challenge to raise awareness about the charity and its cause and to collect at this occasion. One person organized for instance a 24H video games contest and raised 2130€. It was a national campaign and about sixty people were mobilized and raised close to 15.000€ together. Today the campaign is still running, until the end of October.

A multicanal communication 

Since the beginning of the two events, the charity had planed a diverse and multicanal communication. This is the main reason for its great success. After creating two “campaigns” on Alvarum, the charity started its communication activities such as:

• filming made  promotion videos staring  the President of the charity and other responsibles
• engaging companies partners and sponsors
• building partenship, notably with the actors of the roller-blade world
• distributing some flyers and hold stands
• giving tools to guide the fundraisers
• creating facebook pages and dedicated newsletters
• promoting the differents initiatives in its internal medias
• organising some coaching meeting and training
• …

The repetition of the message allowed to make their supporters understand that their action was important and that those two campaigns were a part of a bigger  draw: fund projects to help sick people and fund researches.

Congratulation to the AFA and to the participants of those nice and succesful events!

A few months ago, the father of Nina van den Broek got bad news: he had Mesothelioma, a rare form of cancer. First Nina felt powerless, but she didn’t sit down under it. With a laptop in the hospital, she made her own fundraising page on Alvarum for the Singelloop in Utrecht. She managed to collect almost 6.000€! Alvarum asked her why and how she did this.

Could you tell us a bit more about the charity you ran for?

I ran for Stichting Asbestkanker (Foundation Mesothelioma). I chose this charity because my father got this disease a few months ago. It is a very rare disease and there is no cure yet. The goal of the charity is to collect money for scientific research.

How did you get the idea to collect money through the Singelloop Utrecht?

When I heard that my father was ill, I was angry at everything and everyone. We were in the hospital a lot and you really feel powerless. After the sixth chemotherapy, I wanted to do something. I wanted to have the feeling that I could help. I wanted to run and I wanted to raise money for Stichting Asbestkanker. We made a fundraising page then and there, in the hospital, on a laptop.

 How did you communicate your fundraising page?

I mailed, called, I visited people, I put little notes in post boxes, my action was in the local paper. Word of mouth adversing and friends who passed the message, also really worked. On Alvarum I could post my fundraising page directly on Facebook and Twitter and all my friends shared this right away. I wrote regular updates, especially when I wrote there was only a week left to donate, a lot of donations came in!

 You ran in a team. Did that help?

We all trained together. It helps that you don’t have to do it alone. At the race itself, the whole family came to watch and this support is very important! My father could also be there, which was very nice. He was so proud!

 What did you learn from your action?

Above all, I learned that I have perseverance. If you have a goal, you can do so much more! You’re doing it for something, you’re making an effort for something. My goal was very close to me and I tried everything to achieve my goal. Both in running as in collecting money.

 What was the reaction from the people around you?

I got a lot of positive reaction. People already thought that only the fact that I started an action, was amazing! The whole family had my fundraising page as their home page and they renewed the page over and over again to check how the action was going. They knew I was not a professional runner and they are very proud. I am very pleased that everything worked out, but I’m also happy that the training is over.

Check out Nina’s fundraising page!

Do you want to make your own fundraising page? Do it on www.alvarum.com.

Can you tell us more about Linklaters and your commitment to charities?

Linklaters is a international law firm present in 19 countries. We are 300 in the Parisian office, including 170 lawyers. 1% of the annual revenue before taxes is dedicated to an action program for charities. Each office chooses its benefiting charities but all have to pursue the same goals: personal realization and the development of entrepreneurship.

We establish long-term partnerships with some associations, like the “Schools of the second chance”, “ADIE”, the “Spark Network” (Réseau Etincelle). The common thread is to help the insertion of people excluded to the world of work at different steps of their life. We go further than only funding projects, we also invest our time and skills to sponsorship initiatives, ensuring free training and consultations.

How did the idea of the “Linklathon” come about? And how do you include it in your sponsorship program? 

Nine years ago, an associate who enjoyed running proposed that we all participate in the Paris semi-marathon for a charity. The “Linklathon” was born this way and has been held every year since that! This year, we plan to participate in the 10 km of “Les Courses du Luxembourg” in Paris. The first years, we chose the benefiting charity yearly, when we were preparing the race. For some editions, we ran for one of our partner organizations. It allows strengthening our connection with them and to add a festive and reflective event to our collaboration.

Who is going to participate in the race and how does it help to raise funds?

The “Linklathon” gives us the occasion to bring our associates and our associative partners together. Some of them take  part  in it and we also invite our families and business partners. Last year, some clients ran with us for the first time!

Every year, we raise close to 10.000 €. Everyone gives or raises what he or she wants and the firm doubles the donations. We use Alvarum for the online donations since 3 years. We already have some twenty registered for this year but the majority of the participants will mobilize in the last weeks. In some years, we had more than 50 participants. The “Réseau Etincelle” plan to mobilized it own network.

How do your associates welcome your sponsoring programs and the Linklathon?

It is not compulsory to take part in a project but some are really high involved! It is interesting to see that the younger generation of lawyers is particularly responsive. Some young lawyers want to join us because they heard about our commitment and that makes a difference for them.

At the first edition of the “Linklathon” it was a great discovery for everybody. Al lot never ran before and were suddenly running 20km without really realizing what it means! When the first runner arrived, others were cheering and in the end, the participants experienced the race very differently, depending on their shape. Now, the “Linklathon” has become one of our recurring events and people enjoy  preparing the big day! There is even a little internal competition!

Can you explain us what the “Réseau Etincelle” does ?

After the “Association Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque“, “Envol“, and “ADIE“, we decide to un and collect for the “Réseau Etincelle” which is one of our partners since its creation. This charity coaches young people who left the scholar system without a diploma, to become “Entrepreneurs of their life”. They take part in trainings where they create a fictional company. It helps them to learn the codes and realities of the world of work.

Have a look on the “Linklathon”‘s campaign !

Would you like to start your own campaign? Take a look on alvarum.com !

The campaign

Marco has always had a passion for motorcycles. It is in his blood, he says. Unfortunately he has already many times experienced cancer in his close circle. “I work in a hospital, but not as a doctor. This means I cannot help cancer patients physically. What I can do is raise money for Beweeg tegen Kanker (Move against Cancer), to improve their quality of life”. He started looking for an original way to raise money: “I found a thousand charity runs, but I wanted something more challenging. Then I came up with the idea of undertaking a journey by motorcycle to Gambia, where Riders for Health works. Moreover, we will follow the Dakar route to Gambia, which makes it even more challenging”. This proves that everyone can start their own campaign!

Fundraising

“Sander and I made fundraising pages on Alvarum, so that everyone can support us”, Marco says. He is raising funds by participating in different events like the Heroes Race, the Zevenheuvelenloop and the Beweeg tegen Kankerloop. Marco and Sander are not only sponsored by companies, but their personal network helps them as well. For example, the Beijersbergen family walked the Four Days March in Nijmegen to raise funds for this campaign. Marco hopes for more actions like this: “The platform of Alvarum is easy, it looks good, you can easily send links and everybody can start their own action”. To raise awareness for their campaign they found an ambassador, René Bom, the mayor of night life in The Hague and their story is being told on the screens of the hospital where Sander and Marco work.

Their goal

With this journey, the team of Linking Borders wants to raise money for two charities: Beweeg tegen Kanker and Riders for Health. Beweeg tegen Kanker is an initiative of the hospital where Marco and Sander work and the football team ADO Den Haag. Patients can sign up for an exercise program to help them cope with one of the major side effects of cancer: fatigue. Riders for Health is active in Africa and brings among others medical care to those that cannot reach a hospital. In the often inhospitable environments, motorcycles are the best option. Besides raising money through their campaign and donating the motorcycles, they will also give technical and medical advice to the local team of Riders for Health. Marco is sure about it: “It will be an unforgettable journey!”

You can find more information on the Linking Borders campaign.

Would you like to start your own campaign? Take a look on alvarum.com.

Dam tot Damloop

In 2011 Sukaisa enlisted for the charity program of the famous dutch running event Dam tot Damloop. They received 50 tickets presale to and succesfully mobilized participants in the charities network and outside who agreed to raise funds for the benefit of the organisation. They used the Alvarum platform for some of the runners so they could raise funds easily online. In the end the 14 participants who created their own online fundraising pages on Alvarum raised significantly more than the others. Of course, this year Sukaisa uses the platform for all 50+ Damloop runners!

“These 14 people turned out to be much more successful then the people that didn’t use the platform and they reached an average off €555,- euro per person. The goal we had set ourselves was quite high but these fundraisers passed it and that is a great achievement!” (Maddy van den Corput, Sukaisa)

Dance party

After this success Sukaisa decided to rely more on fundraising using the internet and social networks. For their second sponsored dance party in a club in Amsterdam they created an online fundraising page on Alvarum as well. Every guest had to pay 35€ for an entry ticket, but some also decided to give more. From the 8520€ Sukaisa raised, they collected more than 75% online. Above all the charity coordinator saved significant amounts of time, since she did not face the administrative burden normally associated with ticket sales. Thanks to the Alvarum platform she had all the necessary data from the guests and donors easily available online and could download them at any time.

“I was already looking for an [online fundraising] solution und luckily I did attend an information session of Alvarum. I’m really satisfied, because the platform is accessible, fun, stimulating and effective.” (Maddy van den Corput, Sukaisa)

Heroes Race

Initially, Sukaisa only wanted to do event fundraising during the Damloop, but they heard about Alvarum’s own event the Heroes Race and decided to go for it! As the collected funds should go to a girl’s school in Kenya they asked all mothers, grandmothers and female teachers of an elementary school in their district. Everybody who took part to the race for Sukaisa, created fundraising pages for their campaign. In the end they managed to recruit more than 80 participants, who raised over 35.000 €. This made Sukaisa one of the most successful Dutch charity of this European charity event.

Do you want to know more about how you organization can benefit from Alvarum? Get more information

You want use Alvarum for your charity right away? Request the registration package today

Pascal will participate in the 24 Hours cycling Race of Le Mans on August, 26 and 27. He takes up the challenge not only  to raise funds for the research against leukemia, but also in gratitude for caregivers and researchers who allowed his daughter to be cured.

Can you present us your charity and the cause it supported?

“Cent pour Sang la Vie” is a charity uniting caregivers, charities and parents. It funds research elaborating treatment methods against leukemia. Its goal is to cure 100% of the little patients suffering from this mortal illness. In former times there was no treatment, no structure, not any support service. But some huge progress has been made! Today, 80% of the children and adolescents are cured. All this is due to anonyms and personalities who invest their time and sometime their lifes.

Why did you decide to collect and how did you get the idea to participate in the « 24h du Mans »?

I was, like still too many other parents, confronted with leukemia through one of my children. When my daughter was sick, I promised myself, in case she would be cured, to make a bike-tour from the Robert-Debré hospital in Paris to Lourdes. Luckily my daughter was cured and I managed in 2009 the 860km. This adventure was like ”recovery” for me.

This year, I will participate in the 24 Hours cycling Race of Le Mans and collect donations at this ocasion. In my point of view, there is a strong link between this sportive challenge (nonstop during 24 hours) and the challenge that a whole day at the hospital for a child can be. During the treatment, there are some very hard days sometime decisive ones, in particularly for a kid who should be in good health and play at home! But also for the parents this time is full with hardships. I have an immense gratitude for the whole Pr. Etienne Vilmer teams of the Robert-Debré and the providence, because they saved my daughter! So, I wish to give my small contribution.

How do you manage the preparation of the Race?

This year, my employer, Orange Business Services, takes on the logistic. I also have a partnership with Culture Vélo Orgeval, for my bike. It is a big help and I thank them warmly!

What do you do to spread the word about your fundraising page?

My daughter Cécile helps me a lot to promote the page! We use all the traditional tools such as mails, phone, press. And especially Alvarum offers a great network, where you can mobilize your own community (family, friends, associative relations, professional relations…) very easily. With Cécile, following the advices of the Alvarum Team, we communicate with the different groups of persons. We also update regularly the page with pictures. Cécile uses of course Facebook. Although I thought, that kids her age would mainly be online, I discovered that also teenager still use “word of mouth” a lot!

Click to see the fundraising page of Pascal Alt