Whether you choose to have a big party or pretend you're not getting any older, you can still help people with epilepsy!
Setting up your birthday fundraiser takes just minutes. We've had lots of lovely people already raise so much money to help others, by asking friends to give the gift of support to people affected by epilepsy.
Our top tips for Facebook fundraising success:
Make it personal
If there’s a personal story alongside your fundraiser then your friends and family are far more likely to give – it’s also a great way to raise awareness! Edit the “About” section and share what epilepsy or Epilepsy Action mean to you.
Edit the picture, add one of you or your family – add one from a previous birthday or just add something that might make friends and family laugh. It’s a great way to make it stand out in people’s timelines.
Set a target
When you create your fundraiser set an achievable target. If you set it too high it will feel unachievable to you and your friends and family. So start small, perhaps £200, and if you reach it you can always increase it as you go.
Donate to your own fundraiser
This gets the ball rolling and it’s a great way to show that not only do you believe in your own cause but it helps you on your way to your target. It’s also great to show your friends that it’s a safe and trustworthy way to give.
Share your page
Use the feature when setting up your fundraiser to share it with anyone and everyone you’re connected to on Facebook.
Then select your nearest and dearest to share it with more personally. Send them a message with a link to your page via WhatsApp, text or email.
Share it on your own timeline and add a short message to say why and ask them to help reach your goal.
You can also share it on your other social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter just don’t forget to include a link to your fundraiser.
Update, thank, repeat
Your fundraiser will either be set to be live for 2 or 3 weeks. You should aim to post something at least once each week but ideally twice or more. Write your own posts using the tips below.
A great opportunity to post is to thank all your friends who’ve donated that week, make sure to tag them in the post to let them know you’re grateful.
Why not post a big thank you when you reach each £100 or when you reach 10, 20 or 30 people who’ve donated or shared your fundraiser? You can simply post, but why not add a picture or better yet do a video, live videos work especially well!
On the day of or the day after your birthday, post anything at all. Just say thanks, post a picture of what your day is like and have a bit of fun with it!
Post one last time just after your page has stopped accepting donations. Say thank you to everyone for helping you raise the amount you did and say what it means to you again.
Host a virtual party
Right now you’re not able to spend your birthday with as many friends and family as you’d like. Take this opportunity to bring everyone together through a live video. Have a chat, say thanks, tell everyone what you’re doing, what you will do to celebrate when you’re able to or why note bake a cake live?! Your imagination is the limit.
Starting a live video is easy, just go to your fundraiser, create a new post and select live video and away you go.
Make sure to invite people, put a post or two to remind everyone when you’ll be doing it and make sure to be there a couple of minutes early.
Live videos get as many as 10 times the number of comments compared to a post – be brave!
Not on Facebook? Don't worry, you can still collect donations for your birthday! Create a JustGiving page now!
Still not sure or have some questions? Contact Lisa on celebrate@epilepsy.org.uk or call on 0113 210 8816
