This National Foster Care Month, you can support our young people on the path to their full potential by holding a ‘birthday’ fundraiser on Facebook.  

Our Board Member, Darryl Glass, has held a birthday fundraiser for First Place since joining our Board of Directors two years ago. We chatted with Darryl to hear about his experience and tips on how to hold a successful fundraiser.   

Darryl, we know that donors have a lot of choices when it comes to supporting a nonprofit. What inspired you to hold a birthday fundraiser for First Place?  

I’ve always been drawn to helping and supporting youth achieve their dreams— during college, I worked with a youth center for the city of Davis. So, for me and my husband, First Place has always been in our hearts and now that I’m on the Board, even more so. We chose to donate to First Place because we know how fortunate we are and we want to help young adults aging out of foster care to have those same successes in life.  

Can you share a bit about your experience holding birthday fundraisers on Facebook—is it an easy process?  

Yes, it’s really easy. I’ve held a birthday fundraiser to support First Place for a couple of years now. You can start a donation campaign anytime and for any reason, but birthdays or anniversaries are occasions I’ve found that people love to show support for. Facebook makes it super easy and transparent to hold fundraisers because it shows what charity you chose and what your fundraising goal is.  

How did you encourage people to donate to your birthday fundraiser? 

I donate to my own fundraisers because it shows others that I truly support this cause and gives them a reason to donate themselves. It’s also important to let people know that any amount is helpful—it doesn’t matter how much or how little you can give. I tell friends and family that now, for birthdays and Christmas, I don’t need anything—donate in my name to First Place. 

Thank you, Darryl, for your support! Do you have any tips for holding a successful donation campaign? 

I always set a stretch goal, a bigger number than I know I’m going to get. I recommend posting to multiple pages and social media channels that you’re on to let your friends and family know that you’re holding a donation campaign. For birthday fundraisers, you can choose to run a fundraiser for the whole month so, I’ll also reshare the campaign with a new comment to remind people that they can continue to make donations. 

Here’s How It Works: 

1. To get started, click here for a direct link to create a fundraiser in support of First Place for Youth. Alternatively, you can create a fundraiser by navigating to the Fundraisers tab on your Facebook account and clicking “Select a nonprofit”. Then, type in “First Place for Youth” in the search box to select us as the nonprofit you choose to support.  
2. From there, you can customize your fundraiser and set your fundraising goal, end date and title of the fundraiser, and share why you chose to support First Place for Youth. 
3.  Share your fundraiser to your profile and invite your friends and family to support! Note: Facebook pays all the processing fees for you, so 100% of your donation goes directly to us.  

For more information, please visit: www.facebook.com/fundraisers/about/?source=fundraiser_nav

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