My Direct Change

 

Building Your Fund

Direct Change is designed so that you can harness the power of the Internet and the personal connections you already have to help programs in Africa. Follow the steps below to get started. Direct Change identifies and monitors partners to carry out the work effiecntly while assuring that donations comply with all Homeland Security and IRS guidelines.

 

Step-By-Step Guide

Know how to send an e-mail? Then don't worry - this will be easy.

This guide will walk you through the steps of fundraising using the Direct Change website. Before you start, consider opening up a second web browser window so you can follow along step-by-step.

  1. Choose a project
  2. Sign up
  3. Add your own words
  4. Add more projects(optional)
  5. Editing your page
  6. Start Fundraising!
  7. Track your progress

  1. Choose a project to support

    Click here to view the list of projects, then click  the "Create a Page" button of the project you want to support (you can add other projects later).

  2. Sign up

    After you click "create a page," you'll be asked to create an account by entering your e-mail and choosing a password.

    (If you have already created an account but haven't logged in yet, choose the "Sign in to an existing account" link below the account creation form.)

  3. Add your own words

    You'll then be asked to customize the text on your fundraising page.

    First things first: Give your fundraising page a good title, and put your name or the name of your organization in the "author" field.

    Then write your pitch for the project you've chosen. You can just type regular text (separate paragraphs with a blank line), but if you want to use bold, italics, bulleted lists, etc., see our Formatting Guide. No need to worry about getting everything perfect now - you'll be able to edit everything later.

    Finally, choose a short, easy-to-remember web address, and click the "create your fundraising page" button.

  4. Add more projects (optional)

    If you want to add more African partners to your fundraising page, just go back to the directory. Now you'll see there's a button to add directory entries to your fundraising page. Pages with a short list of charities tend to be more effective.

    When you're done, go back to your fundraising page by following the link in the orange bar at the top of the directory pages.

  5. Editing your page

    When you're logged in, you'll see an orange box at the top of your fundraising page. Click the "Edit" link.

    Here you can adjust your page's title, author, and all the text you've written. We recommend that you save your page often so you don't accidentally lose your brilliant fundraising pitch.

    Also, you'll see each entry on your page has a "Remove" button, and there are also "Move Up" and "Move Down" buttons to re-order the entries.

  6. Start fundraising!

    Now, when everything's ready, save your fundraising page, and start fundraising! But don't fall into the trap of thinking that people will mysteriously show up at your page - it's your job to tell people about your page and to get them to visit. If you're new to fundraising, see How to: Promote Your Fund.

  7. Track your progress

    Whenever you want to see how your page is doing, just go to your page and click on "view contributors." (If you do not see the orange box then you need to login first).

    Thank you for all you do to support our partners and to help those who truly need it.

    If you or your contributors have questions about Direct Change, check our Frequently Asked Questions, and then contact us and let us know how we can help.

We thank ActBlue for many of the ideas on this page.