Cancer is a leading cause of death in Australia, and more than 43,200 people died from cancer in 2011. Cancer accounted for about 3 in 10 deaths in Australia and it is estimated that 1 in 2 Australian men and 1 in 3 Australian women will be diagnosed with cancer by the age of 85.

Luckily, there are many treatment options and cancer patients can be cured or their expected lifetime can be extended. This is achieved by the many efforts put to provide patients care, and a great amount of funds are located to research in better and advanced treatments. Unfortunately, these remarkable advances also mean treatments come at a very high price. On average, a households can expect to be burdened by $47,200 in financial costs after a member of that household is diagnosed with cancer.

Even though financial support is available from the government, this does not go far in covering the real costs of cancer. There are options available for medical fundraising and by which you can significantly contribute towards treatment budget.

1) Create a fundraiser online for free

You can create a fundraiser page online. There are many web platforms where you can sign up and create your medical fundraiser page for free, such as PeoplePledge.com.au. Here you can share your story and people can help by donating actual funds.

2)Share your fundraiser

Once you have created your fundraiser page, you can do various activities in order your fundraiser page to reach to more people. You need as many people to come across your page, since only part of them will be able to donate. Share your fundraiser to friends, and ask for them to share with their friends. You can also share it on social media, and the power it has for spreading information is very big. You can go as far to create a Facebook cause that can be linked to your fundraiser.

3) Make your fundraising page personal

People tend to believe that they cannot help thousands of people by one donation, but rather one individual with a particular problem. The more your fundraising page tells an individual story, the more likely it is to attract more donation. For making it specific and individual insert pictures, videos and testimonials so potential donors can empathise and relate to the person they are donating for.

4) Get community involvement

Activate your local community. Local companies can also donate or raise awareness and share your event. Approach local companies with personalized letters and provide to them various ways they can help, for example by donating money, their products, or ease from some cost that may not be actual treatment funds but can help with the family budget.

5) Go public

Traditional media can also help in promoting your fundraiser and can help you reach more people. Prepare an informative press-releases and contact local media and show interest to share your story. Some of them may only publish an article, and others may offer appearance in shows or local news, but importantly, such stories are very rarely ignored by media.

References

1) Facts and figures, Cancer in Australia: http://www.cancer.org.au/about-cancer/what-is-cancer/facts-and-figures.html

2) Cost of Cancer in NSW – Cancer Council NSW: www.cancercouncil.com.au