1 Set a goal
When Rick Thomas, a 46-year-old commercial-airline pilot, was diagnosed with a rare form of kidney cancer in February, he knew he couldn't afford the $125,000 treatment cost. Then his sister Annie Howell suggested they create a page on GoFundMe, a crowdfunding site. "We had never asked anything of anybody," she says, "but that was the time."
2 Target plausible donors
She knew she would have a tough time getting total strangers to donate. So to promote her brother's cause, she initially sent links to friends and family members, who sent links to their friends and family and...