The Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right Fundraising Formula

In the 1990s there was a popular Nintendo game called Contra that I played constantly. Even as I type this, nostalgia is overwhelming me. Man, I loved that game. And yet, at the same time, I hated it. Because I couldn’t conquer it.

Then one day, I learned something. Something life-changing. Earth-shattering. History-making. Something that would forever change my Contra-playing future. It went like this:

UP, UP, DOWN, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT, LEFT, RIGHT, B, A, B, A, SELECT, START.

At least that’s how I remember it. With that formula, I had endless lives at my disposal!

And even though I knew I was cheating the system, it did not minimize my satisfaction at conquering the game.

That simple code, when repeated, allowed me to beat Contra every time I played it.

And that’s how raising money works (minus the cheating-the-system part).

The fundraising formula.

People who do well at raising money know something that others don’t. They know a code. When I connected the dots and discovered a code for raising money, I realized that the code was superior to passion, strategizing, originality, and coolness. I know people who have all of these features but still fail at raising money.

Raising money is hard, but it’s not impossible.

Inside my book, Fundraising Rocket, there’s something called The One-Page Plan for Raising Money. It’s as simple as earning unlimited lives with the repeating Contra pattern. If you follow it, I truly believe that anybody can raise money for anything.

Learn more about my fundraising formula in my recently released book.

Casey Graham is the CEO and founder of The Rocket Company. His book, Fundraising Rocket, can be found online and Amazon.com and TheRocketCompany.com/fundraisingrocket.