The Business of Fundraising

Anything you do, whether it is completing a homework assignment, working hard to get promotion, or simply cleaning up your room, takes effort. Effort comes in all different shapes and sizes. Some people exert the tiniest amount possible in order to get by, while others push hard to stand out and get recognized for going the extra mile. For me personally, I enjoy what I like to think of as “closet effort.” I enjoy being reticent and working on my own, quite contrary to the collectivist point of view. This past year I learned what kind of job it is to fundraise for a meaningful cause. I learned exactly how much effort I had to exert in order to get a return on my investment (fundraising efforts). I learned more by doing than I have ever learned while sitting in a classroom. Learn by doing (Cal Poly’s slogan).

I have indulged myself in many different types of businesses over the past 10 years. From mowing lawns to managing small groups of people behind a bar, setting up events, and organizing my finances, and I have never had a more difficult time than I did while fundraising. Fundraising is something everyone should be required to do before they enter the real world of business. It opens up people’s minds about how other people think. Should I target only wealthy people? What about everyone else? I learned that in order to be successful at fundraising you literally have to put yourself in the shoes of those whom you target. Why in the world would they want to give you money versus anybody else?

The first step I took was typing up an outline:
• What am I trying to say?
• Who am I targeting?
• What am I trying to accomplish?
• What is the cause?
• Why donate to me versus others?
• What is my strategy?
• How am I going to word my pitch?
• Opening statement?
• Funny? Serious? Little bit of both?
• Et cetera…

After clearly laying out exactly what I needed to do I was able to begin my introduction. The introduction is the most important part of any letter. I had to make sure to strategically word, and emphasize exactly what I was trying to do. After several rough drafts I finally concocted the perfect letter, incorporating both humor and sincerity into it. The next step was to add a personal touch to each individual letter. Depending who the letter was going to, I hand wrote a small message, usually being sarcastic and witty. Finally I concluded by enveloping and sending out each letter.

Within days I received my first response, by far the most essential ingredient to my success. It was a matching funds offer, good up to 50% of my target goal of $5,700. After a week or so of dull responses I decided to email everyone whom I sent letters to informing them of the matching funds offer. Along with informing them of the matching funds offer I also incorporated a deadline. I decided a deadline would be a good strategy to make people act quickly versus putting off donating till the last minute. It was quite apparent my strategy worked well, a torrential rainfall of letters and checks began pouring into my mailbox (umbrella not needed).

In concluding I would like to mention one more crucial element to a successful fundraising campaign; never force people to donate or even encourage them to, simply informing them is enough. I put in the effort and I helped poverty-stricken people on the other side of the world acquire hope. Hope is by far more important than anything

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