It's been my long-standing belief that when people get behind something, results follow. Results don't have to always be monetary either. When people get behind something, they provide a sense of allegiance and appreciation. They let people know that their contributions were acknowledged and they build a stronger sense of community.
I was reminded about this in two ways recently.
First off, I had the privilege to attend a frozen cookie dough delivery at a school yesterday. It was a joy to see this very smooth and organized delivery. The principal, an employee at the school and two amazing teachers showed that by putting their efforts in, a successful school-run fundraiser would surely follow.
Secondly and in polar contrast to the first though just mentioned, I read a news story from enterprizenews.com about a Haiti Relief Fundraiser that went bad. Not bad in the fact that they didn't raise money for Haiti. They did actually raise quite a bit of money. In this case, the city promoted the event and then some key players didn't show up. This left the community reeling that they had no business not showing up when they were promoting the event.
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Read 'Organizer of Haiti fundraiser slams Brockton officials who didn't attend'
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Fundraising is intended to strengthen communities. Individual people are not obligated to get involved but do for a purpose. It's to be part of a cohesive group that collectively makes an impact.
It's not always obvious
You don't get to follow your money from your fundraising catalog purchase to the staple used on the paper your child wrote. You don't get to buy the actual food for a Haitian family and bring it home for them.
It's symbolic in a way. So what is more important is having some key people support the fundraising events. Someone just there to say 'Thank you' and just to be there if for no reason other than to show that the busy individuals that didn't have to participate know that their contribution was appreciated.
This leads to confidence and encourages even more participation down the road. Will the school who's Principal is front and center making sure to talk to each and everyone of the people who sold fundraising products be more likely to have support the next time around? Yes! On top of that, the rest of the volunteers made the process quick and easy and thanked EVERYONE! I believe they will continue to have good participation from parents and the community.
On the flip side
Will the city officials host a fundraiser with a capacity crowd again anytime soon? Unfortunately, by not showing up when expected, they sent a message. They let the community know that the cause and event was not important to them. They did not give the attendees the symbolic acknowledgment that their time, efforts and contributions were appreciated. Surely, the people of Haiti win either way because funds were still raised, but, the next time around... will the next fundraiser have the same level of participation? Not likely. Not until the people who are making sacrifices for you believe you will be appreciative of them.
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Authors note:
By the way, I understand that these folks may have had some very good reasons for not attending their fundraiser. The impression that they should have been at the event is the problem. My point is that if you are involved with something get behind it and show up. But, if you're not actively involved then nobody would expect you to be there in the first place.
When it comes to this school that succeeded at their frozen food fundraiser, they have a consistent track record of getting behind efforts they put on and they don't overdo it.
They put on less events and fundraisers, etc. during the school year and do everything with excellence instead of a lot of things in an average way. Anyway, they rock! It was a fun day watching them really make everyone feel special and a part of something great.
I also believe that getting behind something helps with literally every event or effort we put forth. It's just a basic principal that we get out what we put in.
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Jay Moneta is the Vice President of Believe Kids Fundraising and encourages comments and suggestions here on each blog post. I can also be reached on twitter. www.twitter.com/BelieveKids
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