Stop thinking fundraising is about you.
A couple years ago, I was helping the guys I play soccer with, plan a annual fundraiser they have. They wanted some of the proceeds to go to a charity – one that a colleague of mine worked at. So I contacted my friend and asked a few questions and was told that to use their logo on anything or if I was to use their name, I had to get it all approved by marketing and communications as well as a few other people.
I remember blogging quickly about this incident and asking the question – what if I wanted to raise money for your charity whether you liked it or not? I applaud people/donors who raise money for charities on their on accord, using their own ideas just because they believe in the cause. They weren’t asked by the charity – they saw the need and came up with something all by themselves.
A few weeks ago, my great friend Kim McMullen wrote to me about goats.
“I think this is an awesome charitable campaign that’s filtrated Vancouver thanks to the playoffs. Thought it might perk your interest. It’s everywhere. And I think it’s one of the smartest (and simplest) campaigns I’ve seen in a while.
http://www.goatcanucksgoat.com”
Before you run off and check it out, Goat Canucks Goat was started by two Vancouver hockey fans.
From The Canadian Press:
“Because of our playoff goatees and playoff beards, somehow playoff goatee turned into playoff goat,” Nagtegaal said. “I don’t know how it happened. Maybe it was the post-game brewskis that we were having.”
Inebriation ignored, he and his friends decided to press on with the idea. Instead of growing facial hair, as legions of hockey fans do when the playoffs roll around, the guys vowed to donate goats worth $25 each to a village in Kenya.
They hoped to donate 16 goats in all, since 16 playoff wins would make the Canucks Stanley Cup champions.
“I set up a Facebook group for just us to keep each other accountable and said let’s make sure we get our goats after each win,” he said.
“But I guess they told their friends and they told their friends and the Facebook group got up to 800 people.”
Nagtegaal then received an e-mail from someone willing to create a website for the cause and goatcanucksgoat.com was born.
And now 875 goats are bound for Africa.
Amazing story.
I don’t know how charities like yours find donors like these, but what I do know is that fundraising has very little to do with you. Your charity is just a link between the beneficiary and the donor. Your charity only exists to let donors help your beneficiaries. You are the pipeline to make good things happen. Stop thinking fundraising is about you, and all the great things you are doing. Stop thinking about you altogether. And when you do that, people like Joel will find you.
Well said. Having spent a lot of my career in large health care fundraising, it was often the “brand management” part of my work that made me crazy. We too often turned away good ideas and well meaning souls because they couldn’t make their passion look like our product. Thanks for sharing this inspiring story.
Thank you for your feedback Frank! It’s quite appreciated.
Being on the end of raising money for a specific charity I appreciate your article very much. We’ve circumvented asking for permission from the charities by creating our own logo and website. We raise money that we directly donate to the charity. That way we do what we want, without the need for the permission of a group of people whose fundraising methods/messages may not align with ours.
The important thing to remember is that the charities all represent the cause of a specific group. It’s the cause that should benefit, not the egos of the go betweens.
Thanks for a great article.
Now that is Fundraising 2.0! Thanks Martha! Great work…
John: Great article. Honestly, if you don’t understand what motivates the donor, you just don’t understand. Glad you do. On another topic – I’m struggling to think of a campaign for the Colorado Avalanche:>) Ray Peacock
Well said Raymond. Good luck with your other challenge… hehe… John
Smart. I find it strange that fundraisers don’t try a half dozen ideas along these lines; each one has a CHANCE to catch on. One does and you’ve figured out a new fundraising model during a time when the old channels are drying up.
Thanks Colin. I’m quite sure that a possible answer would be resources… My best guess is that charities want solutions that have been tried and tested by someone else and know that they work… I’m not saying of course that is a good model for fundraising or finding new donors but I do “get it”. Thanks for your comment.
Yes! Great post, I love this story!
This is exactly what Seth Godin talks about in tribes, you truly have a tribe when they start furthering your shared goals without your direct guidance. You all share in the vision and all make it happen in your own way. Very powerful stuff.
Love this! So inspiring and simple. Great job and thank you so much for sharing this story.
I was at a presentation the other night, and it reminded me of this article.
It was on social media, and using that to promote your business or even AS a business. Good presentation, some strong take homes, and I think we all appreciated it. The group was 30 people, with 5 folks living on their online ventures – and furthering their own goals for society. It seems the one tie between all of us was that we had all tried, and failed, a lot. But we kept our time and funds low for these trials. Now all found things that worked for us. And worked very, very well.
Of course there were people in the room that wanted all the ideas laid out, with ROI curves etc. I think they are missing the point. Try on a small scale, take metrics, and learn. Expect to fail a lot, but don’t invest significant resources – including the image of the organisation. That’s how you can do great work for your clients (or yourself) and have a lot of fun at the same time.
Bravo Colin! I think you nailed it. There is no success without failure, especially in regards to new technologies and tools. The worse thing that can be done is not doing anything at all. Thanks for your comment – especially on this older post!