5 Fundraising Tricks You Can Learn From Competitive Sports
If you have a crazy-busy life, here are five lessons to help you streamline giving back to others.
Ian Nash grew up in Newfoundland but moved to Bermuda five years ago. Director of sales at A.F. Trading Co., he works sixty hours a week. He’s played competitive sports for most of his life and over the past five years in Bermuda, he’s played on a rugby team and for an ex-pat Canadian ball-hockey team. Last year Nash raised $12,500 to put a roof on the school in San Ramon, Nicaragua. And each February he volunteers for nine days in Nicaragua to help put the money to good use. In the past four years, he's raised $33,000 and collected hundreds of bags of medical supplies and clothes.
HOW exactly does he raise all this money? Perhaps he learned something from all those competitive sports. If you have a crazy-busy life, here are five tricks to help you streamline giving back to others.
1. Go Outside and Socialize
Nash uses social media and a website for donations, but he raises most of his money the old-fashioned way: establishing real connections face to face and inviting people to social gatherings. Most people enjoy a change of scene and meeting new people in a positive environment. In his fourth year of fundraising, Nash has discovered that “I still get support from my family, friends, my work, and sports teams but now that I am more established and have been doing this for four years, I am getting support from people that I don’t even know. Bermuda is a small place so word of mouth is a very powerful thing here.” Your immediate community, even if you’re in a large city, can provide support if you step outside, introduce yourself, and make new contacts.
2. Set Specific Goals for Your Team
When Nash asks people to support him, he outlines exactly how the money will be spent. This alleviates the nagging feeling many people tend to have when donating money; the feeling their money will be misspent and wasted. With specific goals, people can visualize the difference their donation will make. Last year for example, each donor knew every dollar would go to the school roof in San Ramon, Nicaragua. Other volunteer's donations allowed construction on the church and for drilling to begin establishing a clean water source to help prevent worms, parasites, and other bacteria. The supplies Nash brought with him were personally handed out to 4300 men, women, and children. Knowing how each dollar is spent helps a donor feel a closer connection to the project.
3. Provide Value For Your Audience
Nash doesn’t just ask people for money; he creates events for people to enjoy while they donate. And each year as he discovers what works he adds to his roster of fundraisers. He says, “I look to host different events that will change up things for people in Bermuda to give them something different to do and have fun at each event.” Last year Nash raised $10,000 in one night by hosting a silent auction and wine tasting at Bermuda’s botanical gardens. Each year, he has a pub trivia night and a Chili cook-off. His family in Branch, Newfoundland raise money for him by hosting an annual breakfast for 150 people. “My entire hometown and surrounding towns come to the community hall to show support. I am always floored by the help of people at home. Everyone is so giving in my area of the world.” He receives donations but his donors always get something out of the event too.
4. Acknowledge Your Sponsors
Nash says it in person, he says it on his site, he says it via personalized emails. He says: THANK YOU. This might sound like an obvious step but do you repeatedly donate to those who don’t acknowledge your donation or those who take the time to say thanks? Most of us receive many requests for donations over a year. Taking the time to acknowledge your donor or sponsor puts a personal face on the organization. By personalizing your appreciation, you help people connect to the project, teaching them they donated to a charity that cares about them. A benefit to building that connection is ensuring a a greater chance of repeat donations for next year’s fundraisers.
5. Reward Yourself to Keep Motivated
Keep yourself motivated by rewarding yourself. Nash reminds himself every year why he puts in so many hours by visiting San Ramon and Matagalpa. He sees the money he raises directly applied to community development projects. He says, “I feel very happy and sometimes overjoyed when I’m in Nicaragua but sad at the same time. It is an overwhelming mix of emotions that I have every time I am there and every time I come back. The happiness and kindness of the people raise my spirits but the lifestyle and poverty that they have affect me every year.”
If you would like to help out the people in San Ramon and Matagalpa this year, Nash returns to Nicaragua February 23. You can donate here at CashforNash.
To date, Corner of Love has helped over 30,000 people and 76 villages.
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