Help me help them
August 18, 2010 9:04 AM Subscribe
Is it appropriate to sponsor a fundraiser for an individual and their family and how would I go about organizing this?
I have a good friend who owns a small business that has long been a considerable part of the local community. He has sponsored many fundraisers and community events, been on television sharing information, takes part in local schools, coaches, etc. His family has now fallen upon extremely hard times with the downturn in the economy and both his wife and mother going through cancer treatments. Every day is a struggle and it seems that it's time to try and help out someone who has helped so many.
I don't want to turn this into a media event but I'd like to contact and involve many others that I'm sure would be interested in helping. Is there a forum or site to assist in organizing something such as this? He and his business have thousands of contacts on Facebook so would it be possible to use that somehow?
Thanks much!
I have a good friend who owns a small business that has long been a considerable part of the local community. He has sponsored many fundraisers and community events, been on television sharing information, takes part in local schools, coaches, etc. His family has now fallen upon extremely hard times with the downturn in the economy and both his wife and mother going through cancer treatments. Every day is a struggle and it seems that it's time to try and help out someone who has helped so many.
I don't want to turn this into a media event but I'd like to contact and involve many others that I'm sure would be interested in helping. Is there a forum or site to assist in organizing something such as this? He and his business have thousands of contacts on Facebook so would it be possible to use that somehow?
Thanks much!
Response by poster: His business is service oriented so unless there is a need for his service then it'd be difficult to provide support in this fashion. I agree that Facebook has led to the "big talk, little action" mentality so I'm not hoping for much support there but if I can even get 1% of the people to assist that would be helpful. I just don't believe there's a mechanism to contact the group. I'm hoping for 3rd party solutions or advice on organizing an event in the most efficient manner. In lieu of an event, a simple dinner (as you suggest) or a donation fund would be useful, too.
posted by mcarthey at 9:48 AM on August 18, 2010
posted by mcarthey at 9:48 AM on August 18, 2010
fundraisers for a particular person or family are often taken on by a community organization--elks lodge, shriners, churches, knights of columbus, lions, etc. when my sister had severe medical problems, her church organized fundraisers to help foot the bills. is there an organization in your community that might help you? working through an already organized network in the actual physical location would certainly be one way to go.
posted by miss patrish at 10:29 AM on August 18, 2010
posted by miss patrish at 10:29 AM on August 18, 2010
Fundraisers to help individuals in my tiny community are very common, and are sometimes done under the aegis of a local church or organization, but often they are simply set up by friends and family. Sometimes it's an event like a dinner, sometimes it's a raffle or an auction, or sometimes a combination of things.
I've seen lots of very successful fundraisers in my own (small) online communities that involve people just making donations via PayPal. If this person's business has a PayPal account, you could simply send out a message suggesting people make donations to it. If not, you could offer to collect money, although of course people may be reluctant to give money to someone they don't know.
the bank here (which is part of a fairly large chain) has in the past set up accounts for people that you can donate to. Perhaps you could talk to a bank and see if they would be willing to do something similar--and perhaps even if there would be a way to tie it into a PayPal account, which would make it very easy for non-locals to donate.
posted by newrambler at 2:41 PM on August 18, 2010
I've seen lots of very successful fundraisers in my own (small) online communities that involve people just making donations via PayPal. If this person's business has a PayPal account, you could simply send out a message suggesting people make donations to it. If not, you could offer to collect money, although of course people may be reluctant to give money to someone they don't know.
the bank here (which is part of a fairly large chain) has in the past set up accounts for people that you can donate to. Perhaps you could talk to a bank and see if they would be willing to do something similar--and perhaps even if there would be a way to tie it into a PayPal account, which would make it very easy for non-locals to donate.
posted by newrambler at 2:41 PM on August 18, 2010
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Fundraising dinners are also possible. Few of the thousands of contacts on facebook will come to such dinners, though. The whole point (or at least, one major aspect) of facebook is to be able to interact with other people electronically, without having to meet them in person. Facebook is terrific at on-line petitions, not so terrific at getting people to come to a fundraising dinner. However, if this person's business can be conducted over the internet, then yes, the facebook contacts could be asked to participate in his business, whatever that may be.
posted by grizzled at 9:23 AM on August 18, 2010