Monday 4 November 2013

Fund raising

Community self help and fund raising events

Advertising Space - After your Hub is published advertisements may be placed in this space.

Principles to note when Fund raising at Community or grass root levels

Funds to do an activity may be dwindling or were never earmarked at all. Yet, the need could be apparent and pressing. There are tricks you can employ. Read this short story and note the principles in Community Based Fund raising.

There are different reasons why we engage in fund raising activities:
1. to look for and seek for funding for recurrent activities.
2. to off set debts
3. to have start up funds for an organization.

There are different organizations and causes for which the money that is raised can be used:
it could be Heart Fund, feeding the homeless, caring for seniors or sustaining a shelter program.

CASE STUDY: RUNNING A SMALL GRASS ROOT ORGANIZATION:
Our story:
We got news about our work in the community in Worcester, MA. There was demand for our community out reach activities. The urgent message was that we needed to continue with community based education and engage as many people in exercises, calisthenics and nutrition awareness.
How we did our work:
We had visited education facilities, senior living homes, work places, prayer places, libraries, Sports facilities, Corporations, CSOs/NGOs and Community leaders. We knocked on doors of different homes.
We were calling upon every one to help us raise money but also to come join us at the 'City Heart Day' event that was to be held at the City Commons preceded by a walk. The walk was split into two. We anticipated there would be those who could walk the 5 miles and those who would prefer the 2 miles.
The corporations and many well wishers sponsored this event. All required paraphernalia were in place. Water, consumables, candies and meals. The Emergency Health Unit was in place too.
Noting The Weather:
The day was sunny but with cool temperatures in the 40s. The day ended successfully.

Follow up Activities:
The following day I hurried to the organizing office to to write 'thank you' notes and send congratulatory mails. It was a success. The corporations and well wishers who had promised and pledged support made good their word.

The campaign

This is how things went: Very many people from around the area, well wishers, as well as invited people joined different teams. We were part of a larger group of over 300 people (adults, young and children pushed in prams). There were some who walked 2 or 5 miles to raise funds and to raise awareness around what communities can do to reduce the risks that exacerbate cardio-vascular diseases.
We met at one place, were flagged off and as a team we walked the different assigned miles. Our team walked all the five miles.
There are so many lessons one learns when one decides to engage in community activities. As a strong advocate for community-work in which one expects not to be paid a salary, I have always told my friends and any who cares to listen to my philosophy and the three reasons why we engage in work: reward, skills and networks.
Rewards may be in various forms and not necessarily the salary. It could be psychological satisfaction that one is able to take time off and be part of a number of persons who have accomplished an activity.
Skills may come in many ways including person-to-person communication or organization of an event. One does not fail to learn a lesson or two in organization of events. Humans are social and in engaging in these kind of events it may enable one fulfill the social aspect of meeting other people. It may add to the feeling of being part of society. It may be a point of reference for one as well as topic for conversation. Such experiences make up the stock materials in one’s brains. Experience is part of one’s memory it may be enrichment that will form future conversational or problem-solving points of reference.
There were three major intentions of the walk: raising funds; raising awareness about cardio-vascular diseases and; renewing a commitment towards engaging in physical exercises as one of the best ways to prevent cardiovascular and lung related diseases.

The holy trinity of fundraising

The three most important points in fundraising is transparency, network building and accountability:
1. Transparency:
This is the primus inter pares of them all. One has to have plans, resources and staff. The staff have to know their roles and how they contribute to the shared success or failure. This is a platform that asks: What do I show for my activities? Who sees my kind of work? Who else is interested in my kind of work? Some of the tools to keep handy are:
a. A record of all activities prior and after the major event
b. A list of all people or corporation with their contact addresses, who helped or are likely to help in the future
c. An action plan drawn out and in plain view for all to see and refer to.
d. A community map of routes to follow or catchment area
e. Past records and a deadline to share outcomes/expenditures during next mid term level reporting.
2. Network building.
This is the second arm or leg or pillar depending on how one sees things. This is the platform that asks: who are involved and what is involved. Get to have:
a. Trained staff ( both volunteers and non-volunteers).
b. Partnerships with other stake holders who have similar work like you do
c. create a calendar and share it with authorities and other leaders in the area. This helps to match your activities to those of the area. This way you may plan to attend events of other organizations. This is sharing space and getting to know what others do. It is a form of speed dating too. You may get to show case your work while at the same time you may come in handy and offer your expertise.
3. Accountability
This is the top trophic level in the tripartite system. This is the platform that asks: Has all our effort been worth it? This is what lists:
a. Time
b. Money
c. People
d. Progress reports
e. Changes made
f. Challenges
g. Lessons learnt
h. The resources gained
i. How the resources are used
The fact that one has to have at the back of their mind is that: fundraising is also resource mobilizing.

Fundraising is not about money alone

Do you subscribe to the view that fundraising is about money?

  •  Yes.
  •  No
  •  Am not sure.
See results without voting

Fundraising Tips


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Non Violence tactics

Re-assuring tactics and non-violence in the face of closed and locked doors in USA

Many People One Union

Click thumbnail to view full-size
Many People, One UnionI say no to racism and all other...... isms!
Many People, One Union
Many People, One Union
Source: USA
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3 Degrees Fahrenheit, 1 foot of snow and a locked bus door at a bus stop

The Cold Problem and a Hot Solution; A case study

CHARACTERS: John Diamond (from Bermuda) and Ms. Luchenco Anna-Maria. John is a black man in his late 20s and Ms Luchenco is white and almost retiring.
BACKGROUND:
Ms. Luchenco Anna-Maria of about 55 years is a very dedicated female bus driver. She has been in the transport industry for over 10 years where she has served diligently. In a few years she is destined to retire with her husband to Orlando Florida (a warmer climate). All this information is shared with the familiar passengers who sit at the front section and who happen to know her well. She and her husband will leave their New York home to their two sons and one daughter. Luchenco’s bus is clean inside and the upholstery is not stained. She seems to know all the people who get on the bus. There is a ‘good-morning’ here, a ‘how-is-the-baby’ there and quick chit-chats that end as soon as one has paid for or checked in a valid pass. The bus cabin is so warm and on a day like this that registered 3 degrees Fahrenheit she cannot tell the difference outside. The normal bodily temperature is between 98-100 degrees (F). The lowest recorded temperatures where a body survived was 55.4 degrees (F). The body gets so cold that one’s bones, especially behind the ear get to be painful. This is the path to hypothermia. If there is persistent exposure it gets to the point when one is disoriented. It can lead to death in extreme cases. Coldness itself is so uncomfortable!On this day (January 22nd 2013), this place averaged 3 degrees (F); a very cold wind blew leaves and light debris. It was so strong that debris were air-borne. The streets, avenues and Boulevard were buffeted by a gust of wind that almost threw John Diamond down! The bottle of water he had got so cold. The cap was frozen hard and fast. The jacket was a very cold garment. It became a strait-jacket that held him in very cold chains which only got broken once he got into a warm building.

GOING TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD BUS STOP:
His experience started at a Brook Bridge stop. The Brook Bridge has a bus stop where drivers have a well-deserved short lunch break.

MEETING MS. LUCHENCO FOR THE FIRST TIME:
Now, ‘this bus stop is not a pedestrian stop’. He got a condescending lecture by Ms. Luchenco on the meaning of a bus stop and pedestrian stop. He had an appointment with our office. The office is situated downtown. He uses a bus as his means of travel. It has always been out of routine and not objective. It was a ‘get-to-bus-stop-wait-for-sometime-bus-arrives-door-opens-say-hello-to-driver-while-paying-quickly-get-to-your-sit’ subjectivity.


IN THE BUS HABITS OF JOHN:
That is all the effort he had tuned his body to execute and no more! He does read books on the bus, so he reserves energy for the books he carries with him. He usually chooses places where he is able to pull out a book while the bus moves. This is to enable him have one eye on the book and another on the stop.

JOHN AND LUCHENCO'S ALTERCATION
This day provided him a different opportunity into the experiences of riding a bus. He knew this very experience happens in USA. But, he thought there was a category of persons who would engage in such acts but not the Ms. Luchenco. There is a universal language in all cities. A bus stop is not hard to see. It may be a clearing on the road-side or a stop area with a metal sign having a bus and a word stop. An idling bus on wheels at a stop area is so re-assuring on a 3 degrees (F) cold day. John walked from the ‘pedestrian stop’ towards the ‘bus stop’ which was 20 meters away. He wanted to keep warm.
“No one boards from here, just you stay at the pedestrian stop,” yelled this Ms. Luchenco behind thick windows in a warm bus cabin. John looked askance. Did Ms. Know it was a very cold day out here?
“You better hurry, in the next minute I may pass that stop,” she continued pointing repeatedly at the stop 20 meters away.
John walked back and the bus picked him up. He thanked Ms. Luchenco and paid for a full day fare. He also told her it was very cold outside, three times. She did not seem to realize why he kept saying it was so cold outside the bus. She started the bus. She did not wait for him to sit down. So, while it was moving she continued asking him whether he was new to the City and the bus.
John did not answer her but pointed at the notice that said: ‘stand away from a yellow line while bus is moving’.
John went and sat down. He pulled out a book and as he was opening it she asked again. “Have you ever been on a bus?”
He said yes.
He also told her to not yell at pedestrians. He told her she is in an industry calling for humane hospitality. Then he got back to his book.
At the next Congregational Church stop the bus stopped to pick up Emeralda Gomez. Ms. Luchenco and Emeralda knew each other. They chatted about the Obama-Biden Inauguration and later bed-bugs!
At Christ the King Church stop the bus picked up Gregory Barnes an African-American. Ms. Luchenco asked if she had ever yelled at him.
He was surprised at the question but said no.
“What would be the reason anyway?” he asked.
John got in at that point when Ms. Luchenco pointed at him.
“The gentleman in yellow has just said so about me”. She shouted.
“I don’t yell at people,” she reassured herself loudly.
John (dressed in yellow) emphasized she did yell.
When Gregory Barnes realized John could speak eloquently about the issue, he came and sat next to him. He talked to John while pointing at the back of the palm (a sign for John to ignore everything but to also know that in his position, as a black man, it should not come as a surprise).
John did not say any word after. Gregory (An African American) told him of his experience too. He said it loudly so that Ms. Luchenco would hear too. The bus that went before ours had just passed the stop! He, because of the cold, had to go to the near-by Church to stay warm. The white janitor had refused to let him in at first until he produced a Bible. We moved on up to the stop next to a College and picked Reginald Brown (African American from Washington DC and a substance abuse withdrawal counselor). Reginald Brown on a supervisory visit to New York City, also shared his experience of that 'other' bus that did not stop to pick him up and two other colleagues.
The other two colleagues were Dally Matthew and Rodriguez Jesus. Dally is Hispanic and attends the drug-addiction/withdrawal support group on Harlem Street. Jesus is a Latino from the Housing Authority, sector 8 units.The driver was not able to hear all these experiences of deliberate locked bus doors and buses that do not stop for a certain category of people. She was sharing her story with Emeralda. She had just put down her cell. She had just heard from her family. They were reminding her to buy anti-pest sprays. Reginald Brown from Washington DC remarked he has helped his clients to fumigate pests and bed-bugs. It was a daily occurrence to him! As soon as the bus moved Dally fell asleep! John did not get to hear him talk, except when he acknowledged his names as they were introduced. Rodriguez went to a corner by himself!
REMAINING SOBER IN THE FACE OF INDIGNITY:
The bus moved on up to John's destination. John got out and he thanked Ms. Luchenco for driving them up to this destination! It was an experience for John
LESSONS LEARNT:
Drivers in the public transport sector need to be constantly reminded that in a hospitality-based industry human needs are vast. These needs most of the times cause many to open doors for people to get warm and cozy in our buses, even if it may not be a normal procedure!

The Five Rules to Remember When faced with discrimination and bias ridden treatment

1. First and foremost do not judge another person.
2. Secondly do not get angry.
3. Thirdly engage the person in conversation.
4. Fourthly share your own feelings.
5. Fifth work out or resolve the issue on the spot.

The Five Best Practices against Localized Racism, Discrimination and Bias ridden Tendencies

Action
Benefits to the perpetrator ( Abuser)
Benefits the recipient (victim of abuse)
First and foremost do not judge another person. .
It helps to be clear and have perspective
 
Secondly do not get angry
It promotes empathy
Clarity of mind
Thirdly engage the person in conversation
Identify the harm and fears
Identify harm and fears
Fourthly share your own feelings.
Share the impact of harm to you as a human being/sensitivity
Shared responsibility
Fifth work out or resolve the issue on the spot
Commit to non-violence processing and emphasize non re-occurrence/ non recidivism
Elicit commitment to non re-occurrence through non aggression or retribution

Laws will stop Racist Tendencies

Does it also require human effort to question racist and supremacist tendencies?

  •  Yes.
  •  No.
  •  May be
See results without voting

Community self help and fund raising events

The three most important points in fundraising is transprency, network building and accountability

Principles to note when Fund raising at Community or grass root levels

Funds to do an activity may be dwindling or were never earmarked at all. Yet, the need could be apparent and pressing. There are tricks you can employ. Read this short story and note the principles in Community Based Fund raising.

There are different reasons why we engage in fund raising activities:
1. to look for and seek for funding for recurrent activities.
2. to off set debts
3. to have start up funds for an organization.

There are different organizations and causes for which the money that is raised can be used:
it could be Heart Fund, feeding the homeless, caring for seniors or sustaining a shelter program.

CASE STUDY: RUNNING A SMALL GRASS ROOT ORGANIZATION:
Our story:
We got news about our work in the community in Worcester, MA. There was demand for our community out reach activities. The urgent message was that we needed to continue with community based education and engage as many people in exercises, calisthenics and nutrition awareness.
How we did our work:
We had visited education facilities, senior living homes, work places, prayer places, libraries, Sports facilities, Corporations, CSOs/NGOs and Community leaders. We knocked on doors of different homes.
We were calling upon every one to help us raise money but also to come join us at the 'City Heart Day' event that was to be held at the City Commons preceded by a walk. The walk was split into two. We anticipated there would be those who could walk the 5 miles and those who would prefer the 2 miles.
The corporations and many well wishers sponsored this event. All required paraphernalia were in place. Water, consumables, candies and meals. The Emergency Health Unit was in place too.
Noting The Weather:
The day was sunny but with cool temperatures in the 40s. The day ended successfully.

Follow up Activities:
The following day I hurried to the organizing office to to write 'thank you' notes and send congratulatory mails. It was a success. The corporations and well wishers who had promised and pledged support made good their word.

The campaign

This is how things went: Very many people from around the area, well wishers, as well as invited people joined different teams. We were part of a larger group of over 300 people (adults, young and children pushed in prams). There were some who walked 2 or 5 miles to raise funds and to raise awareness around what communities can do to reduce the risks that exacerbate cardio-vascular diseases.
We met at one place, were flagged off and as a team we walked the different assigned miles. Our team walked all the five miles.
There are so many lessons one learns when one decides to engage in community activities. As a strong advocate for community-work in which one expects not to be paid a salary, I have always told my friends and any who cares to listen to my philosophy and the three reasons why we engage in work: reward, skills and networks.
Rewards may be in various forms and not necessarily the salary. It could be psychological satisfaction that one is able to take time off and be part of a number of persons who have accomplished an activity.
Skills may come in many ways including person-to-person communication or organization of an event. One does not fail to learn a lesson or two in organization of events. Humans are social and in engaging in these kind of events it may enable one fulfill the social aspect of meeting other people. It may add to the feeling of being part of society. It may be a point of reference for one as well as topic for conversation. Such experiences make up the stock materials in one’s brains. Experience is part of one’s memory it may be enrichment that will form future conversational or problem-solving points of reference.
There were three major intentions of the walk: raising funds; raising awareness about cardio-vascular diseases and; renewing a commitment towards engaging in physical exercises as one of the best ways to prevent cardiovascular and lung related diseases.

he holy trinity of fundraising

The three most important points in fundraising is transparency, network building and accountability:
1. Transparency:
This is the primus inter pares of them all. One has to have plans, resources and staff. The staff have to know their roles and how they contribute to the shared success or failure. This is a platform that asks: What do I show for my activities? Who sees my kind of work? Who else is interested in my kind of work? Some of the tools to keep handy are:
a. A record of all activities prior and after the major event
b. A list of all people or corporation with their contact addresses, who helped or are likely to help in the future
c. An action plan drawn out and in plain view for all to see and refer to.
d. A community map of routes to follow or catchment area
e. Past records and a deadline to share outcomes/expenditures during next mid term level reporting.
2. Network building.
This is the second arm or leg or pillar depending on how one sees things. This is the platform that asks: who are involved and what is involved. Get to have:
a. Trained staff ( both volunteers and non-volunteers).
b. Partnerships with other stake holders who have similar work like you do
c. create a calendar and share it with authorities and other leaders in the area. This helps to match your activities to those of the area. This way you may plan to attend events of other organizations. This is sharing space and getting to know what others do. It is a form of speed dating too. You may get to show case your work while at the same time you may come in handy and offer your expertise.
3. Accountability
This is the top trophic level in the tripartite system. This is the platform that asks: Has all our effort been worth it? This is what lists:
a. Time
b. Money
c. People
d. Progress reports
e. Changes made
f. Challenges
g. Lessons learnt
h. The resources gained
i. How the resources are used
The fact that one has to have at the back of their mind is that: fundraising is also resource mobilizing.