We need SMART fundraising ideas for our Zero Waste Campaign
Status: 
Time needed:
A week
Step:
2
The use of interactive drama and cultural shows has been proven to be an effective approach to enhancing behavior change by disseminating information on issues of concern, appropriate actions and guiding the target audience to develop their own action plans.
Using a partnership of youth clubs and school children, a number of activities will be implemented from July 2009 and will culminate into the Zero Waste Market Place in September. The proposal with budget and a model implentation approach are enclosed for your information. The estimated cost of implementing the campaign is approx. US$ 45,000, which will be raised by mobilizing contributions (kind/cash) from targeted institutions.
Our plan is to use three fundraising events outlined below to raise the resources in equal installments of US$ 15,000.
EVENT I: WASTE MOP-UP WEEK (youth clubs will lead the process of mopping-up existing waste dumps in the neighbourhoods AND raising awareness in the entire parish through the great zero-waste marathon). Resources for this event will be mobilized by approaching:
AA Large factories such as Coca Cola, Pepsi and waste production/ recyling plants for donations of sports equipment; sanitation tools and community moblisation activities. These include Asiatic ports, Katumwa Sports Centre, Super Sports and Mabirizi Complex.
BB Companies dealing in mobile phones to support the Great Zero-Waste Marathon. These will include MTN, Orange, Zain and Warid
EVENT II: BWEYOGERERE GREEN DAY (school based activities to diseminate key massages to parents and stakeholders through presentation of drama, cultural dances, art exhibitions and poems by all the participating schools at Nambole National stadium):
Resources will be mobilized by approaching Banking Institutions such as Barclays bank, STANBIC BANK, CITI Bank and mobile telephone technology companies such as MTN, Orange, Zain and Warid to see if they can support this collection of activities. The companies should also be able to support school based mobilisation activities.
EVENT III: ZERO-WASTE MARKET PLACE (a forum for disseminating best practices in waste management to policy makers and technocrats): We will work with the Rotary Club of Bweyogerere to organise either a VIP Dinner OR a Sponsored Trash Walk OR both. Targeted VIPs will include mayors of all sub-urban townships around Kampala, Representatives of embassies, Heads of Banking Institutions, Members of Parliament, LC5 Chairmen, Government Technocrats and leaders of sector civil society organizations. VIP contributions should also cover networking and coordination activities by the Water and Environment Boad.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
All the above fundraising events must be SMART (Simple, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound). We need your advise and support on what we should do to ensure we fulfill this requirement. What packages must be presented in order to appeal to the potential sponsors of the campaign?
Thanx..
Attached files:
Project: Village talk
Hi NEIGHBOURS
BELOW PLEASE FIND A SAMPLE LETTER FOR A DONATION REQUEST THAT WOULD BE USED FOR FUNDRAISING EVENTS I and II. AS YOU WILL REALIZE, THERE IS INFORMATION THAT MUST BE GATHERED FROM THE TARGET SPONSOR BEFORE WRITING THE LETTER.
Dear [insert name of business or business owner here],
[Insert a general statement about the type of people you serve and what it is that they need here]. The [insert the name of your organization here] is a place that offers [insert above listed benefit for above listed people].
However, today's tough economic conditions make it difficult for [insert name or the organization] to meet those needs without help from people like you. I am writing to invite your business to donate an item or gift certificate for the charity auction [or other event you need the donation for], [insert name of event/auction here].
[Insert a brief description of the event. What it entails, how long it has been running, and how many people usually attend as well as if the event is covered by local media]. All auction items [or whatever event] are donated by businesses like yours - as well as by members of [insert organization name here], alumni [if applicable] and community members.
Fun Fair is the biggest fundraising event of the year for [insert organization name here] and will take [insert date here] at [insert location here] from [insert timeframe here].
Benefits of Supporting [insert event name here]:
Your business will be recognized on all promotional materials, received by the [insert organization name here] members, alumni [if applicable] and community leaders and attendees. Your donation will also be acknowledged in the [insert organization name here] newsletter [if applicable].
All contributions to the [insert name of event here] are tax-deductible [if applicable]. Our members and alumni [if applicable] lean towards supporting local businesses that donate to [insert name of organization here]. You can take pride in being a good corporate citizen.
Please know that all contributions you make will positively impact our [insert name of organization and the type of people you serve]. I will follow up with you within the next two weeks to discuss your possible donation. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration of our request.
Sincerely,
[Insert your name here]
[Insert your organization here]
[Insert your phone number here]
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Dear Neighbors,
Following the guidelines for writing a letter to apply for donations at the beginning of this thread, we have attempted to prepare a sample letter which we have agreed to submit to:
AA Importers of sports equipment for sports donations and a trophy (Katumwa sports centre, Asiatic Sports, Super Sports etc)
BB Soft drink factories for donation of sanitation tools, paint materials for schools, a paint trophy, caps for wearing during the community clean-up exercise and soft drinks (Coca-cola, Pepsi, Rwenzori Mineral Water etc)
We need your comments on the relevance of the letter and in particular, if it communicates the intended purpose. Barb we need your opinion if you would have fulfilled your obligation if you were a corporate responsibility manager.
In addition, we have also agreed that in addition to the donations in kind, we will need cash to facilitate implementation of the activities. This will be raised through the Great Waste Marathon or a similar event as will be agreed by the youth club members. If each of the 400 youths raised a minimum of US$ 25 from their sponsors, then there would be at least US$ 10,000 in cash to support implementation of activities.
A sample letter that the youth will use to approach sponsors to enable them participate in the Great Waste Marathon is attached. If there is a better format out there please share so we can have a better appealing product. Vijai, you need to let us know if this would compel you to give a donation as a typical sponsor.
As we prepare for the Great Waste Marathon, we will approach companies selling mobile phones (Zain, MTN, WARID and Orange) to support marathon which requires items such as athletes wear , drinks and actual organizing of the event
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Walude
Hi Walude,
With reference to - 'Vijai, you need to let us know if this would compel you to give a donation as a typical sponsor.' - in your post above, all I can say is that in view of the economic turmoil across the planet, a different set of circumstances prevail in most sectors, and any efforts need to be enhanced in accordance with ground realities.
I must appreciate your efforts, and also note that you have quantified the amount of USD 45,000 to be raised in 3 lots of USD 15,000 each, and not left this open-ended and vague. This will help neighbours focus better in providing solutions to this task.
With best wishes
Vijai
Hi Vijai,
Thank you very much once again.
Yes it is true that to raise this amount especially among the disadvantaged youth might be an uphill task. But this is just a fundraising target of US$ 10,000 at an average of US$ 25 per entrant (or youth) and we will see what the youths can come up to.
Remember they have to approach some one in the community or several people to sponsor them to run. The reality may be different and we will wait to see how it goes.
We are thinking of developing a sponsorship card where several people can contribute to hit the target. We will share when it has been developed to a fair copy.
But the question still remains: would you be compeled to contribute by the tone and content of the sponsorship letter? If you had US$ 100 in the pocket, would you pull out say US$ 10 or US$ 15 or US$ 20 because of what the letter is communicating to you?
What additional information if any is required to make the letter more appeling to a potential sponsor.
Cheers
Walude
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Hi Walude,
I do not involve in funding. To further add to my previous post above, the circumstances of each potential donor happen to vary. But most donor organizations are themselves under varying degrees of turmoil under the existing global economic environments. The same applies to individual donors. But despite the economic environment, there is a lot more than a mere letter that goes into donations. The letter needs to be polished enough, of course. But there are many other elements that determine the outcome of efforts for donations, and a good deal of PR effort needs to be unleashed.
Cheers
Vijai
Hi Vijai,
The issues you raise point to three important aspects:
AA THE SPONSORS OF THE EVENT: These will be individuals preferably located in the community who are middle and high income earners. The risks to be addressed include the credit crunch which is being felt in Uganda and a poor culture of sponsorship on the local scene. Potential sponsors will have to be conviced beyond reasonable doubt that their money will add value to the environment.
BB THE QUALITY OF THE LETTER: Before distributing the letters on a large scale, we will try to revise the sponsorship letter and carry out pretests on a number of dummy sponsors outside Bweyogerere community to gauge the communication effectiveness and nature of response. Accompanying each letter will be a well designed sponsorship form similar to the one attached.
CC PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS: We will probably need to get a volunteer to fill in this gap for us as we dont have experience. All youths intending to participate in the marathon will need to have basic PR skills and this would be incorporated in the training.
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Walude
Hi Vijai,
Further to our discussion on publicity of the event, I have managed to pull out guidelines from a WaterAid website (attached). We will use them to create a local publicity plan. Key elements include:
(i) Assembling a publicity plan
(ii) Correct timing of the publicity
(iii) Writing a news release and
(iv) Having photographs for the release
Our plan is to approach potential local sponsors who have managed similar events in the past so we can benefit from thier experience. If we could get national marathon champions to participate in the event, that would make it even more attractive.
We might also need to identify a local journalist to be on the organizing committee so the aspect of writing a catchy press release and taking clear photographs is addressed.
We still have to choose between preparing posters or flyers or both. The sponsors logo will appear on these promotional materials.
The name of the event must also be attractive too. Here, we have reffered to it as "The Great Waste Marathon". Could we have suggestions on possible alternative names that could be more catchy?
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Walude
Hi Walude,
" The Great Zero-Waste Marathon " could be an option for the title of the marathon.
Vijai
Hi Vijai,
Thanks for recommeding this title. It will now be presented to youths, who will undertake the event, for adoption.
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Walude
Hi Neighbors,
AA Following a fruitful mini evaluation in the threads below, the letters requesting for donation of sports equipment and sponsorship to the Great Waste Marathon have been re-drafted into fair copies. Both letters will be used to mobilize resources for Event I.
Support materials for the letter requesting for equipment donations may include a flier on zero waste to be distributed to companies, posters to be pinned-up at public places in the village, a business card, donation forms (for equipment and materials) and sponsorship forms (for marathon).
BB Now is the opportunity to assess if EVENT I is SMART. Please do let us know your thoughts on the following aspects of the event:
S-implicty: [Is this event cumbersome or simple to implement? Does the name reflect the purpose? To a large extent this will be answered by the youths themselves]
M-easurability: [How could success be measured? What indicators should be monitored? We need to refer to the implementation strategy]
A-chievability: [What activities will be implemented? What will be the target outputs? Check in the drama/culture proposal and also in the implementation strategy]
R-ealism: [What risks are associated with this event; Which risks are manageable? Which risks may not be managed by this project and what assumptions will have been made?]
T-iming: [How long will the fundraising process take?
What about actual implementation of the activities? Is it realistic to assume the event will actually be implemented at the beggining of August while we use july to implement fund raising activities? Which activity should start first and why..is it the great waste marathon or the waste mop-up exercise? Try to present the activities in a sequenced simple workplan]
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Walude
Dear Neighbours,
Attached please find the workplan and budget for Phase (1a) which now defines three major components of the project has helped to reveal the following aspects of the project:
(i) The total cost of the project is US$ 140,400. This means that the fundraising target for each School-Youth partnership should be US$ 14,040.
(ii) The implementation time frame should be nine months, so that the fundraising targets can be realistic, especially since resources have not been identified. If the project was to be implemented over a period of 3 months, the overall budget would be a lot less probably about US$ 100,000, but efforts to raise such money would also be enormous and probably not realistic.
(iii) It is realistic to implement the components in distinct quarters as outlined below:
(a) Waste Mop-Up Week (July -September 2009)
(b) School Competitions (October-December 2009)
(c) Zero Waste Market Place (October -December 2009)
(d) Waste Awareness Day (January-march 2010)
(iv) Support costs can be a lot less if other program phases are implemented against Phase 1(a). We therefore need to start mobilising resources to facilitate implementition of water pollution control and waste recycling components.
(v) The fundraising drive will now focus on ensuring availability of funds for use at the beggining of each quarter to enable smooth implementation of planned events.
(a) For the quarter of July-September, the minimum amount to be raised should be US$ 35,000. Key Events will be the Zero-Waste Football Tournament and the Great Zero-Waste Marathon.
(b) For the quarter of October -December, the minimum amount to be raised should be US$ 35,000. Key Events will be the school competitions and the Zero Waste Market Place
(c) For the quarter of January-March, the minimum amount to be raised should be US$ US$ 35,000. Key event is the Waste Awareness Day
(iv) Although emphasis will be laid on mobilising resources for the Waste Mop-up Week, we will also start implementing the fundraising plan for school competitions as early as August 2009 to be able to obtain resources for the subsequent quarter.
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Walude
Dear neighbours,
Attached please find sponsorship forms that will be used to solicit for equipment for sports and sanitation tools for mop-up of trash existing waste dumps. As for sanitation tools, we have assumed that each youth club will have 10 sets. This form will be attached to the sponsorship letter.
We need your comments on the content (at the top) and items requested for (in the table).
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Walude
Team,
Attached please find our first quarter workplan and budget. The estimated cost for the quarter is US$ 45,870. Most of the resources for the month of July are avialable in form of equipment, office space and volunteers.
However, for the months of August and September, we will need indicated budget resources (approx. US$35,000) to enable smooth running of the project. In the month of August alone, we will need US$ 18,000.
We therefore need a spirited effort and your support to be able to realize the budget requirements.
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Walude
Dear Neighbours,
Attached please find the request letter and and donation request form to fundraise for the waste mop-up campaign. We are using these to contact potential sponsors for the whole of this week.
Interested companies will be contacted next week during which details of the activities and publicity materials to be promoted will be discussed. Our local artist is now working on on the fisrt draft of the publicity materials.
We hope that out of the 20 companies that will be contacted by the end of this week, a good number will respond positively.
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Walude
Dear neighbours,
Find attached donation/sponsorship forms for your comments. We will distribute these to mobile phone and beverage companies to see if they can support the Great Zero-Waste Marathon.
Note changes in the content and budget items. Funds generated will be used to build a waste recycling resource centre for youths.
Any comments on the content are welcome.
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Walude