Accidental Fundraising: More than Small Change

By Stephanie Roth

The very grassroots fundraising success of Barack Obama’s campaign to be the Democratic candidate for President of the U.S. is a prime example of just how generous Americans can be. It’s also a great example of how mobilizing large numbers of people to give even small amounts of money can create enormous changes in our communities and in our society.

Here’s an example of what one woman did to make a difference – that I’m hoping might inspire others to do what they can to solve the problems they’re confronting in their communities.

My neighbor Judith is a physical therapist – and has never worked in a nonprofit organization or even served on a nonprofit board. But last year, she was moved by the work her brother was doing in Thailand on behalf of immigrants there, and decided she wanted to do something to help.

Judith had been to a fundraising house party at my house a few years ago, and decided that she would organize a house party to raise money for her brother’s project. The fact that she had never asked a soul for money, much less organized an event, did not intimidate her in the least. She was excited and motivated by the idea of doing something for the people her brother was telling her about (and she figured she could always ask me for help along the way if she needed to).

Judith is a very detail-oriented person and was very deliberate in planning the house party. She scheduled the event to coincide with her brother’s visit to the U.S., so he could be there to talk about his work. She created a lovely invitation - with no special skills in graphic design, she just put together a simple message, and used clip art from her computer.

She put together an invitation list made up of everyone she could think of – her neighbors, co-workers, family members, friends, her manicurist, acupuncturist, and even her dentist. She believed that even if some of the people she invited to the party wouldn’t care about this issue as much as she did, they wouldn’t be offended by being invited.

Judith told me she wanted to raise $5,000 from the party. I didn’t want her to be disappointed, because in my experience with houseparties, raising $1,000 - $2,000 is a reasonable goal to reach.

People started sending in checks before the day of the party. (On my recommendation, Judith included a reply envelope and encouraged people to give even if they couldn’t make it to the party.) To my surprise, before the day of the party arrived, Judith had already received over $6,000. An additional $2,000 was contributed that day. We were all amazed and thrilled.

While this may be an unusually large amount of money to raise from a single house party, I describe it here to highlight some important things to remember about fundraising. People want to help, want to give back to their communities, want to make a difference. When they feel moved by a message, a cause, the work of an organization they like, they’re not only happy to give, but are glad for the opportunity to do something concrete and immediate.

An important lesson that my neighbor Judith learned from her very positive foray into fundraising was that it does not take a lot of experience or skill to raise money. The key ingredients are:
- believing in the cause you’re raising money for
- a willingness to talk to the people you know about why they might want to support the cause

So what are you waiting for?

About the Author

Stephanie Roth is the co-director of the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT) and the editor of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal. She has worked as a staff member, board member, volunteer and consultant with nonprofit organizations in the US and overseas since 1978, with an emphasis on grassroots, social justice organizations. She also facilitates meetings and retreats. She is the co-author of The Accidental Fundraiser (Jossey-Bass, 2005) and co-editor with Kim Klein of the anthology Raise More Money: The Best of the Grassroots Fundraising Journal (Jossey-Bass, 2001). She works with the Chardon Press series of Jossey-Bass Publishers, to publish which books on fundraising, organizational development, and community organizing for nonprofit organizations.

Prior to her work at GIFT, she was the founder and director of the Long Island Technical Assistance Center, and Co-Director of New York Women Against Rape. She holds a Masters of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. She currently lives in Berkeley, CA and serves on the board of A Jewish Voice for Peace. Learn more at www.kleinandroth.com.