An international volunteering placement includes costs such as a programme fee (which is payable to the organisation) as well as travel, visa, insurance, and personal expenses. Even if you or your family can budget for this, fundraising is a valuable skill that you can use during or after your volunteer placement should you want to raise funds for the volunteer programme on an ongoing basis.
Fundraising is the process of finding and gathering financial contributions from donors who contribute to a specific cause. Donors are individuals, groups, or companies that give money towards a fundraising initiative.
A fundraising strategy is a process of planning how to raise funds, promoting your fundraising, gathering funds, and thanking your donors appropriately. In the next section, we will take a closer look at the different aspects of fundraising. Several key steps must be considered when putting together a fundraising strategy. The steps are summarised in the following interaction. Turn the cards in the interaction below to gain insight into each step:
Note to Benjamin – Users will not be able to do the interactions unless they are on the moodle platform
It is vital to set goals when considering your fundraising strategy. A great method to use when setting objectives is SMART goals.
Click and drag the slider at the bottom of the interaction to discover what each letter stands for:
When it comes to fundraising, it is important to use a technique. When thinking about specific goals, you should consider the purpose of your fundraiser. Why are you raising money? What will the money be used for? For example, will it be used to pay someone back who loaned you money to pay for your volunteer experience or maybe you need some funds to purchase some clothing for your overseas adventure. It is important to define this purpose, as potential donors will want to know this before parting with their own money. They will want to know that it is a worthwhile cause; this includes believing in the volunteer programme but also believing in you and your capabilities to make a change. According to Cliff, “At the heart of all good fundraising is an effective case for support – a powerful and engaging argument as to why a donor should support your work”. (2014)
You should also prioritise exactly what you are fundraising for. Prioritising means considering what is most important; this might be challenging but if you give it enough thought, you are likely to get better buy-in (and more money) from donors. Part of prioritising is to consider how much money you need. Be specific!
Once you have a specific goal for a clear purpose, you need to figure out how much money you need. You should have a total sum of money or a financial target in mind. Take into consideration all the necessary costs; it will be useful to track your progress if you break up the amount of money you need into smaller goals. This might also motivate you when fundraising becomes challenging.
It must be possible to achieve your goal. Make sure that your financial target is realistic and attainable. If it is impossible to reach, you will not achieve your goal.
Think about how relevant your goal is to your current situation, and how necessary it is to your volunteer placement. If it is not relevant or if you do not have to raise the money, then you are unlikely to be committed to your fundraising activity. However, if it is truly relevant, you will be very motivated and have a much greater chance of succeeding.
Goals must be timebound. Consider when you need the funds and how much time you have for your fundraising. The timescale will depend on when you want to , for example, pay back loans or purchase something for your trip. Or maybe even start fundraising for your next volunteer trip.
All tasks are compulsory in order to successfully complete the course. Your answers must be a minimum of 200 words and a maximum of 500 words.
Write down a definition of each of the following terms in your own words to show your understanding