Year-end fundraising that’s mutually beneficial
This week I came across a brilliant post from our local fire station on my community’s Facebook group: The volunteer fire department was announcing their annual year-end fundraiser. Residents were invited to contribute a donation and, in return, were promised a visit from Santa, delivering presents via the fire engine.
What a brilliant idea.
We all know how tough it is to “sell” a fundraising campaign. It’s extremely difficult to show our community how donating to our cause will benefit them when we can’t offer much in exchange. Sure, we could send donors a bumper sticker or some other type of cheap branded swag, but these items more often than not end up in the trash. What a waste, right?
The Jobs to Be Done framework, built by Harvard Business School’s Clayton Christensen and others, tells us that people “hire” products or services to help them make progress in their lives. Could this be applicable to fundraising campaigns? You bet!
What’s brilliant about this volunteer fire department’s idea is that what they’re offering in exchange for a donation can absolutely help a consumer make progress in their lives. How?
It can help busy working parents create an unforgettable experience for their child without having to put in much effort—and feel really good about their parenting for once.
It can help grandparents who live far away provide a magical memory for their grandchildren and, through the power of mom and dad’s phone camera, share the experience with them.
It can even help those without children or grandchildren relive the magic of the holiday season by sharing a joyful experience with their neighborhood.
It’s easy to see how this idea could be duplicated throughout the year for a number of occasions: birthdays, Easter, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day… And the mode of transportation doesn’t have to be a fire engine. It could be a vintage car, a horse and buggy, a golf cart…
What ideas does this prompt for you? Is your organization running a similar campaign? I’d love to hear about it.
