Fundraising – are you tired of it?
by CJ ROPER, DIRECTOR, AFRICAN SUNRISE VOLUNTEERING
You’ve had your first coffee for the day, and you are reading your emails. And there you see it – yet another request for money or goods from an Organisation. Sigh. You skim through it, maybe forward it on, and then that’s that. You’ve done your duty – surely someone else will donate to those poor people.
Fundraising is never easy. With the world as it is today, more and more organisations are turning to local companies and communities to help fund projects that are so very necessary, but that lack any type of funding. But people get tired. Once they have donated to a cause, they have done their duty, and it’s a good enough reason.
It’s your hard-earned money, and times are tough.
We want to be the change we want to see in the world – that’s why we do what we do. Volunteers and interns come to South Africa to experience a different culture and economic and sociological system to their own, with a view to learn from the experience and to also provide our community with their skills and training. We work with a number of worthy NPOs to place each volunteer and intern to ensure that their organisation benefits from the placement, and the volunteer/intern gains invaluable experience. When our volunteers and interns come over from other countries, we use a good portion of the money to give directly to our Projects, instead of being a company that makes a huge profit. Our interns are mostly social work students, and their knowledge and eagerness to embrace a new culture, so far away from home, is amazing. They often run fundraisers themselves, or give us ideas for fundraisers, as they spend a lot of time with the children and adults at our projects, and know where and what would improve things.
We hope to include the people and businesses in Cape Town to join us in the progression of equality. Poverty and a lack of opportunity has a wide-ranging negative impact for our community and society. Bridging the gap, giving hope, providing a platform that can empower Cape Town’s most vulnerable residents is a good start.
There’s sometimes also a stigma attached to raising funds for certain initiatives, such as on behalf of homeless people, as this might conflict with a notion that the authorities should be doing something about this, or that the authorities are doing something about this. This also applied to any vulnerable child or adult, with a generally favoured opinion that the authorities are either undertaking this issue, or at the very least, they should be.
And with that comes one of the biggest stumbling blocks – there’s often little to no assistance given by the local municipality, even though there are departments that specialize in serving our community’s most vulnerable residents. The police are often heavy-handed, and discriminate against people living on the street, without fully trying to understand the nearly impossible position often endured on daily basis: hunger, lack of shelter, no access to social workers or related healthcare, and no way hope of getting out of that cycle.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case – we, the community of Cape Town and all its suburbs – can come together to bridge the gap that is often left when municipality and government officials and departments don’t provide the care for our most vulnerable children and adults.
At African Sunrise, we encourage our donors to get involved with our projects and fundraisers. It makes the world of difference to know where your money is going, and to see how you have actually made a huge impact, no matter how small the donation. We all have a part to play in uplifting our communities, be it via donations for something you believe in, or by volunteering at our Soup Sessions, or a day out at the kindergarten in Philippi Township.
Support your friends and family in their initiatives, however small. People who run initiatives to better the lives of others, and to empower the community, need all the support they can get. We have a few regular donors, and one in particular, that donates to nearly all of our fundraisers, and who comes along to take part in everything. Support your cousin in their soup kitchen initiatives, or your daughter in her baking initiatives for those less fortunate. Share the posts on social media if you can’t donate, so that the word gets around, and more people take part. We are builders – builders of a country that needs it. We help children learn as much as they can, help them get an education, so that the next generation continues to build on the foundations we lay down.
So the next time you see yet another Facebook post about a fundraiser, take a closer look – does it appeal to you? Would you like to be a part of it? One simple act from you, can made such a huge difference.
Our Sanitary Pad Drive is still on-going, as is our Photography Project for St.Francis Home of Safety. We are still in need of lots of sanitary pads for the teenagers, and a few more donations would really help.
We are the change, and YOU are the change we need to see in our country.
You’ve had your first coffee for the day, and you are reading your emails. And there you see it – yet another request for money or goods from an Organisation. Sigh. You skim through it, maybe forward it on, and then that’s that. You’ve done your duty – surely someone else will donate to those poor people.
Fundraising is never easy. With the world as it is today, more and more organisations are turning to local companies and communities to help fund projects that are so very necessary, but that lack any type of funding. But people get tired. Once they have donated to a cause, they have done their duty, and it’s a good enough reason.
It’s your hard-earned money, and times are tough.
We want to be the change we want to see in the world – that’s why we do what we do. Volunteers and interns come to South Africa to experience a different culture and economic and sociological system to their own, with a view to learn from the experience and to also provide our community with their skills and training. We work with a number of worthy NPOs to place each volunteer and intern to ensure that their organisation benefits from the placement, and the volunteer/intern gains invaluable experience. When our volunteers and interns come over from other countries, we use a good portion of the money to give directly to our Projects, instead of being a company that makes a huge profit. Our interns are mostly social work students, and their knowledge and eagerness to embrace a new culture, so far away from home, is amazing. They often run fundraisers themselves, or give us ideas for fundraisers, as they spend a lot of time with the children and adults at our projects, and know where and what would improve things.
We hope to include the people and businesses in Cape Town to join us in the progression of equality. Poverty and a lack of opportunity has a wide-ranging negative impact for our community and society. Bridging the gap, giving hope, providing a platform that can empower Cape Town’s most vulnerable residents is a good start.
There’s sometimes also a stigma attached to raising funds for certain initiatives, such as on behalf of homeless people, as this might conflict with a notion that the authorities should be doing something about this, or that the authorities are doing something about this. This also applied to any vulnerable child or adult, with a generally favoured opinion that the authorities are either undertaking this issue, or at the very least, they should be.
And with that comes one of the biggest stumbling blocks – there’s often little to no assistance given by the local municipality, even though there are departments that specialize in serving our community’s most vulnerable residents. The police are often heavy-handed, and discriminate against people living on the street, without fully trying to understand the nearly impossible position often endured on daily basis: hunger, lack of shelter, no access to social workers or related healthcare, and no way hope of getting out of that cycle.
However, this doesn’t have to be the case – we, the community of Cape Town and all its suburbs – can come together to bridge the gap that is often left when municipality and government officials and departments don’t provide the care for our most vulnerable children and adults.
At African Sunrise, we encourage our donors to get involved with our projects and fundraisers. It makes the world of difference to know where your money is going, and to see how you have actually made a huge impact, no matter how small the donation. We all have a part to play in uplifting our communities, be it via donations for something you believe in, or by volunteering at our Soup Sessions, or a day out at the kindergarten in Philippi Township.
Support your friends and family in their initiatives, however small. People who run initiatives to better the lives of others, and to empower the community, need all the support they can get. We have a few regular donors, and one in particular, that donates to nearly all of our fundraisers, and who comes along to take part in everything. Support your cousin in their soup kitchen initiatives, or your daughter in her baking initiatives for those less fortunate. Share the posts on social media if you can’t donate, so that the word gets around, and more people take part. We are builders – builders of a country that needs it. We help children learn as much as they can, help them get an education, so that the next generation continues to build on the foundations we lay down.
So the next time you see yet another Facebook post about a fundraiser, take a closer look – does it appeal to you? Would you like to be a part of it? One simple act from you, can made such a huge difference.
Our Sanitary Pad Drive is still on-going, as is our Photography Project for St.Francis Home of Safety. We are still in need of lots of sanitary pads for the teenagers, and a few more donations would really help.
We are the change, and YOU are the change we need to see in our country.
