With charity hustlers, on commission, patrolling the streets with perspex smiles, engaging anyone who’ll give them time with “hard sell” sales techniques, it’s easy to be disenfranchised by the whole notion of supporting charities.
My friend Ian was recently asked to support a charity and his response perhaps a bit more brutal than mine might have been, but I sympathise with what he was trying to convey, so I thought I’d address the issue a little.
One of the frequent fundraising techniques is the sponsored event – sponsored walk/run/abseil/etc. – where a supporter of the charity does this event for charity and is encouraged to raise money from their friends and family in the form of “sponsorship” – essentially money they get for doing the thing.
It can be somewhat awkward being approached for sponsorship by someone – what if you don’t think it’s that impressive? What if you don’t actually support the charity? What if you actually just don’t want the charity to co-opt your friend to raise money for them?
When I’m asked to sponsor someone doing something, I’m usually in a dilemma – I want to support my friend, but given the choice, I probably don’t want to give any money, but there are various things I’ll think about:
- What are they doing? Will they be personally challenged?
I’m unlikely to sponsor my superfit friend to do a 10 mile sponsored walk, but if it was someone whom I thought would struggle, but push themselves to do it, I’d be more persuaded. If the event is an organised event with many thousands of people doing it, I’ll be pleased that they’re stepping up to the challenge, but I’ll get more of a kick from supporting a one-of-a-kind challenge that they’ve put passion and effort into making happen.
- Who are the charity? Have they explained what the money will be used for? Does the fund-raiser have a personal link to the charity? Why are they supporting this charity?
If someone has a personal link to the charity, and a compelling story as to why they’re being supported, I’ll be much more likely to support them, than someone who appears to have picked one out of thin air, simply because they “do good things”.
- What do I get out of it? Will someone give me a personal thank you message? Will I get some kind of shoutout? Does my name go up somewhere?
At the very least, anyone sponsoring should be getting something an “I’ve done good” feeling, and the fundraiser is in the best position to make sure the sponsor feels really good about it. This is where the sponsor can really excel and make themselves stand out.
I think it’s important to handle charity events with the same courtesy that you’d ask anyone a favour – I’d never mass email my friends asking if I could borrow £5 – and so I’d never mass email all my friends asking them to sponsor me. I’d still let them know what I was doing but I’ll all the existing etiquette, manners and friendliness will still apply – I’d be interested in finding out how they are etc. – I’d like them to still be my friends whether or not they choose to sponsor.
When fundraising, you frequently have a target to meet, but it’s important to realise that for most people, that’s not a compelling reason to donate.
If you say to someone “I have to raise £300”, they may think “So what? You chose to get into this. It’s your problem.” – it certainly won’t encourage them to donate.
As it is though, you’d actually be very happy with a smallish amount of money from them, so passionately explaining, what you’re doing, explaining what the charity does and why you think it’s so important to support, can really make a big difference.
If you’re passionate about the event, creating a compelling, and touching event, you should find sponsorship much easier to raise.