Fundraising 101, Part 2

Last month I wrote a blog on fundraising, sharing some tips I had compiled from my own research on how to do fundraising for the 2012 Retreat for LGBT Muslims and Partners. Here is some follow up advice I gave to a friend (Abdurrafi Adkison), who recently reached out to do some fundraising to get to the Muslims for Progressive Values retreat in NYC in July 2012 (he needs $200). 

The retreat is coming up fast. July 13-15 promises to be a life changing event. I am attempting to attend. Due to some medical issues I have been set back financially. But through the generosity of family and friends I have raise all but $200 for my trip. I would like to ask to please consider donating to help me go to the Muslims for Progressive Values retreat. More information can be found at www.mpvusa.org. 

Click here to donate to help Abdurrafi get to the MPV Retreat. 

I wrote to Abdurrafi, sending him the link my blog post on fundraising, and adding the suggestions below. 

I share them here to disseminate his fundraising appeal, to amend my previous post in hope of helping other fundraising newbies like me, and since some of you may be helping us do fundraising for next year's Retreat, to give you a jump start on the process (start saving now people! Seriously, if you can set aside money for yourself and budget to also save $5 or $10 or $20 to donate on top of your registration fee, that would be awesome!): 

(1) post your "ask" regularly on your FaceBook page and other places and at different times (e.g. one day in the morning, one day at night, one day midday... well, you get the idea) since different folks have a different schedule for checking their FB and other social media or even emails; 

(2) post it daily or some other regular interval because people want to give and usually plan to get to it later and then forget, so they need and will appreciate the reminder; 

(3) make specific "asks" of specific people (send them an e-mail preferably after calling them to ask them or bringing it up in conversation), asking them for something you think is reasonable for them to give; 

(4) don't hesitate about soliciting small gifts ($5, $10, $20). Some people might be embarrassed to give a small amount, but be assured and reassure them the small amounts really do add up -- if my friend gets $10 from 20 people, he will cover his gap (he might consider asking 40 people for $10 each and maybe he will get the $200, since some people will say no) & if all 40 give $5 each he will get to his goal and if they don't all give he will still be closer to it; and lastly

(5) consider borrowing the amount from someone and pay it off at $20/month for 10 months or whatever is workable for you (and if you whittle it down with donations, then it won't be the full $200 that has to be borrowed)...

There are always more ideas that can come; my suggestions are not exhaustive. Be creative, be bold, and listen to your intuition.

Love, Light, & Peace,
Kamal 


Related Links: 
Muslims for Progressive Values (Principles)
MPV Retreat Registration and Program
Abdurrafi Adkison's fundrazr campaign to get to the MPV Retreat

Fundraising 101 & the 2012 Retreat for LGBT Muslims and Partners

I am involved with the 2012 Retreat for LGBT Muslims and Partners held outside Philadelphia, over Memorial Day weekend. I attended the Retreat last year, the first of its kind, an energizing and spiritually nourishing experience. This year, I am honored to be part of the planning and fundraising committees.

A friend just shared with me that he sent my blog in which I detail why the Retreat was so significant to me, to his father, and his dad (who had agreed to give $25 when initially asked) decided to give $50. I also got a note from a friend I asked to donate that he had done so, and found out he gave more than I asked (he gave $250!). I got other responses from friends who gave $14 (we were short of our target by $1400 so I committed to ask at least 10 people for at least $14, taking responsibility for 1/10 of the gap), $18, or $36, and other amounts that were meaningful to—and possible for—the giver.

This has all been awesome! Alhamdulillah!

So, thank you, everyone who has given thus far. And thank you to all who have asked your friends and family to help us meet our goals. Every little bit helps! It really does.

I’m not saying awesome because my blog inspired a friend’s father to give more (though I am very touched to hear it) or because I surpassed my targets, but because of my friend’s courage to ask and the beautiful surprise of being given more than I asked.

It’s also awesome because, candidly, I had to take my own courage in hand to send out my “asks.” Doing this fundraising made me very anxious. So if you are feeling nervous at the prospect of doing any fundraising, you are not alone!

Here are some steps I took to walk me through my fears:

(1) I admitted that I—like a lot of other people—have a hard time asking for money, and I accepted that it’s ok to feel awkward or anxious about it;

(2) I reminded myself that there is a real need, and took care to explain it in my “ask”; 

(3) I anchored myself in the faith and total support I have for this project, and for how it addresses the needs I described in my appeal; 

(4) I held on to the understanding that while my call is personal and personalized (my perspective on the need, my reasons I think the project valid, etc.), it is not a personal rejection if people say no (this is important); 

(5) besides which, even if a personal rejection, Gloria teaches me: I Will Survive; 

(6) I let folks I asked know I understood if they were not be able to help out in this way at this time, and that it is ok (no high-pressure sales tactics);

(7) a friend eased my mind, telling me that this is an opportunity to let someone help me, to let him participate in realizing a worthwhile project, which makes him feel good; 

(8) he shared with me that people want to give and do good, they want to be helpful;

(9) so by asking them for money, I am giving them that opportunity; 

(10) because our fiscal sponsor, Muslims for Progressive Values, is a 501(c)(3) organization, the gifts are tax-deductible in the USA (and I remembered to put this in my “ask”); 

(11) I asked for a specific amount that I felt would be reasonable for them; 

& 

(12) I took to heart what another friend told me: think of it as a conversation (maybe you do this by phone or in person—courage, my sweets—fundraising is best when done in person or by phone); my friend can respond, “I can't do $50, but I can do $30,” or, “Honestly, $20 is too much for me right now, but I can do $10.”

I hope this helps you! It helped me face my fears. And remember, when you ask, that every little bit helps!

Xoxo & love, light, & peace,
Kamal

Additional Fundraising Resources:

http://www.thefundraisingauthority.com/fundraising-basics/

http://www.cnmsocal.org/resources/fundraising-and-marketing/additional-fundraising-resources.html

http://www.nonprofithearts.net/rich/money.html

Sample Letter:

Dear [Your friend’s name here],

I'm writing to you today to request your help in reaching my personal goal of raising $1000 for the second annual Retreat for LGBT Muslims and Partners held outside Philadelphia, over Memorial Day weekend. I've raised at least $525, and I am hoping you can help me close the gap to reach my goal! As you know, I attended the Retreat last year, the first of its kind, an energizing and spiritually nourishing experience. This year, I am honored to be part of the planning and fundraising committees.

I will never forget the moment I heard a woman’s voice raised in the call to prayer, the adhaan, during last year’s Retreat (I detailed in my blog why this was so significant).

This call to prayer healed a rift in my soul, a rift in Spirit I had not realized was there. My visceral reaction was an experiential confirmation that excluding women from spiritual spaces and leadership deeply damages all of us, not just women. And the Retreat helps heal that injury: women call to prayer and lead prayers, and people of all genders pray side by side and not in gender-segregated spaces.

This Retreat is part of an historic global reformation and reclamation movement in Islam, and I am proud to be a part of it and to support it.

The Retreat also is a welcoming and inclusive space for incredible diversity: secular, atheist, cultural, or devout and practicing Muslims; Sunni or Shia, and all sorts within those two branches; Sufi and not; and of course, the partners who may or may not be Muslim. We are young(er) and old(er), of many genders and many ethnicities and races. We offer the Retreat at a time of tremendous need for safe spaces for our attendees, both as Muslim Queers in America, and simply as Queer Muslims. The Retreat mobilizes and solidifies an abiding respect for the values of diversity and inclusion that is beautiful to witness.

Sadly, we are short of our final goal (about $1400 short), so I am reaching out far and wide and asking folks if they can contribute at least $14. If even 10 of my friends do so, that will close the gap by a tenth. Other committee members are doing the same.

Please join me in supporting the scholarships we offer to 14 youth (18-25) and 5 youth+ (26+) to attend. 

Can you make a donation today of $50, $25, or $14? Your gift will help and they all add up! 

All donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permissible by law in the USA, as our fiscal sponsor, Muslims for Progressive Values, is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization.  You can give via PayPal or, if you prefer not to give via PayPal, you can send a check or money order (if you do the latter, please fill out the attached form, as we need to track donations through MPV to ensure that all donations to The Retreat are attributed). 

Thank you.

Love, Light, & Peace,

Kamal

Rallying for Rights

I missed the May 31, 2011, rally to preserve New York City’s HIV-services budget. The Bloomberg Administration’s solution to the current fiscal crisis is to cut funding across the City’s budget (some suggest, fairly). Critics propose raising taxes on the banks that caused the financial crisis, asserting that:

“There’s plenty of money,” said Heather Stepanek, 29, from the Bronx. “It’s not a revenue crisis, it’s a priority crisis.”

Today, June 2, 2011, City Hall faces another rally. New Yorkers are determined not to let Cairo, Casablanca, or Tunis have all the glory! And New York City can show the world what it looks like when a government allows citizens freedom of assembly and opinion—even when those citizens criticize their government and leaders.

The right to education is a human right, a civil right. Literacy is fundamental to the right to education. Citizens cannot function fully within society without being literate. At the very least, they are at a significant and unfair disadvantage without literacy.

Literacy facilitates economic self-sufficiency. With literacy, people are dramatically better able to support themselves. Economic self-sufficiency is laudable all on its own. But it also brings greater empowerment: power to make decisions and choices for ourselves; power to access health care and advocate for our needs; power to leave abusive relationships and stand on our own; power to demand safer sex from a partner or spouse who pays the bills but we believe may cheat (this is a big issue in male-to-female transmission of HIV around the world). Literacy education enables positive change in a society, in people’s economic conditions, and in their quality of life.

The statistics on adult literacy in NYC are clear. The need is great:

38% of New Yorkers are foreign-born (2000 Census).

47% of New Yorkers speak a language other than English at home (2000 Census).

Barely one-third of public school students performed at grade level on the 2001 English Language Arts exams (NYC Department of Education). 

1.5 to 2 million adults in NYC need literacy services. Fewer than 60,000 receive them (NYC Mayor’s Office).

The fact that New York has a sizeable foreign-born population matters because many countries around the world fail to educate their citizens adequately. Morocco, for example, has a literacy rate of 52%. The literacy rate for Moroccan women is just under 40%, which definitely has implications for HIV-prevention, domestic violence prevention, and other issues.

The Bloomberg Administration has shown it cares about these issues. But it needs us, the citizens, to press it to do the right thing. This is what democracy looks like: we are all accountable, not just the politicians and the banks. We all need to do our part.

Will you join me at the rally?