Fundraising for Community Rebuilding

Greetings and welcome to the inaugural edition of Sustainable Intelligence Newsletter! I'm thrilled to embark on this journey of sharing insights, updates, and stories with you. This platform will delve into various topics close to my heart, including sustainability, community building, and the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI). Today, I want to introduce you to an exciting project I am working on, aiming to revolutionize how communities and nonprofits fundraise for their vital causes.

Advocacy for Sustainability and AI

Many of you may already know me for my advocacy in sustainability, from fashion to finance. My recent posts have often explored how AI can reshape the business landscape, particularly in developing sustainable products. However, there’s another significant aspect of my journey that I haven’t shared much about – my deep-rooted interest in community support and the pivotal role I play in helping communities achieve their social objectives.

Leading Community Initiatives

As a former president of a community organisation, which I led for six years until April this year, I gained firsthand experience in the challenges faced by communities in raising funds. These organisations often rely on the philanthropic contributions of members and their networks, which can be unpredictable and insufficient. In my community, there’s a reliance on monthly dues from members and occasionally events to raise funds. For the qualified communities who seek grants to supplement, the competition is fierce. Despite the advent of online fundraising solutions, many charities and nonprofits still struggle to secure consistent funding.

The Importance of Fundraising for Community Rebuilding

For many communities, fundraising is not just a supplementary activity but a critical lifeline that enables them to rebuild and recover from the devastating impacts of climate crises, such as flooding, wildfires, or droughts. These events can cause extensive damage to homes, infrastructure, and livelihoods, leaving communities in urgent need of resources to restore their environments and support their residents.

The people who contribute to these efforts are often those who have been deeply moved by the plight of affected communities. These donors, motivated by compassion and a sense of solidarity, give generously during fundraising events, understanding that their contributions are essential for the recovery and resilience of these communities. The funds raised help provide immediate relief, facilitate long-term rebuilding projects, and ensure that the affected areas can emerge stronger and more prepared for future challenges.

The Fundraising Challenge

During my tenure, we organised several physical fundraising events aimed at raising funds for critical community infrastructure projects in Nigeria, including building schools, hospitals, and, most recently, public toilets. One of our notable events took place in September 2023, where we implemented new methods to streamline the fundraising process and increase contributions.

To facilitate donations more efficiently, we introduced the use of POS machines and bank transfers. This approach marked a significant shift from traditional methods, where donations were typically made in cash, and donors were publicly acknowledged as they contributed. The new method of using POS machines and bank transfers yielded positive results, leading to an increase in donations. However, despite the success, we faced several challenges that highlighted the limitations of this approach:

• Limited Time to Process Donations: With only one POS machine available, processing donations from all attendees within the event's timeframe proved to be a significant challenge. The time required to handle each transaction meant that many potential donors were unable to contribute during the event.

• Inability to Track Donations: The lack of a systematic way to track donations made it difficult to send personalized thank-you messages to donors. Recognizing and appreciating contributors is crucial for maintaining donor relations and encouraging future contributions, and this shortfall hindered our efforts in this area.

• Difficulties in Redeeming Pledged Donations: Many attendees made verbal pledges to donate later, but redeeming these pledges proved to be highly unlikely. Without an efficient system to follow up and remind donors, these potential contributions were often lost.

• Insufficient Coverage with One POS: The event's large attendance meant that one POS machine was not enough to reach all donors. With over 300 attendees, it was impossible to facilitate donations from everyone in the limited time available. This highlighted the need for multiple points of donation or an alternative system that could handle a large volume of transactions swiftly.

Reflecting on these experiences, it became evident that while the introduction of POS machines and bank transfers improved the fundraising process, there were significant areas for improvement. The lessons learned from these challenges have fueled my determination to develop a more effective solution for nonprofit and charity fundraising events. This solution aims to address these issues by providing a scalable, efficient, and user-friendly platform that can handle large volumes of transactions, track donations, and ensure timely and personalized communication with donors.

Building a Revolutionary Fundraising Platform

Recognising the significant challenges faced by nonprofits and community groups in fundraising, I have gathered a team of talented friends who share my passion for solving these problems. Together, we are dedicating our spare time to developing an innovative platform designed to enhance fundraising events. Our goal is to engage audiences more intimately and enable swift, efficient donations. We are committed to building a solution that addresses real-life issues, providing not only robust donation management tools but also real-time data on donors and events. This data will empower organizers to optimize their strategies both during and after events, ensuring a more effective and streamlined fundraising process.

Positive Feedback and Reinforced Potential

Our initial consultations with event organizers have yielded overwhelmingly positive feedback, reinforcing the potential impact of our project. These early interactions have provided valuable insights, helping us to refine our platform to better meet the needs of the communities we aim to serve. As we continue to develop this platform, we remain focused on creating a tool that not only solves current fundraising challenges but also contributes to the long-term success and sustainability of nonprofit and community-driven initiatives..

Join the Journey

I am excited to share the development process and progress of this platform with you. By subscribing to the Sustainable Intelligence' Newsletter, you will stay updated on our journey, including the highs and lows of building a solution tailored for nonprofits. If you are a nonprofit or an event organiser for nonprofits or charities or just curious, I invite you to follow along for more information and insights.

For more details about our project, visit our website at galafunds.com. I look forward to connecting with many of you to learn about your experiences and solutions in fundraising. Together, we can drive meaningful change and support the causes that matter most.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. This is the Sustainable Intelligence Newsletter – subscribe now for more stories and updates from my adventures.