Getting monthly gifts through hutzpah and good looks

Posted by Michael Johnston on July 6th, 2005 at 11:41pm

The phenomenal growth of canvass fundraising has led to the face2face approach being called ‘chugging’ in the United Kingdom — or charitable mugging. In Canada, we’ve seen people standing on the street, going door to door, and even working kiosks in some malls — especially on the west coast.

But what about at events? Rethink Breast Cancer tried a wonderful approach at its Burlesque-themed fundraiser two weeks ago. Pairs of motivated (and handsome) volunteers wore T-shirts that shouted out “Fundraising is Sexxy”. They were also armed with monthly giving pledges. By the end of the night they’d found 20 monthly donors at an average of $20/month. That’s $4,800 a year with a lifetime value of approximately $50,000. Not bad for one nights work and considering the fact that it was the first time they’d introduced monthly giving. And it probably helped that they had those one-of-a-kind pink bracelets (read about that below).

What could you do at your next event?

Under fundraising