Adjusting Your Strategy for Nonprofits During the Pandemic
⌛ By Abbey Vidrine ⌛
As we have all experienced, COVID-19 has affected almost every aspect of our normal lives.
For me, that was college and my final semester at Marshall University. My Capstone class has been especially hurt by this. With the goal of raising $20,000 for a local nonprofit by the end of April, we have been... struggling.
As we were trying to adjust to our new normal, the question that came up time and time again was how do we fundraise during a pandemic? There are so many people unemployed, businesses are closed and the economy is hurting. Should we even go through with raising this money? Is it ethically right? Is this a time to be fundraising? These questions were hard to answer, but we eventually came up with a plan.
So, let me tell you my experience of fundraising during a pandemic and some tips to remember!
We decided to go forward with events that we felt were mutually beneficial.
Our first approach was a gofundme. We decided to do this so people could give what they felt comfortable giving. It didn’t put pressure on anyone, but if they wanted to donate to this cause they could. The last thing we wanted to do was pressure or assert our need for this money.
With it being spring, we wanted to do an “egg my yard” for Easter as our next approach, where we surprised houses with a yard full of Easter eggs. With churches being closed and no Easter egg hunts available, we thought this was a great way for kids to still have the experience. It turned out to be a success, and we met our goal for this event!
Our final event has presented more issues to work through than the other two. It involves gathering donations from businesses for a silent auction online. Our plan was to get item or “experience” donations from businesses around our area. However, with COVID-19, we haven’t been able to do that. Businesses are closed down and the last thing they’re worried about is donating items to us. So, we recognized that it wasn’t good practice to continue to ask for donations. Instead, we left it open to businesses who still felt comfortable giving us items.
In the end, we raised $12,000 for the nonprofit organization. So long story short, in my experience when catastrophe strikes, things just don’t work out how you’ve planned and that’s okay. You work around those issues, but sometimes it’s even hard to do that. Overall, fundraising during a pandemic presents a problem. We decided that what people could give would have to suffice, and we focused more on awareness during such a challenging time.
Abbey Vidrine is a West Virginia native and current Public Relations major at Marshall University. She loves all things communication and hopes to do great things within the profession! Connect with Abbey on LinkedIn.