Fundraising for the Blue Star Foundation
Sep. 15th, 2011 03:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabrinamariAs of our last FreeSpirit gathering in Ramblewood, MD, I'm stepping away from my post as the BSF Treasurer and becoming a fundraiser for the organization instead. In moving forward, I've been considering what makes fundraising successful. I've had a little experience with the Blue Star Wicca and Friends KIVA Lending Team, and based on that, I want to propose a few principles by which our community can guide its fundraising efforts.
1. Fundraising feels natural and organic when it's focused on something that gives what we do meaning.
As a community, we need to come to an agreement about what the BSF is meant to do. We need to understand its goals and believe that they are important. When we are passionately engaged in what the BSF can bring to our Tradition, it will be a pleasure to plan and facilitate fundraisers that work---even if the work itself is challenging.
2. Fundraising is easier when it helps connect us to each other and the communities around us.
I believe that our efforts will be rewarded when they are designed to bring us closer to each other and to our non-Blue Star friends. What is built in the spirit of creative connection will flourish because it feeds our desire for support and affection. As we design future fundraising projects, I hope to encourage us to think about how to offer ourselves opportunities for playful collaboration.
3. Fundraising should be fun, not painful.
Anything that feels like a chore is unlikely to spread and flourish. If we want to have an impact, we need to bring people joy. Our projects should make them happy and give us pleasure as well. When people feel good, their capacity to give expands---and that's exactly what we want.
I propose that we begin our fundraising efforts by adopting these principles and then asking what their guidance requires of us. For example, in order to give our BSF work meaning, we need to generate an agreed-upon vision, a vision we can all care about. In order to connect ourselves to each other and those around us, we need to find a mechanism for reaching out into the wider Pagan/Earth Spirit community and ask what kinds of projects might bring us all together. In order to make sure that we have fun, we need to build and nurture a BSF culture that values play.
1. Fundraising feels natural and organic when it's focused on something that gives what we do meaning.
As a community, we need to come to an agreement about what the BSF is meant to do. We need to understand its goals and believe that they are important. When we are passionately engaged in what the BSF can bring to our Tradition, it will be a pleasure to plan and facilitate fundraisers that work---even if the work itself is challenging.
2. Fundraising is easier when it helps connect us to each other and the communities around us.
I believe that our efforts will be rewarded when they are designed to bring us closer to each other and to our non-Blue Star friends. What is built in the spirit of creative connection will flourish because it feeds our desire for support and affection. As we design future fundraising projects, I hope to encourage us to think about how to offer ourselves opportunities for playful collaboration.
3. Fundraising should be fun, not painful.
Anything that feels like a chore is unlikely to spread and flourish. If we want to have an impact, we need to bring people joy. Our projects should make them happy and give us pleasure as well. When people feel good, their capacity to give expands---and that's exactly what we want.
I propose that we begin our fundraising efforts by adopting these principles and then asking what their guidance requires of us. For example, in order to give our BSF work meaning, we need to generate an agreed-upon vision, a vision we can all care about. In order to connect ourselves to each other and those around us, we need to find a mechanism for reaching out into the wider Pagan/Earth Spirit community and ask what kinds of projects might bring us all together. In order to make sure that we have fun, we need to build and nurture a BSF culture that values play.
