Fundraisers lack originality
Holly McCauley
Issue date: 3/24/08 Section: Opinion
Two years ago, I was writing an article for the Oracle about a fundraiser Alpha Xi Delta was holding for the Courage House, a shelter that's facing abysmally low funding - hoping-they-can-afford-their-utilities low. For a donation, participants got play money for a game. When they got there, they found that the featured game had rules identical to Texas Hold 'em.The fundraiser got a good turnout, so they decided it would be an annual thing.
The next year, all of the sudden, the Alpha Sigma Alphas got this great, original, creative idea: to have a poker tournament to raise money for their sorority. They called it their "first annual" poker tournament.
Then, last semester, KSWH decided to be innovative and - you guessed it - have a poker tournament.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a flyer in the Garrison - with a grainy, barely-decipherable watermark, sporadic capitalization of both the whole-word and first-letter variations and clumsy dollar signs drawn on in marker - for "Our FIRST ANNUAL TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER TOURNAMENT." The host? Psi Chi, the honorary psychology fraternity. It didn't say where the money is going.
I understand that there are good fundraising ideas and bad ones, and that this poker tournament, or "buy a ticket for a meal and fake money for games," is a good one. But how many of them can one community support?
An Alpha Xi told me that some potential sponsors turned down the Courage House fundraiser because these sponsors had already contributed to the Alpha Sig fundraiser that happened earlier in the year.
This brings in another factor: the cause. If given the choice, would you rather support:
A. a shelter for women who have escaped abusive relationships and brought their children out of that unhealthy environment and are trying to create a new, healthy environment for themselves and their children;
B. a group of college girls;
C. the campus radio station; or
D. a group of psychology majors?
The next year, all of the sudden, the Alpha Sigma Alphas got this great, original, creative idea: to have a poker tournament to raise money for their sorority. They called it their "first annual" poker tournament.
Then, last semester, KSWH decided to be innovative and - you guessed it - have a poker tournament.
A couple of weeks ago, I saw a flyer in the Garrison - with a grainy, barely-decipherable watermark, sporadic capitalization of both the whole-word and first-letter variations and clumsy dollar signs drawn on in marker - for "Our FIRST ANNUAL TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER TOURNAMENT." The host? Psi Chi, the honorary psychology fraternity. It didn't say where the money is going.
I understand that there are good fundraising ideas and bad ones, and that this poker tournament, or "buy a ticket for a meal and fake money for games," is a good one. But how many of them can one community support?
An Alpha Xi told me that some potential sponsors turned down the Courage House fundraiser because these sponsors had already contributed to the Alpha Sig fundraiser that happened earlier in the year.
This brings in another factor: the cause. If given the choice, would you rather support:
A. a shelter for women who have escaped abusive relationships and brought their children out of that unhealthy environment and are trying to create a new, healthy environment for themselves and their children;
B. a group of college girls;
C. the campus radio station; or
D. a group of psychology majors?
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fundraiscandies
posted 4/02/08 @ 5:12 AM CST
Chocolate fundraising has proven to be successful because people love chocolate. They are able to make a donation and have something to show for it.
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