What went wrong at our Mama Pamba fund raiser

We launched our Mama Pamba project recently.  We did a lot of things right, and a lot of things wrong.

I thought I would talk about them here in the hope that others might learn from our mistakes.

What we did wrong

• Not involve the global community
  You all like Mama Pamba, right?  Don't you wish you could have been at the fund raiser?
  
  We know we have fans all over the world and we could have had a much bigger fund raiser if it were logistically possible.  So how could we have gotten other people involved?
  
  A few ideas spring to mind.
  
  We could have garnered donations via text message.  You know the ones: Text Dolphin to 4454 to make a $25 donation.
  
  The big advantage with this method is that it is so easy to do.  It takes seconds, requires no login credentials and uses a technology that everybody is familiar with.
  
  The second is the use of the Meaningful Shop: A much underused tool that Meaningful Volunteer has developed.  This is a bit more complicated that texting, but would of generate a sewing machine or two.
  
  Also, why did we limit ourself to one event in one country?  I know that there are at least a few of you out there who could have organized something.
  
  Maybe something as simple as dinner with friends and 15% of the bill going towards a "Mama Pamba tip"?  Maybe a pub night?  Maybe selling your old clothes and giving the proceeds to Mama Pamba?
  
  The possibilities are limitless.
  
  
• The Message
  We raised about $US1,000.  This is great!  We probably buy six sewing machines with this money plus a bunch of sewing materials.
  
  But is that all we really wanted to do?  The message is all important.
  
  Mama Pamba is a cool name, but just what is Mama Pamba?  I'm sure some people went away from the event knowing they supported something cool, but weren't exactly sure what that cool thing was.
  
  We should have spent time talking on the microphone explaining the project and even offering spot prizes for answering quiz questions.
  
  What's the average age of people in Buyaya (19)?  What is the number one killer (malaria)?
  
  We should have had more emphasis on the project and the problems that people face in Buyaya.
  
  We did have a projector with a Powerpoint presentation about Buyaya on constant rotation, but it was tucked in a corner where very few people could see it.
  
  
• Lack of movie footage
  Yours truly was responsible for taking video footage of event so we could make a video about it.  I completely forgot and had to use still images for the movie.  Silly me.

What we did right
Luckily, we did a lot more things right than we did wrong.

• Having non-Meaningful Volunteer people do the work
  I got a lot of undeserved credit for setting this fund raiser up.  We had one superstar (you know who you are) who did most of the work.
  
  It is always great and heart warming when people step up and work hard at projects that Meaningful Volunteer has set up.
  
  
• Press time
  I was a little dubious about this one at first, but Megin Alvarez insisted.  She sent out a bunch of press releases to local papers. Check out the resulting articles here and here.
  
  We good some publicity, which is always good.  We also had a lady randomly visit us and give us a huge box full of beads for our craft groups.  We were also contacted by a business in Vancouver called My Best Friend's Closet who want to carry stock for Grassroots Uganda and the Payawpao Orchids!
  
  
• The Usual Stuff
  We did the usual stuff like raffles and 50-50 draws, which are always good money makers.

Summary

We made a total of $1,012.79.   Click here for a breakdown.

We're planning another fund raiser in the new year.  This time it'll be for a solar powered school in Uganda.

Meaningful Volunteer and CERV spearheads successful humanitarian fundraising project

This post is from Raymund Villanueva, the Technical Support officer for Meaningful Volunteer.  It is about what happened with the money raise for an indigenous tribe in the Philippines.

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The aid on its way

CERV-Philippines launched a successful relief project to help an Indigenous People’s community in Central Luzon, Philippines.  How it started can be read here.

The response was quick and positive.  CERV decided to increase its target to three sacks of grain and at least two water pumps.

Canadian law student and National Union of People’s Lawyers volunteer Emily Misola Richards was first to pitch in.

Former CERV volunteer and Meaningful Volunteer founder Malcolm Trevena proposed a CERV-MV hook-up on this project.  CERV readily agreed, making it the first joint humanitarian fundraising project ever.  MV took care of two-thirds of the amount needed initially.

GVN Foundation kindly agreed to make an emergency release of the funds it keeps for CERV health and children’s welfare projects to help in the project.

Former CERV volunteers Richard Kastenschmidt and Andrew Roquiz of the USA and Leighton Wood (Canada) came through with cash donations.

The project then had more money than it initially needed.

CERV then asked Wilfredo Marbella, deputy secretary general of the Peasant Movement of the Philippines, to look for the right kind of rice grains.  He delivered three sacks within three days.

All that was needed at that point was to turn over the grains and the funds for the water pumps.  But, as mentioned in the first article, the area is militarized.  CERV waited for two weeks before it was able to make the delivery.  It needed the help of the KAMP, the Philippines’ biggest federation of Indigenous Peoples, who said that we should just surprise the military and arrive without announcing ourselves.

Following are some pictures of the actual handover.   Within three days of the handover, the first pump was already offering clean and potable water to the community.  (While CERV intends to go back to take pictures of the water pumps at work and the grains being planted, this has to be scrapped for now due to security reasons.)  The community is happy with the three sacks of grain as they were only expecting one.  They now await the next planting season even as they start clearing their traditional planting areas on mountainsides.

CERV director Raymund Villanueva also stumbled on a story while there.  Watch this video.