Here is what my team did and learned during the fundraising campaign for the Edhi Foundation.

When I was in school I heard the story of Edhi sb. In his childhood, his mother used to give him 2 paisas and use to tell him that use 1 paisa for yourself and spend the other 1 paisa on someone poor. This attitude and learning lead him to pursue a very big goal in his life. Now you must have heard about that goal “The Edhi Foundation” is a non-profit social welfare organization based in Pakistan. It was founded in 1951, he served as the head of the organization until his death on 8 July 2016. I am really impressed by him because of his humbleness and his vision. I always wanted to do something like him and luckily I got a chance to do it.

To contribute to his goal, in Amal Academy we were assigned a project where we had to raise funds for Edhi Foundation. The reason behind fundraising was not only to raise funds but also to have lifelong experiences that how you convince people to give you donation. That was the major part we had to play in this campaign.

What strategy my team adopted?

Deciding on a specific strategy was something really challenging for us. To decide we arranged a meeting, where everyone gave their point of view that how we should run this campaign. I was so puzzled because everyone was giving their own point of view and no suggestions were wrong. So in the end we decided that we should go with no single strategy. I decided that everyone should run a campaign with which they are comfortable.

Strategies insights from the Team
One of my team member who was really excited about this fundraising campaign she adopted a strategy “Bottle of change”. Here is what she said

“I used a technique to collect donations which were a bottle of change I was aware that no body in my neighbors will give me a collective big note amount so I thought that bottle of change will at least make them do a one rupee donation and by that many people were actually giving me their set of change along with notes.”

Experience of Fundraising Campaign

Believe me or not fundraising is a very interesting and learning experience you will have in life. My team had a wonderful experience during this fundraising campaign.

Experience of Team Members

Rabia Jamil was very active and interested in the fundraising activity. She shared amazing insights

I found the whole process interesting and helpful but it was a challenging task, as it was my first time raising funds, I had no idea that convincing people to give charity for a very trustworthy foundation would be so hard

Ayesha Naseem was super motivated during the campaign. Here is what she said

Initially, I was very confused about how to start this campaign. hen I started my struggle by pursuing my close friend, class fellows, and relatives through social media (WhatsApp and Facebook). In the 1st week 5–6 people who were already convinced they sent me a donation, In the 2nd week I again pursued all the contacts. Some said, we have already given donations to Edhi Foundation directly or some other organization like Shaukat Khanum, Haq foundation. After my continuous pursuit, 20 people sent me donations. In this way, I was able to get donations from 20/60 people. Overall experience was very good, it makes me able to get out of my comfort zone.

Tazeen Zahra was really excited about this campaign and here is what she experienced during the campaign.

Overall my experience was great, “Edhi fund collection activity was amazing in terms of self growth and getting out of my comfort zone. Constant rejection and being ignored when asked to donate for a good cause at first felt bitter to swallow but in the end I came to know how to deal with such situations.”

Yusra Waqar worked really hard during the campaign. She shared an amazing experience with the team. You should give it a read as well.

This is my first experience collecting funds for Edhi Foundation. It was a great learning experience. Yes, it is quite a difficult task in terms of collecting funds from strangers, friends, and family members but this is the real-time when I realized the failure of collecting funds because initially, no one is interested to donate money. Everyone said you are late we are already donating money to people. I try again and again for donations and finally in my family circle few are ready to give donations for a social cause and at that time

Benish was very active and interested in the fundraising activity. She shared amazing insights

It was my first experience of fund collection. And it is very difficult for me to collect funds from strangers or even relatives. Because this experience gave me a lesson that fund collection is not an easy job because before this experience I think it is not too difficult. But now I realized how difficult it is. Because people did not easily give donations some of them just ignore and some of them say that they have given to another foundation. But I run this campaign on social media and I also meet some people for fund collection and finally I have collected some funds for the Edhi foundation. My overall experience was good and it makes me out of my comfort zone.

Sumayya Fayaz is a really intelligent team member and did really great job during the fundraising campaign here is what she experienced.

This experience was meaningful. It felt good contributing to a good cause. The majority of people left my message on the scene but many who responded gave a very response.

Sadia Yaseen with her great communication skills took her part in the activity. Here is her experience

When we were told about this, all of us had high spirits and we wanted to collect as much money as possible. In current times when we are stuck in our homes, it was hard for us to go around and collect funds. Still, we tried our best by talking to our immediate neighbors, shopkeepers, friends, and family.

How we Faced Challenges during fundraising.

Fundraising is a challenging task, especially in Pakistan. My team members faced a lot of different challenges during the fundraising campaign. Below I have shared some insights from my team members.

I found the whole process interesting and helpful but it was a challenging task, as it was my first time raising funds, I had no idea that convincing people to give charity for a very trustworthy foundation would be so hard. Rabia Jamil

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Many people didn't reply and left my message on the scene. So I read up on the Edhi services and when people refused I told them about the essential services they provide to the unfortunate. But there were many who did respond to my message the first time and were very helpful. I have never collected for a social cause before so this activity was a very different experience. Sumayya Fayyaz

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It was quite a difficult task in terms of collecting funds from strangers, friends, and family members but this is the real-time when I realized the failure of collecting funds because initially, no one is interested to donate money. Everyone said you are late we are already donating money to people. I try again and again for donations and finally in my family circle few are ready to give donations for a social cause and at that time. Yusra Waqar

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“I approached my family members, relatives, and neighbors majorly because it was more convenient to ask them for donations in my bottle of change. I got a good response from them but a few demeaning words meant nothing because when we look at the bigger picture, it's for self-betterment.” Tazeen Zahra

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Initially, I faced difficulty on a personal level. I felt nervousness. I faced rejection by some people by saying that we had already donated to another organization. I feel disappointed. Ayesha Naseem

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Some people just ignored my message after viewing my status but then I have contacted them individually. Then some of them agreed to give donations, some says that they have already given to other people or organizations. And some of them still ignoring even after personal contact. And there were some people who agreed to give funds but still, they have not to donate money due to some reasons. Benish

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As universities are closed and many of us are at home, we couldn’t ask people directly for funds. We had to do everything Online which was a limitation of this project. One of the major issues was the lack of resources as many people didn’t have a JazzCash or Easypaisa account. Many people also told us that they will send the money later but unfortunately, we never received any. Sadia Yaseen

Summary

Humanity should be our first priority in our life. This experience thought us convincing skills and gave us a great lesson that how we can get “Inner Peace”.