She’s the First Event at SU: Lessons Learned in FUNdraising

As a Campus Outreach Coordinator for the She’s the First team, my job is to experiment with fun, affordable ways we can get college students behind education sponsorships for girls at schools around the world in the She’s the First network. I’m discovering what the best practices are for college fundraising so that we can eventually make a guidebook for co-eds nationwide, and then She’s the First sponsorships will truly achieve great scale! “Baked Goods and Beats” was a test fundraiser I organized at Syracuse University and I’ve blogged about our progress in planning it weekly. This Tuesday was the big day, and as with any first-time event, we learned lots of lessons!

The Syracuse-based She's the First Team: Christen Brandt, Chelsea Orcutt, Rachael Datello

Good news: We generated a great deal of interest in She’s the First among Syracuse students! Christen Brandt, She’s the First director, Rachael Datello, our media producer, and I set up an information table in the courtyard where our “carnival” was stationed. The not-as-good news: We didn’t meet our fundraising goal to sponsor a girl in Tanzania for a full year…yet! I still believe that the fundraiser was successful because it truly was a learning experience. Here are a few key lessons:

College students will buy sporks for a cause, believe it or not!

Having a back-up plan is important.Unfortunately, none of the local Syracuse bakeries we contacted were able to donate baked goods. Luckily, my hall council had decided well before the event that we would try to sell sporks. My advisor contacted the spork company, Light My Fire, and they generously agreed to donate 150 sporks. Even though we didn’t have baked goods to sell, selling the sporks helped us to raise some money for the cause. (Sporks sound silly, but college students like this stuff!)

Using social media is key. As soon as the details for Baked Goods and Beats were confirmed, we began promoting it on Twitter and created a Facebook event. Within 10 minutes of making the event, we already had 30 attendees! Facebook also provided an excellent way to send reminders about the event and inform guests of all of the activities that would be offered.

inflatable jousting was a popular draw

“Stop, collaborate, and listen!” Vanilla Ice offers some sound advice. My hall council realized that we had so many ideas for activities for the event, but we had a fairly limited amount of time to contact all of the different departments within the University to obtain the necessary materials. Luckily, when our advisor shared our ideas with advisors from other hall councils, they stepped up and split some of the work with us. From reserving the event space to contacting food services to cater the event, the other hall councils’ time and effort were invaluable to the event’s success.

lots of students dropped by the carnival!

Though we haven’t reached our fundraising goal yet, we’re certainly not slowing down! We are already brainstorming for another She’s the First event during the first few weeks of school in the fall. We’ll learn from this event to make the next one even better, and we hope that students on other campuses will be inspired to host their own FUNdraising event!

Fundraising for Girls' Education with Cupcakes, Music, and…Sporks?

Baked Goods and Beats - a benefit by Syracuse University students for She's the First!

I can hardly believe that Baked Goods and Beats, the benefit SU is holding to sponsor a Tanzanian girl’s education, is only one week away! My residence hall council and I are working hard to iron out all the final details.

We’re so grateful that other residence halls are excited about the cause! Councils from neighboring halls have helped us by securing food, a space for the festivities, a sound system, and even an inflatable jousting game—a big hit with SU students (no pun intended)!

This week, the council members and I are continuing to call local bakeries to pin down one that would be willing to donate baked goods. Our initial plan was to sell the baked goods in order to raise the money for a girl’s education. However, if we are unable to secure a baked good donation, we have a back-up plan! Nate, our council adviser, ordered sporks (see photo) for us to sell at the event.

sporks - unique fundraising idea coming from Syracuse University!

They might seem a little quirky, but sporks are a fun and unique addition to a college student’s survival kit, and we anticipate that we’ll be able to meet our fundraising goal by selling them. Additionally, we will place donation buckets around the event site, as well as a She’s the First informational table to share more details about our cause.

We’ve also created a Facebook event, and with all of the residence hall councils that are pitching in and spreading the news via word of mouth, our event is gaining momentum fast. Stay tuned for next week, when I’ll post a recap of the event with photos and videos!

Follow the Making of Syracuse University’s Concert/Carnival to Benefit She’s the First!

Exciting news from Syracuse University, where we’re piloting the She’s the First campus sponsorship program!

Chelsea Orcutt, She's the First Campus Outreach Coordinator

After quite a bit of discussion and planning, my residence hall council is organizing an exciting spring event to benefit She’s the First! I was thrilled when, after pitching the idea of sponsoring a girl, my fellow council members agreed to let the proceeds of an upcoming inter-hall event go toward helping a girl achieve her dreams through an education.

We’re planning an afternoon concert and carnival, tentatively titled “Baked Goods and Beats,” which we hope will feature performances by student musicians in the residence halls, as well as delicious baked goods provided by a legendary student baker and donated treats from bakeries near SU. Add carnival games and prizes to the mix, and this will be an afternoon to remember!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be blogging about the steps the council and I are taking to make this big idea become a reality. From getting in touch with potential sponsors to creating promotional materials, and all the little details in between, I hope to create a useful model for an event that other students can implement on their campuses to benefit She’s the First!