Job description: Fundraising Connoisseur

About 18 months ago I attended a conference with all the other Peace Corps Volunteers in my program. There was one Volunteer, Becca, who was in the middle of compiling a local fundraising book and looking for a group of volunteers to pass the project on to when she finished her service. Before she left, Becca compiled information from more than a dozen local fundraising activities done by Volunteers (see our Wine Day Bake Sale), including what the activity was, the target group, tips for others, and a short narrative of the experience.

Getting involved in this project was one of the most decisive moments in my service. Another Volunteer and I took over the Romanian translation of the book, which was finished in time for it to be printed for every Peace Corps Volunteer and his/her partner by the In-Service Trainings, in winter 2010. We again distributed it during the Pre-Service Training for new Volunteers, made it available online to all Peace Corps Moldova Volunteers, and distributed printed copies at the same winter In-Service Trainings to Volunteers and Counterparts. Somehow, getting involved in this project meant that the rest of my service I would continue to promote the use of local fundraising throughout my service. 

During the summer, I spoke with the new Volunteers in my program about the differences between local fundraising in the United States and Moldova. First of all, it is a completely new concept in a civil society that developed on a grant-to-grant budgetary model. Because it is so new, it takes a lot more publicity. One of the four best-practices we've developed is to "Talk it up!"

We have to tell our community:

Before--what we plan to do and why

During--what we are doing and why

After--what we have done and how the community contributed

The Volunteers that arrived last summer are no longer "new," as they are biting into the absolute flesh of their service right now. Over the last couple months I've spoken with Volunteers and their partners at In-Service Trainings about the best-practice above and the three others we've developed: define the budget, be an accountable team, and be transparent. At these trainings we distributed copies of the fundraising manual in English and Romanian. Very few partners have experience with local fundraising activities, but it would be an interesting project to sift through the records and find out just how many Peace Corps communities have used Penny War competitions to raise money for local schools, since Peace Corps arrived some 19 years ago. 

Yesterday, what is soon to be dubbed "Melissa's Roadshow" had its debut with a completely Moldovan audience. I distributed the guide and facilitated a short workshop for university and college students who volunteer at Medicii Lumii, in their human-trafficking prevention program.

But to be completely honest, I'm just the one who ended up compiling the information. The grass-roots work is being done by so many other great volunteers. Check out this piece about an English Education volunteer that can't get her students to stop churning out new fundraising ideas.