You hear the “F” word a lot in the nonprofit world. Yes, we of course are talking about the good old-fashioned fundraiser. Obviously the work we do requires resources, and one of those is money. However, it seems to us that fundraisers don’t have to be stuffy, black-tie gala events (nothing against stuffy black-tie gala events – in fact, we’re dangerously fond of those mushroom puff pastry things they pass out during cocktail hour). Why can’t they be something edifying? Dare we say it … fun, even?
Well, we can’t promise we’ll never host a black-tie fundraising event (feel free to remind us of this post when we do), but we are determined to find more intimate and integrated ways of generating support. Enter the OneVoice House Concert. What is that? Well, it’s just what it sounds like. We put on a concert at your home, in your backyard, or perhaps the community gazebo for you and ten, twenty, even fifty of your best friends. Think of it as a Tupperware party, only a lot more fun, and with considerably less plastic.
The way we figure it is this. If we’re going to talk about the power of community and music, then we ought to walk the walk too, right? No, we won’t make you sing Kumbaya and do an interpretive dance, no matter how tempting that is. What we do do (wait, that doesn’t sound right) is spread the word. By playing music, showing video, and talking a bit about OneVoice, we find that people get into the mood (wait, that doesn’t sound right either) and feel inspired to participate in some way. Yes, we’ll give them the opportunity to donate money, of course. But they can also donate their time. Or they can tell a friend who tells a friend, and so on and so on. If nothing else, we’ll make enough of a racket to get the neighbors to call the cops. Hey, any press is good press.
It really is a lot of fun, and how often do you get the chance to be the inspirational point of the neighborhood? Drop us a note if you’re interested in being a host or hostess with the most or mostest.