When most people think of fundraising events, they immediately picture lavish black-tie galas or huge walk-a-thons and runs with hundreds or even thousands of participants. These events can be truly inspirational and create a wonderful sense of camaraderie — not to mention often including fabulous swag bags and to-die-for auction items.
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But the reality is — these events consume an incredible amount of staff and volunteer time and can be extremely expensive to produce. That’s not to say they cannot be incredibly successful (and fun!) too, but in today’s tightening economy and growing popularity of the “staycation,” it may also be time to bring the big events down a notch or two — right into your own living room, neighborhood, or community.
As we already know at Born Free USA united with API, community events rock and we want more of them! What is a community event? Anything you want it to be really — from a good old-fashioned lemonade stand (the Chiocca kids in Ohio recently produced a very successful stand on our behalf and even made the news!) to the more elaborate forthcoming 2nd Annual Circus Show & other Atrocities hosted by well-known Sacramento artist, Gale Hart.
This alternative art show scheduled September 13, 2008, features more than 100 artists from across the country and headlines national cartoonist and comic, Dan Piraro, of Bizarro fame. The parking lot of Sacramento’s largest art gallery will be transformed into a fantastical midway with human circus acts and art-inspired games of chance such as the Wheel of Misfortune — all in an effort to raise funds for us and to educate people about the horrible abuses suffered by animals used in circuses.
It doesn’t really matter what you do — from a backyard BBQ, to a Born Free movie night in your home, to running a marathon on our behalf and collecting pledges from friends, family, and co-workers — the point is to just do something! We’re full of ideas and happy to chat with you about them, just call 916-447-3085 x202 or email development@bornfreeusa.org.
Every penny counts,
Tracy