Nonprofits leverage creativity into funds

Forget the pancake breakfast – there’s a new batch of fundraisers in Springfield, or at least cruising through it.

On May 11, Springfield residents Giancarlo Ospina, Jesse Tyler and Dakota Graff will set off from Brighton Beach in Brooklyn, N.Y., on a 3,700-mile bike ride to Seattle, Wash. Dubbed Ride For Korah, the ride is a fundraising campaign to raise $50,000 for I Pour Life’s women’s empowerment programs in Korah, Ethiopia.

“One of the things that happens when anyone gets into cycling is you start romanticizing the idea of taking a long-distance tour,” said Ospina, I Pour Life’s former brand strategist.

For a community with the Tour de Crawdad and Bike MS events, a coast-to-coast ride for charity may seem familiar. But nonprofits are raising the bar with unconventional events, such as fake marathons, urban rappelling and a drive-thru dinner, where participants give donations for a meal and Redbox rentals. It’s a different approach than black-tie galas, golf tournaments and 5K runs.

Coast to coast
Ospina’s trip with the nonprofit to Korah in June and Tyler’s idea that their cross-country dream should benefit a charity set the group on its path.

Ospina and Tyler previously ran Take Heart Apparel Co., an online fashion store that donated 20 percent of purchases to a nonprofit of the customer’s choice. Playing on their passion for giving back and their former jobs as marketers – Tyler as brand strategist for Classy Llama Studios LLC – a social media campaign is planned to drive awareness for the ride. Along the way, Ospina said the trio also plans to speak at churches, coffeehouses and breweries, and do minirides with local bike clubs.

With each rider investing about $2,000-$3,000 in their own gear, and the help of sponsors including Classy Llama and Gig Salad LLC pitching in to help pay for plane tickets, equipment shipping costs and food on the road, the ride is off to a good start: A week before tires hit pavement, they’ve raised $7,000.

“I think people are catching that excitement and momentum,” said I Pour Life founder and Executive Director Julie Higgins, noting the unusual nature of the ride. “I think that really comes through, but it’s also the heart of these guys. They could have hosted a fundraiser doing something else but decided to do something that will create more attention.”

Higgins said the nonprofit also is taking the route of other unconventional local campaigns. Take the April 1 No Run Run 2016 fake marathon, where donors purchased racing gear and then went about their day, taking to social media to spread the word and helping raise $4,000 in the process.

“We hosted a 5K a few years ago, and we didn’t raise anywhere near that,” Higgins said, noting the no-run variation will be an annual event for I Pour Life. “When you have a novelty in a nontraditional fundraiser, it sparks interest.”

Outside the box
For Community Foundation of the Ozarks Inc., melding a crowdfunding campaign with an annual giving day eventually led to the Give Ozarks Day model. Driven by social media buzz and an online platform, the second-annual event on May 3 netted over $1.04 million for 225 nonprofits.

“There’s a misconception about philanthropy that you have to be older and richer to participate,” CFO Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing Louise Knauer said. “We wanted to engage younger donors in a way that’s common to them.”

Knauer noted a side benefit to CFO’s partner agencies is a low barrier to entry.

“We told them the very first year, ‘It’s going to take time and a marketing effort, but it’s a way to have a communitywide event without all the expense that goes into normal event production,’” she said.

But physical fundraising is still a draw, especially when the event is outside the norm. Knauer points to Child Advocacy Center’s June 4 Over The Edge, where participants raising $1,000 or more will rappel over the side of downtown apartment building Sky Eleven.

Like the cyclists, Over The Edge’s origins lie in CEO Paul Griffith’s past involvement with and passion for adventure racing.

Griffith said enthusiasm is catching on in the United States. The Halifax, Nova Scotia, company launched stateside in 2008 with a 10-year goal of raising $50 million for nonprofits. It will cross the threshold this year.

Costing roughly $25,000-$30,000, Griffith said the average Over The Edge event brings in $100,000. However, about 40 percent of clients generate $160,000-$200,000, and a recent event in Los Angeles broke seven figures.

With few direct competitors, Griffith said Over The Edge remains unique by limiting the number of nonprofit licenses in each city. “You aren’t seeing these every weekend in every location – it’s an exclusive model,” he said. “With a walk or a run, you can saturate the market pretty quick.”

Fundraiser fatigue
CFO’s Knauer said reliance on go-to types of fundraisers points to the importance those events have on attendees’ social calendars. The level of excitement or exhaustion with such events, she added, depends on the donor.

“There may be, in some circles, some fatigue when it comes to fundraisers,” Knauer said. “But for young professionals, especially as networking opportunities, there is still interest.”

Ospina agrees golf tournaments and runs have their place for contributing to good causes, but the idea behind Ride For Korah and events scheduled for the cyclists’ mid-June stopover in Springfield, is to make their fundraiser accessible to donors and inspiring to other nonprofits.

“I don’t have $50,000, but I can give my time, resources and talents,” Ospina said. “The idea is that we’re all capable of doing something.”

Scheduled for two days after an I Pour Life event at The eFactory, Ospina said a concert called “A Night of Believing” will be held to benefit Ride for Korah. The twist? Local musicians perform Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” in a variety of genres, and attendees who bow out receive certificates reading, “I stopped believing.” Ospina likens it to the ALS Association’s 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge – something that’s just bizarre enough to be memorable and effective.

“With that starts to stem these unorthodox fundraisers that are limitless,” he said. “For us, we worked as brand strategists and we loved cycling. You might like hula-hooping or playing chess, but you can use that to give back.”