 |
| Click the image to see Jacob's WebFundraiser! |
SOS Fundraising Story: When students in a Civic Engagement class from the School of Public Affairs and Community Services at the University of North Texas were assigned a project to identify and raise funds for a hunger-fighting organization, Jacob Rodriguez's team chose SOS Children’s Villages.
While other student groups in the class targeted nonprofits in north Texas, Jacob Rodriguez and his five team members decided to go international. Searching for organizations fighting hunger in
East Africa, they found SOS.
What drew them to SOS, besides its work fighting hunger in Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya, was how easy the SOS WebFundraiser makes it for an individual or group to create an online fundraising campaign. Jacob and his team members raised $4,000 for SOS, well beyond their goal.
Considering that $2 can help feed a family in East Africa for a day, several thousand dollars can go a long way toward alleviating hunger for residents of drought-stricken areas.
Making It Easy to Raise Awareness and Funds
How did Jacob and his student team do it? Clicking on the SOS Take Action button on the home page, they registered to become volunteer SOS fundraisers. Jacob then created a donation page for the group to which they referred friends, family, and businesses.
The tool allowed them to host a page of content, process credit cards, and track their progress, shown by a thermometer goalpost. Jacob and his team alerted everyone they knew about their SOS page by sending emails, posting to their Facebook pages, and phone texting the site’s URL.
“The project was unique,” says Jacob, Partner at an IT consulting firm in the Dallas-Fort Worth area who returned to college to finish a degree after 15 years in the workforce. “It required us to think outside the box, challenged us to consider our privileges, and encouraged us to reflect on our ability to give. The response was impressive and it just felt good to be involved.”
Saving Lives in East Africa and Elsewhere
Through forty years of droughts, feuding warlords, and stray bullets, SOS has stayed the course in East Africa when other relief groups were forced to leave. Our focus on helping children regardless of politics or religion has allowed us to continue to serve those in greatest need.
People like Jacob make a difference in our work. You too can have an impact on lives around the world. View more SOS Fundraisers or start your own by visiting the Fundraiser page now. To learn more, contact inquiry@sos-usa.org or call 202-470-5178.