Why I love the Ration Challenge

I have just finished 7 days of the Act For Peace Ration Challenge.  And despite the fact that the pain of it all is still very real, it's not too early to say I loved it. 

It shouldn't come as any surprise that I am a fan of events.  And I really believe that The Ration Challenge is one of the best fundraising event challenges out there right now.  Let me tell you why.

For me, it starts with an amazing premise.  Over the course of one week, participants pledge to eat only the same rations that a Syrian refugee living in a refugee camp in Jordon would receive.  By doing so, participants will experience just one small part of the daily struggle of refugees, and by raising money they are making an actionable difference in their lives.

Then, it is a great experience, from the easy registration, to the welcome call I received within 24 hours of registering online to let me know that the team at Act for Peace was there to answer any questions and support me along the way.

The registration process itself was simple, and I was encouraged to donate to myself as soon as I set up my page - which I did.  I was also encouraged to record a short thank you video which would be automatically played to my friends and family when they made a donation.  I know not everyone will have taken the time to do so, I was the only one on my team that did, but I thought it was a really great engagement piece, both for me as the participant, but also to my sponsors.

Not long after I registered, I received my ration pack.  That in itself was eye opening.  I couldn't believe how small it was, and how little food it contained.  It had a post-it-note encouraging me to upload a photo of myself with the pack to social media, and the kit itself, as well as it's meagre contents, were all perfectly branded so it really did feel like it could have come straight from Jordan.

It also included my event guide - containing all the rules, as well as recipes, tips and inspiring stories of some of the people we would be helping. And it explained the rewards system.  And it is brilliant.

Participants can earn extras by sponsoring themselves, starting  a team, or hitting a variety of fundraising levels.  And let me tell you... you cannot appreciate how valuable those extras are, until your challenge has started.  The rewards are simple... 8 tea bags, 70g of protein, 170g of vegetables. But what a difference they can make.  These rewards aren't supplied by Act for Peace - participants pick them up themselves, and I for one have never been so motivated to ensure I raised enough to get everything I could to help me get through the week.

Leading up to the event, Act for Peace sent regular, but not excessive communication by way of emails, texts and even another phone call.  They responded quickly and efficiently to questions my team sent through, and encouraged participants to join in the ration challenge community.  They helped inspire a sense of excitement in the build up to the event - and brought people together through an online event page.

When they had raised half a million dollars, about 2 weeks before the challenge kicked off, they did an extra food drop in Jordon.  The event manager contact their partners on the ground to tell them the good news, and then flew to the refugee camp to assist with the distribution.  And she took all of us with her.  We had the chance to send through messages to be delivered in the camps, and the broadcast the distribution live, in real time, for us to witness.  There were technical challenges, and unreliable audio - but that just added to the authenticity of it all.  The event hadn't even kicked off yet, and I felt like the money I was raising was making a real, and tangible difference.  And it was the most convinced I have ever been of the impact we were having.  And I went out and raised more money.

The challenge itself was harder than I imagined in so many ways.  But I felt connected to the 8,000 other people who were doing it with me. When we shared on social media, Act for Peace responded, and there was daily encouragement and gratitude every single day.  I had a team at the office, and the experience brought us all closer together as we started to get a small sense of just one of the daily struggles for a refugee family.  My toolkit, which I used every day included interesting recipes that I could make from my rations, paired with stories of hope and impact which gave me the incentive I needed to move forward.

At the end of the challenge, I, along with so many others, reflected on what I had experienced, vowed to do more for refugees, and felt immense pride for the difference that we had made. 

Act for Peace have managed to build a community of people, who, through this event, are inspired, motivated, and wanting to do more - and I can't wait to see what they ask me to do next.  I'm hoping it's a request for a monthly gift, or at the very least, a cash donation to support their work. 

While the Ration Challenge is officially over for 2016, you can still donate until the end of July.  Just $23 can provide food rations for a refugee for an entire month, and $67 can pay for a hygiene parcel that will keep a family happy and healthy.  You can donate here.

Or, why not try the event yourself.  You can pre-register for 2017, and you can take part from anywhere in the world.  Will you join me next year?

Finding your top event prospects

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend EventRaise - a fantastic day dedicated to event fundraising - an area I am really excited about.

So often we hear that event participants aren't worth cultivating.  That they aren't really connected to our cause, but that they are interested in the challenge.  One of the things that really struck me at EventRaise is that while that might be true for many event participants, there are event donors who are well worth the time and energy to cultivate.  We just need to identify who that group is.

Martin Paul of More Strategic shared some incredibly valuable information from some research he has been doing into 5 mutli-charity fundraising events - events where participants can select from a number of charities or even choose their own to fundraise for. 

These 5 multi-charity fundraising events had a total of 170,423 donors.  That is a huge number of people to try and cultivate.  And if you think most of them won't give again, your right.  There is tons of evidence to support that.  So where should we focus our efforts?

There are two key times when participants self identify as being really great prospects.  The first is during the fundraising period for the event.  Donors who increase their fundraising target are self selecting themselves as people who are in it to raise money and who are the most engaged in what you are doing.  This is the group of individuals, and it will only be a small percentage of participants, who are worth focusing your attention and resources on.

While everyone who participates in your event is lovely, and we are grateful for each and every one, you and your organisation cannot afford to nurture every participant.  So start with this group, see what additional tools you can give them to help them raise more money, and develop and grow your relationship with them.

Post event, you will also want to identify the relationships that you should be focusing your time, energy and attention on.  When doing your post event analysis, it is likely that you will find that most of the income came from a small number of participants (many of whom are likely to have been the ones you already know - who pushed themselves by raising their fundraising targets during the campaign).  Martin's findings from the 5 multi-charity fundraising events was that 30% of the income came from just 5% of participants. So can't follow up with everyone?  Start here.  These are the people who are most likely to continue to support your work long after the event, and to sign up again next year.

What have you tried to engage your event participants?  And where do you start?



I love events. My team when we hit the half way mark at Oxfam Trailwalker in 2014.