Young professionals bring new ideas, social media to nonprofit fundraising

 

The same entrepreneurial spirit spurring young professionals to take leaps in their careers also is spawning some creative approaches to charitable fundraisers.

Rather than wait for nonprofits to host events that appeal to them, the younger set is organizing its own.

They range from large house parties in Ann Arbor to a gathering celebrating new, Michigan-based technology businesses at the Royal Oak Music Theater and a charity celebrity basketball game that drew 1,300 people to Troy Athens High School in April.

“A lot of different kinds of fundraisers we’ve attended are boring, to be honest,” said Josephine Nicholas, 28, who’s branded the socializing fundraising she and her siblings do under the Facebook group “Party With a Purpose.” “We’re entrepreneurs ourselves. …We feel like we can do it better and appeal to a larger audience,” said Nicholas, executive vice president at Ann Arbor-based CMPS Institute and an independent public relations representative.

Nicholas and her siblings are among a number of young professionals hosting the third-party fundraising events and attracting large numbers of attendees by marketing them through sites like Facebook and Twitter, say local nonprofits benefiting from the events.

Last year, local technology entrepreneurs Jordan Wolfe, 27; Mason Levy, 22; and Zach Lipson, 24; organized TechNow09 to “get the energy up” for other technology startups with a panel discussion, networking, live music and a cash bar.
TechNow09 attracted about 800 college students, young professionals and local business leaders to the Royal Oak Music Theater. That and the trio’s “FutureMidwest” two-day technology and knowledge conference held this year raised about $10,000 for the Michigan Chapter, National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The Internet helps make third-party fundraisers successful by allowing people to take ownership of events in which they are interested by becoming part of the conversation, Wolfe said.

Nonprofits can help head off problems by making sure they have third-party event guidelines in place about the use of their brands and presence of staff at such events, if desired, Dembs said.

For young professionals organizing those events, notifying charities in advance about them will make sure the event doesn’t hurt the charity it’s meant to help, he said.

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Source: Crain’s Detroit, 5.26.10