Old Fat Guy Idol puts the FUN in Fundraising

It’s October 1, National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It seems a timely blog post would be about Old Fat Guy Idol, a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day I founded with some old high school friends, and the marketing created for this event.

Let me start the story by mentioning that I had not been in touch with my old friends for decades. In 2009 we had reconnected through Facebook, and had a class reunion. We were from a small high school, only 37 in our graduating class. I convinced my husband’s band to play, and one of my classmates, Chuck, sang a few songs with the band. I later posted a video of this on Facebook.

Another old friend, Larry, who had not attended the reunion, happened to see the video on Facebook and commented that he had always been a better singer than Chuck. This ignited a friendly argument and it was decided to be settled by holding a public competition. Larry had walked in the Susan G. Komen 3-Day the prior three years. We decided to hold a contest, and raise money for his participation fee.   A third classmate, Bobby,  was recruited, and Old Fat Guy Idol was born. The event was to be held at a small bar in our hometown of Waterman, population under 1000. My husband’s band was again recruited, and live music was provided throughout the evening. The three competitors each sang, and the audience voted with a donation to the Susan G. Komen 3-Day. The “old fat guy” who collected the most donations would be the winner. There were also raffle tickets sold at the event for additional funds.

We had no marketing budget, and relied heavily on social media and press releases. I designed a logo, posters and flyers to promote the event. We exceeded our expectations and raised over $3,000. We have held Old Fat Guy Idol annually since then, earning over $18,000 during the past four years. I designed an Old Fat Guy Idol website with additional ways to donate. Visitors may listen to past recordings and vote with a donation online, or they may order Old Fat Guy gear through a CafePress link. At last year’s event, I made a giant mock up of a Rolling Stone cover featuring the Old Fat Guys. We were able to auction this for $300.

Being involved with this event has helped me recognize some strategies that work in fundraising. While acknowledging the importance of our cause, we made the event fun. Our audience were active participants,  being able to use their donation for voting for their favorite “Old Fat Guy.”  In the months leading to the event, we kept our fans engaged on Facebook with videos of rehearsals, updates on our event activities. We developed a relationship with our donors, and they look forward to the next event. A part of the marketing includes educating the public about how the Susan G. Komen Foundation uses our donations. (Seventy-five percent of the net proceeds raised by the Komen 3-Day help fund national research and large public health outreach programs. The remaining 25 percent helps fund local community and affiliate support and outreach programs.)

Even the smallest organization needs to develop a marketing plan, and determine what aspects will require a financial investment. Not everyone uses social media, you may need to take a multichannel approach to reach them. Is your message being delivered effectively, or should you invest in using professional design and copywriting? Maybe Resolution-Creative can help.

NOTE: Our 2014 event was held September 20, and we raised over $4200 for Susan G. Komen® – Chicago.