Who doesn’t love a little bit of friendly competition, especially if it is for a charity event? Reading the blog post “An Idea Remains an Idea Unless You Act Upon It” from charitysportevents.com has made me reflect on sporting events that are done for charity. The article talks about the founder of this website who wanted to find a more inclusive way to support a cause. They found that sporting events that are simple and include many people entice donors to open up their wallets. These sporting events are easy to organize and can help take a good idea to the next level by putting it into place.
Sporting events truly are the best way to raise money for a charity because the spirit of competition is always enough to bring people together. The fact is that people simply love winning, and will always give money knowing that they have a chance to go out and have fun and compete against others. Two years ago, two of my friends and myself started an annual ultimate frisbee tournament, where all the money and food donations went to the Dutchess Outreach, a local charity that helps out the poor in Dutchess County. The reasons we chose ultimate frisbee were that we loved the sport first of all. Second, it is competitive enough that people will enter out of the desire to win, but not too competitive so that people who were just looking to have a good time would enter as well. In the two years of the tournament, we have had 15 teams enter each year raising over $1500 in cash and food donations.
The participants in the tournament do not get a whole lot out of the tournament in terms of hardware and money, but what they do get is the pride of competing against others in a team sport while knowing that they are now part of the fight against poverty in their own communities. As for myself and my other two friends who organize these tournaments, we end up spending money and days trying to get the equipment, fields to play on, and the proper insurance. However, the motivational idea behind this makes all the hard work worth it when we hand over the cash and food to the Dutchess Outreach. This year, we plan to expand even more with donations and coverage of the event. The spirit of friendly competition combined with the goal of helping out people in our own community is what has made this charity sporting event a success, and I truly believe that these sporting events are the best way to raise money.
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ReplyDeleteShriman, I also looked at the Charity Sports Events website and I agree that their approach to philanthropy is well thought out. I believe that team sports are significantly more accessible to the general population than the sporting events typically used for fund raising. Someone who lacks athletic ability or finesse might cringe away from the idea of running a marathon for charity or humiliating him or herself on a golf course. For that reason, this approach might isolate potential donors based upon the event as opposed to the cause. However, joining a team with friends seems less like a serious athletic commitment that requires training and more like an opportunity to spend time with friends while supporting a good cause. For example, my friends and I entered a dodge ball tournament to raise money for our high school every year. We never came anywhere close to winning, but we had such a great time making uniforms and playing together that our complete and utter lack of talent did not matter. Additionally, because teams will need to be formed for participation, it is likely that people will recruit friends who otherwise might not have known much about the event, thus encouraging their philanthropy. I think the extent of success that you have had with your ultimate Frisbee tournament shows the truth behind such ideals. I believe that the notions driving philanthropy in team sports should be applied to other realms of philanthropy to encourage participation in those who want nothing to do with athletic events. For example, while a Frisbee tournament might attract a certain population, a Battle of the Bands might entice others to come together and have fun while raising money. Overall, bringing people together in friendly contests to raise money is a great way to channel their competitive nature for good whilst simultaneously encouraging philanthropy amongst different populations.
ReplyDeleteLaura, thank you for the comment, I very much agree with what you said. I do think a distinction should be made between team charity events and personal charity events, such as charity races. The reason being that they do usually attract a certain group of athletes. Team sports do have a different atmosphere and especially at a charity event, they can be taken lightheartedly by some and more serious by others, which does increase the number of donors. Implementing this idea of coming together as a team is very important when it comes to any type of charity event because not only do individuals within the team push each other, but the different teams push each other to do even better and raise even more money. To go along with what you said, working as a team is the superior way to raise money because of the extra motivation each member has when he/she is with friends.
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