By Adrian Emerson, Association Accounting Specialist and 2014 Chair of the IMI Association Executives Fun Committee
In a previous post, I discussed how IMI wanted to start a new charity program and the process I followed to develop a program for our team. Here’s an update on the second and third quarter collections.
For our second quarter project, we collected donations for someone in our office who was experiencing hardship. We purchased a large basket and filled it with all kinds of goodies, like gift cards and other items this person needed. She was thrilled with the outpouring and we were all happy to do it. These kinds of collections can be tough to coordinate but are just as important as the bigger charity programs already out there. We at IMI are proud to say that we will help our employees and their families when we can.
During our third quarter we chose to collect donations for the SPCA of Wake County. The SPCA of Wake County, located in Raleigh, N.C., was founded in 1967, and has rehomed thousands of animals during that time. Their mission statement is: “To protect, shelter, and promote the adoption of homeless animals; to provide education about responsible pet ownership and to reduce pet overpopulation through spay/neuter programs.” The organization operates solely on donations, and does not receive government funding. For more information, visit the SPCA of Wake County website. For this charity effort, I built a custom website at a third-party website called Razoo.com. Razoo.com allows you to set up a website to collect donations for a small fee. They are connected with thousands of charities and can even help to set up a new fundraiser. We collected donations in August and September for a total of $225.
Now, I am gearing up for our fourth quarter charity project, which will be to collect donations for Backpack Buddies, a program coordinated by the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, located in Raleigh. This collection will be our final community service project for the year.
In 2014, IMI collected donations for the American Heart Association for Women, a co-worker, the SPCA of Wake County, and Backpack Buddies of Raleigh. I am proud of what our group was able to accomplish. We plan to do something similar next year with different charities. I urge you to set up a collection in your office, even if it is just placing a tip jar in an office common room or organizing a group to participate in a marathon. Every little bit helps, and brings happiness to those in need.
Want to know more about association management? Contact us info@imiae.com to find out more about what IMI Association Executives can do for your organization.