Can you fundraise during or after a disaster that doesn’t affect you?
The answer, I believe, is yes, with humility.
I live in North Carolina, about two hours away from some absolutely horrible devastation in the western part of the state due to massive mudslides and flash floods from Hurricane Helene. Most of us think about hurricanes as a lowland coastal disaster. The NC High Country is hundreds of miles from shore and thousands of feet above sea level. And several days later, mountain communities are still in active search and rescue mode for hundreds of people from a hurricane. Obviously, lots of resources are being directed there.
But what about organizations that need to fundraise this fall that have nothing to do with hurricane relief (or a war, or health care during a pandemic, or social justice after the killing of an innocent by police, or whatever tragedy feels most relevant to your situation) and/or are nearby geographically but not directly affected?
I believe you can and should still communicate and fundraise on behalf of your organization with humility and a spirit of cooperation.
Here is the gist of some messaging I am working on for local organizations that have fundraisers in the very near future. I don’t suggest they cancel or that they turn over all funds raised to other causes. While that would feel noble, it would also prevent these organizations from achieving their own important work in 2025.
“If your capacity to help is an EITHER/OR situation and you cannot support both Helene relief and local organizations like (our organization), please give to Western North Carolina Hurricane Relief. We are posting reputable ways to help, including donation collection points run by our colleagues.”
However, if your capacity to help is a BOTH/AND situation, then please give first to hurricane relief and then support (our organization), as this is our most important fundraiser of the year that will determine how much we can do in 2025.”
I’d love to see how you handle situations like these and encourage you to share in our community.
For those interested in supporting organizations working in Western North Carolina, I recommend this list curated by an organization I trust.
