Sheen Sagalongos,
2nd year, Finance, Sauder School of Business, UBC
The whole experience has been pleasant so far! I’ve had the
pleasure to work with wonderful people who value the same things that I care
about. The coordinators, with the help of Meghan and Mostafa, have done a great
job in preparing us content-wise for our trip in August. It has been
overwhelming to take in a lot considering we all had other priorities to deal
with, but I feel confident that we will be able to do a good job when we get to
Nairobi soon!
The biggest challenge I have with SAI is fundraising. I’ve
had event planning and fundraising experience before throughout my high school
years in both the Philippines and in Vancouver; however, Sauder Africa
Initiative is personally one of the hardest programs, organizations, or
initiatives that I have (or am) fundraising for.
My previous experiences have always been easy: in the
Philippines, I had a massive and broad network of contacts that consisted of
mostly my big family and tight-knit community. Resources and a small amount of
capital to start with were also provided for us most of the time. In Vancouver,
though I didn’t have the massive network I used to have, diverse individuals
from my high school were always happy to help and support my causes!
Unfortunately, the tables have turned with SAI. Although my
network has considerably widened since I graduated from high school, the
increased number of causes and organizations to support have made fundraising
harder for me. Especially since the Sauder Africa Initiative isn’t as big and well-known
as other initiatives. Additionally, since it is a student-led initiative,
having a start-up capital is a luxury for us.
FS Financial Strategies’ Mission of Care program is my
lifesaver. Because of their program, I’ve managed to fundraise about at least
half of my pledge (and counting) to SAI. Working with their program has just
been amazing as it is a win-win-win deal. FS wins because they can potentially
get a new client, people I refer to FS wins because they learn about planning
their finances and at the same time helping me and my cause, and of course, I
win by getting a whopping $50 per referral which saves me the time and stress
of planning a fundraising event. I’m very grateful to the Mission of Care
program. Learn more about it at http://missionofcare.ca/
Really pumped up and excited to go there soon! Can’t wait!
No comments:
Post a Comment