When I was nine years old, I realized how boring summer was. I had nothing to do but run around and play with my friends. It was about to be the worst summer ever!
Until I had an idea. The playground at my school was getting very old, to the point where the slides had broken off and the holes boarded up. Something had to be done. I had heard from my friend’s dad that the parent student organization (PSO) was looking to start a fund for a new playground. I thought I could do something to help raise money to add to the fund.
Thus began the first of five summer fundraisers I did for various causes, the first two being the first and last donations for the new playground at my grade school. Other causes I chose were my band director’s hospital bills, purchasing mosquito nets for our sister school in Africa, and purchasing an anti-bullying program for an inner-city school in my hometown.
Over the course of those five summers, I was able to raise more money each year by changing up the activities at the event. My nine-year-old self decided the best way to raise money was having my neighbors bring beer and then selling it back to them. At 11, I began my first attempt at a raffle. I began going to local businesses, telling them about my cause, and asking for a donation.
Though I didn’t realize it at the time, I learned a big difference between normal selling and cause selling. In order to move someone, I used the charity aspect to my advantage. I found that my age also played a role in the moving process: the younger I was, the more I got from a business. By the last fundraiser, I had to make sure I had the identity of the cause and the fundraiser down pat in order to move someone as much as 11-year-old me was, even though I was only two year older.
Cause selling may seem easier because of the ability to pull on someone’s heart strings. However, I still had to make sure I knew everything about not only my product, but who my product was benefiting. It put more pressure on me to make sure I was presenting my cause in the best light. Cause selling is just as, if not more, important than normal selling because the cause is truly what is at stake.
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