Summary
Edumed Trust was founded in 1997 with the aim to grant secondary school scholarships to bright and needy students. One of their main avenues of raising funds locally is through their annual fundraising dinner dubbed Edumed Trust Dinner. In 2018, having gone through the Local Fundraising training offered by Change the Game Academy, Edumed was able to raise Kes. 353,000 through donations and pledges, which was used to cover the scholarship programme and some expenses for the organisation.
The main challenge is that some people do not honor their pledges. In order to mitigate this eventuality, Edumed has various channels of generating income such as use of a paybill number for donations and the annual Cake Festival fundraiser that ensures the deficit incurred is covered.
Tips and lessons learned
- Looking for the guest speaker early and printing the cards helped in preventing the last hour rush.
- The cash donated on the material day may be small but the pledges (cash) will be flowing every month.
- Maintaining good friendship with the partners helps quite a lot.
Review by Wilde Ganzen Foundation
An annual event to inform your current and potential partners and as many friends of the organisation as possible about your achievements and future plans, with the aim of strengthening the bond with the organisation, is often successful, especially when you manage to invite an interesting guest speaker. Edumed Trust raises donations and pledges during the occasion and has a back-up plan in place in the form of a Cake Festival and a crowdfunding action, just in case not everyone honours his or her pledge. A strong point of Edumed is also the involvement of their alumni, both as volunteers and as donors.
Details
Short description of the organisation the funds were raised for
Edumed Trust is a registered Kenyan Christian charitable trust that has been granting secondary school scholarships to bright needy students since 1997. Over the years, we have sponsored 344 students and currently have 95 students in the programme.
Over 110 past beneficiaries are presently in universities in Kenya, Czech Republic, USA, China and Germany while others are in tertiary institutions.
Short description of the project or programme the funds were raised for
Edumed Trust Dinner is an annual event, which is one of our platforms where we create an opportunity to meet with our existing partners and friends, and affords us the moment to give an account of the past year and unveil our plans for the coming year. We also find it an opportune event to introduce colleagues, family and friends to the Edumed Mission and invite them to consider joining our support team by making voluntary pledges and contributions towards the work of the Trust.
The annual dinner from this example was held on 2nd November 2018 at Sarova Panafric Nairobi.
Summary of fundraising action
The annual dinner is a regular event that Edumed Trust organises every year. This is to help us meet with our partners and also get new partners to support the trust. Any surplus money goes to the sponsorship fund.
Objectives
- 1. To meet the old partners, give an account of the year and also let them know of our plans for the coming year.
- To engage the invited friends and family members by introducing to them the Edumed mission and invite them to consider joining.
- To get new partners.
- To raise funds.
Targeted donors
Companies, professionals (doctors, layers, lecturers, etc.), churches (and pastors).
Results
| Cost/benefit |
National currency (KES |
Euro |
| Total amount raised |
353,000 |
3,025 |
| (-) Total amount invested |
288,537 |
2,472 |
| Net amount raised |
64,463 |
553 |
Result comments
We also got people interested to mentor our students during the Students’ Retreat.
Description of preparatory work
- Identifying a guest speaker early.
- Printing of the dinner cards.
- Making calls as early as June all through to October.
Description of implementation
- Mobilising the staff to work on their networks.
- Inviting the partners and encouraging them to come with their family and friends.
- Inviting the board members and trustees to take part with their families and friends.
Follow up: Donor appreciation and acknowledgement
Thank you letters were sent out.
It is important to have a token of appreciation for the guest speaker.
Every guest was given a beautiful key holder with Edumed Trust details.
Plans to repeat the action
Yes. Next October we shall be having another dinner.
