Tips on Fundraising
Brazil's Experience
We met with Raphael Weber Zimmerman, OBECON co-founder and venture capital analyst, and talked about the important lessons he had learned over more than 5 years of fundraising for educational NGOs, especially OBECON. Together with Team Brazil, Raphael would like to share some of these insights with the IEO ecosystem in order to contribute to the sustainability and scalability of our organizations.
Raphael Webber Zimmerman
IEO National Coordinator in Brazil
What to focus on
There are various means of fundraising depending on the regularity of the financial support and the type of donors.
Crowdfunding is a short-term solution which is easy to implement (via crowdfunding platforms) and will suit the goals that do not require a lot of capital. Since crowdfunding is the investment of common people, it is important to appeal to their feelings: to do so, it is preferable to make the crowdfunding case as personal as possible. E.g. If you choose to raise funds for the traveling costs of the team, create a separate profile per each contestant which will state clearly their background and future prospects.
Crowdfunding is a short-term solution which is easy to implement (via crowdfunding platforms) and will suit the goals that do not require a lot of capital. Since crowdfunding is the investment of common people, it is important to appeal to their feelings: to do so, it is preferable to make the crowdfunding case as personal as possible. E.g. If you choose to raise funds for the traveling costs of the team, create a separate profile per each contestant which will state clearly their background and future prospects.
“
Despite our successful experience of launching the project with the help of crowdfunding, I do not recommend this strategy since it is a time- and energy-consuming tool that does not help you reach any sustainability.
One-time donations form an important bridge between the dependance on the generosity of many to a stable sponsorship. For starters, the first donation provided by a company with an established reputation is a path to larger financial support: once you have a recognizable name on the list of your sponsors, it makes it easier for others to believe in you.
“
The first donation that OBECON received was relatively small but it came from a national bank. With its name on our pitch deck and outstanding results of the Brazilian team, we managed to attract larger funds.
For long-term sustainability, it is essential to build an ecosystem of people and companies who believe in you and sponsor you on a regular basis rather than seek for one-time donations.
How to find sponsors
Do not hesitate to pitch the idea and ask for money. You will possibly need to send hundreds of emails and messages on LinkedIn to receive some feedback.
In fundraising, it is important to imply a tailor-made approach and make any act of communication personal. Study the potential sponsor’s website and social media to see what they currently focus on.
In fundraising, it is important to imply a tailor-made approach and make any act of communication personal. Study the potential sponsor’s website and social media to see what they currently focus on.
“
For IEO national selections, the target audience would be private universities, huge education groups, financial market companies, consulting companies, philanthropic people from financial markets, interested in the Olympiad.
Fundraising for educational projects is not about selling, it is about the case being important to the donor. To make it important, you may enhance the following pros of your project: social effect, support of financial education, opportunities for the youth, meritocracy. To make your presentation more persuasive, use past experience, results and other sponsors’ names.
“
The best timing for funding sponsors for IEO national selections is after the national finals and right after the IEO.
What to offer
The best thing that you can offer is growth and improvement of the results of your project — in terms of IEO national selection, new medals and honorable mentions of your team. Success stories that sponsors find themselves involved in inspire them to keep contributing to the project. It is important to engage the media and government to celebrate the results: together with donors, you will become part of the history.
For some sponsors, it is important to receive in exchange a particular benefit, e.g.:
Being part of the project’s governance is considered the largest bonus since it enables the sponsor to influence its development and also makes them think about the future of the project thus forming a stronger bond between you and the sponsor.
For some sponsors, it is important to receive in exchange a particular benefit, e.g.:
- branding of ceremonies and merchandise;
- mention on the website;
- tasks in the name of the company;
- trophy in the name of the company.
Being part of the project’s governance is considered the largest bonus since it enables the sponsor to influence its development and also makes them think about the future of the project thus forming a stronger bond between you and the sponsor.
How to keep sponsors
For any long-term relationship, honesty and transparency are the key prerequisites. Make sure you can provide visible results, describe the impact of the sponsor’s donation and show the roadmap of the project. State clearly how much you have received and how you spent it. An annual report will suit this purpose.
“
Our key goal for the upcoming years is to increase diversity in economics education and help companies recruit more talented people. This enlarges our social mission and brings new positive sides to our project.
Read more
See our Experience Exchange materials to learn about other countries' tips on organizing the National Selection
Head of Economics at Rochester Independant College about the creation and development of the British Economics Olympiad
IEO National Coordinator for Japan on the best practices of Japanese Financial Literacy Tournament
IEO EB member and Team Latvia coordinator on the development strategy for well-established contests
Singapore Economics Olympiad creator on how networking helped him to launch the national selection from scratch
Tilda Publishing
Join us!
Anna Bondareva
ab@ecolymp.org
Contact our Partner Manager to get a personal consultation on joining the IEO or reach out to share your experience.