Assignment Sample on Information Management Diary Entry

Introduction

As it is known to everyone that the whole world is suffering from tough as well as critical situations and challenges every single day, for a duration of more than one year. And the governing bodies, as well as the administrative bodies of each nation of the world, are working very hard in order to control as well as stop the spread of coronavirus. But they are incapable to find out any permanent solution to this critical solution (Alborough, 2017). Despite having the invention of the vaccine, the cases of affection are being increasing day by day. Millions of victims of coronavirus are recovering every day, whereas thousands of victims are dying every twenty-four hours (Bennett, 2018). Various countries like India are not getting a proper supply of oxygen to provide it to the patients of coronavirus, who are suffering from a deficiency in the level of oxygen, and all these lead to the death of thousands of innocent people.

In this particular study, a group of researchers is organizing a fundraising event in order to help the persons who are affected or infected by the coronavirus, and also to face various critical challenges which are caused due to the pandemic of COVID 19 (Bhati, and McDonnell, 2020). The process of fundraising, as well as crowdfunding, are the best ways to gather and collect funds or finance for doing and conducting any types of charitable events with the focus of helping and serving the needy people. It is not possible for a single middle-class person to help a large number of the needy person on his own, so the fundraising event is the best way to help people with cooperation as well as contribution. The main focus of this fundraising event is to serve the person or patients as well as the corona warriors too, who needs and requires various important things in such tough situation like, masks, sanitizers, PPE kits, supply of oxygen cylinders and various other types of medical pieces of equipment, etc. this study has been made to discuss each point in order to make a fundraising campaign or event successful with full efficiency without the chances of any types of issues or complications.

According to the Antonelli et, al. (2019) The main topics or points that are been discussed in this particular research or study are: researching the ideas of fundraising events in order to make them successful, source of funding or financing for the events for maintaining all the respective expenses, marketing as well as promotion of the fundraising event to gather the attraction of a large number of people and also to get help from them in support of the event, as well as the appropriate process of managing and maintaining the whole project of fundraising event and at the finishing or last part, there is a part of the conclusion, which can also be said as the summarized part of the whole study (Hommerová, and Severová, 2019).

Ideas for Fundraising Events

As it is already been mentioned that this particular study is made to analyze an event of fundraising that was conducted for helping the needy persons in such a tough situation of COVID 19 pandemic (Hung, 2021). It is known to everyone that to make an event successful, proper planning, as well as strategies, are very much important which can also be said as the roadmap of that particular event. In order to make the event of fundraising successful, various ideas, as well as strategies, are needed. As this event of fundraising has been made for helping the people in COVID 19 pandemic situation, where people can help and try to help as well as contribute towards this event because the people at every corner of the world are aware of the vast and dangerous size of this pandemic situation, so nobody will step back of helping and contributing to help the needy people (Kasri, and Putri, 2018). Nowadays, the best idea to gather or collect funds and finance is the mode of the internet as well as social networking sites, as millions of people are actively using the technology of the internet as well as social networking sites in their day to day life.

So the best way to attract the sight or vision is the mode of social networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. and various types of fundraising events are also been observed on Facebook in order to help the needy people in tough as well as disastrous situations like earthquake, fire, terror attacks and various other types of natural calamities or disasters. Millions of users of Facebook contributes funds as per their capability and help the people by providing the total amount collected by the contribution of millions of users (Kim, and Lee, 2018). Another method to gather the attraction or vision of others is using hashtags, social networking platforms like Instagram, Twitter as well as Facebook also help the users make anything trending just by using the hashtag before any word. By using the hashtag on the name of any campaign or event of fundraising also helps in make it trending as well as popular on the social networking platforms to attract a large number of people in order to get help as well as the contribution from them (Hassamo et al 2018). Ads, as well as YouTube videos, are also the best options for making the event of fundraising successful because people love to watch various types of YouTube videos for the purpose of entertainment. So, YouTube can also be the best option for conducting these types of events for fundraising.

Any group of local youngsters can also conduct these types of fundraising events through their local club, as these types of clubs like to work and do various activities for the welfare of people without any expectations, in order to perform charitable works. As it is known to everyone that, the condition of the world is getting worse day after day and people are dying constantly for not getting a proper supply of oxygen. So these types of the group can collect funds from the cooperation and contribution of various persons, in order to arrange oxygen cylinders and other medical equipment and proper supply of medicines, masks as well as sanitizers too to the poor and needy people of the society (Lee, and Shon, 2018).

Sources of Financing or Funding for these Events

Sources of funding or financing are very much important for making any event successful because without having funds or any type of financial support, it is quite impossible to conduct any type of charity event. As this particular event is to help the persons who are affected as well as infected of coronavirus and are not getting proper supply of safety measures like oxygen cylinders, medicines, masks, sanitizers and various other types of useful safety measures for facing the tough situation of coronavirus, like PPE kit, face shield, gloves, etc. the best way to collect and gather funds or finance for any charitable event is a donation (Mihai-Bogdan, and TURCAN, 2018). Donations from various sections of the society without any types of gender and age discrimination are the best and simple way to collect funds.

People can collect donations from various ways like moving from door to door of the people in order to influence them and gather funds for the welfare of the people, but this way can not put an impact on the minds of people, because here comes various chances of doubt as well as questions, like, whether the event is true or fake, whether the people are trustworthy or not, whether the contributed amounts reach the needy persons or not and various other types of questions arise in the mind of the persons and they step back of giving any types of donations or funds. So, to make the processes of donations successful, the members of the management team of the event must have back support of any local political leader or any famous well known local personality, best if written, then it will help the organizers of the events a lot in getting the trusts of the people and also in achieving funds and finance from them (Moshtari et al 2020).

The main sources of gathering funds or finance for various charitable and non-profitable events for serving the people affected by coronavirus are as follows:

Donations and Presents: Donations and presents can be given or contributed by any individual, organization, foundations, companies as well as charitable trusts in the form of humanity as well as kind-heartedness. These non-profitable organizations or fundraising events need to apply for these types of donations and presents, in order to receive the number of donations to use in the welfare of the people who are suffering from the COVID 19 pandemic situation. In many types of non-profitable as well as charitable organizations, the source of donation is called the backbone of such organizations because it is the main source of funding or financing, to manage and maintain the expenses of the trusts for serving as well as helping the people with all the things and services they need for their betterment. The management team of the charitable events, charitable trusts as well as non-profit organizations must need to be sincere in managing the funds and spending them, in order to avoid the chances of wastage of money, as these funds are for serving the poor and needy people (Pascual-Ferrá, 2019).

Grant Funding: Grants are those types of funds that are achieved from collected taxes but these are not always easy for charitable events, trusts, or non-profit organizations to receive at the time of need or requirement. The financers of grand funding have become very strict over the duration of time and have become very selective too, in terms of providing funds or finances to non-profit organizations as well as charitable trusts.

Equity Capital and Financing on Loan: both equity capital as well as loan financing are not very common methods of gathering funds but are still used by non-profit organizations and charitable organizations to collect or acquire funds. Generally, the source of funds from the loan is quite risky and has various disadvantages, as all the amounts gathered were borrowed, and need to be returned with the appropriate amount of interest. It has been observed that most of the time, the non-profit organizations or charitable trusts were failing to pay the borrowed amount and have to lose the assets which are bonded to the banks and other financial institutions in return for the borrowed amount. Whereas, in the case of financing of equity capital, funds are not being borrowed from banks or any other financial institutions and these amounts are not needed to be returned back to the funders or financers (Rebetak, and Bartosova, 2019). The parts of the amount that are received or collected by the charitable trusts or non-profitable organizations will also result in belonging the amount to those who financed the capital of the charitable events or non-profitable organizations. These investors hold a special as well as permanent position in the entire charitable organizations, trusts, or events.
Funding through contracts: A contract is a written piece of paper or a written document that plays an important role in binding two parties with the help of law. It is a remembered agreement and disagreement of which can be a punishable offense which are also been mentioned in the respective contracts or agreements. Most of the time, it has been observed that contracts are used as the source of funding for various charitable trusts, charitable events as well as non-profit organizations (Sarikaya, and Buhl, 2021) . If these types of documents or agreements are not handled or managed properly, then it will be dangerous as well as risky for the entire event, trust, or organization. So, these types of charitable trusts, events as well as non-profitable organizations should always have to supervise and look after the fulfillment of each and every terms and condition written or mentioned in the contract in order to avoid the chances of penalties or failures.
Fundraising activities: Activities of fundraising can be of various types, like selling or products as well as services. The selling of various types of unused products is also one of the most important sources of funding. The amount which is gathered or collected by the sale of goods can be used in serving needy people (Schubert, and Boenigk, 2019).

Marketing the event

Popularity through special merchandise:

A very good way to market the fundraising event is by promoting it through special merchandise. The feasibility obviously depends upon the financial resources available for the same, but nowadays alternative and affordable merchandise items have assumed significant attraction in the pop-culture like :

Eco Friendly stationery;
Thrift Fashion items for sustainable fashion;

Custom Made handicrafts , aesthetic drawings and other accessories;

Self-painted T-shirts, etc.

These can be excellent special edition merchandise requiring minimal manufacturing costs and optimum utilisation of resources, at the same time, spreading the message of sustainable and simple shopping ideas which further gathers reputation. Further, exclusive edition inventories gives the nonprofit’s marketing an extra layer of appeal. When supporters are aware that exclusive merchandise is only available for a short period, they become more motivated to buy it. Further, digital platforms like online store and social media webistes can be used to promote their sale, allowing pre orders, etc. at a economic budget.

As a promotion tactic, sell online before the gathering. However, make sure you have enough extra goods to carry to the case. It should be confirmed that the artwork you pick for your limited edition product sticks out and is unforgettable in its design and approach. Creating event-specific merchandise further amplifies the excitement and humbug that ca directly aid marketing the fundraiser initiative.

Effectively Utilising social Media Presence: For charities, social media is an important marketing platform. Instead, it is implied that fundraising groups possess social media accounts, and can actively maneuver them for marketing or promotion. When you social media to its best, the company witnessed increase in the number of event attendees as well as increased participation owing to your followers on these sites. In case of event promotion, the company can publish advertisements for the event itself as well as alternate ways for your followers active involvement. This can be accomplished by creating event hashtags to make it more popular, sharing direct links for donation and registration on social media accounts, using the website for merchandise promotion, and sharing previous activities and endeavors, as well as attendees that arrived there.
Engaging early supporters for better networking:

Efficient fundraiser event marketing needs early commitment. Nonprofits are generally advised to begin their fundraising activities 90-180 days prior to the event. One can engage the followers in the promotion process and get them ready for the case. You might, for example, enlist supporters in campaigns like:

Peer-to-peer fundraiser is a great way to raise funds in the months leading up to the nonprofit’s case. Inviting fans to help raise funds for the organisation is a great way to keep them involved. The campaign’s last event ought to be a commemoration of everything achieved by the peer-to-peer campaign
Early auctions or raffles, as well as early online access to these facets of the event, would enable your supporters to participate as soon as possible.

Early bird specials entice fans to get interested as soon as possible. For example, in the initial week following registration commencement, we might provide a special10% discount for event registration. Alternatively, one might also give a free event t-shirt to such attendees.

Talk shows and advertisements/endorsements:

Although this is one of the most warranted and traditional means of marketing startegies, this is also one of the most time tested and guaranteed one, because designing an appropriate or honest endorsement directly tells the masses what the fundraising is about.

Organising a very impactful speech that can directly hit on the minds of people and help getting them engaged immediately. Further, low key endorsements by social media influencers or celebrities who have a vivid involvement in charitable and social service works, can further create a fan base and help people garner trust on the process. Since this fundraising is about COVID, the most stringent social crisis that the world is facing right now, there have been mushrooming of versatile umbrella organisations for fundraising which often makes the donors sceptic about donating as many of them are fraud as well. This basically can be removed by marketing the authenticity of the initiative, and a very good way to do that is by organising honest talk shows, or advertisements which directly explain the emergency and grave nature of the situation that the society is facing, tell people what the case is about and make an honest appeal without appearing too gaudy for that matter.

Appealing to the donor’s Fear-Of-Missing-Out factor:

In order to build FOMO for an awesome experience, involves;

demonstration of what the case would entail. Supporters will get a good idea of what the case would be like by seeing videos from past activities.
Sharing videos or photographs you use to promote your business include the demography and local conditions of the audience you wish to target.
Inclusion of fundraising thermometer or other such digital ools on the social media and web-page or blog, to show people the real statistics and arouse in them the consciousness to collectively participate as well.

This arouses the cause awareness and creates a sort of urgency in the minds of individuals to participate and donate faster.

Project Management of the Fundraising event

The most important part is managing the budget during COVID, since it is a great cirisi period witnessing shortage of funds in the market. Budgetary and monetary planning further can be subdivided into two aspects: How much money already in hand, and how much more needed to raise.

-COVID affected or cancelled what activities and campaigns?

-Data on which activities and campaigns were most successful?

-Data on the total amount of funds raised as status quo, and tallying it with the amount of funds that was expected to be raised.

-Due to COVID, the list of events were required to be changed or cancelled?

-Data of Casualties and infected personnel (if any) during organisation of that event. Second important step is to start searching at ways to make money until you know that the spending has to be at the end of the year.

-Where do you save money?

-Which promotions would you manage with the least amount of tweaking?

-Why campaigns aren’t appropriate for a virtual environment?

-Which campaigns would provide you with the best return on investment (ROI): lower upfront costs while still generating profit?

-Where do you need to increase your fundraiser to compensate for the loss?

Transitioning the in-person events to virtual: This is probably the biggest part of project management of a COVID fundraiser because one has to adhere to the government protocols and norms of social distancing for organising any event so avoiding physical proximity becomes necessary. This includes:

Choosing the appropriate social media and hiring an efficient digital marketing team for doing the job.
Advertising your cause through organising talk shows, advertisements and awareness programmes on the virtual platforms.
Managaing social media handles, blogs, and other platforms for accessibility.
Utilisation of hashtags, endorsements, using the paid promotion options.
Getting the right type of merchandise and early bird offers and handling pre orders for popularising your initiative.
Channelling with the right channels, or influencers to endorse your event in their profiles, etc.
Maintaining Sanitation and health guidelines and expert presence in all events: Since the times are precarious, it is imperative to ensure proper sanitisation management, resources like masks, PPE Kits, and other health protocols be observed at all events and presence of medical expertise should be readily available.

Creating a program

This Involves the whole event preparation situation, including Who will be the first to speak? Duration for their presence over will you be there. Is there going to be some entertainment? What is the schedule going to be like? What you’ll do for the electronics. It is important to have a brief timeline to be aware about what elements you need to collect.

-Virtual lunches or happy hours via Google Hangouts, Zoom, or Facetime

-Personal phone calls to stay in contact with the backers

-Events broadcast live on Facebook Live

-Crowdfunding ;

Are variety of new innovations intrduced in project organizing approaches that can be adapted to meet the needs of a unique and unprecedented scenario like COVID.

Create Long-Term Digital Fundraising: When you concentrate on a next budget, the main goal should be to figure out how to create long-term digital fundraising. There should be plans for be campaigns you will conduct across 2021, as well as thOse that boost the fundraising in your year-end plan. Monthly donation is the most straightforward way to get started. Monthly giving services provide you with consistent income over time. You will build up your stable income by focusing on a monthly giving schedule.

Often, ensuring movement management entails Developing a strategy to increase the involvement of the current supporters in your company. This could include enlisting the help of a donor as a fundraiser.

Conclusion:

The 6 I’s of Project Management for any general Fundraising Events are as follows:

Identifying the objective-based event turnouts, investigating the ways in which to achieve desired outcome(s), inititating the usage of a project plan by ihaving a rough estimation of the participation, implementation and exeution of the project plan and inspection and calculation of the outcome(s). They can be enjoyable and rewarding, but their prolonged continuance and dedication that frustrating and time-consuming to keep up to, detracting from your ability to focus on the important work you’re doing. Experts say that ensuring the effectiveness of the fundraiser effort simply requires preparation, coordination, and the right resources.

Especially in a fundraising initiative for COVID requires a lot moiré dedication and passion to devote oneself to the social cause since this feeling of servitude is what keeps us goint through the elaborate processes of management, research, planning, fundraising, etc, at a time when even our own lives might be at stake. The planners need to plan additional safety protocols and measures to check that health is not at stake. Further, the risk of health management is a major consideration which is why most of the work infrastructure has shifted online. Therefore, it is also necessary to be technologically very advance. Constantly monitor in with the team to affirm that timelines and budget goals are being fulfilled. Consider keeping track of both the risks and the gains. Daily communication and meetings are important because they help you to monitor success while also allowing the team to contribute and problem-solving ethics as a group.

Tracking and evaluation and regular follow-ups is extremely important for management and execution of any initiative. Someone should be assigned to be in charge of acquiring each component of the acquisition strategy, and set strict deadlines for obtaining these items. Anyone else should be in need of supervision. Their job is to keep track of projects and sign off on them when accomplished. Prioritize the things on the agenda that are the most complicated. The most of us are tempted to get the tiny, but this essentially limits the amount of time we have to do other things. It’s time to make a plan of action after you’ve defined what you intend to accomplish.

Your objectives should be explicitly stated and defined in this plan. There are some different causes for events, inclusive of fundraisers, to fail, the most common of which constitute the lack of preparation and a failure to properly share the plan with all teammates and executives in your company. Deficiency of “white room” preparation, or advance planning in lieu of the unpredictable, was also exposed in a Harvard Business Review report on project failure. Recognizing the possibility of that situations to happen, and of the strategy needed to change to accommodate them. Again, effective coordination of the strategy and its development, as well as regular team sessions, are utmost important.

References

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