The Frantic Fundraiser
Description
Volunteers from various professional disciplines have come together in their community to fundraise for a good cause by doing an outdoor event that features different vendors. The two younger volunteers are social workers who have just completed their MSW and it is their first year volunteering. The middle-aged volunteer works in Business Technology Management and this is their third year volunteering. The oldest volunteer works in Public Health and will be retiring the following year, and this is their 15th year volunteering.
The oldest volunteer has plenty of experience with this fundraiser, and believes that their traditional approaches that they have used for the previous years of keeping will work the best. The traditional approach focuses on promoting healthy behaviors, such as mental health awareness, physical activity, nutrition, and the prevention of communicable diseases. The middle-aged volunteer agrees with the traditional approaches of the oldest volunteer, but they also feel that the younger volunteers have brought new ideas that they agree with. This would include keeping in person ticket booth stands and posting flyers all over town, while also incorporating modern strategies such as online ticket sales and leveraging social media for promotion. Additionally, they suggest incorporating a live streaming of the fundraiser to reach a broader audience. The two younger social workers take on a more innovative approach to the fundraiser that is different from the traditional fundraising techniques that have previously been used. They also want to add booths from local companies that raise awareness of various supports for racialized communities, immigrant families, and child welfare.
The oldest volunteer wishes to keep the fundraiser generic and the same as previous years, and does not acknowledge the ideas and contributions of the younger volunteers. The middle-aged volunteer feels that there is a miscommunication about roles and responsibilities for the fundraiser and that there is no clear leadership because of the generational differences. The youngest volunteers feel that the oldest volunteer, although they are very experienced, is not considering their ideas and contributions, and that adding local companies’ booths to their fundraiser will increase awareness of marginalized people in their community.