Event:2014/09/22 community and fundraising

link title* 7pm, Monday, 9/22 in the ballroom (or basement if necessary)

• meeting notes from 9/13
• meeting notes from 8/11

AGENDA

• propose a schedule and a strategy going forward for our first round of fundraising

MINUTES

0. Introductions

• what we're building on
  • emerging concept:
    • communicates the long-term promise we see in Omni
    • represents all of the contexts we come from and the transformations we're making
    • focuses heavily on the tangible - "a communal space and venue" as well as "heritage" (as opposed to gentrification) and "self-organizing" (an extension of occupy)
    • see notes from last meeting
  • preliminary goal and deadline: $70k by Dec 12
  • stretch goals of $88k, $111k, for example (we need a budget of the reasonable minimum to sustain Omni through January, including construction costs)
  • note: depending on projections, it might be wise to start at lower goal

1. Schedule

• Sep 22: jump 1 -- getting pledges
  • drafting lists of prospects
  • asking people personally to pledge
  • making estimates of money for Day 1
• Sep 29: jump 2 -- producing materials
  • campaign page text
  • "ask" template
  • video
  • editorial calendar of emails, social media, etc
• Oct 5: video filming
• Oct 9: video edits complete; Noemie leaves town
• Oct 10: donate page live, with video!
  • launch party?
• Oct 11 onward:
  • full calendar of events
  • full press, media, and social media campaign
• Dec 12: victory!
  • Dec 12 because it's after "#givingtuesday" and safely before the holidays; we can get the word out BEFORE other seasonal fundraisers and meet our first goal (or "tilt" if Matt believes we should use tilt.com) before continuing onward to our next, larger goal

2. Strategy going forward

• three parallel strategies:
  • 1) organizing inner circle
  • 2) reaching wider audience
  • 3) hosting events and stunts
• group exercises AKA thought experiments:
  • 1) setting the scope: assume 3% of people reached make an avg. donation of $35 (a "conversion rate"), how many people do we need to reach our goal of $70,000? (66,667 people reached!) How many individuals does that add up to? (2,000 donors!)
  • 2) drafting lists: take 15min to list individuals and organizations that might donate, noting why they might want to, how much $, and how likely
    • PROJECTIONS: we estimated potential for $15–30k in pledges via direct, individual asks, meaning a $70k initial goal is realistic!
    • these large, one-time donations are in addition to recurring weekly microdonations
• top priorities across the 3 parallel strategies:
  • coordinating Omni collectives
  • inviting people with great reach to be on our "host committee" and champion the campaign
  • soliciting individuals who can make large gifts, high net-worth and with values aligned
  • leveraging press contacts
  • leveraging local partners/org relationships
  • hosting excellent events
  • securing grants

3. Action

• propose schedule of dates (campaign launch, first goal deadline) to delegates on Thursday
• announce workshop on fundraising to support more people getting involved (see priorities, above)
• establish weekly Monday work party for fundraising
  • next week: donation platform and other materials