3.27.2012

Macy's Event and update on Silent Auction

On March 17th, Benefit El Salvador was excited to join Macy's Department Store for its grand opening at the City Creek Center in Salt Lake City.

The day was full of fun activities, including face painting, live entertainment, and an appearance from the NuSkin Jazz Dancers! 

The Macy's event brought our fundraising total to just over $2,000 toward our $20,000 goal.

Our next event is the Silent Auction, which is coming up on April 13, 2012 (just around the corner)!

The Silent Auction is our largest fundraiser of the year! Stay tuned for updates on this very fun event!
View the event page and details here: https://www.facebook.com/events/390287374323593/

1.31.2012

Meeting Minutes - 01/30/2012

Volunteer Meeting on Jan 30, 2012:

Noah
  • Fill out the Study Abroad application; the sooner the better.
  • Handed out documents:
    • BES Leadership directory
    • Fundraising letter / template  (attached)
    • Important dates for volunteers sheet
  • Will email:
    • "How to put on a silent auction" by Jackie Bohn  (attached as 'Instructions for Silent Auction)  
    • Bonus attachment:  "Grassroots Gets Classy" - the flyer / article from last years event which raised $5,400.  (attached)
    • Laura Hempker will be presenting about what a First Responder is.  (details to follow)
  • ASUU Bill:
    • Jackie's proposal and presentation.  
    • We need 8 to 10 volunteers to come show support on February 7th and 21st at 7pm at the Union building.  
  • Fundraising:
    • Totaled $435 at the TTV event!
    • Funds to date:  $3,000
    • Next checkpoint goal:  $5,000 by March 1.  Final goal:  $20,000
    • Each volunteer should raise $1,000.  The very minimum fundraising amount for volunteers is $250. 
Francesca
  • Tabling opportunity:  Crimson Nights.  Feb 24 from 9 to 11pm.
  • FUNDRAISING TRAINING!
    • 8 tips for fundraising handout  (attached)  
    • Motivators for Donating handout  (attached)  
    • We did a fun role-play exercise where we learned about different ways to appeal to the main motivators for donating
    • Motivators:  involvement, obligation, guilt, religious upbringing, euphoria, opportunity, urgency, the season, incentive, social pressure, compassion.
Jackie
  • Silent Auction
    • Needs to arrange drinks, food, a band, speakers, items for bidding.
  • Macy's St. Patrick's Day Grand Opening
    • Selling Tickets:  Volunteers' personal selling goals.  
    • Lisa will email the volunteers a sales reporting form Google Doc.  (You got this email TODAY already)
      • We must keep track of ticket sales to report them.
      • We should have the contact information of people who buy tickets in order to remind them later to GO to Macy's.  
    • Performance and tabling at the event:  face painting, singing, Jazz dancers.
Lisa
  • Flyers
    • 1/4 sheets detailing who / what / how of BES.  And "How can you make a difference?"  donate invitation.
    • Big flyers / signs.  
Spanish Word of the Day was afrontar (v) To confront or to face.  

Next Volunteer Meeting is on Monday, 2/13/12 at the regular time and place; Student Union Parlor B, Mezzanine Floor from 7:30 - 9pm.  
  • Volunteers must report their ticket sales
  • Report on fundraising experiences
  • Jackie will take some time to talk about the Silent Auction and how to approach local businesses for donating items or cash.  

1.18.2012

Ten Thousand Villages Shopping Night Event Recap

          In December, we had a great fundraising event at a fun shop in Salt Lake City called Ten Thousand Villages. Ten Thousand Villages (TTV) buys crafts and wares from artisans all over the world to sell in their retail locations. At the same time, they send a fair wage back to the artisans so that they can continue to make their crafts and products. TTV is a National and even Global Non-Profit organization and we were very excited to team up with them! The shopping night was a night in December when 15% of all sales went directly to Benefit El Salvador. The event was a great success! Check out  some photos from the night below:

Director Noah Harper with TTV Volunteers
A TTV Board Member showing off a singing bowl
BES Volunteers manning the Donation Table

   What a great event!

10.31.2011

2011 Volunteer Trip

Hello! 
The pictures from our 2011 trip to El Salvador are up on the blog as well as our Facebook page. You can access the Facebook photo album without signing in to Facebook by clicking HERE. We had an amazing fundraising year in 2011! We made just over $12,000 that we translated in to over $20,000 worth of supplies with the help of our community partners. We took down 8 new volunteers this year, which included our two instructors for the First Responder Course we led in El Zonte. The remaining 5 volunteers were the four Team Leaders (Jackie, Daryl, Lisa, and Greg) and the Director of BES (Noah) who had all made the trip before. The trip went well in the clinics as well as in the communities. One of our main goals at BES is to foster cultural exchange and dialogue, so that we can learn from our friends and colleagues in El Salvador, as well as share new things with them. This year also provided exciting new opportunities for BES expansion in the coming years. The Director was able to travel to several new clinics this year to assess the needs of the clinics, as well as their willingness to work with BES. Next year, we will also be donating supplies to the clinics in La Libertad and Chiltiupan in the department of La Libertad, El Salvador. We are very excited about expanding our efforts! As a result of this expansion, however, Benefit El Salvador is attempting to raise $20,000 this year! Due to some partnerships in Utah, we have managed to raise close to $1,500 so far. Keep checking back on the blog for more updates and news. 
Lisa