Running of the Beds
Fundraiser for Flourish: A Furniture Bank, 2024
Overview
Running of the Beds is a bed race fundraiser for Flourish. Teams of five build beds-on-wheels and race them. Each team is challenged to raise $500 or more through a peer-to-peer model. In addition, the event features carnival games, music, food, and a resource fair featuring 20 Flourish non-profit referring partners.
Results
$25,000 raised through sponsorships and peer-to-peer fundraising
300 People Attended
3 news stories about event
Launched successful annual event
Received a Gold Philly Award from Nonprofit Connect for Event Campaign
Background & Goals
My goal was to create a unique, attention-grabbing signature fundraising event for Flourish. By drawing from the tradition of bed races on college campuses, this event became Kansas City’s one-of-a-kind bed race. The event’s purpose was to raise funds to help provide free beds to 1,300 families that year and raise awareness about Flourish’s mission and impact for the community.
Nine teams raced beds-on-wheels to support Flourish’s goal to provide free beds to 1,300 families
The Art of Home
Fundraiser for Flourish: A Furniture Bank, 2024
Overview
The Art of Home Gala is Flourish’s annual gala started in 2024. The event features an art exhibition with submissions of art from community members: local artists, volunteers, and former Flourish guests. The exhibition highlights the creativity that goes into every process at Flourish: from furniture repair by volunteers to home curation done by Flourish guests.
Results
$82,000 raised through sponsorships and auction
20 local artists donated work
216 people attended including corporate sponsors, individual sponsors, and artists
Launched successful annual event
Background & Goals
In previous years, Flourish hosted an annual event at Topgolf in place of a formal gala. I wanted to create a unique and creative event that spoke to Flourish’s mission, capturing the passion and creativity of the organization’s programs. My goal was to create a space for the community to come together and raise support while celebrating the creativity and individuality of our guests and volunteers.
Two-hundred attendees bid on a community art exhibition to raise funds for Flourish
Furniture Donation Campaign
Grant Project and Marketing Campaign for Flourish: A Furniture Bank, 2023-2024
Results
$127,000 in grant funds awarded by the Mid-America Regional Council Solid Waste District
260% increase in furniture donations from 170 tons in 2022 to 670 tons in 2024
607 more homes furnished over two years (47%) with increased furniture donations and greater volunteer repair workshop efficiency
Number of new furniture donors which also grew fundraising support by Number Percent
Background & Goals
One of Flourish’s greatest needs is donated furniture: the volume of furniture receives determined the number of homes we could furnish. I planned, received grants for, and executed a multi-channel marketing campaign to increase awareness of our furniture donation options and increase the amount of furniture donated. My goal was to increase furniture donations by 20% or 100 tons of furniture per year. Further, I wanted to raise general awareness of Flourish’s pick-up and drop-off options, with the goal of increasing donors by 20%.
Overview
The furniture donation campaign was a multi-channel marketing project and grant project of $127,000 from the Mid-America Regional Council Solid Waste District. I wrote two grants for that amount and managed their implementation. The grants funded a marketing campaign, new repair tools for volunteers, a professional organizing service to make the warehouse flow more efficient, and two new staff positions for Flourish: a full-time Driver and a full-time Director of Volunteer Programs. The marketing campaign included three new truck wraps for Flourish moving trucks (pictured), a direct mail campaign, a series of billboards, social media ads, and a radio campaign.
Volunteers pose with newly wrapped moving vehicles used for furniture pick-ups
Guest Profiles
Social Media Campaign for Flourish: A Furniture Bank
Engagement
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House the People
Fundraiser for KC Tenants
Funds Raised
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Open Call to Artists
Multi-Channel Marketing Campaign for Vulpes Bastille
Engagement
Increase in submissions
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