Excellence in Fund Raising

QI of Liverpool
New South Wales, Australia

Project: Volunteer Firefighters Benefit Night

When bush fires erupted across an immense area of New South Wales on Christmas Day 2001, the Liverpool club rushed into action with service and a fund-raiser that generated Aus.$32,070 to help firefighters.

Volunteer firefighters from all over Australia rushed to assist locals, exhausted from a week of battling the blaze. The Liverpool motel was understaffed during the holidays, so Quota volunteers took over operation of the dining room to wait and bus tables, do dishes, wash and iron linens, and cheer tired firefighters for eight days. The club organized friends and families to help for three shifts each day, serving more than 2,500 meals. Noted a fire official from Victoria, "These blokes have never been looked after so well."

In gratitude, the motel owner encouraged the club to create a fund-raiser that he would sponsor to help the Volunteer Bush Fire Brigades replace equipment, train staff, and provide programs. Within weeks, the club organized a benefit dinner-dance, monster raffle, and auction that exceeded all expectations, involving the community and bringing widespread positive news coverage for the Liverpool club.

QI of Monroe
Louisiana, U.S.A.

Project: First Annual Kids' Expo

The Monroe club boldly abandoned a successful fund-raising dinner-dance to embrace a new idea that would raise money and serve the community. Aiming to provide an exhibit on hearing at the local Children's Museum, the club decided to create a moneymaker that focused on children and featured family entertainment. The U.S.$8,000 profit from Kids' Expo assured funding for the exhibit and other projects for the year.

The expo included four essential components. Local churches, businesses, emergency services, poison control, and the zoo sponsored various children's games and activities. Volunteer musicians, magicians, actors, and clowns provided family entertainment. Vendors of children's toys, books, clothing, and gifts paid $125 each for booth space to sell their wares. And sponsors underwrote the initial costs of promoting and providing supplies for the event.

A poster contest generated great interest and provided decorations for the event. When Kids' Expo ended, the works were donated to a local veteran's hospital.

"Through Kids' Expo, our club gained broader-based support within the community," said Past President Gwenn Jackson. "Businesses without a previous relationship to Quota were attracted to the family nature of the event and gained awareness of our services. An entire segment of the community, attracted by the family entertainment, became aware of Quota and our service for the first time."

The project enhanced membership by revitalizing interest among non-participating members and bringing together younger members with veteran ones to work side-by-side. "This project made an immediate impact on our new members and opened the door to additional prospects for membership," added Gwenn.

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