Carol is camping out in a tent on the roof of the Fabric of Life Foundation’s fair trade boutique in Edmonds, Washington until 1 million people send in $1 each to the foundation.
This may sound a bit crazy and that’s okay with Carol. She just wants to celebrate, not only the great things her nonprofit Fabric of Life Foundation does, but all things people are doing for charity and the causes they care about.
We had a chance to chat with Carol about her bold and ambitious idea right before she was hoisted to the roof by the local fire department, read on below.
Why a roof-top campout?
“It just came to me. I was tired of reading all the bad news, everyone losing homes, the economic situation, and thought there has to better news happening and that we need to celebrate the good things going on! And I needed to raise money, so I was thinking why not shout good news from the roof top and make a fundraising event out of it.
Our organization wants to be a voice for the voiceless; we want to be a voice for those whose issues need to be brought out. For example we [at the Foundation] are doing interviews with tent city residents, and people in homeless shelters. We will share their stories with others who can and want to help.”
How are you promoting it?
“It has been mainly word of mouth, and lot of social networking through Facebook and Twitter, but we have also sent out some unique press releases to TV and radio stations. At the Hèrè jè Center in Mali West Africa that I started with my friend, we teach young adults useful skills that they can use to make money. They learn how to sew and weave so we wrapped the press releases in fabrics that the students made. It is an attention grabber.
We also have a blog, which I will be writing on live from the roof. We also have interviews set up for when I am on the roof and will be posting and sharing those online. The main idea behind getting a dollar from a million people is also to find out what other people are doing for charities and causes they care about so I will be sharing that as well.”
For example, on Carol’s page one donor gave a dollar and wrote “I am raising money to help families provide critical care for their pets through www.face4pets.org.” Carol is also encouraging donors who come to see her on the roof to not only send up their money in the basket that will reach up to the roof, but to include a note telling her what they are doing.
Carol has already gotten donations from all over the U.S and has found although she is only asking for a dollar from each person, everyone seems to be sending more.
“I have found that people want to give, but they don’t want to give to an empty institution or black hole. We believe one small action can make a big difference and we want to celebrate what others are doing. I hope this campaign inspires others to give or do something themselves for causes they care about. We also want to help everyone collaborate with each other if they are passionate about the same causes.”
How has FirstGiving helped you fundraise?
“This is the foundations second time using FirstGiving and it worked so well the first time, (we raised $40,000 in 6 weeks!), we wanted to use it again. Since we are so small (me and 50 volunteers) we can’t afford a full time fundraiser, and we find FirstGiving easy and simple to use so it made sense to utilize it again this year.
We especially love the page thermometer, and ability to leave a comment on the pages. We are using it so our donors can give to the campaign quickly and it is user-friendly so all they have to do is click a button. If we didn’t have the FirstGiving site, it would be harder to raise this much money this quickly.”
How are you feeling about living on the roof?
“I am ready to sit this out, rain or shine, and will stay up there as long as it takes. My family is still in shock, they think I am crazy but they thought that before this! I am inspired and encouraged and am looking forward to learn what others are doing!”
Carol will be staying on the roof in a dome tent and will have access to a camp port-a-potty, a sun shower, awning to protect her from the sun, and of course she will have computer access to blog her entire experience. She will also conduct interviews from the roof and there was a mini street parade to send her up with dancers and African drummers.
As for food on the roof, Carol is asking for people in the community to make her meals from different countries and send them up in a basket to her. She feels this will encourage people to learn about other cultures plus get them involved with her event.
As Carol said on her page, “It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the enormity of issues we face. We find ourselves thinking “what impact can one person possibly have?” So I’ve decided to “shout from the roof top” how people are making a world of difference.”
Get involved or learn more
Tell Carol what you are doing for your favorite nonprofit by making a donation to her page.
For more information about Carol’s project and nonprofit, check out Carol’s blog or her nonprofit’s website.
