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Description
For almost 10 years, Fundatia Inovatii Sociale Regina Maria, through Baba Novac Social Clinic, has been providing free integrated medical assistance to people from the most vulnerable groups (without income and health insurance): general medicine, specialized medicine and dentistry, necessary medications, screening and prevention programs. The total number of patients enrolled today is 2,700. Out of these, approximately 1,100 / year are recurrent patients, mostly chronically ill, and the number is increasing, especially due to current context.
In order to have continuity in our activity and to provide recurring services to our direct beneficiaries, the Foundation has been actively involved in fundraising, the main focus being sponsorships from corporates. The Foundation has also started to raise recurring funds from individuals via SMS campaigns. However, donations from individuals represent only 2.3% of the annual budget. In the current context of the COVID pandemic, we have seen a dramatic decline in corporate sponsorships and therefore financial sustainability has become the Foundation''s priority. Thus, we started a pilot project to attract recurring funds through direct debit, using the face-to-face method.
Through the project ”People like us give for another future” we aim to acquire, in 12 months, 2050 monthly donors to donate through direct debit. Studies have demonstrated that this fundraising method provides predictable and sustainable income, so necessary for an organization that runs long-term programs for 1450 direct beneficiaries. To develop and implement such a donor procurement project, we need substantial financial resources as well as dedicated human resources.
Summary of project results
The project aimed to strengthen the Foundation''s capacity to attract new donors through the direct debit donation mechanism, an extremely challenging activity for any organization, mainly due to the high costs associated with signing direct debit mandates.
The project provided an opportunity to expand the base of individual donors and cover a significant portion of the costs of acquiring them. The activities carried out included project management, information and communication efforts, as well as organizing the fundraising campaign. All of these efforts had the goals of developing a long-term fundraising mechanism based on recurring donations and implementing a donor care system to maximize the duration and amount of donations.
Unplanned outcomes included the improvement of the Foundation''s project management capacity. A significant impact was observed in the increased communication and fundraising capabilities of the team that interacted with donors on the street. Through this campaign, discussions were held with over 20,000 citizens who learned more about the Foundation''s activities.
In the end, all these efforts led to a significant increase in the Foundation''s internal capacity to manage projects and attract donors, which will support the Foundation''s social projects for many years to come.
Through the project, 1,535 direct debit donation mandates were collected, with an average monthly amount per mandate (in 2023) of 26.24 lei, out of which 1,175 were still active by the end of the project. The total amount debited was 155,660 lei.