World demands - Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Spring 2012 ACTIVISMpalestine NEWS 21Fundraising – it’sabsolutely vital!In any not-for-profit organisation, the need for fundraising isongoing. But in these straitened economic times, it is at thesame time more vital and more difficult.PSC has a solid core strength – the commitment of itsmembers, branches and affiliates. We continue to grow andexpand in influence, building the mass solidarity movementthat is so desperately needed and placing Palestine as the keyinternational solidarity issue of our time. But we cannot do thiswithout a generous and steady flow of funds to support therunning of the office, produce the literature and organise thecampaigns.So please do your best to raise whatever you can as anindividual, or as a branch. Here are a few ideas to inspire you!Join the PSC 100 ClubThe 100 Club is a group of PSC members and supporters whocommit to a regular donation of at least £100 a year through astanding order. Having a solid and predictable income is great forhelping us to plan ahead effectively and to remain in the forefront ofsolidarity work in the UK and Europe.Auction raises £10,500!!It took a lot of planning and hard work but when we in theRichmond and Kingston branch totted up the total and foundwe had raised an astonishing £10,500 from our Auction ofPromises, we feltit had all beenworthwhile.An Auctionof Promises is asimple idea thatcan be done onany scale – notevery communityhas the resourcesto donate as muchas ours did in awell-heeled andpolitically awareLondon suburb.On whatever scale,however, it can beGuests study the Promises brochures.both effective and an enjoyable occasion in which to spread theword about the work of PSC.The way it works is that you persuade people to donatePromises, then you organise an Auction in which people bid forthem – with the money going to PSC.For the Promises, we thought of anyone we knew whocould do anything. For example, one friend runs a websitedesign business and donated two hours of her time, another isa builder and donated half a day, one is a gardener and gavethree hours work, two are freelance cooks – one is doing a“food and wine matching” demonstration and the other teaching“how to cook dinner for eight in two hours.” There was dinner inthe House of Lords with Baroness Jenny Tonge and tea in theHouse of Commons with Jeremy Corbyn, MP.Three people who own holiday homes generously donateda week each. We got tickets for concerts and local theatresand vouchers from restaurants. Think creatively! Anyone witha passion or skill, for instance for fishing, embroidery, playingcards, pigeon fancying, whatever, could offer to give a couple ofhours of instruction.We ended up with 36 Promises – far too many to beauctioned in one go – which brings me to the second essentialelement for success: careful organisation. We decided fromthe start to focus on making it a fun night out so as to draw inpeople who are generally supportive but don’t usually attendPSC events.We hired a hall attached toa pub and organised food tobe supplied by the PalestinianMaramia Restaurant in London’sNotting Hill – it was delicious! Weinvited the fine oud player, FirasJabloun, who very generouslyplayed for nothing.For publicity we created“brochures” listing the Promises,attractively laid out with pictures,which we emailed to anyonewe thought might be interestedand invited people to come inexchange for a £15 donation toFiras Jabloun.cover our costs (better to avoid formally selling tickets so asnot to fall foul of ‘elf ‘n’ safety requirements).Then we added our star attraction – a very fine auctioneerin the person of former Labour MP, QC, author and wit, BobMarshall-Andrews. We were very lucky in that he lives locallyand had done it before and he proved to be magic on the night.The key is to find someone with the gift of the gab who can“talk up” the Promises to get the bidding going.One pitfall to be wary of is “Auction fatigue.” After eight orten Promises, the crowd’s attention inevitably flags. So wesplit our Promises into a Live Auction and a Silent Auction –where they are listed on a board and people place their bidsthroughout the evening.We split the 18 Promises remaining in the Live Auctioninto two halves, with a break in between for the food andentertainment. We created a Powerpoint of pictures to displaywhile Bob weaved jokes and anecdotes around the seriousbusiness of persuading people to part with their cash.A friend kindly decorated the tables with cloths and napkinsin the colours of the Palestinian flag and 120 people crowdedin. The atmosphere was great and afterwards many people saidwhat a good time they had had. We were pleased not only toraise the money but also that people went away with a positiveimage of the PSC and the Palestinian cause.More details of how to organise an Auction of Promises, andour brochures, will be on the website in due course.