Social Networking for a Cause
There are more than 2.45 billion monthly active Facebook users around the world. In the US, seven out of ten adults use Facebook regularly.
Sophia Bucheli is one of those people. She has been a patient of La Clínica for more than 20 years, and has served on La Clínica’s Board of Directors for three years.
While on the platform, she often came across Facebook Fundraisers her friends were doing on behalf of nonprofit organizations and she asked herself “why can’t I do this for La Clínica?”
So last year to celebrate her birthday she had an idea — she would create her own.
She was motivated to do something because of her conviction that affordable and high quality healthcare should be accessible to everyone. This fundraiser for La Clínica was an ideal way to support that goal.
Even though she had never created a Facebook Fundraiser before, she found the whole process very easy.
“It’s all built-in. I didn’t have to create any distribution list because it was already established. It informed me when someone donated and I personally thanked each person. It was very easy to use,” she says.
Because of the timing near the holidays, she kept her donation goal low, fearing not many people would be willing to participate. However, she was pleasantly surprised when she quickly neared her initial goal of $500; so she increased it to $800.
That goal, too, was almost met, so she decided to increase it one last time to $1,300 and even threw in a twist: all donors would have their name entered into her raffle. The prize? One of her social media famous homemade pies.
Her idea did so well, she did not only meet her final donation goal, she shattered it. In the end, she raised $1,610 — more than three times her initial goal.
Sophia says she feels honored to have done the Facebook Fundraiser. She realizes the impact of fundraisers like these for making change.
“Even if a couple of hundred dollars is raised by anyone, that’s a lot of money that never would’ve been received,” Sophia says. “One shouldn’t underestimate the impact of raising a small amount of money. Think about it, if a handful of people each raise $200 it adds up to a lot of money going to an important cause. Those individual efforts make a big difference.”
Beyond the money, she was able to connect 37 unique donors to La Clínica and its mission.
“I had a couple of friends who’d never heard of La Clínica. After they watched the video of La Clínica [I shared online], and got an endorsement from me, they decided to put it on their regular donation list.”
Sophia encourages anyone to create their own Facebook Fundraiser, especially those who have been touched by La Clínica’s work and mission.
“You see firsthand what La Clínica has done for the community, so put the 30 minutes it may take you to set up a Facebook Fundraiser for your birthday [or any occasion]. Every little bit does count,” she said.
We are grateful for the generosity of donors like Sophia who make our work possible.
You, too, can create your own Facebook Fundraiser for La Clínica. Even a small amount can go a long way in making a difference in a patient’s life.
To get started, visit: https://www.facebook.com/fund/LaClinicaDeLaRaza/