In our “Take Division 17 to Lunch” campaign, we encouraged members of APA’s Division 17 (Society of Counseling Psychology) to “take the division to lunch,” through a donation based on their stage of career development. For example, a student member might donate $10 for a cup of coffee, while an early career professional might donate $50 to take a student to lunch, and a more seasoned professional might donate $200 or more to take several colleagues to lunch.
We launched the campaign at APA 2021 with an announcement at our business meeting. For 10 weeks, we utilized social media and listservs to market the campaign and accept donations through the APA Division Charitable Donation Solicitation Pilot Program. Our team’s persistence to connect personally through emails allowed us to surpass our $10,000 goal.
Prior to starting the campaign, we carefully developed a marketing plan. With the help of the Division 17 communications team, we developed flyers and other marketing materials. We created a video to spread our vision with our members which inspired our members to donate.
Given our experiences with the Take Division 17 to Lunch campaign, we make the following recommendations to launch a successful campaign in the future:
- When working on a team, clear communication is key. Checking in with all team members regarding assigned roles and tasks and regularly communicating deadlines is helpful.
- Use your team members’ strengths and connections to make a difference.
- Finally, believe in your campaign. If you do not believe in it, then you will not be able to convince others to believe in it either.
Despite our success, there are a couple of changes that we would make:
- Focus more time and energy connecting with Division 17 members—most of our donations came from personal communication with members. A significant amount of time and energy was allotted to creating a social media marketing plan, while a more productive focus would have been on making one-on-one connections with peers and colleagues.
- Many potential donors wanted transparency about how their donation would be spent. Having an ability to share this information with donors might have increased the likelihood that they would make a donation.
Our efforts were made to empower people and center marginalized voices, promote psychological functioning and resilience, and address systemic oppression and eliminate health disparities by engaging in social justice advocacy. Our funds may be used for scholarships for students to attend professional conferences, anti-Black racism education initiatives, and support for people of color who are Division 17 members.
We are grateful to APA for the Division Charitable Donation Solicitation Pilot Program. If anyone has questions about our fundraising campaign, we are happy to answer them. Contact Julie Koch, PhD.
The Division Charitable Donation Solicitation Pilot Program was created because of the need for additional funding to sustain division activities and the difficulties of registration and reporting in each state. Eligible divisions are those that have finances and membership managed by APA. Any division wanting to solicit donations must use this program and must submit a campaign request using our form. Requirements include using APA forms to collect credit card and check donations (receipts are sent automatically), including a disclaimer, not restricting funds, and keeping track of all solicitation activities. For complete information, please contact your Division Engagement account liaison.