Organizations Compete as They Solicit Funds; Campus Community Experiences Donor Fatigue

Throughout campus, there is a plethora of fundraising posters posted in various buildings.

Wilson College, like other schools, has a variety of sports teams, academic and social clubs that hold fundraisers as a way to generate funds for expenses that come throughout the year. However, even though fundraising can substantially help a group, it can be an increasingly frustrating task for many students.

Samara Rutten ‘21, an international student shares her experience with fundraising. Rutten, who plays field hockey, just recently completed five fundraisers with her team in a very short time span.

“Yes, I do think that fundraising is important. It allows us to pay for the items that we don’t necessarily have money for in our budget. However, at a location like Wilson it is extremely hard. Location is a big difficulty; if you are in a rural area, there are very few people to ask for support for your fundraiser. If you have just come to an area like me, it is very hard to fundraise. I can’t really reach out to my family because they are half way across the country. Being new here, I haven’t made a lot of connections yet in Wilson,” Rutten commented.

Another dilemma with Wilson is that it is a small campus. Because of this, it is difficult to get a lot of involvement in fundraisers. Students struggle to get classmates involved and most feel like they are bombarding teachers.

Chelsea Kowall ‘20, who is involved in the Equine Facilitated Therapeutics Club, commented that fundraising helps them immensely for many different things.

“We hold fundraisers at the various horse shows and do a clothing sale within the club. Fundraising allows us to buy materials needed for the EFT class,” Kowall said. ““The biggest struggle for our club is the fact we are one of the smaller clubs on campus so trying to get people to acknowledge us isn’t always easy.”

Like any school, Wilson has different clubs and sports that stand out above the rest. When having clubs that are bigger than others, some clubs get looked over and many do not have successful fundraisers because of it.

There is no perfect answer or solution for fundraising. It is important to know that fundraising can help, whether it’s going out to eat or buying one item, you can support a student or support a club or sport. Although it may feel like students bombard people with fundraiser after fundraiser, think about everything that students or clubs would not be able to have without fundraising. Take the time to see that the students who are fundraising are trying to make a difference in their activity and reduce the financial burden or to get materials that are needed.

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