ASSIGNMENT 2A

VOLUNTEER AS A FUNDRAISER FOR A NON-PROFIT

ORGANIZATION

COURSE: MKTG 3450

INSTRUCTOR: SHEENA VAN DYK

1|Page SUBMITTED BY: ZEB HUSSAIN

For the Assignment-2A, I volunteered as a fundraiser for a non-profit organization—Heart &
Stroke. The fundraising duties were performed in the Sahali neighbourhood on Arrowstone
Drive. We canvassed 24 houses in six hours. To accomplish this assignment, I went door-to-door
and interacted with residents and talked to them about heart diseases and awareness. I also shared
the information about how Heart and Stoke efforts are about saving lives, creating awareness
among people, and educating them. It was my first fundraising experience, and the whole
experience was quite eye-opening in terms of how to approach, convince, and persuade the
prospects to donate for the life-saving cause. I would like to thank Sheena for the knowledge she
shared and imparted on me in the Professional Selling class regarding approaching a prospect,
how sharing facts and figures with the prospects helps, gaining a prospect’s trust, and changing
the approach if required.

ABOUT THE NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

The Heart and Stroke Foundation is a non-profit charity dedicated to advocacy,
education, and research funding surrounding heart disease and stroke.
For over 60 years, The Heart & Stroke Foundation has been dedicated to fighting heart
disease and stroke. The organization has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of
millions of others. The Heart & Stroke Foundation focuses its efforts on areas where they can
make the most significant impact, such as fighting for prevention, saving lives, transforming
recovery, and investing in life-saving research.
The organization's vision is “Life. Uninterrupted by heart disease and stroke.”
DATE AND TIME OF VOLUNTEERING
On the first day, my partner and I volunteered together started at 6 pm on February 20,
2020. We took the bus from the TRU exchange bay to reach to the designated area and canvased
for 2 hours till 8pm. On the other days, we canvassed separately to cover more houses as per the
prescribed time, for more than 6 hours in total.
METHOD USED FOR FUNDRAISING
The method we used for fundraising was door-to-door calling, which was effective in
raising funds for The Heart & Stroke Foundation. We went to door-to-door and talked to
prospects about heart disease, awareness related to heart disease, how Heart & Stroke

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Foundation impacts the lives in society by helping them, how fundraising helps The Heart &
Stroke Foundation to achieve its vision “Life. Uninterrupted by heart disease and Stroke”, and
how the prospect becomes part of this great cause and takes pride by making a donation.
REFLECTION OF EXPERIENCE
It was my first ever experience of volunteering. I was kind of not confident, bit concerned, and
nervous in the beginning. While on the way to the first prospect house, I was talking to myself
and weird thoughts popping out of my mind about how I going to introduce myself, what I going
to say, what if the prospect didn’t listen to me, or the worst what if the prospect slammed the
door on my face. When we reached the house of the first prospect, we knocked on the door and
moved 2 -steps back and held our Id’s in front; we did exactly what Sheena told us in the class.
The interaction with the first prospect went very smoothly, and we talked to him about The Heart
& Stroke Foundation, how it helps the people with heart disease and why we are canvassing. We
didn’t raise any donation from the first prospect because he already donated to the other
organization. We followed the same approach to the second prospect, and we were confident this
time. The second prospect made our day, and we raised our first donation and felt quite proud,
boost-up after successfully raising the first donation, and I can’t forget that feeling for the rest of
my life.
Further, we didn’t raise any donations from a couple of houses; some prospects were busy, some
partying, and some of them didn't seem interested at all to interact with us and listen to us. It was
kind of bit embarrassing, and I asked myself, are we bothering them, and is it okay to knock the
prospects door in the evening. On the next day, I changed the approach and went in the morning
on the weekend, at 10 am - 12noon, to the prospect's houses. In the morning, most of the
prospects were available, free to meet, and we had exciting conversations about the Heart and
Stroke efforts and the changes that prospects can bring in the life of people by donating some
amount.
When I started this work, my motive is just to complete my assignment. But, as I involved in the
work, I get some first words from the people who donated, which change my thinking, and I also
contributed online towards the cause. Overall it was a great learning experience to work for a
non-profit organization, and I gained a lot from the whole experience. It helps me to get out of
my comfort zone and talk to people and convince them to donate. The best takes away from the
assignment for me was it help me to overcome the fear of rejection and failure.

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Ratio Analysis: While doing the fundraising, I knocked to 24 houses and only approached by 17
prospects, raised amount $30.
Number of houses approached: 24
Number of prospects Contacted: 17
Number of Prospects Donated: 3
Donation to Contact Ratio: 17.64%
Donation Amount: $30
Average amount per prospect: $10

References:
https://www.heartandstroke.ca/

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