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How Ambassadors & Virtual Fundraising Helped BUILD, Inc. Raise $800K

Founded in 1969, BUILD, Inc. helps at-risk youth transform their lives in some of Chicago’s most challenging neighborhoods. BUILD, Inc. serves thousands of vulnerable young people in Chicago escape violence, overcome trauma, and achieve safe and bright futures. Their annual gala has always been BUILD’s fundraising lifeblood – so with their mission on the line, the team worked fast to flip their event virtual.

It was a quick decision to figure out how we were going to make our annual gala go virtual. We had to fundraise out of necessity, as this event is a major donation vehicle for our donors. So, it was never a question of would we have it, it was how would we make it work.
– Kirsten Mallik, Chief Development Officer

Online Fundraising Activities

The BUILD, Inc. team tapped into multiple online fundraising activities to make their event a success, including:

Silent auction
Online appeal
Ambassador fundraising

What Made This Event Unique

Visit the BUILD, Inc. Fundraising Page

BUILD adapted their most popular annual gala to a virtual gala and social fundraising campaign, using OneCause Mobile Bidding & Peer-to-Peer software.

They had strong board and staff participation to help spread the word on the virtual event and enlist larger social networks to help fundraise. They had teams and individuals create fundraising pages and raise funds.

Through videos, mission messaging, and powerful storytelling they brought their mission to life online! With their mission at the center, they unleashed ambassadors and the power of social fundraising to hit their large (and much needed) fundraising goal!