Create a Team for a Charity Walk

On July 17, the 25th Annual AIDS Walk in San Francisco raised over $3,000,000 for Bay area AIDS programs and services offered by the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, including, as outlined in the walk material:

• Benefits counselors help individuals understand and link into the complex private and public benefits systems, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Program, food stamps, Medi-Cal, Medicare, Social Security and private disability plans.
• The housing subsidy program provides rental assistance to more than 350 individuals. Through the work of our client advocates and the clients themselves,more than 95 percent of these individuals remain stably housed.
• The Speed Project works with gay and bisexual men who use crystal methamphetamine to assist them in understanding the connections between substance use and sexual health and well-being through education, peer support and alternative social activities.
• Black Brothers Esteem promotes the sexual health and well-being of AfricanAmerican gay, bisexual and same-gender loving men. Through weekly drop-in support groups, workshops, leadership-building retreats and other community-building activities, members learn to advocate for their own health and for their community.
• The HIV Prevention Project is a sterile syringe access program that distributes more than 2.3 million syringes annually, helping thousands of exchangers and their partners avoid HIV infection and hepatitis C. Staff and volunteers, nurses, and drug treatment counselors offer free, anonymous exchange and other vital services at 10 San Francisco locations.
• El Grupo, is one of the longest running bilingual support groups for Latinos living with HIV in the nation. Open to all HIV-positive Latino/as and their families, El Grupo provides a safe forum to share information on managing HIV and reducing isolation and stigma.
• The Stonewall Project is a counseling and treatment program for men who have sex with men (queer, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, or no label) who use crystal methamphetamine. Its website, tweaker.org, provides information about the use of meth to nearly 2,300 visitors a day.
• Magnet provides sexual health services, including HIV and STD testing and screening, in the Castro, the neighborhood with the greatest concentration of new HIV infections in San Francisco, and creates a space for gay men’s social events.
• BETA (Bulletin of Experimental Treatments for AIDS) provides in-depth treatment information and news on the latest advances in HIV care.

For non-profit organizations, teams are able to effectively raise money for causes, and NPOs like the San Francisco AIDS Foundation promote team formation and facilitate team effectiveness. I am quite amazed at the comprehensiveness of their manual for teams. One table they include is a list of the top 25 fundraising teams from 2010. (Go, Gap, Inc!) To me, this is brilliant. First off, it recognizes the strong performance of these teams and promotes a sense of appreciation. It also provides promotes the reputation of the organizations with teams in the top 25. Less obviously, it might spur healthy competition so the teams will strive for even greater donations for future walks.

Benefits to the non-profit organization, such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, are clear. In the Fall, walks to support charitable organizations abound. (The ones closest to my heart are the Walks for Farm Animals held across the to country to benefit the Farm Sanctuary; my dog and I also walk in the March for Animals to benefit the Tompkins County SPCA.) 

What is it, though, that organizations who provide the employees who populate the teams gain? As I mentioned, having teams participate in the walk can provide good public relations among the other walkers and the larger community. The organization can benefit in other ways from employee involvement in these teams. Employees usually have fun with other team members on the walk. They feel a sense of meaning from participating in a fundraising opportunity for a good cause. When the team has worked together to raise funds leading up to the walk, and when the team creates a special t-shirt for the team members to wear, cohesion among the team members increases. 

This is a very low-cost, low-risk strategy for organizations who want to promote SAW. Even better if organizations will match some or all of the funds raised to show a greater commitment to the cause and support of the employees who are walking.