Super Bowl Scrooges Unite to Make a Difference
Throughout the year people come up with creative ways to raise money for Episcopal Relief & Development. One popular and fun way has been during major sporting events like the World Series or the Super Bowl. For instance, as a result of your generous support, this year there was a 33% increase in funds raised for the Super Bowl Challenge compared to last year! For our 75th Anniversary Celebration we invite people to share their stories. In this blog Jessy Briton Hamilton from Colorado, writes about his participation in this year’s Super Bowl Challenge and how it connects to his passion for the Church and fundraising for local and global challenges, showing us that you can watch your favorite game and do good at the same time!
Many thanks to Jessy and everyone like him who do their part to keep our organization going.
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I love fundraising. As someone who has managed several political campaigns (including two of my own) and an historic nonprofit theater, asking for money is not something I shy away from. In fact, fundraising for one good cause or another has been an exciting and rewarding part of my life for many years. That is in part why I could not resist the opportunity to lend a hand to Episcopal Relief & Development during this year’s Super Bowl challenge.
Most fundraisers for Episcopal Relief & Development’s Super Bowl challenge raised donations using either the Patriots or Seahawks logo to encourage family and friends to show their support for one team or the other through their donation. I grew up a Cincinnati Bengals fan, but fell in love with the Broncos after moving to Denver. Neither of my teams appeared in the Super Bowl this year, so I took a different approach and raised funds among those who either weren’t interested in football, or were disappointed that their team was not playing (we all know the Broncos should have been in the Super Bowl).
I’ve found that being willing to stick your neck out is a key ingredient to fundraising success! Four years ago, I worked for a state conservation board with no dedicated funding. We were charged with organizing educational opportunities in the community and representing the state’s environmental interests with partner agencies, so in order to deliver on our mission, we had to get creative. To hold a town hall meeting, we found a university that would lend us free space and audio/visual equipment. To fund our community education initiatives, we organized wine and cheese fundraisers. To send local school children to soil and water conservation camp, we solicited business and community leaders, and even paid for the educational experience out of our own pockets when we came up short.
So for the Super Bowl challenge, I took to social media and began to talk about all the reasons why I had given to Episcopal Relief & Development in the past. On Twitter, I engaged followers with stories of villages in Africa where instances of malaria have been reduced or eliminated, thanks to mosquito nets I helped Episcopal Relief & Development purchase with my donation. People were amazed to hear of the impact these nets have, at a cost of less than I would spend in a week on premium coffee. On Facebook, friends donated after hearing about the work Episcopal Relief & Development performs following a natural disaster or tragedy.
Initially, I set a modest goal. I have a lot of friends who are “spiritual not religious,” or fall into the “none of the above” category, so I wasn’t so sure I could fundraise through my network for a religiously affiliated organization the way I have in the past for other causes.
I was wrong.
Friends and family gave. Strangers gave. People I haven’t seen in years gave. I adjusted my goal, and then exceeded it by 12%.
Regardless of background or creed, people recognized that Episcopal Relief & Development – the, “compassionate response of the Episcopal Church to human suffering in the world” – acts as God’s eyes, ears, heart, and hands to end poverty, provide clean drinking water and educate communities to prevent the spread of HIV and a host of other diseases. Episcopal Relief & Development is exemplary of what the Church looks like when the Church is at its best; when we truly make it our mission to love our neighbors as ourselves.
One need not be Episcopalian, or even a believer, to want to see the Church at her best, living out her calling. And, when we act in concert as the body of Christ to heal a hurting world, we are at our best.
Episcopal Relief & Development changes countless lives every day. I am proud to support this organization, and look forward to our work together in the future.
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Jessy Briton Hamilton is a high school American History teacher and Principal Consultant at his firm, Solutions by J.Briton. He attends Saint John’s Cathedral in the Wilderness in Denver, Colorado.
Images: Top, Middle 1, and Last, Meet Jessy Briton Hamilton, American History teacher, consultant and fundraiser. Middle 2, One of the Super Bowl tweets Jessy shared during his fundraising.
An Historical Journey
We invite you to journey with us through our 75 years of healing a hurting world. View our interactive timeline that takes you from our start in the 1940s to the present, and witness our growth in vision and direction. We thank you for your support that allows us to strive towards a flourishing future. It takes #AllHands75!
