Raising Funds and Starting Conversations
By Dan Fields, a member of both Male Allies Standing Up and the Turn on the Light 2023 Host Committee.
I’ve been heartened by the response to my fundraising efforts for the Turn on the Light 2023 campaign. Granted, just about everyone would agree that the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) is a bad thing – but are the people I know willing to donate in support of the fight against it? In many cases, the answer has been “Yes.”
After going to http://give.jri.org/TOTL2023 and clicking “START A FUNDRAISER,” I became an illuminator by creating an individual fundraising page. A default “story” behind the campaign is provided, and I wanted to personalize mine to tell people why I care about the issue of CSEC. I wrote:
“I got involved because I was disturbed by the power imbalance between those who are bought for sex and those who are doing the buying. The typical youth served by My Life My Choice is a Black or Latina girl from a low-income background whose age of entry into sex trafficking was 14 years old. The typical buyer is a white, middle-aged man of comfortable means, often married and living in the suburbs. Because the demand for commercial sex is driven by people like me, I believe that it’s my responsibility to help make a difference.”
I also said that I’m a big fan of My Life My Choice because its Survivor Empowerment Program is a national model for working with youth who have experienced exploitation, including mentoring by adult survivors, intensive case management, groupwork, and therapy services. I also noted that the organization provides prevention education to vulnerable youth and trainings to youth-serving professionals around the country.
Now, whom to ask for donations? I followed the “onion method” for fundraising, starting with my closest contacts (the core of the onion) and working outward to more distant contacts (the outer skin). First, I individually emailed family members and a couple of close friends. I included some language from my fundraising page, a link to My Life My Choice’s 1-minute-or-so “Strength of One. Power of All.” video, and a link to my fundraising page. And if folks were local, I also let them know where they could purchase tickets for the Turn on the Light gala on June 8th..
Once I had gotten a few donations to build some momentum, I started to reach out to others. I began to individually email other friends; if I didn’t hear back in a day or so, I’d send a P.S. email with information about My Life My Choice’s excellent five-episode podcast, “Ending Exploitation.” I sent a group email to my team at work. I mentioned Turn on the Light 2023 to the rector at my church, and she suggested that I post about my fundraising to our parishioner group on Facebook. I posted on my Facebook page and have since posted about my progress. I began to message Facebook friends. I may reach out to LinkedIn colleagues in the future.
Here is a sample of some of the responses I’ve gotten from folks who have donated:
“Thank you so much . . . for standing up for this important, liberating work.”
“Wow – what an amazing organization! I had not heard of it before.”
“This is such a great charity you’re working with . . . thanks for letting us know about it.”
“What an important cause and an impressive organization that I was unaware of until now.”
“This is a very worthy cause.”
What these responses tell me is that many of my friends (who are generally well-informed) do not know about My Life My Choice and that many are happy to give to a good cause that I care about. So, if you are raising funds for Turn on the Light 2023 or considering doing so, don’t be shy about speaking up and speaking out. My goal is not just to raise funds but to also start conversations about CSEC and community solutions for ending it.
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Dan Fields is a member of the Male Allies Standing Up affinity group at My Life My Choice as well as a member of the Host Committee for Turn on the Light 2023. His family contributes monthly to RIA, Inc., a Framingham-based nonprofit organization that stands with and supports women with experience in the commercial sex trade. As a volunteer with the Grief Support Services program of Samaritans, Inc., he facilitates support groups for those who have lost loved ones to suicide. He is a senior manuscript editor at the New England Journal of Medicine.