Interview with Mabel Ma from Kristin School - Running a fundraiser at your school

After Kristin School’s SADD group ran a fundraiser, Mia caught up with Mabel to chat about how they went about planning and running it. So read on for some behind the scenes info and top tips.

Mia: “Hi, thank you for taking your time for this email interview. Tell me a bit about yourself and your SADD crew.”

Mabel: “Hi, My name is Mabel and I am one of the leaders of SADD, along with Zoe and Ariana. We have been members of SADD at Kristin School since 2020. Our 2021 Club consists of around 35 members who collaborate on fundraising projects and share ideas about prevention of dangerous driving in our community, in a relaxed and open environment.”

Mia: “How long has your SADD committee existed, and how often do you meet?”

Mabel: “SADD has been present in our school community for a while and is a club that many people get involved in during Senior School. We meet every week during our morning tea break, we sometimes include additional meetings depending on how demanding our projects are.”

Mia: “How did the fundraising idea come together? Why SADD?”

Mabel: “Every year Kristin has a Summer Carnival, which is a great opportunity to raise awareness, spread the SADD message and fundraise. To keep with the theme of safe driving, we decided to sell mocktails. This was a focus on the idea that you should drive sober, and not under the influence of alcohol. We also had an additional activity of using impairment goggles whilst completing an obstacle course, which went with our theme of avoiding drugs and alcohol.” 

Mia: “Leading up to the event, what challenges did you face?”

Mabel: “Time is always something that we must constantly be aware of, especially when we are all trying to manage other responsibilities and commitments. We managed to get through without too much trouble with the support of members from our club. Therefore, getting all the finer details finalised by the time of the Summer Carnival was a challenge and required compromise.”

Mia: “Who supported you to put this event together?”

Mabel: “We had the support of our SADD club supervisor who helped us get our spot organised amongst the other clubs that also wanted spots in the carnival. We also had the help of the sports teacher, who supplied us with equipment for the impaired vision obstacle course. The biggest support was from the other SADD leaders, members and parents who contributed a great deal of time and energy.” 

Mia: “How did it go? Did you have a lot of interest?”

 Mabel: “It was a great success as we sold out of our drinks and got very enthusiastic reactions about their presentation. The overall environment was also very uplifting and it was great seeing the members working together to make the stall run smoothly. People interacting with our posters are eager to learn more.”

Mia: “What are your top tips for other SADD groups who would like to do a fundraiser?”

Mabel: “Ensure that you stay focused and true to the overarching message that SADD is trying to put out; flyers and posters along with what you are selling is a great way to push out some facts and statistics that will catch people’s attention. Make sure that you have thought of all the details and make sure that everyone from your team is getting involved.”

Mia: “What are your plans for the future? Do you have any other SADD activities planned? Anything else you would like to say?”

Mabel: “Our next major project is the Service Market coming up in Term 2, where we want to think outside of the box and sell something innovative. We are going to be doing baking with a theme of safety and education, potentially road signs. We will be focusing on the education side of things next, hopefully pushing out more on our social media page and potentially making a short film.”

Thank you so much for sharing your insights with us. Sounds like it was a real success and your SADD committee worked really well together. We look forward to hearing about your Market Service event. 

For anyone else wanting to run a fundraiser at school take on Mabel’s tips, and give it a go!