I've been told that my contract at work won't be renewed when it runs out at the end of July because I can't commit to the full twelve-month contract, because of going off to try and make a difference in the world in January. It also somewhat jeopardises being able to save enough money to get to Costa Rica. I'm sure it'll work out fine, but if anybody knows of any jobs going that can keep me in rent, bills, food, and £200 a month in savings towards my expedition, let me know. Any kind of marketing or communications role would be great, anything with digital marketing would be perfect, but anything at all with an income will be fine. Here's my LinkedIn profile.
My actual fundraising, however, has been going fantastically!
On 2 May, I noted that the YouTube video of my headshave had 359 views. After a post of said video on Facebook, stating how the number of views did not reflect the funds raised, super-generous friends donated £80 within an hour of the post. The video currently has 664 views, which raises a number of questions:
- Is it viral yet?
- Will it make me the new PSY?
- How come my band's music videos don't get as many views with their insanely catchy choruses?
- Does anybody know anybody with a job for somebody who has made a popular YouTube video?
I've started my raptor-naming competition. This one is going slowly. I'm only inviting people to take part if the conversation has gone towards my fundraising. I'm not going around pestering people. There's no need, just take it nice and easy.
I recently had a very big and old birthday. I never make a big deal of my birthday, because so many people are born in May, and there's two bank holidays in May, I don't have the heart to inflict yet another expensive night out on people. It's just not fair on them. So, this year, I decided to make an exception to not making a big deal of my birthday, and turn it into a fundraising opportunity. I created an event on Facebook called Ronan's 30th Birthday Session, invited all my friends, and asked them to donate the price of the pint they would buy someone on their birthday to my fundraising.
It's been SOOOO successful!
So far I've raised £201.98 from this little stunt. I did notice that some people bought me some incredibly expensive pints. They should look for somewhere else to drink, because they're totally getting ripped off. I've been overwhelmed by the response. I wonder if it's because people are grateful that I wasn't asking for their time for a night out, or if they're just making sure they'll be rid of me for three months?
So, all that money was raised just from Facebook, so if you know anybody who might have a job for somebody who has demonstrable experience of a successful social media campaign, you should definitely tell them about me.
After my headshave and my birthday session, I've raised £413.48, which is 23% of my fundraising total. Based on this blog post, I was expecting to have made £300 by the end of May, so I'm well ahead of target. If I could get to 25% by the end of May, well, that would be super! I'm currently £25 or so away from that.
Still haven't managed to sort out any gigs though, which is kind of funny because when I first thought of the fundraising I'd have to do, that was my first thought. I think I'm going to work a different angle on it, and essentially hire out my music promotions expertise to potential venues e.g. a venue donates £50 to my fundraising in exchange for me providing live music for them for the night. I wouldn't have to get tickets printed and it would be a sure, fixed amount of money, as opposed to relying on bands selling tickets, and hoping to break even after paying for venue hire and tickets. I'd be looking to start something late-June at this stage.
So that's where I'm at with fundraising. On a more reflective note, I've started to realise how much I'm getting out of the Raleigh International experience, without having even booked flights for going on expedition yet! From what I learned about myself at the assessment weekend, to planning and organising my fundraising, which is going exceptionally well, to getting back into blogging, which will keep my writing skills sharp, to my use of social media as a key element of my exceptional fundraising. It's made me realise that when I get back from Costa Rica, I'll have so much more to talk to potential employers about than the three months in the field. I'd definitely employ me in a digital communications role.
That was heavy, and this has been a very long and wordy post. It's definitely time for a tune. As I've got the post-birthday session hangover, here's a song I love about a hangover.
