Edhi Foundation — Giving is the Greatest Act of Grace

Abdul Sattar Edhi, a well-known figure, was Pakistan’s great philanthropist and humanitarian. In 1951, he founded the ‘Edhi Foundation,’ a non-profit, non-political, and non-commercial organization that has been providing high-quality services and facilities, i-e Ambulance Service, Langer Service (Free Kitchen), Edhi Home & Orphanages Centre, and Helpline Service (Rescue) to the community for many years.

After the death of Abdul Sattar Edhi at the age of 88 in 2016, the Foundation suffered a setback as its donations dropped by almost 30%.” The Edhi Foundation needs about 1.5 billion Pakistani rupees ($13 million) annually to run its operations, including a fleet of 1,800 ambulances.

Actions Plans for Fundraising

Choosing a specific strategy was quite tricky for us. We brainstormed many ideas, but as each of us belongs to a different city, none of the ideas were suitable for carrying out as a group activity. So, in the end, we agreed that no single approach would serve the purpose and decided that everyone should conduct campaigns in a way that they are comfortable with.

Some of them are as follows:

1. Social media platforms make it easier for us to promote Edhi’s cause and encourage donations from a large audience.
2. We visited many schools and colleges to raise funds and get students excited, boost donations, and leverage community relationships.
3. We utilized Iftar dinners to convince people to donate their Zakat, Sadqat, and Fitrana to Edhi Foundation.
4. We reached people directly and contacted our relatives, friends, strangers, and some welfare organizations.

I led this group and was very fascinated by Cola-Cola’s “Bottle of change” fundraising campaign in past years. The campaign triggered immense momentum in 2018, helping the Foundation raise considerable funds during Ramazan by inspiring the people and evoking values of generosity and kindness. So, I adopted the same strategy.

Here is what I believe, and it happened to be true:

“قطرے قطرے سے دریا بنتا ہے”

“I was aware that no one in my circle would give me a hefty sum, so I figured out that a bottle of change would at least persuade them to give me a one-rupee donation, and by that, many people were giving me coins as well as currency notes.” — Hadia Nasir.

Challenges and Experience:

The biggest challenge for us was Ramazan. We wanted to go outside and conduct door-to-door campaigns, visit malls, and organize stalls in universities and other public places like parks, museums, libraries, etc. But due to immense heat and fast, we could not do so.
We came across another major challenge of living in different cities yet participating in this activity with great zeal. All my group members belong to either Lahore, Multan, Lodhran, or Quetta. So, we couldn’t work as a group to host stalls or anything. We worked individually for two weeks.
One of our hardworking fellows strongly emphasizes teamwork. She formulated her team to overcome this challenge. She has described her experience beautifully:
“I began a fundraising campaign and visited different institutions. People, however, paid no heed. I teamed with a friend and visited the same places, but this time they donated significantly. In my experience, it’s all about teamwork. 1+1 makes 11.”

Apart from our own limitations, fundraising is very challenging, especially in Pakistan. As said:

“People have become educated but have not yet become human.” — Abdul Sattar Edhi

Seems like it’s true to its core. Here is what our fellows have to say about this:

“ I’ve reached out to university fellows, friends, and family members but mostly I received in-person donations, with just 10% of individuals donating online. Most of them regard it as spam and make no contributions. I was uncomfortable when I asked them to donate, and they avoided me as if I were an agent. Some people have stated that they do not donate to foundations, but rather to individuals that they know directly, so that money can reach the right place.” — Sana Mehmood

“The main problem I experienced was requesting screenshots. People either want to give privately or perceive the process of giving first and then taking the screenshot burdensome, which results in less donations.” — Aoun Abbas

“When I started this fundraising campaign, I was enthusiastic about collecting funds for the Edhi foundation, and I anticipated people to respond positively, but they were unable to do so. First and foremost, I rely on social media but soon I realized that wasn’t the only option to collect funds, and I needed to put in more effort. I reached out to my friends individually and again, I feel hopeless as they procrastinated donations.” — Muhammad Ajmal

The above reflections speak a thousand words. All the group members had similar kinds of difficulties and reflections.

Overcoming Failure:

A common saying: “Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.” The same goes for fundraising.

Sana Mahmood, one of the most valuable team players in our group, has these thoughts:

“Failures are a part of life, don’t give up and believe in yourself. The only thing that matters is your willingness and intentions behind the project. Learn from failures and keep going!”

Our dearest fellow Shaheer thinks fundraising teaches you lifelong lessons. He said:

“This experience taught me how to deal with rejection because over 90% of the people I contacted did not respond positively to my fundraising drive. So, the entire process of accepting rejection was beneficial since it would help me accept other people’s perspectives and rejections.”

Aoun Abbas, our youngest fellow is of the view that disappointment makes you stronger. Here’s what he added further:

A donation drive teaches you a lot about failure. People who commit to contributing later either forget or are unwilling to do so. It takes significant effort to overcome disappointment and start all over again.

Rao Maaz also depicted his sheer reflections in this activity:

“Most of the time, we will do our best, but sometimes results will not come in our favor, so we have to accept our failure in terms of learning and keep relying on our putting best which we gave already.”

I think we learn nothing from success. When I succeed, it is because I did what I already know. But when I fail at something, it teaches me to be wiser and do things differently. I learned that fundraising makes you humble, kicks out pride, and gives you humility — a more precious virtue.

We, as a team, anticipated that this activity would teach us more about failure and rejection, so we were prepared. We learned a lot from it, and it will be reflected in our present and future work.

Ending Note:

This was the first time I had to organize a two-week fundraising campaign with my team. We devised a plan and were able to collect Rs. 22,120/- by utilizing our problem-solving skills. This would not have been possible without the compassion of our supporters, who took the time to donate the funds. Also, kudos to the group members who tirelessly worked for the fundraiser and never gave up.

This post is part of the Amal Fellowship.