By Jessica Perini
Jessica Perini shares four innovative fundraising strategies for refugee projects, including salvaging and selling discarded goods, connecting paying learners with refugee learners through online workshops, dedicating a portion of personal income to support initiatives, and running ongoing crowdfunding campaigns, emphasising the power of community, fair share, and practical creativity to create lasting impact.
Fundraising idea 1: Diverting landfill as an opportunity
I never set out to be a fundraiser. It just evolved from my twin passions: permaculture and fair share.
I’m constantly out in the streets, redistributing wealth – whether that comes in the form of bountiful plants coming up in my garden, or council cleanups where countless valuable things are bound for landfill – I am compulsive in my quest. I believe all opportunities help us work towards thriving communities. And I am always on the lookout!
For example, recently refugees in Nakivale refugee settlement put on a series of workshops on various topics from seed saving, to eco cooking with briquettes. They needed to hire projectors, and buy basic supplies like chalk to write up their lessons.
It also happened to be a council cleanup time, where the streets of my suburb filled with all manner of things, from lampshades and vases, to cutlery and guitars.
Walking along the street I saw – bizarrely – a kayak with its paddle taped to the top. I looked around for people. No one was around. Surely someone would not be throwing out a practically new stand-up kayak? I came back a few hours later. It was still there!
1 The stand-up kayak was still there, the council truck approached
I could hear the council truck in the background. Slowly making its way around the block, picking up items and unceremoniously crunching them to smithereens ready to dump into landfill.
I looked down at the practically new kayak. Was I stealing? Surely no one would leave this out for hours. Other abandoned items were beside it.
I decided. I could not let this opportunity pass.
So my partner and I gathered up the abandoned kayak and I did a bit of googling, and discovered that brand new it was worth $500. So I put it up on Marketplace and sold it. That kayak financed the education of a few hundred refugees in Nakivale!
At other times I’ve found outdoor fireplaces, clothes horses, Stairmasters, all bound for landfill and all in great shape. So I re-distributed those wealths to people who still valued them and the profits went to financing refugee projects. Keeping stuff out of landfill, and providing permaculture learning that once let out of the box, cannot be put back in again–wins all round.
Fundraising idea 2: Learners funding learners
I also like to running online permaculture workshops for participants from all around the world, and use profits to finance Majority World projects. Both learners come to the workshop and get to meet and know each other.
To start, I write up the workshop description, and create posters on Canva (free online design templates and tools). You don’t have to be a designer, just adapt a template to suit your event.
2 I am not a designer, using these Canva templates is so easy!
I then a set up the event on Humanitix, which helps you promote your event, take bookings, and manage payments.
One of the reasons I chose this platform is that it has no ongoing subscription fees, and it uses all profits to finance worthwhile causes.
You can set varying prices, from Free (for refugee participants), to any price you like for paying learners, and Humanitix takes its fee from a percentage of the ticket sales.
In my model my Industrial World learners finance the Majority World learners.
So what happens is, those who can afford to pay, book their tickets, then that money goes towards buying supplies for the refugee learners.*
*In these cases we always have a refugee hub that my group Permaculture Partners has been working with long term, that will receive the proceeds. We also actively figure out work-arounds with the refugees where materials are not available, or certain processes do not work in that scenario.
A week before the event I send the funds to the refugee learners via Remitly (the fee is only $1.99 per transaction) and refugees are then able to go and buy the materials for the workshop. (Note most refugees don’t have bank account, so you have to use these alternate channels to get funds to them. They’re easy to use and often instantaneous.)
To give you an example, partnering with Milkwood, I put up a mushroom cultivation workshop on Humanitix and learners paid their ticket price, with refugees booking for free.
Just before the event I transferred the funds to the refugee team in Nakivale and they were able to travel to Kampala to get the spawn and other supplies to help with the workshop.
On the day of the workshop, we ensure we’re meeting at a time suitable for both audiences, usually around 4 or 5 pm AEST and 9 or 10 am East Africa time, and together we do the workshop.
Learning together is one of the great joys of these workshops. And even though conditions on the ground in refugee camps can be quite different to those in our spaces, the experience is still invaluable.
Friendships are made and connections created. In some cases, we get more partners willing to run their own workshops to help the teams on the ground. In other cases creative connections and speciality groups are born.
For example, one partnership through Rainmakers and Changemakers now focuses on refugee artists, sharing their artwork with the world, and helping them make an income.
This is something I could never have a achieved on my own.
Another partnership, through Cumberland High School supports a sister school in Nakivale refugee settlement with learning and teaching resources, trees for planting, and so much more.
So these partnerships, beyond the yields of mushrooms, or food grown, or community made, are the heart and soul of what we do. It’s a yield that provides an incredible gift of community, connection, income, and hope in desperately poor communities, time and time again. I am so thankful for Emily, and all the groups who have joined hands with us to help these communities. Scale is crucial in these projects, especially in times of crisis. We can do none of this alone.
3 Rainmakers and Changemakers by Emily Kaminsky has taken on the baton and run with it
Results speak for themselves
We’ve been working with one hub in East Africa for a few years now. Elijah Astute’s Go Green in Nakivale refugee settlement has been chasing the dream of growing mushroom for several years now. Together we’ve run workshops, and several fundraisers to help get the group off the ground and growing this essential protein source. But it wasn’t until Go Green partnered with Emily Kaminsky’s Rainmakers and Changemakers that they have eventually landed at the point where they are reliably producing mushrooms for their refugee population. You can read the origins of this story on Permaculture Australia and the follow ups on Emily’s Rainmakers and Changemakers.
4 GoGreen is now producing a significant amount of mushrooms for refugee consumption in Nakivale
Fundraising idea 3: Setting aside an income and common practice for fair share
Like anything, supporting refugee communities takes time and commitment. As in all things permaculture, I like to do this in a way where functions are stacked to create multiple benefits.
To this end, on the second Saturday of every month I’m paid to facilitate a Permabee session for Randwick Council’s Saturday Circle. At Randwick’s Sustainability Hub I join a group of people who run sessions on various topics that aid people and planet.
5 Just one of the many fun sessions we do together with the community
I’m honoured to work alongside the incredibly passionate people of Growing Food for Wildlife – who teach people how to grow plants that best suit the wildlife in their areas. Other projects include, toy swaps, LEGO building (which gives proceeds of recycled LEGO sets towards purchasing computers for disadvantaged kids), bird watching, phone photography (honing observational skills), bike maintenance, writing in nature, a Library of Things, textiles mending, and climate conversations. Phew. It’s a lot.
6 Once a month the Randwick community comes together for a Saturday Circle session
So one day a month, I get to teach permaculture, my passion, hang out with incredible people who share the passion AND all my pay goes to refugee projects.
The photos below show ABCC Nakivale, a refugee-run school and skills-teaching organisation which is run through my Saturday Circle income and fundraising from Cumberland and other partners.
7 Women learning soap making
8 Education is one of the fastest roads out of poverty. ABCC Nakivale punches well above its weight in services and help for the children, young mothers and out-of-work refugees in the settlement. It could not do this without help from communities here in Australia, and overseas.
Fundraising idea 4: Keep crowdfunding operating 24/7
Regardless of whether you have time, crowdfunding is something you can do with negligible time investment. It works for you 24/7. All you need is half an hour to write some text and collect photos and, 5 minutes a week, to promote.
Choose a community that aligns with your values. If you most value education, as I do, then choose a school to help. Or a struggling permaculture group in Palestine, East Africa, the Philippines, or anywhere you like.
Note that there are scammers out in the world, so be sure to do your research. Try to contact people who have visited the site or who will soon visit, to ensure the works on the ground are real.
When setting up your fundraiser these few guidelines should help make it successful:
- Use engaging photos – close ups of people smiling, doing work, or engaging in actions like planting trees are great.
- Note what the funds will be spent on.
- Use text that engages readers and tells the personal story of the individual or community.
- Send the fundraiser to all your networks, including friends and family with a personal note asking them to support and share it. I try to contact each person and community separately with a personalised message.
- Update the fundraiser often with your group’s progress.
- Celebrate milestones on social media.
- Keep receipts and show all financial dealings to promote clear goals, spending, and milestones reached.
To see these guidelines in action, check out my current fundraiser for ABCC Nakivale. If you feel inclined to support us, don’t hesitate!
Community is key!
It’s so important to note that no matter the type of fundraiser you create, community engagement and partnerships are absolutely crucial to its success.
I want to say a huge thank you to all our partners, from councils, to schools, individuals, non-profits and profits alike. I could not possibly name you all, but you know who you are. None of this would have been possible without you.
Call to action
To anyone reading this, I ask, can you give up one day a month to teach your community permaculture, do a zoom session or just go out in the streets searching for riches to sell? The. Choose a struggling community to support.
It costs us so little to do these things. But the benefits are far reaching. In the interest of fair share, saving resources from landfill, and building communities here and elsewhere, I see no down side. We are here to serve, and in doing so, are enriched.
If you’re tempted, don’t hesitate. Unsure where to start? We know people growing food, artists, women’s groups, schools, all desperate for a helping hand and a partner in the industrial world who can help with insights and seed income. Reach out, I’m happy to help connect groups.
Warm regards,
Jess
@PermaculturePartners, Perini.jessica@gmail.com
About Jessica Perini
Jessica Perini is a permaculture educator and founder of Permaculture Partners, using workshops, creative fundraising, and community projects to support refugees and promote fair share, sustainability, and resilience worldwide.