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10×10 Philanthropy is an innovative fundraising event with lasting impact that makes giving easy and fun.
The concept is simple. Ten volunteers form a committee. They choose three charities they want to support and each of these ten volunteers invites at least 10 guests to a live crowdfunding event for purpose. Attendees have the opportunity to vote with a donation on site, supporting the charity that moved them the most after a “dragon’s den” style pitching competition.
4 years| 5 countries| 450 volunteers| 1 Mio+ Australian Dollars raised| 97 charities helped|
#impact Podcast attended 10×10’s big fundraiser night earlier this year. In this episode, you hear from Stephanie Costelloe, 10×10 HK ambassador and her team of dedicated volunteers that made this impactful event happen.
In this episode, you learn about:
- How charities blend statistics and personal stories to demonstrate the real impact of their work.
- What the “dragons” look for in a great charity pitch.
- The ways in which charities support some of Hong Kong’s marginalised communities.
Hong Kong is a place of contrasts.
For most professionals, local and expat alike, life is good. But for many others, it is much, much harder. There are a number of marginalised groups that struggle to get by, but some people don’t even notice.
This year, Hong Kong’s 10×10 fundraising event featured charities that support people living on this invisible side of Hong Kong. 10×10 aims to mobilise giving amongst young professionals, introducing them to verified local charities at a fun, high energy event.
10×10 Dream Team! 10×10 makes crowdFUNding even more fun. Photo Credit: 10×10
The charity 10×10 was set up in Sydney in 2013 to enable young professionals to get involved in philanthropy.
The founders, young social entrepreneurs themselves, realised that though their peers were interested in giving back, they didn’t know how to make sure that their donations went to the right places and made real impact.
10×10 fundraisers now happen in five countries and have raised more than HKD 5 million.
Hong Kong’s 10×10 committee sources local, grassroots organisations that would truly benefit from increased profile amongst the professional community in Hong Kong. They conduct basic due diligence and ensure that the charities have a clear plan for how they would use an injection of funds.
Fundraising for 3 charities empowering invisible, marginalised groups of Hong Kong. Photo Credit: 10×10
“We wanted to explore Invisible Hong Kong”
This year, the committee chose a theme of “Invisible Hong Kong” and looked for charities that helped Hong Kong’s most underserved residents. They narrowed it down to three charities that pitched on the night. Each of the nominees had a champion on the 10×10 committee who spent time with them and helped them prepare pitches that demonstrated impact with a combination of cold hard numbers and personal stories.
All of the nominees are well-established organisations with plenty of direct impact in underserved communities of Hong Kong.
They pitched to three dragons, including Alia Eyres, director of last year’s winner, Mother’s Choice. They were also pitching to the audience of Hong Kong professionals, who had opportunities to vote with their donation later in the evening.
Full house at the last 10×10 Philanthropy event. Photo Credit: 10×10
Meet the charities
Mission for Migrant Workers
The first charity to present was Mission for Migrant Workers, providers of emotional, legal, medical and housing support to migrant workers in distress. Cynthia Ca Abdon-Tellez, General Manager of the charity, pointed out that when migrant workers suffer abuse, they often do not know their rights and are unable to navigate the legal system on their own.
In addition to providing shelter and support in the worst cases of abuse, the Mission runs programmes to help female migrant workers boost their self-confidence. And, most importantly, the charity listens to these women and believes them.
Society for Community Organisation
Next up was Sze Lai Shan, Community Organizer, Society for Community Organisation, or SoCO, an organisation that has supported Hong Kong’s marginalised groups since 1972. While they work with the elderly, prisoners, drug addicts and other people in need, their pitch focused on getting support for their programme to help some of Hong Kong’s 20,000 children living in cubicle housing.
I’m sure many of you have seen the documentaries about these cubicle or cage houses – apartments subdivided so much that a single parent and her children may be living in less than 100 square feet.
SoCO provides after-school programmes for these children so that they have somewhere safe to do their homework and play. The charity also offers emotional counselling and financial support to participate in school activities.
3 charities went up pn stage to pitch their impactful missions and visions. Photo Credit: 10×10
Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong
The final organisation was Richmond Fellowship of Hong Kong, dedicated to supporting the nearly 1 in 7 people in Hong Kong with mental illness. There is still a stigma associated with mental illness, which prevents people from seeking treatment and prevents carers from finding support.
Longtime employee and Senior Marketing Officer Sandy Ng described how donations would fund their 24-hour support line that provides ongoing care and support for the mentally ill and their families, many of whom are living in poverty.
The impact
In only one night 10×10 helped raise just a few dollars short of HK Dollar 388.000 for these three charities.
Money that will be put in good use by the supported organisations. It was the most amount raised in a single event up to that date.
But there’s more: The audience left truly inspired and ready to take action. The skills-based volunteering platform LocalMotion that we featured in Episode 12, helped young professionals on site to find causes close to their heart and give back to Non-Profits and Social Enterprises.
Make sure you don’t miss their next event in Hong Kong on January 24, 2018 at Eaton House.
Get in touch with the 10×10 Hong Kong Team through their Facebook page here.
Got some time to give this episode a listen? Scroll all the way up and press play. Then you will be able to really get a sense of the energy and excitement we experienced on the night and learn which of these three amazing causes raised the most funds. You’ll also hear the personal stories that moved the audience to donate nearly HKD 388.000.
Our learnings from this episode. Have something to add? Get in touch with us here!
#impACT
- The next 10×10 event in Hong Kong is coming up on January 24th at Eaton House! Follow 10×10 on Facebook and Instagram so you don’t miss when the tickets go on sale. They are hoping to expand 10×10 to other Asian cities in 2018 – possibly Shanghai first, so watch this space and follow them on Social Media.
- Check the 10×10 website if 10×10 already runs programmes in your city. If not, reach out to them to organise one yourself.
- If you don’t have money to donate, look for ways to help charities that you love through fundraising events. Maybe organise one yourself. Everyone loves a bakesale!
- Learn how to blend statistics and personal stories when trying to influence people to support causes you believe in.
- Pay attention to the invisible communities wherever you live. Consciously step outside of your bubble and think about what it’s like for them. Is there something you could do to better support them? Can you volunteer to tutor an underprivileged child? Can you simply say “good morning” to homeless people as you walk past them?
If you enjoyed this episode, you will also love hearing our interview with Enrich, another brilliant organisation supporting migrant domestic workers in Hong. Make sure to also check out our talk with Jamie Chiu, a social entrepreneur on a mission to counter the stigma of anxiety and depression.
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