Ideas For Seeking Out Donations?

LRAWProject on 12/08/2016 - 17:01
Last edited 12/08/2016 - 17:07 by 1 other user

Hi Ozbargainers,

I was hoping to get some help.

In brief - who are some companies/ organisations that might be willing to donate or help find donations? i.e. small gifts (food, confectionery, magazines, small toys, personal care etc) to give to kids and their families for participating in research

I'm working on a large research project which is trying to unlock what we know about adolescent emotional resilience and wellbeing. We are recruiting 500 kids in year 6 and their parents and are offering them money in return for their time each year (covered by grants). The project will go for (at least) 4 for years and we will follow these same children and their families through high school. Our findings will help us understand what makes some kids more or less likely to cope well through their adolescent years and help inform new and current psychological therapies /social programs.

With regards to the research it is critical that we keep our participant drop-out to an absolute minimum. To help keep the kids and their families engaged in the project and to keep them coming back once every year for testing we also want to provide them with a "goodies bag" each year filled with donations from different companies (we don't have the funds to purchase items ourselves). If possible, we would also like to have give-aways and prizes throughout the year to help keep us relevant. At present we have popcorn, instant cakes, and some lollies but with 500 kids and families to give to each year we need significantly more.

We are offering to display sponsors logos on our website as a thank you. We know it is only something small in return but we hope businesses will see it as an opportunity to support a project with a positive social benefit.

Has anyone tried finding donations like this before? Are there any particular companies or promotional/ marketing organisations I should contact? Are there particular departments of organisations who might be the best to contact?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks,

Justin

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  jollybeggar on 12/08/2016 - 19:26

  +1

  Hi Justin,

  Sounds interesting. I used to work for Barnes & Noble in the USA as one of their Community Business Development Managers and we were often asked for donations by schools, hospitals, local charities and many other smaller groups running one sort of fundraiser or another. While we didn't really have a budget to make these kinds of donations, we often had discontinued products of many different kinds that we could donate at our discretion. These included books, toys, action figures, calendars, blankets, and other random gift items. Some of these were really fantastic items (like collectable DC Comics action figures that retailed for $100). I wonder if local book chains like Dymocks, Angus & Robertson, Booktopia etc would have similar programs and be willing to help? I realise they probably won't be able to help on the scale you require but might be worth a shot. I'd call around to Target, K-mart, Big-W too. Good luck with your research and finding donations!

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  hell0 on 12/08/2016 - 21:19

  +1

  Good idea from Jollybeggar above.

  It's tough because you have 500 gift-bags to make, but I was wondering if it might be worth asking manufacturers to provide sample-size products that are aimed at the target market which could make business sense…ie Breakfast bars, drinks, teen magazines.

  Alternatively, maybe the admins on OZbargain can put a front-page sticky post to make people aware of your program as you never now if somebody here has access to these types of goods and works for a company that can donate!

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  GnarlyKnuckles on 12/08/2016 - 22:29

  +5

  The obvious problem I foresee is that unless all 500 kids/families participating get exactly the same 'incentives' to remain in the study, then you are introducing retention bias re the final sample of subjects who complete the study. This will essentially render any claims of statistical significance you may otherwise be able to draw from the study invalid. In fact, even if all of the initially enrolled subjects got the same incentives/gifts along the way, the poorer kids/families would be much more likely to remain in the study to keep receiving the gifts than the richer kids/families. Which again, introduces bias re the final sample data analysed.

  This is why most studies of this nature tend NOT to provide a reward for participation, other than the knowledge that their participation MAY yield benefits 'for the greater good'. In some contexts, it is just about impossible to recruit subjects unless there is a reward. In these cases, all potential participants should be offered EXACTLY THE SAME reward, and the fact that a material reward was provided for participation in the study needs to be acknowledged as a definite source of selection-bias in the study (and this weakens the study substantially).

  The bottom line is this: I don't think any reputable scientific journal would publish the results of any study in which the participants received different/variable, unspecified rewards for their ongoing participation, and even if you could ensure that they did, this would in itself introduce retention bias into your study.

  Have you considered such things?

  If so, I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on these matters.

  • 

    [Deactivated] on 13/08/2016 - 22:23

    -1

    What if certain groups respond to "for the greater good" more than others - no greater good vibes allowed!

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  poboy on 12/08/2016 - 23:09

  Anyone that does anything for a prize largely doesn't care about the brand being promoted. Why are people signing up for the 4 year survey? So they can get the goodies bag every year? Hell no. And if they are signing up, chances are they just want the initial goodies bag and then will drop you like a lead balloon.

  I wouldn't offer goodies. Instead, focus on how much social reward the research will bring, and how little effort it is to them. If possible quote how many people have signed up and how few people you need. Perhaps customising it to their state (we only need 10 more volunteers from each state). Keep underlining that it is for 4 years. You only want the serious people.