Banglabash could have been more effective

Sat, 12 May 2007 22:20:00 GMT

Editorial cartoon by Dwayne Yates

For the second year, Hoban had a fundraiser to raise money for communities less fortunate than ours. Last year, Banglabash raised over $26,000 to help Catholic schools in Bangladesh. This year the same approach was taken, with money being sent to both Bangladesh and a Holy Cross parish in Monterrey, Mexico. This year's goal of $30,000 was unfortunately not reached. Money collected this time around was nearly $10,000 below the goal. We believe there were various reasons for this. After raising such a large sum last year, it would have been more effective to show students where their donations went last year before asking them to donate again. It's hard to motivate people to give to a cause they know little about. By working with a community organization near Hoban, the money would have stayed closer to home and people could have seen firsthand what good their money was doing. Splitting the money for various causes was not a good idea. All the money should have gone to one place. The Banglabash committee made a mistake by not changing its means of promotion. They used the same "Where will you be April 29?" teaser that was used the year before. Returning students could guess what was happening on that date. The technique worked the first time around, but a fresh campaign was needed to promote Banglabash for its second year. The Banglabash committee also failed to give students any new and more motivating incentives. The Banglabash T-shirts can be worn on Fridays until the end of the school year, but the other incentives such as wearing flip-flops and shorts, barely lasted a month. As warmer weather approaches, students would have found more use for these incentives than earlier in the year. Banglabash is a great idea, and a fresh approach could make it more successful.

The Visor

Banglabash could have been more effective