Germany: Inventive Fundraising

Last year, the German Committee for UNICEF collected over 74 million euro ($92 million) in donations and through the sale of greeting cards. A major fund-raising season is always Christmas.

At Cologne’s Christmas markets, hundreds of people push their way through the narrow lanes. Illuminated stalls offer food, handiwork or toys. Many visitors stop at the UNICEF stall, where every year, volunteers sell greeting cards and calendars.

"It’s great fun working for UNICEF and selling these cards, because people are always very nice and they are very interested in the work," says volunteer Dina Stüke. "They know they are doing something good for the children of the world." She helps to sell UNICEF greeting cards twice a week during the Christmas season. Sometimes, her fingers and feet get a bit cold during her five-hour shift. But she doesn’t mind.

The UNICEF stall at a Christmas market

More than a hundred volunteers in Cologne -- students, housewives, pensioners -- are involved in selling cards on two Christmas markets, explains Heilke Saacke, head of the Cologne volunteer team. She says the markets are the most effective way to sell cards, as many tourists come from the Netherlands, Belgium and France to visit the markets. "And these people buy cards here, too," Saacke says.

The former interpreter has been working for UNICEF as a volunteer for the past 18 years. Whereas in earlier days, volunteers concentrated solely on the selling of greetings cards, today, they are much more inventive when it comes to raising money, she says.

"We try throughout the year to get money for UNICEF through various activities, amongst others by planning charity events," she explains. There have been gala dinners in a hotel, an event at the Cologne opera house, as well as an exhibition where paintings were sold for the good cause.

More than just raising money

All over Germany, 8,000 volunteers support the work of UNICEF. In over 130 cities and villages, men and women dedicate some of their time to the Fund. But their task is not confined to raising money, says Kirsten Leyendecker, an information officer for the German UNICEF Committee.

"Volunteers here in Germany are very active in information work," she says. "That means they are supporting our campaigns, they are giving school talks, they cooperate with partners like Amnesty International, and they lobby local politicians."

Leyendecker provides volunteer groups with all sorts of information relating to subjects like children’s rights, the situation of children in war or violence against women. Just recently, UNICEF Germany has started a campaign against child trafficking.

A book written by a street worker and published in the name of UNICEF has revealed appalling details about child prostitution at the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. Now, volunteers are collecting signatures to press the German government to improve international co-operation in fighting child trafficking and to implement all international treaties concerning child rights and children’s welfare.

Involving young people

An important part of UNICEF’s information work is also informing schools about the Fund’s activities, says Marianne Müller-Antoinne, who is in charge of such projects at the Cologne headquarters of the German Committee for UNICEF.

UNICEF volunteers in Germany

"Usually, a school wants to do a project week or a project day," says Müller-Antoinne. "That means different classes inform themselves on a special theme, like child labor, street children or children who are working as soldiers in Africa. Then, they do activities like developing a sketch, a song or they give speeches. And then they use a school activity to show it to their parents, to the teachers and classmates."

The pupil’s commitment is not only confined to school. Müller-Antoinne recalls four 16-year-old girls from Berlin who are very courageously raising money for UNICEF on the streets. The teenagers had talked about UNICEF projects in class and decided afterwards to raise funds for the needy children in the world.

"They have written a song about poverty and they went to public places and sang their song and they had a lot of success," says Müller-Antoinne. "People listened and they gave money. They were very enthusiastic and they came to me and said, ‘oh, our box is full of money, we need another one and we would like to do it again and again’."

It is very important to involve young people like these girls in UNICEF’s efforts to raise awareness, Müller-Antoinne explains. They have an enormous impact on their peers. And this age group is very interested in the rights of children and the situation in developing nations.

Celebrity help

Celebrities are also important mediators to reach youth and senior citizens, says Rudi Tarneden, spokesman of UNICEF Germany. Topics like female genital mutilation in Africa or violence against girls in South Asia, for example, are too abstract for most Germans. Therefore, an eye catcher is needed to attract the media and, thus, the common people, he says.

Sir Peter Ustinov

"We depend on the support of well-known people like Peter Ustinov or Vanessa Redgrave," says Tarneden. Ustinov (photo) had been to Germany to speak about children in Chechnya. "These people help us to reach a broad audience and they are, in fact, also volunteers."

The spokesman organizes 12 to 15 press conferences every year. He knows that media coverage is better when national and international celebrities take part. Information work is an important base to raise funds for UNICEF, Tarneden says.

Especially during Christmas time, people are most willing to open their wallets, explains Thomas Kasimir, direct marketing officer of UNICEF Germany. He sends out 15 different mailing appeals to six million households every year.

Two-thirds of the total fundraising income is generated through the winter mailing campaigns, he says. And surveys have shown that people from all walks of life donate to UNICEF. "From time to time, we read letters from donors and therefore we know it is not in any case the richest people who are the most generous," says Kasimir.