Proposal

.... Better late than never ....

I still don't seem to have a title for my project yet. I think this will be generated very close to the end of my research. There specific and direct path to place a title to at the moment.

I am in the process of fundraising for Childreach International who 'work with local communities in the developing world' to better the lives of children. My part in this charity currently is to organise small activities and events throughout the year to raise as much money as I can. At the end of this year, I will then give a large chunk of the money to Childreach, and use the small amount left to cycle across India and visit some of the charities project areas. This will be a life changing challenge for me personally, but a huge help to the lives of the disadvantaged children I am helping by raising the money.

Charitable organisations coordinate a variety of different events to push themselves in to the public eye and raise their profile. These events contribute a great deal to the charities fundraising. The more money they can secure, the more they can support their chosen field, and the more established they become. If a charity is well known and see to be doing good in the world, the public are more likely to attend events or donate money. I believe the success of a charity has a lot to do with the connection they make between themselves and the public. I am aiming to find out how charitable organisations fund the events they put on and how much they raise over the top of the costs the events produce. As well as what goes in to actually making an event successful. Even though I will take a wide look at many charities, my focus will be on a couple I choose to make case studies from.

The events/activities/festivals play a big part in this. Another factor that charities rely on is image; still and moving. These are used to stimulate reactions from the viewers and to make them feel something towards the cause being displayed before their eyes. Hopefully then, the need to want to help in some way will arise and a donation will be made or a volunteer will be created. Words can be very powerful, but compared to images, they aren't as successful at quickly grabbing attention. You have to take the time to read a sentence, whereas, an image is instantly absorbed. As my project comes to a close, my aim to have researched in to how charity uses imagery and whether they gain a increased response through its use.

When I sit down and think about everything all in one go, what I am trying to achieve and how I am going to present my findings coherently, I become anxious and everything seems very complex and out of my reach. If I am not completely organised and in control, I can get overwhelmed easily.

My project idea developed from working with Childreach. As well as this, my background in photography has edged me towards how images are created strategically to evoke feelings and the impact they can make. I can't forget to mention my passion to help those less fortunate than myself and give them opportunities in life. I want to make a difference.

The pleasure I take in organisation will allow me to bring together the charity, events and photography sectors.

For this project, I propose to present a research file and presentation on putting together successful charitable events, and what is involved in doing so. It will also include finance and funding as these are significant factors within the topics being studied.

This will lead towards my final MA project where I propose to organise and manage a event or festival with a variety of activities, exhibitions and showcases involved. Just to mention a few, included will be; an exhibition of photographs and documents created/collected during my month in India, targeted audience opening nights, possible guest speakers and various stalls either selling products/food/drink or handing out information. More and more ideas are being gathered as my project develops. An entrance fee to the event will of course be charged, or a suggested donation box will be placed at the entrance in the hope people are feeling generous. My aim to for people to come along and enjoy the event, the fundraising will be a by-product and not something I want people to focus on.

A problem that I face and need to overcome is the question of how I will benefit from these events. If it is a path I am considering going down in regards to a career, I need to research in to how I could make a living from charitable events organising. Just doing a good deed and knowing you are helping change lives isn't enough unfortunately, as much as I would love it to be.

Another situation that has arisen is to do with live music. If I wanted to have cultural music as part of my event, I would need to be careful where it was played and in what sections of the event it can be heard. This is because, if people walking around the photographs can hear it, they imagery might not have the same impact on them as if they were viewing in silence. I do not want music to influence the viewer in any way.

My target audience is something that hasn't been established yet. I am still keeping an open mind about it until I have the relevant research to make a better judgement.

In conclusion, out of this project, I aim to present a file that answers the following questions; how do charitable organisations fund the events they create and how much extra after the deduction of event costs, actually go towards the charities projects? What type of charities are there? What makes a successful event? What things are the essential things to include? How do charities use imagery? Do they gain an increased response through its use? Where do charities gain the most income from? Is it possible to make a living as a charity events organiser? What other similar jobs are there within the charity sector?

With this module, my desired response is for people to gain knowledge on the sector I am exploring and become informed on something they may have no understanding of. As it is a research project, I do not have a final product to engage an audience with or any form of income generation. This will all come later in my MA when I use the information collected from this module to organise and create my charity event at the end of the year.

There is a lot to research but a clear direction to go in.