CWA Blog Archive-Better Together Fundraising For Climbing Gym Staff

Better Together Fundraising For Climbing Gym Staff

Pdf Summary

This article introduces the Better Together Climbing campaign, a free fundraising opportunity to help climbing industry leaders provide financial assistance to their staff during the pandemic. The author shares its accidental origin story. Working at Movement Climbing + Fitness, they had recently completed their first-ever fundraising attempt, a GoFundMe dedicated to a dear friend and colleague, and remembered running around like a mad man trying to get as many people as possible to share the campaign link. Notably, they didn't ask people to directly contribute, just to share the idea with a broader community. This reflected a value they hold deeply: that many people, rather than a few, coming together to support one another in times of need and prosperity always cultivates a stronger community. That first campaign aimed to raise $4,000 for the friend, also beloved by many in the Movement climbing community, and exceeded its goal in just three days. Immediately after, the author began brainstorming ideas for a new campaign (the text trails off, but the trajectory leads to Better Together Climbing as a scaled application of that community-fundraising insight to help gym staff industry-wide). The throughline is that the Better Together Climbing campaign harnesses the climbing community's collective power to provide financial assistance to gym staff hit hard by pandemic closures, built on the proven principle that broad community participation, many people sharing and supporting, creates both effective fundraising and stronger community. The author's personal experience, a GoFundMe for a colleague that exceeded its $4,000 goal in three days simply by asking people to share the idea widely, demonstrated the power of mobilizing many rather than relying on a few large donors. Recognizing that gym staff across the industry faced financial hardship as closures dragged on, the author scaled that insight into a free fundraising tool for industry leaders to support their teams. For gym owners and managers worried about their staff's financial wellbeing during closures, the campaign offered an accessible, community-driven mechanism to provide assistance, embodying the value that collective support, many hands rather than few, sustains the climbing community through crisis and builds lasting strength.

Asset Caption

This piece introduces Better Together Climbing, a free fundraising campaign helping industry leaders financially assist gym staff during closures. Born from the author's GoFundMe for a colleague that exceeded its $4,000 goal in three days by mobilizing many sharers, it scales the principle that broad community participation makes effective fundraising and stronger community.