World Sight Day: Making Fundraising Fun
Though World Sight Day isn’t until Oct. 13, now is the time to involve your practice in the annual event, including Optometry Giving Sight’s 10th annual fundraising campaign. OGS has all sorts of materials and fun fundraising ideas to celebrate this year’s call to action—Stronger Together.
Tip: “To celebrate next month’s World Sight Day, hold fun events in the office—including inviting patients to donate and receive a People Power wristband in return.”
WHAT IS IT?
World Sight Day (WSD) is an annual “day of awareness” to bring focus around the world on vision impairment and blindness. As part of the VISION 2020 Global Initiative, it is coordinated by the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness and supported by eye health organizations, including Optometry Giving Sight, around the globe.
THE NEED
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), some 285 million people are visually impaired worldwide—39 million are blind and 246 million have low vision. The rub? For four out of five of those individuals, their conditions were preventable. In fact, according to the WHO, 80% of the total global visual impairment burden could be prevented with better care.
THE CHALLENGE
The World Sight Day Challenge is an annual fundraising campaign that’s coordinated by Optometry Giving Sight. This year it will feature orange “People Power” wristbands as a fun way to engage doctors, staff, and patients to both donate and have fun participating in fundraising activities. The Challenge will continue through the end of October.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Participating is easy—simply make a monthly or annual donation on or before World Sight Day, October 13. There are also other ways to get involved. Practices can, for example: hold fun events in the office, including inviting patients to donate and receive a People Power wristband in return; or pledge to donate a day of eye exam fees in October or an amount from every frame sold or exam given during the month.
FUN FOR A CAUSE
Here are a few highlights from last year’s annual giving that show the variety of ways you can conduct fundraising events. In Springfield, MO, Stephen Rice, O.D. and The Vision Clinic raised $5,000 in support of their 5K run. In Middleton, WI, Isthmus Eye Care sold pastries and baked goods and matched patient donations. And, in Houston, The University of Houston College of Optometry conducted a talent show with the proceeds going to WSD.
HOW TO GET STARTED
It’s easy. Go to www.givingsight.org to register. You’ll then receive an email offering suggestions about how to get involved. That email will include a link to ordering t-shirts for your group, a press release and newsletter story to submit to local media, plus images and copy for your own social media pages. You’ll also be contacted by your local OGS office about materials like stickers and posters, as well as tips on ways to plan your participation.
Have you participated in World Sight Day and the WSD Challenge? If so, tell us what you’ve done to raise both funds and awareness by joining in the conversation here.
Erinn Morgan
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