Fundraising
Fundraising Overview
Thanks to the generous support of AWARE’s community of donors, we raised a total of $2.85 million in 2022, representing a 39% increase from the previous year. AWARE supporters responded enthusiastically to our two major fundraising initiatives for the year: the online Helpline Fund campaign and our fundraising Ball Pulau Utopia.
AWARE also received its first multi-year major legacy gift from the Diana Koh Foundation through our collaboration with the Community Foundation of Singapore. We are grateful for the warm and encouraging support of DK Foundation, which we hope will inspire other donors to make a legacy gift to support women’s rights and equality.
Helpline Fund
We launched the Helpline Fund campaign in August 2022 to raise funds for AWARE’s flagship Women’s Helpline service, which has been running for over 30 years. Operating the Women’s Helpline requires significant behind-the-scenes work, including months of intensive volunteer training, numerous staff to manage operations smoothly and infrastructure to keep multiple lines open throughout the day, even during a pandemic.
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our donors, we were able to exceed our fundraising goal of $250,000. We will receive an additional $250,000 in matching funds from the Tote Board, bringing our total to an impressive $580,000.
A big thank you to the team at Design Bridge for working with us to conceptualise the key messaging and artwork for the campaign. The success of the campaign would not have been possible without the dedication and patience of Design Bridge.
Pulau Utopia Ball
After three long years without an in-person ball, our 10th annual fundraising ball returned to the Shangri-La Island Ballroom on 12 November 2022. A total of 600 guests came together that night to create Pulau Utopia, an island paradise of gender equality and social justice. Pulau Utopia raised a record $723,000.
Part of these funds will support S.P.A.C.E (Support, Partner, and Act through Community Engagement), a new AWARE initiative that seeks to empower the community to build a more gender-equal future and to nurture the next generation of feminist leaders. The highlight of the night was the powerful stories shared by five “S.P.A.C.E. cadets”, Hana Alhadad, Shaun Loh, Nisha Rai, Han Yi and Michelle Low, all of whom have faced gender inequality and are driven to make a difference.
The Ball would not have been possible without the generous support of AWARE’s corporate sponsors KOP Properties Limited and Kah Motor, official partners Ppurpose, Senses AVL, Cornerstone Wines, World Scientific and Kanyeka, and all our wonderful in-kind sponsors and supporters.
Photographs by Wesley Loh (Memphis West Pictures) and Kathleen Cheong. Facebook
Corporate and Community Partnerships
Corporate Donors
AWARE engaged corporate donors across March by lending our subject matter expertise to nine events organised by 14 companies—including Microsoft, PayPal, UPS and Industrial Light & Magic. Through our corporate presentation “The Future of Work is Gender Equal”, we reached more than 950 attendees across these events.
In addition, we are thankful for our corporate donors who organised their own fundraising events in partnership with AWARE and galvanised their employees to donate. Here are some of these corporate fundraisers:
IWD Waterless Car Wash Fundraiser
BEDANDBASICS.SG
Peer-to-peer Fundraising
Peer-to-peer fundraising (P2P) has been a rewarding way for AWARE supporters to encourage their friends, family and colleagues to donate to our cause while also celebrating personal milestones and interests.
We are grateful to our wonderful P2P fundraisers who invested their time and efforts into organising these initiatives. Some of our most successful P2P fundraisers in 2022 are as follows:
Yoga for a Change
“As a strong supporter of underprivileged and vulnerable women and children in Singapore, we chose AWARE as our charity of choice from the months of October to December. In just three months, we raised $8,350, through our not-for-profit yoga classes and programmes, for AWARE’s Helpline. AWARE has been close to our heart since 2017 and is an organisation that we feel confident will put the funds to good use.”
Pasar Glamour
Janice Koh, Pam Oei and Petrina Kow started a pre-loved clothing sale in 2017 to raise funds for vulnerable women, children and the arts. Pasar Glamour has since become an annual event. Pasar Glamour donated an incredible $105,000 to AWARE, HOME and Limitless in 2022 from their sale held the previous year. “We are proud to give our wholehearted support to AWARE, a vital organisation that champions the rights of women in Singapore, especially those who are deemed ‘invisible’ or living on the margins.”
Postcards from Afar, by Han & Kane
“We wanted to support AWARE’s work in any way that we could, even while we were overseas. We sent out 73 postcards—written by strangers we met during our travels—to donors of AWARE, and self-published a zine compiling these postcards. In total, we sold almost 300 copies of the zine and raised $2,848. We hope this shows that anyone can start their own fundraising campaign to champion women’s rights and gender equality.”
Special Thanks
“Women have been the cornerstone of Tolaram since our business began 75 years ago. We are honoured to continue supporting AWARE so that together, we can create a more inclusive society for all.”
Haresh Aswani
Managing Director Africa, Tolaram
$50,000 and above
Diana Koh Foundation
The Community Foundation of Singapore – Sayang Sayang Fund
Tote Board
Uses Pte Ltd
$10,000-$49,999
BHP
Claire Chiang
Haresh Aswani
Hong Leong Foundation
In memory of Hilda Coldrey
In Memory Of Lee Eng Su
KOP Group of Companies
Lian Tsui Yee
Marquard & Bahls AG
Otis International Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
Quilt AI Pte Ltd
R3 Asia Pacific
Revival Vintage Jewels & Objects
Shyn Yee Ho-Strangas
Sriram Narayanan
St Patrick’s Society Singapore
Tan Chin Tuan Foundation
Tan Hui Yee
Tolaram
U.S. Embassy Singapore
$5,000-$9,999
Ang Fung Fung
Ashish Shastry
Coleads Business Consultants Pte Ltd
Douglas and Christy Lee-O’Loughlin
Dr. Wenjia Fang
Glen Goei
Harris Zaidi
Harpreet Singh Nehal
Joanne Flinn
Joanne Theseira and Lynette Ong
Nicky Kim and William Pang
Ong Soh Chin
Sharon Siah
Teo You Yenn
Tay Ee Ching
Wynthia Goh
Yoga For A Change