MAP raises $25,000 with DoorDash fundraiser

From Dec. 18 to Jan. 1, the Media Arts Program Boosters organization raised $25,000 through a fundraiser with DoorDash.

Boosters president Sandi Payne was able to spearhead the effort through her husband, who works as the chief operating officer of the company.

“DoorDash, through this whole year of COVID, has been working hard [to support] restaurants, first responders, schools and communities all over the country to try to help bridge the gap and help whenever they can,” Payne said. “They had been talking about ‘doing community projects and giving back,’ so the timing was perfect. MAP was the first and pilot project for them.”

The MAP Boosters group is using fundraiser to help alleviate the financial pressures that COVID-19 put on the program. They plan to put the money toward upcoming tech upgrades that happen every three to four years.

“MAP, by virtue of what it is, is an expensive program,” Payne said. “There is so much technology involved — regular hardware and software upgrades, microphones, voice over equipment, cameras, tip pods, booms and more.”

MAP originally agreed to a $5,000 cap over a two-week period with DoorDash. They planned that the MAP would receive 20 percent of the purchase amount on any order over $20 in the South Bay Area using the promo code “SHSMAP.” In total, 14,000 orders were placed using the code. 

The fundraiser began on Dec. 17, one day before the scheduled start date of Dec. 18, to “work out any kinks,” said Payne.

“That night alone, we did over $500 in our donation amount,” she said. “Within three days, we were already at $1,200. I immediately heard from DoorDash that they very graciously decided to raise our cap to $25,000. This was above and beyond our expectations and our agreement.”

While many community members helped advertise for the fundraiser through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, NextDoor and group chats, Payne attributed much of its success to board members Rehana Chaudhry and Vidya Malik, who leveraged their personal and professional networks to promote the fundraiser. 

Payne was thrilled with the outcome of the fundraiser.

“When we started out, we were happy to raise any amount for the program,” she said. “We originally agreed upon $5,000, which far exceeded the amount [we had earned from any single fundraiser to date]. To raise $25,000 at one time is still mind-blowing to us!”