The American University of Rome was honored recently to welcome Alessandro Pinto, one of the founding professionals of “social responsibility in sport,” for a seminar focused on fundraising through sporting events and fundraising in the world of sport.
Pinto has a rich & varied experience of organizing fundraising sports events for international organizations like UNICEF, FIFA, and the United Nations. In 2019 he founded the “Italian American Sports Foundation” operating out of Rome and New York.
In the first part of his lecture to our students, Alessandro talked about the historical aspects of fundraising activities, the importance of the Olympic Games and its spirit, and gave us an array of examples of the most successful fundraising sporting events of the 20th century.
In the second part of the lecture, he took a deep dive into the strategy and logistics of a number of fundraising techniques. We learned about the differences between live and silent auctions and the many challenges involved in designing a successful fundraiser. Alessandro also discussed two of his major fundraising projects: “One Goal for UNICEF” (1994) and “Atlanta Olympic Aid” (1996).
Alessandro rounded off his presentation with a simulation of a live auction (one of the group won an AS Roma scarf!) and invited everyone to his fundraising gala dinner in New York on November 4th. His assistant at that event is Chiara DiMattia, an AUR Travel & Tourism Management student, who is currently undertaking a fascinating and insightful internship within the Italian American Sports Foundation.
Report by Anastasia Zorina, Student Assistant to Business Program
