Innovative and Fun Ideas for Fundraising
For many organizations, it can be tough to come up with ideas for fundraising. Perhaps your group has run the gamut in regards to the traditional methods of raising money, such as bake sales, car washes, spaghetti suppers, auctions, etc. Whether your group is a church or school group, sports team, or the local PTO, there are plenty of ways to raise the funds you need – you just have to be creative!
Here are a few innovative and fun ideas for fundraising:
Have members of your group volunteer to participate in a “rent-a-worker” event. Sponsors can hire your “workers” to do odd jobs such as rake the yard, pick up limbs, mow, clean the house, even run errands.
Commit to “head shaving” if a specific amount of money is raised in a set time period. Volunteers in your groups can go hairless by shaving their heads if the amount of money your organization agrees on ($500, $1,000, any amount of your choosing0 is raised by the deadline you set whether the deadline is one week, one month, 3 days, etc.
Spa night for the ladies. If your group includes teens or young women, they can volunteer to host a “Ladies Night Out” whereby those who come by to get a pedi, mani, facial, or relaxing massage can enjoy pampering – as long as they make a donation.
“Full service” gas station attendant for a day. Work out a deal with a local service station who is willing to have some of your volunteers service the customers the way it was decades ago. Volunteers will pump gas, clean the windshield, or check the oil for donations.
Set up a smoothie stand. Spring’s just around the corner, and while lemonade stands were popular in years gone by, bring an old tradition into today’s modern times by shaking things up a bit – sell smoothies!
Put the little ones’ artistic ability and imagination to work. If your group consists of grade school-age children, have them work together to create an imaginative or fun drawing that can be transferred onto coffee mugs, t-shirts, mouse pads or other items that can then be sold to people in the community.
Raise money with discount cards. What list of ideas for fundraising would be complete without discount cards? These credit-size cards sell for $10, and entitle the card bearer to discount deals and special offers at a dozen or more local merchants for an entire year. For instance, the person who purchases the card may save 15% on an oil change, 20% on a membership to the local gym, or enjoy a buy-one-get-one-free deal at a local fast-food restaurant. The offers on the cards can be used over and over again, so the purchaser ultimately saves far more over the course of a year than the $10 he/she paid for the card! This is one method that is effective for organizations that need to raise a substantial amount of money, and raise it fast.
Today, it’s not as easy to raise funds as it once was; given that many businesses and individuals simply do not have the financial resources to give that they once did due to the state of the economy over recent years. Still, there are lots of ideas for fundraising that are capable of getting the job done. Be creative, use your imagination, and most important of all, make it fun!