Fundraising Ideas

Starting out raising money for charity is a daunting prospect, so we have listed here some of the top 5 tips to keep in mind:

1-      Be confident but not pushy. People will definitely respond better to you if you appear to know what you are doing, but it can sometimes be tricky not to stray over the line into the territory of being pushy. Try practicing your pitch with friends and family until you get it right.

2-      Use your own ideas. Taking fundraising ideas for the internet is a great start, but as you get more confident you will want to inject some of your own personality into some ideas and use them as well.

3-      Don’t procrastinate too much. The longer you put something off the more daunting it can become. Sometimes it is better to just dive in and get it done.

4-      Set a target. You never meet targets which you don’t set, so set out a figure you want to meet and go all out to try and reach it, but don’t beat yourself up if you fail. 

5-      Learn from other people. Experienced charity workers often have a wealth of fundraising ideas and tips which you can learn and use.

Maybe you already know that you can get charity scratchcards produced cheaply and easily these days. If you do then you should definitely consider using this as one of your fundraising ideas, and if you don’t you might like to look into the idea.

It is a simple and effective way to raise fairly small amounts of money on a regular basis. This means that scratchcards can be used to keep things ticking over between your big charity fundraising events. While they will never replace a big fete or charity dinner they can bring in some handy money if used wisely.

Basically you get a card with a number of boxes on it; in the most popular type usually each box corresponds to a different football team although there are other versions available.

Each donor pays a set fee to write their name in one of the boxes, if you keep this fee low you will get through the cards a lot quicker although you will raise less money on each one of course. Once the card is complete the panel with details of the winning box is scratched and the lucky winner gets half the proceeds.

These cards work well in offices and can also be passed round at your fundraising events.

If you really want to attract lots of publicity and raise a lot of donations then set your sights high and look to break a world record with your charity fundraising events.

Something which involves a number of people and can be sponsored is the best way to do this and you should use your creativity to come up with something which really interests people in your community.

For example, if your town is famous for a certain type of food then what about making the world’s biggest ever one? The sight of a group of helpers making a huge pie or cake is bound to attract people from the local papers and television. As well the initial sponsorship you can then sell off slices or portions of the record breaking food. With a bit of luck local supermarkets will do a good deal on the ingredients.

For other record breaking fundraising events you should think of weird and wacky stuff which doesn’t have a really challenging record currently and then research it to see if it is feasible. You should always try and appeal to the local sense of pride and heritage to really get things moving nicely. These events will get people interested and may even get their competitive spirit going.

The latest technological developments offer us a lot of new ways to raise money without printing off leaflets or t shirts like in the old days. Here are a few of the best ones currently around.

 iPhone donation manager. This involves downloading an iPhone app and then managing all your online fundraising through your phone. This means that you are constantly up to date with developments and can show the information to potential donors in meetings just by taking your phone with you.

Social media. Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are the places where millions of us now do our socialising and breaking into this huge market means a lot more chance of your fundraising ideas getting known by many more people. You can either do some investigation yourself on the subject or try and find out if one of your regular donors or helpers can help you out in getting registered and starting to spread the word.

Internet site or blog. A blog is probably your best choice, as people tend to see these as more personalised and friendly than official looking sites. If you know how to use a word processor then you can use a program such as Wordpress to post blogs and keep people updated on your fundraising events.

One of the hardest parts of charity fundraising for most people is the idea of picking up the phone, dialling someone they don’t know and asking for money. If your best money raising ideas are floundering because of a lack of cold calling skills here are a few steps you might like to follow.

1. Make a script. Just about everyone who calls you to try and sell insurance, double glazing and a time share in Benidorm  is reading from a script . Whether you can tell or not is down to the quality of the script and the professionalism of the caller. A telephone script should be concise, friendly and have a clear goal. The real benefit of having one of these is in having an ordered approach and knowing that you have a great line waiting to be delivered.
2. Try some practice calls. Once you have a good script you probably want to try it out on friends and family before doing it for real. Even better is if you give it to someone else and ask them to call you using it.
3. Pick the right time. Phone at 8 am or 10pm and you are beaten before you even started. Picking the right time to call is really difficult. If it is a work number you are going to be calling avoid Monday mornings and try Friday afternoons. People will be more receptive to your fundraising ideas if you ask them first if it is convenient to speak or if you should call back later.

How many ways are there to let the public know about your fundraising ideas? As many as you can think of. Don’t be limited by your usual procedures, as any way in which more people can find out and take part the better. These are some of the best ways.

1. Internet site. If you have your own internet site then it should be easy to put on a notice. You can also ask local businesses to put something on their sites. Some communities also have their own internet sites and getting in touch with these is a good idea.
2. Email campaign. You probably have a list of email addresses for existing donors. Send out an email to them with details of your latest fundraising events and make it funny or interesting enough so that they send it on to their friends.
3. Leaflet drop. This sounds a bit old fashioned these days but it can still be a good tool.
4. Word of mouth. Members of the public passing word of your event onto friends and family is probably the most effective way to get people interested but it is also difficult to get started.
5. Posters. The local library, the community centre and shops are usually the best places to put up some posters.
6. Local media. You will probably need to come up with some sort of interesting story to get your fundraising ideas featured but local newspaper, radio and television journalists have a lot of slow news days and you might be lucky and contact them when they need something different to write about.

Getting someone to donate to your charity isn’t the most difficult part of charity fundraising ideas. The truly tricky thing is to make sure that keep on giving. Here are a few tips for ensuring that your donors keep on repeating.

1. Say thank you -This sounds really simple but if you miss out this step then some people might be miffed. You need to thank the people who helped out and those who donated in a public manner which will be noticed by everyone involved.
2. Tell them where the money went - As well as telling donors that your charity fundraising events raise a lot of money you should also tell them how important that money is and the good work it does. This will give them a really good feeling and also make them feel a stronger link to the charity. A set of pictures of whatever you bought or funded with the cash will give a tangible feel to the whole process.

Keep coming up with fresh ideas. Even dedicated charity givers like to be stimulated with new and interesting fundraising events to encourage them to stay interested. Getting ideas for future events from your most faithful donors can help target the people you want and also get them more heavily involved in the organising of the event

Charity fundraising ideas are relatively easy to come up with but carrying through the full process to a successful conclusion is a lot more difficult. Here are a couple of the most common reasons for not raising as much as you would like to.

Small donor base - You can’t keep asking the same people to keep giving to you all the time. If your charity fundraising events are all pretty much based on the same sort of ideas and targeted at the same group then this will have an ever decreasing circles effect on your attempts. Try and freshen things up and attract different types of donors by looking at completely different types of events.

Right event wrong time - Sometimes a fundraising event can be a really good idea and be really well executed but can fail because of the timing. Try and avoid periods in which people tend not to have much money; just after Christmas, just before the schools get back after the summer holidays etc. Trickier to avoid can be moments in which the local economy has just received bad news with factory closures or job cutbacks. Bad weather is another killer for a lot of outdoor fundraising ideas and while long term weather forecasts aren’t entirely accurate you should at least take them into account.

Getting as many people as possible involved in your fundraising events is a great way to increase your donor base and attempt to boost your revenue.

One way of doing this is by getting local businesses and institutions involved in your ideas. Here are a few fun suggestions which might just go down a treat.

Non uniform day. This can work for schools, colleges, local businesses and local authority offices. If you can encourage some people to dress up in fancy dress then it will be an ever better success.

Job auction.  Who wants to be the school’s head teacher for a day? Or the boss of a big local firm? Or an assistant in the local bakery? The more fun and outrageous the idea the more likely it is to attract interesting bids.

Sponsored silence. Lots of workers would pay a fair bit of money for their colleagues to shut up for a day. This kind of fun charity fundraising event gets people talking (if you know what I mean) and lets the community find out about your good work and initiatives.

Sponsored shave a beard / moustache / head. There is usually a well known figure in most communities who has harboured a bushy beard, moustache or wild hair style for too long. Shave it off and raise some money at the same time.  

When it comes to fundraising ideas at charity fairs the classic games and events are always winners. However, you can also add a bit more interest by adding a few fun games which both kids and adults could get hooked into. Try out these ideas if you like the look of them.

1. Guess my name -  A cute animal sits on top of an upturned board which has their name written on the hidden side. People pay to guess the name. The winner gets a prize while the animal gets to munch on leaves or biscuits all day.
2. How many balloons are in the car or other type of container? - You simply fill a container with loads of coloured balloons and then get people to guess how many there are. If you can get hold of an old phone box it would make a great attraction for any fete. The kids then need to join in and burst the balloons when the door is opened.
3. Kid’s crafts competition - You can also liven up your fundraising events by asking local kids to design objects to be sold for charity. Let their imagination run away with them a little and see what they come up with. Many people will buy kid’s crafts no matter what the finished object looks like or how useful it is likely to be.

It is no surprise to find that less Christmas cards are being sent now than before. Because of this many charities are finding that their end of year income has fallen fairly sharply.

However, if we look at the reasons for this and try to make the idea a bit more interesting for the public this could still be a good fundraising idea. Many people are put off buying as many Christmas cards as they used to because of the cost of both the cards and the postage, but often they can be tempted by novel and individual cards or cheaper ones.

An idea which can keep costs down is to let your supporters design their own cards on your site. The backgrounds or general themes would be specific to your charity and then the public can add their own pictures and words. As these are cheap online fundraising projects you can charge a small amount and add an option donation section.

 Another option is to get kids at local schools to hand make charity based cards. You can then ask a local print firm to print out a selection of the best, most unique ones, add your logo and a message and then sell them through the school as well as your office and online. If there is a Christmas fete or some other fundraising events at the school these should sell really well.

If you like the idea of raising some funds online but aren’t sure how to go about it you might like to have a look at these simple ideas:

1. Include links on your site which give you commission on sales. Lots of companies do this and it is easy to arrange. You can get a pretty high commission on it and you can stick a message next to it advising visitors to your site that they will be helping out if they buy by following the link instead of directly.
2.  Selling your own products online can give you a better chance to get a high level of online fundraising done. You can ask local businesses to provide you with t shirts, caps, mugs or anything else which might sell. Sell the items online cheaply and advise that any extra donation would be welcome. There are also firms who will set up your site and provide the products for a commission.
3. Online charity auction - This is possibly one of the easiest fundraising ideas using the internet, as you don’t do much at all. A local firm provides some items for auction and a specialist internet auction company sets up the auction. The website designers only take a cut of the profits, so there is no risk for the charity.
4. Sponsored ads. These are linked to the first suggestion but are generally from a search engine such as Google and you get money for all the people who click on the ads on your site.

Charity challenges can be a sponsored walk in China, a cycling trip in Africa or a kayaking event in South America. Whatever you are able to organise is likely to be popular with the public and is worth going for and trying to get some much needed funds from.

There are some great advantages to these types of fundraising ideas. First off, you can get a lot of good publicity both for the charity and for the event.  If you pick an exotic location or a rather wacky idea or can get hold of someone moderately famous to join the trip then this can be a great help in attracting people’s attention.

Another positive you can take out of it is the chance to combine the charity’s philosophy with the fundraising event itself. For example, if you help underprivileged children in the third world then you can arrange for the sponsored trekkers to take gifts with them for local children, or for them to visit a local hospital or orphanage during the trip.

The final thing on the list is that these are seen as major events for the participants, and can be seen as life changing by some people. This ensures that those taking part in the challenge will be fully committed and really enthusiastic about the trip. They will probably tell loads of people about it and really give the fundraising a good go.

When the warm comes around is the best moment to try out these water based charity fundraising events, although the idea of a winter dip also appeals to a lot of people in a crazy sort of way.

1. Magnificent flying machines - The competition is to build the machine which will fly the furthest off a pier. You can have lots of wacky entrants which cause a laugh and get people enjoying themselves. If you can get a local business to put up a decent prize you might even get some serious entrants too.
2. Sponsored swim - This could be an endurance type test where entrants ask for sponsorship for a small amount for every lap and then try to do as many laps as possible.  A kid’s event earlier on in the day can be a shortened version.
3. Angling competition - The top prize goes to the best anglers; this is best done as a team event with families and can be an all day event.
4. Water sports day - If you can get a kind sponsor to provide the equipment and expert guidance you can charge a small fee for each ride. Getting someone photographed by the local press doing something exciting while in fancy dress can get you some good publicity in the newspapers as well.
5. Charity swims with dolphins - Everyone loves dolphins, including the press. This means that getting a local aquarium onside for a charity event or show can get some extra attention for your fundraising event.

Ok, so you know the basic idea of The Price is right; the public have to guess the price of certain items and then they take them home. 

If you are looking for fresh ideas for fundraising events then you might like to consider combining this game show format with what you do. Instead of asking people to guess the price of washing machines and vacuum cleaners you would ask them to guess how much things which you use in the charity cost.

This can be a great way to raise public consciousness of the cost of medical equipment, emergency food supplies and such like. People who guess the price right get a small prize and also are now aware of just how many fundraising ideas like this are needed to keep doing the good work you are carrying out.

You could also add this onto your site as a sort of fun and educational feature. The “prize” would just be a round of applause or a pop up message, but the message will get across all the same and your supporters could get a more tangible idea of what their donation helps to buy.

This fundraising idea also works with other old game show format if you put a bit of imagination into it and find a link with what your charity does.

Even small towns have usually got a couple of well known sports people, retired or still playing. Getting these guys on board can make for some really good fundraising events.

If you have a footballer willing to help out then having a “beat the goalie” or “stop the striker” stall at a local fair can get people interested. With other sports you can do the same sort of thing and get the public to play the local hero in a small scale, fun game.

Another idea is to have a sponsored “kick the ball to Paris” event. This is where the participants kick or throw a ball during hours until they cover the distance needed to get to the French capital (or the city you choose). If you have a current campaign located near enough to be considered maybe this could add more interest your sports fundraising ideas. If the destination is far away then a combined team distance can count towards the target.

Charity fundraising events such as golf days and long distance runs and walks can be a bit trickier to organize but often get a very good support from the public and can raise a fair bit of money. 

This fun idea for raising some charity funds depends upon you finding a local wine merchant or wine wholesaler who will sell you a few bottles of wine cheaply, or give it you for free if he can! People then come to sample the wine and pay for each glass of the different types on offer. You can sell small cheese boards and other snacks to go with the wines and to make sure people don’t drift off as they get hungry.

This type of fundraising idea is ideally best combined with something which will attract people’s attention and encourage them to hang around as long as possible. This can be something like an interesting guest speaker or some sort of show or entertainment. You can slip in a short film on your latest project as long as you keep it light and in the same tone as the evening. Something like some details on the successful resolution to your latest campaign and a brief outline of the next one could do the trick.

If it is successful you could make it a regular event on the local social calendar and encourage the regular attendees to come up with ideas for entertainment, games, guest speakers etc. Getting hold of a wine expert to give tasting classes can be a winning idea once you have a regular crowd who are starting to enjoy these fundraising events.