Fundraising Ideas
Submitted by rkhotte2 on Wed, 09/17/2008 - 19:47.
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The following are ideas. There are a number of creative things that people can do to fundraise, and have fun while doing it. These ideas are not meant to restrict your thinking, but rather to get your juices flowing.
Fundraising Ideas
- Write a personal letter (solicitation). Making it real for people and giving them some context can be powerful. You may also find that people may be more likely to contribute, because they feel a connection to you (and you asked for their assistance).
- Offer to give a presentation when you get back (sponsorship). Many churches and organizations in a community are willing to contribute $50 or $100 toward a mission service trip. The idea is not that you’re offering them something in exchange … they aren’t paying for a presentation in advance. Rather, they are sponsoring you and you are offering them an opportunity to connect with your experience by promising to return and share your experiences.
- Ask your mission committee for funds. This should be a no-brainer. They may say they “don’t do that” or prefer to assist in some other way. But you should still ask.
- Ask your mission committee to support you in fundraising (assist, fundraise for you, etc.). This may prove to be a much greater support to your efforts. If you raise $500 with a breakfast or bake sale, because of their help, you’ve engaged them in mission and ended up with more funds toward your mission work than if they wrote you a check for $100.
- Host a craft/product sale (many organizations will provide you with fair trade products … as opposed to free trade … and, often, provide them on a consignment basis).
- Hold a party at your home or church … birthday, anniversary, or??? … Invite people to join you for the festivities, but indicate you don’t want gifts. HOWEVER, if someone is so inclined, you’d welcome contributions toward your trip which can be deposited anonymously in a box. That way people can celebrate with you without the pressure to contribute.
- Host a bake sale (good one for getting the mission committee on board with you)
- Hold a raffle. Not everyone likes raffles, so this isn’t for everyone. But what if you go to someone else’s craft sale and purchase a nice piece of pottery and a necklace. Then at your church you put them on display and raffle them off as part of your fundraising effort. The items are a good for consciousness raising about your mission work and provide something tangible for people to see when they are “contributing.”
- Run a gift wrap table at your church or at a local mall (clearly seasonal).
- Hold a pancake breakfast at church. This is another great idea for engaging others such as the mission committee.
- Hold an auction. Get local businesses to make contributions toward your trip and then auction those contributions off.
- Have a “buy-a-brick” sale. If your group already knows of something tangible it will be doing … giving out mosquito netting, raising funds to go toward a school construction project, taking a contribution for a local hospital … give people tangibles that they can “purchase.” Buy a net … $5. Buy a bag of cement (maybe you need 10) … $75. Buy a medical supply kit … $50.
- Write a grant. This may take much more work, but some people are more comfortable writing and processing a grant application than they are working on other types of projects. Sometimes, grant funds can be quite significant, particularly if you plan to be a part of a large project (building a school, building a health center, etc.).
Fundraising Opportunities
Ananse Village (Africa) http://www.anansevillage.com/ Toll Free: 877-242-4467 Local: 707-964-3534 Fax: 707-964-3544 Mail: Ananse Village 17800 North Highway One Fort Bragg, CA 95437 Business hours: 10 am to 5:30 pm, Pacific Time Anything on the web site with the exception of the baskets ($14.50) is 40% off for people doing fundraising sales. A Greater Gift (Everywhere) http://www.agreatergift.org/ Phone: 800-422-5915 Fax: 888-294-6376 Mail: A Greater Gift 500 Main Street PO Box 365 New Windsor, MD 21776-0365 If you purchase the products for sale, you can get a 20% discount, but are unable to return unsold products. You can also do consignment. The reduction in price is only 10%, but you can return unsold items. A Greater Gift has detailed information about hosting a sale and becoming a host on their web site and they offer “pre-packed” sets of top selling items in denominations of $750, $1500 and $2500. Equal Exchange (Central America & Africa) http://www.equalexchange.com/fundraiser/ Phone: 774-776-7400 Fax: 508-587-008850 Mail: United Drive West Bridgewater, MA 02379 Equal Exchange offers organic, fair trade coffee, tea, sugar, cocoa, and chocolate bars. They are locally worker owned, supported by our Bishop and the SSJE, and have a well developed interfaith program specifically for parish ministry. Information is readily available in the fundraiser information kit available on their web site. MayaWorks (Guatemala) http://www.mayaworks.org/ Phone: 773-506-4905 Fax: 773-506-4905 Email: MayaWorks@mayaworks.org Mail: MayaWorks Office 1405 W. Wilson Chicago, IL 60640 MayaWorks operates on consignment. To become a sale “volunteer,” you need to complete their application. Once you’ve done that, you have access to their site. Their information is very user-friendly and they offer “pre-packed” sets of top selling items.Previous Page
