Raising
money for charity can be difficult at the best of times, but in the
current economic climate it's even harder. You will need to come up
with an incredibly creative fund raising campaign if you want to
persuade people to part with their hard earned, and much
sought-after, cash. Here are a few fund-raising suggestions to help
you kickstart your charity brainstorming sessions.
1.
Recycling
-
many recycling companies will pay money for everything from glass
bottles and drink cans to mobile phones. Instead of asking people for
money, ask them for their old junk, and recycle it for cash.
2.
Start a website
- it costs very little to set up a website, and you could earn a lot
for your chosen charity via affiliate programs and advertisements.
3.
Start
a Squidoo Lens
- if you can't afford to run a website, run a Squidoo lens instead,
they're free to set up, and can produce good earnings.
4.
Write
a book
- self-publish a book via Hulu and sell it for a profit
5.
Do
a sponsored event
- finishing a charity run is still an admirable achievement. If a
charity run doesn't sound adventurous enough for you, consider
competing in some other sporting event for sponsorship.
6.
Write
letters
- raise awareness by sending out paper letters. They have a personal
effect that other donation requests don't have.
7.
TV
and Radio
- local media can be useful for reaching a lot of people.
8.
Cooking
- if you are good at making biscuits or cakes, these are always
desirable fundraising tokens.
9.
Host
a party
- even in the current economy, people enjoy a good night out. Sell
tickets, and donate all the proceeds to charity.
10.
Run
a competition
- get local companies to donate prizes, and charge a token entry fee.
11.
Host
a yard sale
- instead of getting rid of old junk on eBay, run a real-life sale,
with all of the proceeds going to charity.
12.
Run
a charity challenge
- instead of a standard sponsored charity run, make it a competition,
with a prize going to the person with the fastest time, along with an
extra donation to their charity of choice.
13.
Just
Giving
- lots of people struggle to find spare loose change to hand over to
people looking for sponsorship, but are happy to donate via debit
card or PayPal. Set up a JustGiving page for people to use for
donations.
14.
Charitable
luxury
- make handmade candles and soaps and sell them for an affordable
price.
15.
Christmas
cards
- sell handmade Christmas cards; they're a popular item and don't
cost a lot to make.
16.
Vouchers
and tokens
- ask local companies to donate vouchers that you can use as prizes
and fund-raising incentives.
17.
Donation
matching
- find a local company and ask them to match whatever you raise
through your normal fundraising efforts. It's great PR for the
company, and extra cash for your charity.
18.
Donate
time
- if you can't raise a lot of money, lend your time and skills to
your chosen charity instead.
19.
Dress
down day
- ask everyone in the office to donate a pound to charity so they can
wear casual clothes for a day.
20.
Brand
parties
- instead of having an Avon party, look for a brand that will help
you run a charity party. There are lots of family friendly brands
that support charities these days.
21.
Nag
a celebrity
- get a local celebrity to endorse your cause.
22.
Put
on a performance
- if you have musical talent, put on a show at a local pub or
community hall.
23.
Give
guided tours
- do you know your area well? Run a ghost hunt or a history tour
during the summer.
24.
Affiliate programs - join affiliate programs, and ask people in your community to do
their usual shopping through the affiliate links.
25.
Gift
aid
- if your local government offers tax breaks on charitable donations,
ask people to use that scheme.
This
is a guest post by Amy Fowler on behalf of The Poppy Run, who
organise charity runs across the UK in aid of The Poppy Appeal. Find
out more at poppy-run.com.
For updates on the next Poppy Run event, follow
The Poppy Run
on Twitter.
Originally posted at Popgive.com.![]()
