5 “No Brainer” Fundraising Ideas

So, you’ve just been asked to help fundraise for your daughter’s school, your son’s baseball team, your church or synagogue, a cancer fundraising walk or the local playground, and you’re cringing because you know what’s in store for you - lots of frustration and lots of work to come up with the needed money.  Add to that the likelihood that most of your friends and neighbors may avoid you for the duration of your fundraising campaign, and it doesn’t exactly leave you excited to get started!

Well, like many other things in life, fundraising is clearly one of those efforts where there are ways to work hard or ways to work smart, and I always choose the latter.  Having been involved in many projects over the years to raise money for numerous organizations, teams, schools and such, I have found that there are ways to fundraise that don’t necessarily require a lot of work or the chance that your best friend may never talk to you again! 

They’re what I call “no-brainer” fundraising ideas.  They are easy to implement, don’t operate by trying to sell people items they really would rather live without (but may feel obligated to purchase from you, in return for you having to do the same for them in the not so distant future), and usually are successful in raising large amounts of money with fairly little effort.  Of course, the success of your fundraiser will depend on how many people are directly involved with your efforts and how worthwhile the cause is.

Below are some of the best tried and true ideas for fundraising for various types of projects.  As always, please feel free to add your ideas into the mix because we all benefit when we can learn from each other!

5 “No Brainer” Fundraising Ideas:

1.  Letter writing.  By far, the best way to raise money is simply to ask!  Many people are reluctant to do so because they feel they put family and friends on the spot and it makes them feel uncomfortable.  But by making your request through a letter, or email, you remove that face-to-face feeling of obligation, making it easier for both the person asking for donations and the one being asked.  The key to a successful letter writing campaign is to make your letter personal and to explain the significance of why you are raising money for a particular cause.  Sending a basic form letter will not accomplish the job.  Include information on why you picked the cause and what your connection or experience is related to the cause.  Most top fundraisers for non-profit events say that they receive the majority of donations by simply asking through a letter writing campaign.  This method usually works very well for causes where people have a strong emotional connection (like a health-related organization), and may not be as successful for a school or sports team fundraiser.

2.  Dress down day, theme day, or hat day.   Give people the opportunity to dress down at work, wear a hat to school, not wear a school uniform or coordinate a theme day.  Ask for a set donation or minimum donation for the opportunity to take advantage of the dress down or theme day and you’ll find it’s an easy way to raise money for a cause without doing much work or putting people on the spot to donate.  If your fundraising efforts are connected to a school, business, or organization that meets regularly, make this fundraiser an ongoing event and the money will keep piling up, without anyone being annoyed that they’re constantly hounded for money.

3. Sell candy, pretzels, water or any type of food that’s not easily accessible.  Although it’s sometimes annoying to feel obligated to purchase pizza kits or cookie mixes for a fundraiser, many people don’t think twice about laying out money for ‘on-the-spot’ food purchases.  If you can sell food that’s not otherwise available on a regular basis, you can raise quite a bit of money for your cause.  Our school sells soft pretzels on Friday mornings to raise money for school events.  Sports teams can sell concessions at sporting events.  At work, sell bottled beverages or candy bars so that your cause benefits, rather than the local vending machine company.  No need to sell products labeled specifically for fundraising purposes.  Just go to your local warehouse store and stock up!  

4.  Request donations in lieu of gifts.  Having a party to celebrate an important milestone or holiday?  Request that guests make a donation to your favorite charity, rather than bring a gift.  Most of us don’t need more gifts and you can make a big impact by requesting charitable gifts in this way.  Or have a party specifically to benefit a particular cause.  Last year my 11 year old daughter had a holiday get together for her friends with a snowman theme.  Guests were requested to bring gently used or new items to keep disadvantaged people warm, such as hats, gloves, scarves, coats and socks.  The girls made “snowman soup” (decorative packages of hot chocolate mix, marshmallows and other goodies) to distribute to the local food pantry during their holiday toy drive.  The girls had a ball and all left feeling good that they had done something to help others.

5.  Host a car wash or yard sale.  This requires a bit more effort than some of the others, but can be a fun way to raise a lot of money in one shot.  Get your group together and hold a car wash in your local community.  If you publicize it and are in a convenient spot, you will get members of the community to support you and you’ll have fun in the process.  Same goes with a yard sale.  Get a group of people together that agree to donate the proceeds of what they sell to your cause.  For either of these events, you can increase donations by selling food and beverages as well.

The key to “no brainer” fundraising is to find ways to raise money that correspond well to what you are trying to raise money for.  Many people are bothered by constant requests that ‘nickel and dime’ them to death, so choose your fundraiser carefully and make sure that you really focus on the causes that are most important to you, so you’re not repeatedly asking the same people for money for different causes.   If those who know you know that you are very committed to a particular cause, they are more likely to want to help out that cause.  For all the times you need to raise money for other groups or teams, find a way to fundraise by offering items or organizing events that people would spend money on anyway.  Fundraising doesn’t have to be a dreaded job.  You just need to work smart, rather than hard and focus on what people want.