Comments on: Fundraising Clinic

By: Jenn

Jenn — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 02:40:13 +0000

LOL at the body parts/standing on The Strip! I’m raising money for The American Cancer Society this year; raised money for Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago last year and it was a lot easier than I expected. One thing that worked for me was the first of every month I sent an email to friends/coworkers/family with a brief summary of how my training was going, how many days left to until Race Day and a link to my running blog/donation page. Every time I sent out the monthly email, donations came in . ..it seemed to work like a good reminder for people. Good luck with fundraising and training!

By: Jill

Jill — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:38:03 +0000

Lisa: Yeah, I’d either have people very disappointed in what I’m handing out or people who are pleasantly surprised. Not that I would actually dare do that!

Sparklie: Thanks for all the info and feedback. So many ideas!

By: SparklieSunShine

SparklieSunShine — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:29:09 +0000

Also I found this:

http://stepbystepfundraising.com/relay-for-life-fundraising-ideas/

By: SparklieSunShine

SparklieSunShine — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 17:27:52 +0000

It’s always surprising to see who help you out. This is completely different, but when I was doing those home shows I really thought some of my close friends would step up and help me. They totally didn’t, but some distant friends and even friends of friends helped me SO much and we ended up getting much closer.

Maybe you could do some form of all three of those things. I sound like a Target pimp half the time (hey I love it there) but if you talk to a manager and say you are trying to get an item to raffle away for a fundraiser and tell them what the money goes to they are VERY likely to donate something to you. If not them try somewhere else. (Even an Etsy seller). Most places have a place in their budget for charity work and as long as you mention their donation they are happy to help out. Perhaps you know a skilled friend and you could ask them to donate something they make to raffle. They would probably be more than happy to help. I admit a lot of people are more willing to give if there is a chance they could get something out of it.

As for the body part thing it is an interesting idea, but I can’t get past the sense that it will bring up a lot of dirty requests, esp on the strip. lol.

The party idea sounds fun, but don’t forget about the cost of food, plates and other party supplies. That option might become more expensive than it seems at the surface. However if you have generous friends or neighbors you might make enough to make it well worth it. Something to think about.

Definitely pimp your website! People can’t donate if they don’t know about it.

I’ll keep an eye out for other ideas too and let you know. : )

You also might be able to get one of your lovely readers to donate something to raffle. I don’t know. Multiple prizes are fun. I’ll keep thinking on this.

By: Lisa

Lisa — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 03:41:42 +0000

I want to do fundraising for my next marathon and honestly, it makes me very nervous. My friend did the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk last year and one suggestion that was given to her was to send a request to her entire address book. That would make me a bit uncomfortable, but she said that it really worked. She said that friends of friends (you know those people who end up in your address book through a mass e-mail or something) ended up donating bits here and there. She said her husband’s colleagues were also a good source. Also, the more personal a story you have the more people will give. Obviously, these are third-hand bits of advice as I haven’t done fundraising since I was in high school. Good luck!!

The thought of you handing out pamphlets on the Strip made me laugh. I always thought that the only people that handed stuff out were for strip clubs and porn sites. LOL. You might disappoint people by actually having a legitimate cause.