Fundraising Ideas

Supporting Ideas for

  • Conduct public awareness campaigns to help garner visibility prior to a fundraiser
  • Keep statistics on your initiative records that demonstrate results
  • Generate and use letters of support
  • Use the advice of a professional fundraiser

Projects to Raise Money

  • Intergenerational Coffee House
  • Pancake Breakfast
  • 24-Hour Relay Challenge www.commatters.org
  • Pledges for A-Thons: Bike, Walk, Run, Read
  • Phone-A-Thon, Tele-A-Thon (through public access TV)
  • Sports tournaments: tennis, golf, basketball, volleyball, softball, etc.
  • Intergenerational Dances
  • Sell products (Flowers for Mother’s Day, Candy, Subscriptions)
  • Other sale ideas: community-wide garage sale, cookbook, bake sale, plant sale
  • Raffle (get donations from local businesses, sports figures, etc.) Hold on a regular basis or in conjunction with other events
  • Become restaurant wait staff for 2 hours and get a predetermined percentage of total sales during that time period is donated to your project
  • Auctions: silent or live (with auctioneer).
  • House tours
  • Luncheons or dinners: with speaker, style show, young people talent show
  • Theatre or concert party – tickets at different levels: patron saint, arch angel, angel, cherub! (For the luncheons/dinners and theatre/concert party, personal invitations to the event works best)
  • Antique, handicraft, or art fair
  • Carnival
  • Sports Bingo
  • Direct mail
  • Door to door canvassing (by kids – provide training)
  • Ask a local service club (Rotary, Kiwanis, Lions, etc.) if they would agree to buy out a local live theatre performance and then sell tickets for slightly above the ticket price as a benefit
  • Serve-A-Thon (classes, schools, youth groups): Initiatives and families get pledges to do service projects on a specific day in the community
  • Sell temporary tattoos – Logo of a school team on tattoos that can be sold at games. Multi-colored temporary tattoos can be purchased for about 9¢ a piece when bought in lots of 10,000.

Ideas that Help Raise Public Awareness

  • Create a mural on the wall of a community building, use professionals to work with students
  • Write articles for your local newspaper
  • Produce Radio/TV public service announcements
  • Arrange for media coverage for any of the above projects to raise money

Suggestions for a Face-to-Face Presentation Requesting Funds

  • Make a good impression, have a positive approach, be specific
  • Be prepared with answers to these questions:
    • What do I specifically want to accomplish?
    • What have I accomplished to-date?
    • What have I done, up to now, to get funds?
    • What resources do I have already?
    • What’s missing?
    • How’s it working out?
    • What else could I do?
    • What will happen if I don’t get funding?
    • What do I want from the grantor? (example) Describe how attendance at the conference helps develop youth leadership skills.
  • Remember: You need to ask!!!

Sources of Funds

  • Center for Substance Abuse Prevention within SAMHSA, DHHS
  • Department of Juvenile Justice
  • Local foundations (especially community foundations)
  • Service clubs (Rotary, Kiwanis, Elk, etc.)
  • Civic organizations
  • Check with local Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Chapters about ways to match what you expect to raise during a fundraiser
  • Schools raise funds to bring athletic teams/choirs on trips there is a process in your community
  • Organizations that have funds left at the end of the fiscal year
  • Community citizens and board members of organizations interested in youth development determine how your interests meet the interests of the individual or organization
  • Local businesses including law firms, health and insurance organizations
  • Congregations
  • Ask organizations to sponsor youth to attend the conference
  • Ask organizations to donate their frequent flyer tickets to help sponsor youth travel to the conference

Writing a Grant Proposal

If the granting agency does not require a particular format, consider using this approach:

  1. - Executive summary: Clear and concise, outlines the problem, the objectives and the expected outcomes, project activities and the audience to be addressed
  2. - Organization information: mission, history, structure, other funders/partners, nonprofit status
  3. - Statement of need: Keep this focused on the need for the proposed project
  4. - Project description: State objectives in measurable outcomes
  5. - Key staff dedicated to the project short biographies
  6. - Budget
  7. - Conclusion (includes the “ask”)
  8. - Always include a cover letter
  • Have someone unfamiliar with your project read the proposal and give feedback
  • Try The Foundation Center’s web site (www.fdncenter.org) for information on free proposal writing seminars

Web Sites with Information on Grant Opportunities

http://www.grantselect.com/
http://www.nonprofit.gov/
http://www.youthdevelopment.org/research.htm

Fundraising Web Sites

www.fundraisinginfo.com
www.missionfish.com

Sell Products

There are many companies that help non-profit organizations sell products for fundraising. There are some creative non-commercial ideas at the following page that could be a lot of fun while still being a profitable fundraiser. http://www.fundraising-ideas.org/DIY/index.html
/www.fundraising-ideas.org/DIY/index.html