15 Fun and Easy Fundraising Ideas You Can Try Now
Raising money for your cause is harder than it looks. Your creativity and patience will always be challenged in order to acquire the amount you need. Certain fundraising strategies may work today and fail in the coming days. The “fun” in fundraising is there for a purpose—you have to come up with interesting ideas to keep the money flowing to support your cause.
photo supplied Austin Gaines
There are also websites that help you raise funds such as Kickstarter, Go Get Funding, Crowdrise, and Indiegogo but your fundraising idea should be interesting enough to work.
Plumfund is another, featured on Shark Tank, which actually has zero platform fees, where as the others guys charge 5% or more, create your own fund page at plumfund.com.
We have come up with a list to ease the burden. Here are 16 fun and easy fundraising ideas you can try:
1. Mini concert
Gather talented people you know and stage a mini concert for your cause. Set a standard entrance fee inclusive of a free drink. If they want to request a particular song, you can ask for a donation.
2. Face Painting
Unleash the inner child in everybody and go crazy with face paint! Present them with a catalogue containing designs you can draw on their cheeks or any part of the face. Charge a small fee for your service.
3. Challenge Accepted
Accept challenges from random people on the street, and if you do it, they have to pay an amount depending on the level of difficulty. Slightly extreme, embarrassing, or hilarious dares should entail higher fees.
4. Baked Goodies for Sale
This is one of the oldest ways of getting funds and you can still make it work. Bake different kinds of brownies or cupcakes and sell them at a reasonable price.
5. Garage Sale
Gather your pre-loved possessions and put them up for sale. Instead of making it appear as if you’re getting rid of your junk by selling many kinds of items, choose a “theme”. Decide if you want to sell fancy accessories or antique porcelain plates.
Photo/NikolayF.com
6. Tongue Twisters
There’s a higher chance of committing a mistake while saying tongue twisters than perfecting it. Charge a few cents for every mistake they make, and see how much you can gather.
7. Change It
Put two groups in competition with each other by asking each member to collect loose change from strangers. Under a designated time, they will race to gather as much money they can to get a percentage of the earned money for themselves.
8. Give up vices
Encourage other people to abstain from their vices and the amount they will save from it will be donated to your fund. Ask them how much they usually spend on these vices for a given period of time (e.g. a day or a week) and come up with a checklist to monitor if they skipped a day. Vices aren’t confined to smoking and drinking. It can also include buying pricey coffee every morning or buying DVDs every week.
9. Question and Answer
Ask questions ranging from general knowledge to other difficult subjects like chemistry, and have them pay an amount for failure to answer or giving a wrong answer. Separate the rounds to easy, medium, and hard and assign a specific amount for each round.
10. Money in lieu of gifts
Instead of accepting gifts for your birthday or during the holidays, ask people to donate the monetary value of the gift.
11. Rock, Paper, Scissors
Challenge people on the street for a game of rock-paper-scissors. Everytime you score, ask them to donate an amount they are comfortable giving. If they win in the end, they don’t have to pay the agreed amount, which is set at the start of the game, apart from their donations.
12. Walkathon
Walking is an activity everyone can engage in. Organize a walkathon and set a fee for every sign up. This is not only a good way to gather funds but also to let other people be aware of your cause.
13. Complete a Pattern
Divide participants in groups and ask them to complete a pattern on the floor using coins. They can use their own loose change or ask from their friends or from passersby. All coins used will be donated to your fund.
14. Carwash
Some people do not have the time to wash their own cars. Offer to do it for them and charge for the service you are willing to lend.
15. Double Pay for Parties
Host a party and invite friends and acquaintances. Make them pay a minimum amount for the entrance fee and ask them to bring their friends along. Instead of paying double the amount for bringing a friend, they will pay double if they don’t bring someone. The friend who was tagged must also bring a friend so he can be saved from paying double.
Which of these ideas sounds good to you? Tell us!
Guest Author: Eunisse De Leon
Eunisse De Leon is a fashion and lifestyle writer. She also writes about business and leadership, and she loves animals. Follow her @eunissedeleon
