Friday, November 3, 2017

Unique Fundraising Events Can Be Effective

By Janet Brooks


Fundraising is not the easiest activity to undertake and indeed it takes a special kind of person to elicit the response that makes people want to donate money to a cause. Often, instead of just asking for money from corporations and people, unique fundraising events are held. This is usually a good way to encourage people to give generously while they, in turn, feel that they have received something in return.

Setting up a golf tournament is a good way to elicit money from players. They find themselves in groups of four, either buying their own entry or doing it as a company donation. The charity will receive the entry fee. Small prizes are donated, with every play receiving something along the route, as well as several drinks! It's a good opportunity for local companies to donate branded merchandise such as caps and pens. At the end of the day, the winning team gets the grand prize, also donated.

Another idea is an auction. Getting donations of items such as art and sports memorabilia from willing supporters is the first part. Tickets to the event are usually sold off to groups or tables seating about ten patrons. For the price of the ticket, they will get a nice dinner. Throughout the dinner, various items will be auctioned off, with the objective being to raise the largest amount of money possible.

Find a local gallery that is willing to assist with getting street artists and others to participate in a charitable exhibition. Creating fun caricatures of those that attend will allow people to go home with something very personal as well as being able to invest in a piece of artwork, thus supporting the local art community as well as the chosen charity.

Hold a pumpkin growing contest, with the critical planning of the event starting around April, well ahead of time for a Halloween finish. Participants will buy their entry tickets, with many months of anticipation and ongoing competition amongst themselves and have fun in the process. Donated prizes for the largest or strangest looking vegetable and so on could make it an annual event for the community.

A really fun and unique way to raise money is through hosting puzzle events such as scavenger hunts, quiz evenings, escape rooms and so on. A skilled planner is needed to set up the scavenger hunt, often more fun if it involves driving a route. If you need to boost the coffers of an animal shelter, make the treasure hunt on site, with challenges along the way such as painting a portion of a wall, repairing woodwork or clearing a garden in order to get another clue.

The whole idea behind fundraising is to motivate companies and individuals to part with their money so that another organization or group of people can benefit. From soliciting funds for a group of students to travel to a sports event, to raising money for an animal shelter or a children's charity.

Just as the reasons for fund raising is unending, so are the ways it can be done. Getting people interested and keeping their attention and support is difficult unless the method used is unique. The aim is to inspire generosity for the selected cause.




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