Fundraising Ideas

This Director’s Pick comes from Glenna Banda, herself. Take advantage of corporate matching gifts programs. They do not have to be your employer. Many of your donors may work for companies that have a program like this. Ask them!

This Director’s Pick is easy to organize and quick to publish. Similar to the other auction’s listed above, ask some local businesses to donate items or gift certificates. Get friends and family to donate things for you to sell on a Facebook auction. Make sure to let bidders know that the items selling price is going towards your fundraising for the Children’s Foundation. Simply pick a date range to host your auction, post the items for your auction and include the starting bid amount. Whoever posts the highest amount when the time runs out is the winner. Have the winner pay on your donation page or have them e-transfer you the funds.

This Director’s Pick has worked well for past racers. Contact the editor of your local paper, or your company newsletter–or both! Ask them to interview you about what you’ve undertaken and why, and include a request for support. Be sure they include instructions in the story for how readers can support you by making donations to you.

This Director’s Pick was selected as the Plant/Bulb sales are great ways to make money and the time of year is perfect. Often gardeners need to split off parts of plants/bulbs anyway so they just might be willing to donate them to a good cause. If you can’t find bulbs for free, find a wholesaler like Veseys, Van Noort or Vanco and sell around town, helping people get their gardens ready for springtime.

This Director’s Pick is a fun way to raise pledges. Just setup the tables and snacks and let the bluffing begin. Ask for a specific suggested donation amount to join the tournament and winner takes the rest or donates a portion to the “house”. Make it an monthly event.

Facebook is a great way to reach out to all your friends. Post a link to your SOAR team profile so that your friends can share it with other people. Caption it with a link to the Children’s Foundation website and explain that you are raising money. Update your status daily to remind your friends to donate. You can also create a Team Page on Facebook and ask everyone who “likes” it for a donation –put your money where your thumbs are!

A great opportunity for everyone to officially end the winter hibernation. Everyone is so tired of winter this year.

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Easter Egg Hunt outdoors, egg decorating, Pin the tail on the Easter Bunny – Face Painting  – would work for people who live in an area with lots of kids.

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This can be weather dependent and is a good final push to end your fundraising efforts. Help neighbours plant their garden.

In the spring, canvas local gardeners and garden centres for donations of seeds, seedlings or bedding plants and host an afternoon of garden sales in the schoolyard.

Invite all extended family and ask for donations instead of Hostess/Host gift. Could also invite all your friends and their mothers if you have a small or dispersed family.

If you work for medium or large corporation, ask them tolet them put on a lunch time function at work and see if they would be willing to match the contributions made by the employees.Bonus points if you can have boss gave a speech at the event, guilting people in to donating.

Sell tickets for either a lobster dinner or a Surf and Turf (Steak and Lobster). You will not believe the low cost of having lobsters flown in from the east coastfrom companies like Clearwater. All profits go toward your cause. The sooner and farther in advance you organize this the better.

Take orders ahead of time and enjoy a fun lunch with your colleagues at work or school.

Bring your donation forms and a donation jar to gatherings—ask everyone in attendance

Get people at work to submit a baby photo, and then everyone can guess whose picture is whose. Charge an entry fee and offer a prize to the person who gets the most right.

Hit up your spinningor aerobics class instructor and classmates. Set a goal at thebeginning of the class, and if it’s met, everyone donates 1 dollar per mile —or 1 dollar per minute

Go to your local mall or shopping center and ask what they do with the coins in the fountain.

Cut-a-thon (hair salon), Mow-a-thon, Shovel-a-thon, Rake-a-thon. You name it. You can do it for donations.

Send out a flyer to your neighborhood offering your services to dog walk or dog sit while the owners are out of town.

Set up alemonade stand and have water bottles available. This is a great way to get your kids or neighbors involved and have them feel like they are joining you in making a difference.

Check in with your favorite local hangouts. Many restaurants already have programs in place to help you fundraise at their establishment. Be a guest bartender? A guest griller? Or hand out coupons to their establishment for a percentage of profits for that evening.

Ask all of your friends and neighbors to participate by donating items for sale. Make signs that indicate all proceeds are going to The Children’s Foundation. Ask your local paper to run an ad as their contribution. Have a straight donation jar visibly displayed. Don’t forget to have plenty of donation forms on hand or a tablet, phone or computer available where people can go online and immediately donate even more and get a tax receipt!

For Greatly Increased Funds – have a BBQ going, sell pop, water and freezies. But keep it simple – hot dogs and sausages are easier than burgers. Offer a meal deal.

Some people have piles of old records and CD’s in their homes and just haven’t gotten around to getting rid of them. Offer to do it for them and sellthem to used records/music stores. Give them the receipt for any money raised.

Ask all of your friends and family to put aside their spare change to be added to the super change jar. Every month or so, empty it out and let everyone know how much “a little at a time” adds up! This is a great idea to put into action at work, too. Decoratethe jar with inspirational quotes and photos from your training walks.

Hold a car wash —either in your neighborhood, at your place of worship, or at your place of business. Ask local businesses to donate the supplies you will need and ask your friends to help wash. Add a bake sale; sell chilled bottles of water (that have been donated). If you have enough help, consider adding a dog wash.

A more focused and versatile version of a garage sale. Ask everyone you know (co-workers, neighbors, family, and friends) to donate any books they have read and are finished with. Choose a time and place to have a used book sale —maybe your local farmer’s market, school carnival or community fair.

Not everything is on Netflix! This is an especially good idea if you have whole seasons of shows that others may have missed.

Have a group of friends, your child’s classmates, a local business, help to design a banner that you can display at any of your fundraising events (BBQ, Garage Sale etc) to showcase your corporate or local sponsors. Suggest a donation minimum to be included on the banner.

Host a fundraising party and/or BBQ at your home for friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors. Charge a cover charge or ask for donations but make sure they know when you invite them why you’re doing it. May long-weekend would be a great time to do this. You could even add the fireworks for an additional donation.

Invite over some pals for a night of girl fun; think pedicures, face masks, and chick flicks. Charge a cover or ask for donations for each “service”; don’t forget to stock up on treats!

A don’t come fundraising event is a clever way of asking for donations in a novel and humorous manner. This event will never actually happen – other than on paper. You send invitations to friends and family as well as other potential supporters, inviting them to a spectacular event with scrumptious food, exciting entertainment, and a glamorous guest of honour. The sky’s the limit since the event won’t actually occur. Let your imagination run wild! Make sure to list the event date as ‘never’ and include a short explanation on the invite.

You can sell hamburgers and hot dogs outside your local grocery store (ask them to donate the food – M&M meat shops) or hardware store. Make sure to put up a banner telling people that the money is going to the Children’s Foundation and showcase the local companies that have donated the foods and/or supported your team.

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Throw a fundraising party at a local establishment. Ask for a suggested donation at the door. But also make sure to ask that local restaurant, ice cream parlor or teacher’s supply store, to support you with a donation of 10% (or more!) of the night’s sales–don’t be too shy to ask. Also, check with your local restaurant if they are willing to support you with a donation of 10% (or more!) on an evening even without a fundraising party – again, don’t be too shy to ask. You can offer to generate a flyer to promote patrons coming to their establishment to help increase their business, and thus your percentage.

Encourage your place of worship, work, school or other organization to host a spaghetti dinner to benefit the Children’s Foundation. Have all of your friends help with the cooking to make an event where families are welcome and are asked for a specific suggested donation amount to join in the fun. Or organize a potluck party along the same lines where everyone brings a dish to pass and gets to socialize with friends and neighbors. Make sure to have plenty of donation sheets or tablet, laptop or computer available for an instant online donation with tax receipts.

Host a movie party at your house. Every time the word “race” or “amazing” is said in the movie, everyone antes up 1 dollar in a donation bowl. Have pizza donated and ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Hold a theme dinner party for at least 10 of your friends; donation $50 a person. Spend just $20 per person on food and you’ve raised $300 dollars in donations. Better yet, have all of the food donated!

Have a wine and cheese-tasting party. If you know anyone (who knows anyone!) who owns, manages, or works in a winery – ask if they will host it! Ask for a suggested donation at the door. Blind tastings are fun – or dress up the event with some very special vintages.

Host an elegant or formal party. Have food and beverages donated.

Hold a garden tour at your home or at a local historical home. Have the tour promoted through your local newspaper and/or Facebook.

Host a party in celebration of the premiere or finale of a favorite TV show. Serve donated hors-d’oeuvres and drinks. Ask for a suggested donation at the door. This idea is great for inviting friends over to watch your favorite awards shows like the Amazing Race, Survivor, The Walking Dead, etc. Or, ask a local bar that has a big-screen television to allow you to have the party there and donate a portion of the food and beverage sales.

Host a music/dance night-50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, 90’s style. Play all of the old favorites. Ask people to come dressed in costume and dance the night away. Serve donated drinks and food. Ask for a suggested donation at the door. You can even ask a DJ if they’d donate an evening for you, so you can have a complete selection of tunes!

Host a scrapbooking party at your house, or at the local store. Ask a pro to lead an inspirational idea exchange and have some great samples on display, some special supplies and/or discounts for attendees. Serve donated food and drinks and ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Host a game night; Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Poker, Bridge, Bingo. Serve donated food and drinks. Ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Host a trivia party at your local bar. If the bar normally has one, host it on an alternate night so as not to compete with them.

Have a dessert auction at work! Ask local restaurants, bakeries and groceries to donate yummy desserts. Post signs at work well in advance, and then bring all of the desserts in to work on Friday. Hold a silent or live auction –who doesn’t need dessert for the weekend? Add on even more by getting coffee donated–and sell the coffee to go with that cookie!

Host a traditional High Tea, or ask a local hotel to do so on your behalf. Ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Invite your kid’s friends, nieces and nephews, the neighborhood kids, the soccer team, to a game day at a local park or donated indoor location. Like a drop-off party, you coordinate a couple of hours of fun activities and ask the parents for a donation in exchange. Tetherball, Four Square, Jump Rope, Potato Sack races, Yo-Yo contests, you name it! Have donated snack food and juice boxes available to round out the fun.

Ask a local public pool to donate (or rent at a reduced rate) a couple of hours for a private party. This is a great way to get teenagers involved in the fundraising effort. Have donated snacks on hand, and be sure to include a lifeguard. Turn on some music and ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Post signs at local schools and child care centers offering your party planning services for a sizeable donation. Plan a theme party and get supplies, favors, food and beverages donated. If you are crafty you could even make costumes. Some ideas are a Princess Party or a Harry Potter Party.

Ask some local businesses to donate items or gift certificates and hold a silent auction at your fundraising event, or on a payday at work. Things like a book of car wash certificates, 10 dollar off dry-cleaning, movie passes, play tickets, restaurant gift certificates, petgrooming, a week of free coffee; the list is endless! Set minimum donation limits and allow people to bid them up. Some walkers even get their place of business to agree to set up a silent auction for one item every Friday at work. They get something donated and the office has fun bidding on something new each week.

Same as above, but with an energetic auctioneer. Good for a large crowd and some big-ticket items; a trip for two, a special bottle of wine, landscape, pool or housecleaning service, auctioning off husbands for handiwork. These could be combined with other events such as a BBQ, pub night…for added fundraising without doubling the planning.

Work with a local golf course to plan a charity golf outing. Ask for a specific suggested donation amount to participate and see if you can get prizes donated for the winner of each hole, or the whole course.

Rent a radar gun and measure how fast people can throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball. Charge $1 per try and give a prize to the fastest individual. This works best during an all-day tournament.

Organize a basketball tournament in with the winning team receiving a prize. This can also be done with soccer, tennis, badminton, or any other sport. This fund raiser is relatively inexpensive to setup and offers several additional ways to make money. You’ll need a few basketballs, tables, portable scoreboards, trophies, and a gym to rent.

Ask a mini-golf course manager in your area to sponsor a tournament to help raise money for your group. If they’re willing to donate the use of the course, or at least give you a reduced price for it, they can still make money through selling concessions to your group. Get local businesses to donate prizes. Prizes can include movie tickets, gift certificates and small trophies. Give prizes to the players with the lowest score for each age group or grade.

Skittles, darts, pool, cards. Just ask a local pub to host a tournament evening and charge patrons to take part in the competition for a prize. Then donate the entry fees to SOAR.

Digital cameras and the Internet have made photo sharing a whole lot easier. But what about all those old photos stuck in albums, or piled in shoe boxes? Set up a scanning service and advertise that you will be scanning hard copies of photos with the money raised going to support SOAR.

Everyone wants their dog to be clean, but not everyone has the ability to give their dog a bath at home, and groomers can be expensive. Your group can offer a low-cost dog wash for with the proceeds going to SOAR

Ask your local movie theatre to donate a special screening of a new release. Invite everyone you know and make flyers to get the word out. Ask for a suggested donation at the door. Ask if the theatre will also donate a percentage of the concession sales for your event!

Willing participants are cuffed and booked. Housed in a make shift cell participants make phone calls and plead for donations to anyone passing by in order to make bail. At the same time, sell refreshments as other students, family, neighbors and friends who stop by to visit the jail bird! This works especially well if you get a local celebrity or public figure to agree to be jailed.

With multiple ways to bring in money as well as the potential for some local press coverage for your organization, an ugly dog competition could be well worth the time and effort it will take to produce.

Ask your pals to bring their old/broken gold then deliver to a gold dealer and donate the money to SOAR. Ask the dealer for a donation while you’re there.

Invite your friends over for some scrumptious treats without the guilt, since they’ll be making a donation to SOAR.

Do you know someone famous or notable? Invite guests to join him/her for dinner in exchange for a donation to SOAR

Host a pancake breakfast at a school, park or place of worship. Ask for a specific suggested donation amount at the door. Get the pancake mix and other food items donated by local stores. Make it an annual event.

Ask your local bowling alley to donate some lanes for a fundraising party. Invite your office-mates as a team-building experience, your neighbors, your family or a group of old friends. Ask for a suggested donation at the door.

Sell tickets to a 50/50 raffle at a large event or gathering. The prize is half the “pot”. The winner splits the “pot” with you-you get 50% of the proceeds and they get the other 50%. See if your boss will let you conduct a 50/50 raffle once a week at work.

Ask a local school to have a “Loose Change Day.” Make a flyerencouraging each child to bring in loose change from their house to be donated. Encourage the math classes to assist with counting, predicting and rolling the change. This is a great way to involve the entire school. You canhold this event multiple times -every week or every month.

Have you ever wondered how much money the vending machine at work clears in a single week? Find out! Purchase some of the office favorites in bulk(or better yet have them donated!), mark them up, and sell them from your desk for $1 or $2. If you have a way to keep them cold, do the same with bottled water and sodas.

Put up a display in the lunch room at work (a sign with your picture and a note about what you are doing); be sure to include a jar for donations and a stack of your donation slips.

Ask your boss if you can host a “Dress Down Friday.” Employees buy a button and get to dress down on an assigned day for a specified donation.

Colour your hair or shave your head for donations. Become a human conversation starter and see how much attention you can draw to your dedication to the cause.

Start a fundraising blog or send out an email frequently with information on the success stories of the Children’s Foundation and your fundraising progress. People will be more likely to donate if they know where their money is going and what is being done with their money. You can post about lack of social program funding, links to The Children’s Foundation and personal posts about why you’re raising money.

If you have a large following on Twitter, Instagram or SnapChat, it is a great way to engage your friends and potential donors to the cause. Micro-blogging is a great way to remind people of what you’re doing and to bring more eyes to the cause. Unlike Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and SnapChat can reach a larger amount of people, so create a post plan, update frequently and let the donations come in!

Ask your local place of worship if you can speak to their congregation about the Children’s Foundation and your commitment after a service and set up a table to collect donations afterwards.

Ask your yoga instructor or personal trainer for a donated class. Invite your friends to attend a special yoga/aerobics/step class donated by a trainer. You askfor a specific suggested donation amount at the door, and the trainer gets the chance to build their client base. It’s a win/win for all.

Fifty Steps to SOAR –use the attached graphic to set up your fundraising goals. A visual display of your plans and progress can be very compelling. Instead of just asking for someone to support you and give $10 or $20, teams will try and complete the “First 50 steps of SOAR” by asking for specific donation amounts. As they collect these specific amounts, they attach the donators name to the step and they are one step closer to their goal of taking the first 50 steps of SOAR.It makes the fundraising process a little more fun for all involved including the people donating.

Go to your local car wash and talk with the owner/manager about doing a fundraising event there. Many people go to the same car wash every week. Post flyers a week in advance, then spend a few hours talking with people about what you are doing at the cashier stand. Hand people a flyer, accept donations!

Ask your local karaoke bar to host a benefit night. Invite all of your friends; ask for a suggested donation at the door.

If you know musicians, ask them to perform a benefit concert at a backyard BBQ, block party or local club. Invite your a local business to get involved and help you spread the word.

Ask your local playhouse/live theatre to donate tickets and then auction them off. Better yet, ask them to donate season passes!

Ask a local artist or creative friend to donate a piece of art or jewelry that you can auction off. If you aren’t creative yourself, ask a friend to design a thank you card or blank note card that you can package, tie up with a ribbon and sell.

Reach out to your local travel agency for a plane ticket to raffle off.

For a great weekend getaway experience:

1. Locate an area with local activities.
2. Connect with a hotel for a night or two.
3. Find a company that will provide transportation (if not in walking distance).
4. Ask a classy restaurant for a gift certificate.
5. Ask a friend or wine store to donate a bottle of wine.

Auction the experience as a weekend getaway.

Ask your hair salon if they will donate a twoonie from each haircut over the course of the Weekend.

Offer any talent or skill that you have for a minimum donation; computer skills, graphic design, massage, hair stylist, make-up stylist, photography, computer skills, sewing, music, baking, cake decorating, etc. Ask talented friends to donate their skills to your fundraising effort. Tie in ideas with holidays, celebrations and party themes (wedding makeovers, baking party and/or holiday portraits).

Set up a bake table at a local Flea or Farmer’s Market. Ask if they have charity prices for a table. You might even get it free.

Ask if you can sell bottled water, baked goods or other items as well.

Pole Dancing, Aquathon, Line-Dancing, etc. Enlist the help of your fitness club and their instructors.

Local Chambers are a great centralized location for getting in touch with area businesses. Ask if you can be part of their newsletter or get info about the businesses in your area.

1. Find a website that is used for online funding and sign up.
   1. https://www.kijiji.ca/
   2. https://www.gofundme.com/
   3. https://www.crowdrise.com/
   4. https://www.crowdfunder.com/
   5. https://www.indiegogo.com/
2. Have a plan in mind and share your ideas with those who are helping you with your fundraising efforts.  Make sure you have thought everything through and planned ahead.
3. Have an incentive for people to donate.  It is harder to get people to donate online if they cannot see faces or what they are donating to.  In this case, think up some ideas where you can give back to those who have given to your cause.
4. Update the website often to let people know how the cause is going, and how close you might be to meeting your fundraising goal.  This will help keep people interested and engaged in your cause.
5. Interact with those who donate on your website.  Be quick in sending thank you emails or notes.  Additionally, keep these people personally updated about the cause’s progress by sending newsletters and pictures to allow them to see how everything is going along.

Have you been on Etsy? If not, take a look to get some ideas of homemade art and what people can offer online. You will see things from handmade jewelry to knitted scarves and beautiful frames. Take some of these ideas and use them yourself to create beautiful pieces for a fundraising event. Make sure that you let your buyers know that the money is going to a good cause, and they may be likely to give more.

If you know someone that blogs or writes stories for the neighborhood newsletter, ask them to feature your story. The local Chambers and businesses also send out newsletters: ask them to write up a story for you.

There are numerous places that pay for used printer cartridges. Some limit the types of printer cartridges they will take.

• https://www.needempty.com/en/sell-your-empty-cartridges
• http://www.ecyclegroup.com/
• https://www.etoner.ca/empties.php
• http://www.inkcanada.ca/
• http://itoner.ink/

Disclaimer: These sites have not been vetted. They are companies that include Canada on their website.

Many spas allow for group spa days. Organize one with a choice of a few spa treatments for a set dollar amount. Usually the spas will offer a discount for a group. Charge a set amount and bring a few appetizers and a bottle of wine.

Host a fashion show with local high-end clothing stores, jewelers, and restaurants. Feature dinner, drinks, and a sneak peek at the latest fashions.

Get prizes donated and charge an entrance fee.

Sell balloons for $10 each and insert a number in each that corresponds to a raffle ticket given to the purchaser. Pop a balloon for each available prize and read off the winning number.

While this requires some planning, hold a tournament at a golf course that will offer reduced greens fees and get prizes donated. Getting local celebrities to participate will draw more participants.

Sell golf balls for $10 each and send them all down a hill with the “tosser” blindfolded. The 3 that get closest to the center of a taped “X” below win cash prizes.