Fundraising Tips

"Snail Mail” Letter

• Write Personal Story & why you are running/walking and raising money for CCFA
• Include SELF-ADDRESSED Return envelope so donor doesn’t have to find your address to send it back to you
• OPTIONAL – Put a stamp on the return envelope so donor doesn’t have to buy postage or wait to send it until they get a stamp

Online Donations – Activegiving.com

• Customize Web Page with Photos and Description of what you are doing and why
• EMAIL LINK – Email as many contacts as you can with the URL Link to your webpage so they can go on and donate
  • 1st Email – Send IMMEDIATELY after signing up (within 2 weeks)
  • 2nd Email – Send 4 weeks after original email
    • “My Team Challenge Update” – Don’t make it seem like you are bothering them for money rather just updating them on how many miles you have run/walked and how much you have raised.
  • 3rd Email – After Recommitment
    • Update with mileage covered and how much left you have to raise before your event
  • 4th Email – OPTIONAL – recap race and impact on mission

Corporate Sponsorships

• Submit our team Corporate Sponsorship packets to companies as early as possible to ensure enough time to receive funds

Matching Gifts

• Many Companies will match their employee’s donation to CCFA
• You need to have donor contact HR department at their company and ask if they offer matching funds.
• Examples: Banks, Honda, Large Chain Stores, Verizon, Health
• BE SURE TO SEE WHEN THE COMPANY PAYS OUT. SOME COMPANIES PAY ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR AND IT MIGHT NOT BE IN TIME FOR FINAL FUNDRAISING!!!

Mini Events

• Wine & Cheese Party – Get Wine and/or cheese donated from a local market (Albertson’s, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s) and invite friends over and charge $20 donation. 10 people = $200!!!
• Girls Movie Night/ Guys Sports Day – Invite friends over for pizza and a movie or popcorn and to watch a football game and charge per head. This is a great way to get the guys or gals together and donate to a great cause!
• Raffle – Visit Local businesses, restaurants, hotels, gyms, local yoga and Pilates studios and ask for donated items to raffle off to donors. Create a raffle for everyone who donates $50 or more.  You will enter them in a raffle to win these prizes.
• Happy Hour – Ask a local restaurant or bar manager if they will let you bring a bunch of friends, family and co-workers for happy hour and donate some of the proceeds from the sales.
• Happy Hour Raffle – Get a local bar to let you ask the patrons to buy raffle tickets for $5, $10, $20 each and they will be entered in a raffle to win prizes. (Visit local businesses to get things donated- see item C)
• Sponsored Breakfast – Ask local bagel shop or breakfast place if they will donate bagels, juice, etc and set up a breakfast at work. You can use this as a “Thank you for Donating” – to remind people that you are fundraising without being pushy OR you can use this as a pay for breakfast thing too.
• “In Lieu of” Gifts – Instead of receiving birthday, holiday, baby shower, bridal shower gifts & etc. ask your friends and family to donate to your fundraising instead!
• Bake Sale – “Cookies for Crohn’s” OR “Coins for Colitis” – Bake cookies, cupcakes, etc and sell at work, Dr. office, local coffee shop. Set up a “Coins for ???” jar at a local deli, coffee shop, work kitchen, Dr. Office and collect each month.
• Dress Down Day/Casual Day – Ask your employer if they will let anyone who donates to your campaign wear casual clothes to work on any day other than Friday!
• Garage Sale for Charity – Collect items from around the house and from family, friends and co-workers to be sold at a garage sale with all proceeds going toward your fundraising campaign.
• Football Pickem’ Contest – Collect weekly game winner entries from people in contest pool with weekly or season buy-in. Season winner gets portion of proceeds – the rest goes to our mission.
• Bachelor/Bachelorette Auction Night – Get your single girlfriends/guy friends and auction them off for a dinner date at a local bar. Ask your friend to donate a dinner date with the highest bidder.