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Fundraising Tips
5 Favorite Fundraising Tips!!
1. Basketball Squares-Betting Pool
Draw out a grid, 9x9, and have participants buy squares. Divide pot in half (half going to CCFA and half going to the winners). Take the score at half time and the final score and see who’s name is in the corresponding square.
*This is a great tool to use with the March Madness tournament coming up!*
2. Picture Postcard
Halfway through your training send a postcard (use a picture of yourself in your training gear and have it printed on postcard paper) to everyone on your mailing list updating them on your progress. Remind them to send their contribution. Also, update your social networking site!
3. Answering Machine Message
"I can't come to the phone right now. I'm out training for the Chicago Half Marathon and raising money for The Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation. If you haven't made your contribution yet, it's not too late! Leave your name and phone number after the tone and I'll call you back as soon as I receive your check!" (Or something like that…)
4. Let's Party
Host a party for friends and charge admission. What better excuse to have a party? Wine and cheese party, movie night, award show party, holiday theme, etc!
5. Drawing for a Day Off
Ask your boss or the owner of your company to donate a paid day off to the winner of a drawing. This is an easy way for most companies to make a donation without giving any cash. Sell tickets to the drawing to all the employees. Many people will buy lots of tickets for the chance to win a day off.
"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.
