Simple Fundraising Ideas

Idea #1: Feed the People
Here’s a simple fundraising idea that you can adapt to your own needs. Ask your local transit authority if you can set up a table in one of their busier stations to give away coffee and donuts to commuters. If they agree, then you solicit a donation of coffee from a manufacturer and maybe get the donuts or Danishes from a large baker like Sarah Lee. You will probably have more luck getting such donations from companies that won’t see this as competition, but rather see it as a form of promotion. A company that sells coffee and donuts to commuters might see it as competition; a company that sells coffee in supermarkets, Maxwell House for instance, probably won’t.

The companies provide signs to promote their products, and you of course erect your own. Have your organization’s literature on the table and a jar for donations. Your minimum donation should be what the coffee and Danish would cost, but of course many people will give you more. Additional benefits include the free publicity you get, especially if you invite the local television news channel to come out and film you, and if things go well, you may have sown the seeds for a more significant corporate sponsorship from the coffee company, or the bakery, if it is large enough.

This is an excerpt from Issue 48 of Fundraising 101. The entire newsletter is available for download at www.lostcitpress.net/fundraising101.html