1. Make Your Own Contribution First - Lead the
way by making your donation first. This is also a great way to demonstrate the suggested donation amount.
2. Ask for the Right Amount - Take a good look at
who you're asking for donations and make sure you ask for the right amount. Don't ask for $10 if you know they can donate $100; don't ask for $100 if you know all they can give is $10.
3. House Party - This is a sure-fire way to get your
friends and family excited about helping you reach your goal!
4. Corporate Matching Gift - Ask your company to
match the pledges you receive from your fellow co-workers.
5. Garage Sale - Know all that stuff that's been
hanging out in your garage...in your attic...in your basement? Gather it up and ask your friends to do the same. Put it in your front yard and sell, sell, sell! Put all the money raised toward your pledge minimum.
6. Bake Sale - Become Martha Stewart (and ask
your friends to do the same) and host a bake sale. You can even have it in conjunction with your garage sale. It's a fact that people will buy more stuff on an empty stomach.
7. "Extra Change in my Pocket" Box - Create these
little boxes for your friends and family and have them place it on their dresser. At the end of the day they can drop that spare change in the box.
8. Start Your Own Extra Change Box - Keep a jar
near your door and every day put all your extra coins in it. It adds up. Or put it on your desk at work - others will join you!
9. Office Fundraising Challenge - Speak with
everyone in your office and get them to challenge each other to raise the highest amount. Give the "winner" a prize. Maybe some movie passes? Gift certificate to a restaurant?
10. Answering Machine Message - This will alert
everyone who calls you at home that you're up to something special! Let them know that you need their support.
11. Return Address Labels - Print return address
labels for your outgoing mail (or a signature for email). Print something like, "I'm training for the Winship Win The Fight 5K - will you please donate to this wonderful cause?"
12. Facebook - Update your status, and let your
friends know what you’re doing and what it means to you!
13. Twitter - Challenge your followers to make a
donation, and offer a small prize to one of your Twitter donors chosen at random.
14. Blogging - Create a blog about your journey.
Send an email to everyone on your contact list and invite them to follow your blog!
15. Ask your local waiter/waitress to donate a portion of one day's tips - Ask your local wait staff
to donate a portion of their tips for the cause. Tell them you'll send everyone you know their way to eat that day!
Here are 40 fundraising ideas to help you reach your goal!
40
Tips
16. Ask your local bartender to donate a portion of one day's tips - Same as the waiters and
waitresses. Ask them to donate tips from one night.
17. Fundraising dinner at your local favorite restaurant - Ask your favorite local restaurant to
host a Fundraising Dinner for you. They supply the food and you supply the pledge forms!
18. Theme Party/Dinner - Hold a theme party for
10 (or more) of your friends. Donation:
$50/person. Spend no more than $20/person on the food and you'll have $300 or more by the end of the night.
19. Host a Movie Party at Your House - Pick up a
new flick at your local movie store, make some popcorn, pick up some soda, and invite your friends and family over for movie night.
20. Local Theatre to Donate Tickets to a Performance - Ask a local theatre to donate a
couple tickets to one of their plays/musicals/operas - and auction them off!
21. Birthday Gift Pledge - This is a very simple way
to raise money and it'll be a lot easier for your friends and family to write you a check instead of spending hours trying to shop for you.
22. Dentist - Hopefully you won't have to pull teeth
to get him/her to help you out a little!
23. Yoga Instructor - You've bent over backwards
for them...now it's their turn to do the same for you.
24. Radio Station - Call your favorite radio station
and ask them to make an announcement on the air. They may even interview you.
25. Neighbor - Write to all your neighbors on your
block (or in your building). Attach a letter stating that you're training for the Winship 5K and ask them to make a donation.
26. Meet the Press - Does your company distribute
a newsletter? Does your company have interoffice e-mail? Take advantage of these! It's a perfect way to get word out.
27. Pet Sit - Are your neighbors going away and
they don't want to leave "Spot" at a boarding facility? Again, offer up your services and charge them what they would have paid at a facility.
28. House Sit - Friends going out of town for a
while? Maybe they need a warm body to stay in their place in their absence!
29. Karaoke Night - Who cares if you can't carry a
tune! Spend a Friday night at a Karaoke Bar and sing your heart out. Have the announcer tell the crowd that you're singing for donations.
30. EBay - Remember the garage sale idea? How
about rounding up the goods from your friends and putting it all in Ebay.com to be auctioned off?
31. In Honor/Memory of... - If you're walking in
honor of a loved one, include a picture of you with your loved one in the letter/email.
32. Game Night - Get those board games out and
start playing; break into teams and let the fun begin.
33. Bowling Nights - Plan a fun night of bowling at
your local lanes. Ask the owner to waive the cost of bowling and turn it into pledges.
34. Dress Down Day - Ask your company to allow an
official Winship 5K Day. For the privilege of dressing down, employees donate $20 toward the walk.
35. Walk Along - Ask a potential donor to walk
along on one of your training walks/runs. They may be more willing to donate once they fully
understand what a commitment you've made!
36. Remind Them - In case you didn't receive an
37. Rock On! - If you know any musicians, ask them
to perform a benefit concert. Tell people that their admission ticket is a check made out to the Winship Cancer Institute.
38. Honor Someone - Sharing a story always helps
fundraise.
39. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. And ask AGAIN!
40. Remind. Remind. Remind. Remind - It’s
amazing this day in age with iPhones, PDAs, iPads and Droids how easy it is to read an email or pickup a voicemail and two days later forget you ever got it. You will be doing your friends and family a favor when you remind them that you are
fundraising. Most of them want to help, but the day to day has gotten in the way.
Dedicate your personal or team fundraising efforts to an individual living with cancer. Walk
and raise funds in their honor. Your honoree can be a co-worker, friend or family member with cancer. Putting a face with the cause helps donors realize the impact of cancer.
Be enthusiastic about your participation. Whether asking for a donation or for someone to
join your team, your enthusiasm will be contagious. Others will want to support you.
Ask, ask, ask! Aim high. If you know your donors are capable of making a large donation, do
not be afraid to ask for a specific amount. Also ask donors if their companies have a matching gift program.
Thank your donors! With their help and yours we can make a difference!
How to raise $250
When you register, donate $25 to yourself $25 Ask two friends for a $25 donation $50 Ask your doctor’s office for a $25 donation $25 Ask four family members for a $20 donation $80 Ask three neighbors for $10 donations $30 Ask three local merchants for $10 $30 Take a week’s worth of coffee money and put
it towards your fundraising $10
FUNDRAISING TIPS
for All Participants and Teams
Captains
winship5k.emory.edu
Baby sitter/day care center
Banker
Business suppliers
Car dealer
Children’s teammate’s
parents
Clergy/church members
Clients
College classmates
Coworkers
CPA
Dentist
Doctor
Employer
Financial adviser
Florist
Golf partners
Grocery store
Hair stylist
Holiday card list
Insurance agent
Interior designer
Lawn service company
Manicurist
Mechanic
Neighbors
Parents’ friends
Pediatrician
Pharmacist
Printer
Professional associations
Psychologist
Realtor
Relatives
Service Organizations
Sorority/fraternity
Spouse’s business
associates
Tenants in
office/apartment
Veterinarian
Potential Donors
winship5k.emory.eduTeam fundraising through your work, school or other organization can be fun, rewarding and give you and opportunity to raise more money for Winship!
Start a team at work!
Corporate teams can meet corporate responsibility goals, employee team-building goals, and workplace wellness goals – all by participating in the Winship 5K!
The Winship 5K is family-friendly and can act as a company picnic or outing – just have team members bring their family members and have company-provided snacks
Fundraising Tips for
Corporate Teams
“Stick it to Cancer” Days: Ask your
company to allow a Dress Down/Jeans Day for their employees. Using stickers, designate a day, series of days, or a week and charge to dress casual for the day. Give discounts if people wish to buy more than one day. Example: one day for $5, or three days for $10. Provide the sticker to each employee who paid so that your employer can keep track.
Bake Sale: Hold a bake sale before work
with breakfast items and during lunch with yummy sweets!
Book Smart: Dust off those bookshelves
have a book sale.
Coin Saving: Ask five to ten people to
save their change for you for a month. Give them decorated buckets.
At month’s end, invite them to your home for a “counting party.”
Snack Cart: Set up an inexpensive snack
cart and push it at 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. – just when everyone is having their afternoon cravings. Employees can purchase snacks – fruit, chips, cookies, diet snacks, juices, soft drinks, with all the proceeds going toward your
fundraising goal.
Fundraising Lunch: Have all your best
cooks make a potluck lunch, and invite everyone to purchase lunch and a drink with all the proceeds benefiting your team (particularly good if your team is divided up by departments – each department can take a week for a breakfast or lunch fundraiser).
Garage Sale: Have a garage sale in your
company parking lot and have all your
TEAM FUNDRAISING
friends, co-workers, and team members bring items from their homes to sell.
Car Wash: Get your team together on a
weekend to hold a car wash. Some good places to have a car wash are parking lots of fast food restaurants, grocery stores and churches. Be sure to check with the owners before setting up!
Office Displays: Place plastic pink
flamingos, wooden cows, or whirly birds in the cubes or offices of unsuspecting donors…request a donation for them to be removed, an additional donation for the coworker to pick whose office they are to be placed next, and another donation as “insurance” that they don’t wind up back in their office again.
Promote Yourselves: Call your local
newspaper and let them know what your team is doing. Send a letter or press release about your team with a photo. Your company can also write a
newsletter article about you and other
employees involved in the Winship 5K. Publicity helps generate donations.
Brown Bag Lunch Day: Encourage
employees to bring their own lunch to work and hold a brown bag party. Ask them to donate their lunch money to you. The money saved from not going out that day can be contributed to your team.
Fundraising Parties: Schedule a
fundraising party to benefit Winship. You can have it at your home, office or
partner with a local restaurant to sponsor the event by donating food or the space. Promote the party to
everyone you know and charge a cover. The restaurant will benefit the free publicity and the money you raise will go toward your goal, not to mention it’s a lot of fun! Know a local musician? Ask them to perform a benefit concert. Tell people that their admission ticket is a check made out to the Winship Cancer Institute.
Everyone can fundraise even if you don’t have a team. Register online and try to do as much of your fundraising online as possible – participants can raise three times as much money
fundraising online!
In addition to fundraising online, try these fun ideas to boost your bucks and make an even bigger impact in the lives of those with cancer!
Use Your Green Thumb: Sell corsages, your
extra houseplants, or bouquets from your garden.
Schedule a Share-the-Profit Event: Many
local restaurants will give a portion of a day’s profits to a specific cause. Set this up with restaurant management and notify your friends, family, etc. to visit the establishment on the scheduled day.
Host a Spring Cleaning Yard Sell: Sell your
unwanted items and put the profit towards your goal. If family/friends don’t want to give money, suggest that you sell their unwanted items and donate the profit towards the Winship 5K.
Turn a Gift to You into a Gift for Winship:
Ask family and friends to donate money on your behalf to the Winship Cancer Institute instead of giving presents at your upcoming birthday or anniversary.
Present an Instructional Class: Invite
possible donors to participate in a how-to class and charge a fee that goes toward your goal. For example, if you’re a great dancer, offer to conduct classes for your friends with the proceeds benefiting Winship.
Host a Block Party: Invite your neighbors to
a neighborhood block party. Sell food and charge admission.