What Charity Doesn't Need More?

Even very well known charities are looking for better ways to raise money. If you're like me and believe charity is an important thing then please read on. If you know someone who works with a charity, please share this article with them.

Recently, I set about to come up with 10 ideas for unique fundraising strategies for charitable causes. I am posting all 10 of my strategies for charitable fund raising. I always offer a discounted rate on my fundraising strategy consulting for charities and other non-profits.

These strategies are general in nature and, obviously, won't be applicable for all non-profits. However, they may spark some ideas that may help.

Are you with a charity and need better strategies to fundraise? Message me here so we can discuss.

Here are the strategies:

Online Costume Party – have people dress up in a costume and post online with the hashtag for their favorite charity. Provide a hashtag or a link with instructions for how to donate. This could be something done by CEO’s of companies with a challenge to other CEO’s and/or all employees. Could also be done by celebrities – local or national. Additionally, individuals could challenge their friends to come up with a more outrageous or creative costume than they did and post a pic. Providers of rental costumes could be persuaded to offer discounts for participants.

eBay Sale – work with eBay sellers to offer one or more items, the proceeds of which go to benefit your charity. Work with PayPal to set up a special payment code that sends money directly to the charity. Have a designer create a special digital recognition badge for the charity. Once the items are confirmed delivered and funds are received by the charity, each seller gets the picture file for the badge that they can then post on their eBay store site.

Digital Products Sale – like the concept above, but a little faster turnaround of the funding. Have the sellers of digital format books and audio donate their proceeds for one item or even one day of sales of all items to a given charity. Work with PayPal to set up a special payment code that sends payment directly to the charity. Have a designer create a special digital recognition badge for the charity. Once the items are confirmed delivered and funds are received by the charity, each seller gets the picture file for the badge that they can then post on their eBay store site.

City Parks – designate a tree or trees in a city park to be the Giving Tree(s) on one weekend in the middle of Summer. But, rather than gift items, the tags on the tree are for various charitable donation amounts. A scannable code is on each tag and the person who takes the tag scans it to donate. They can then take a selfie with the gift tag and share on social media as a challenge to their friends to come out to take a tag from the Giving Tree. Corporate sponsors are sought to provide some food and drinks to everyone who comes out to participate. There would also be fun things for the kids to do – face painting, games, etc. These could be an additional way to raise funds that day. 

Pay to Vote – Run a competition to see which is the most charitable city in the country. Have people log on to a web site and vote for their city. Each vote costs a nominal amount. (say 49 or 99 cents) And, you can vote as often as you want. To make sure each vote counts equally, you must log in each time you want to vote. The competition could be for the highest 3 aggregate totals donated and the 3 highest per capita based on the city’s population. 

Fantasy Football – utilize the popularity of Fantasy Football leagues to leverage charitable giving. League participants pay a one-time fee for access to competition software and insider tips from pro’s. The proceeds go to whichever charitable cause (chosen from a group of options) the league participants decide upon.

Social Media Likes – here's a way to leverage the power of for-profit companies brand awareness campaigns. Participating companies would donate so much for each Social Media Like and so much for each Social Media share of designated content. A long-term win for them and a short-term win for the non-profits.

Talent Competition – run talent competitions in local communities. Competitors pay a fee to enter. Prizes are funded with ? the money and the other half is donated to charitable causes. Coordinate with talent agencies to act as judges. Partner with a video production company who needs exposure and create a YouTube channel to air episodes of the competitions. Proceeds from the YouTube channel are also donated to charity. Finally, there would be a link in the video and channel description with a call for donations as part of each episode.

Free Advice Day – have professionals of all sorts donate their time to answer questions live over coffee. This could be done on-site at a church or other venue. People pay an admission charge which gets them access to these professional’s advice and also coffee and bagels. Donations of the food items could be sought so that all of the proceeds go to fund the charity or charities.

Free Throw Tournament – this can be done in any gym or even outside. Have a free throw competition tournament. Entrants pay a fee and compete to see who is the free throw champ. Trophies and or ribbons could be bought for the top finishers. Partner with a company like PowerAde or Gatorade to supply drinks for competitors. Simple to coordinate and find competitors through schools. All net proceeds go to charity.

I hope these ideas are helpful to anyone associated with a charity. As mentioned previously, if you have a worthy cause I'll donate my time and creative idea skills to helping you come up with ideas for raising funds. Message me.

As to for-profit companies; if you'd like to consistently stay one step ahead of your competition (regardless of your industry), we should talk. Message me here so we can discuss.

? 2016 Robert D. Sager, All Rights Reserved

Tired of competing on price? We develop innovative strategies that help our clients climb out of that trap. Maybe we should talk? Message me now.