Fundraising Ideas
OK, so here’s just a few we thought of… send us your best ideas and we’ll post them.
- The best way to raise the most money is to recruit some loved ones to help you… host a meeting at your house and ask 10-15 people to come over. Show them one of our videos and explain why you are doing this adventure. Ask each of them to do one event for you this year and commit to raising $1,000… all you need are 5 committed people and you are on your way. Trust us… this is the BEST way to get this done with the least amount of stress.
- Second… and this is a MUST… get your online profile page set up asap, write a nice personal letter and get it out to everyone you know. I also have found that you can send one large group email to everyone you know… or you can take the time to send them one at a time, which is a nice personal touch and gets about twice the response rate. If it takes you an hour or two it is worth it and is a nice way to connect with old friends.
- Once you have people signed up to sponsor you, keep them in the loop by starting a blog or sending them a monthly diary of what you are doing to train, where you are with your fund-raising, and anything else that might be of value to getting them to spread the word.
- One of our younger riders organized a gaming (video games) tournament for all his friends. He put in a lot of work and got a few hundred people from his university to pay $10 to compete in it.
- Charity poker night… charge $100, play Texas Hold’em all night and tell everyone that 80% of the pot is going to charity.
- Yard Sale – Convince 10 of your neighbors to have a yard sale for you and donate the proceeds. Call it “Yard Sale for the Cure.” If you can convince 10 people to raise just $200 at a yard sale, you’ll end up with $2,000.
- Air Miles – If anyone you know is willing to donate their air miles, they can be used as a $400 credit towards your goal. Just let them know that tax law does not allow us to issue the donor a charitable receipt.
- Hotel Points and Rental Car Points – If you can use points to get us free rooms or free vans for the ride that also is a credit towards your goal.
- CD Sales – We have a great CD for sale called: “Listen – Be Heard: Songs for Cancer.” Get 10 friends to buy 10 CDs each as Christmas presents for their family. You can pick up a package of 100 from us and if you sell them all, you get $1000. We are only doing this in bulk (100 or more) to minimize workload. If you could call 30 friends and convince them to get Christmas shopping done early, that would be $3000! It’s great music too!
- Car Washes – A simple car wash can bring in $500-1,000 per day if you have the time to organize one. We have signs you can put up at these types of events and business cards to hand out. Hot dogs are a nice touch too. Pick a nice day, get 4 friends and a busy street and you can easily clear $1,000.
- One of our male riders did an all day flag football tournament in a bikini… there were 400+ people at the tournament and it was hard not to notice him. Once people found out he was doing this for cancer, it was hard not to donate. He brought in $4,000 in one day. Do you have what it takes to do that?
- Two ambitious riders last year staged a 24-hour marathon spin… that’s right they sat on exercise bikes for 24 hours straight. The brilliance was they set up a tent and did it outside near the downtown corridor of Halifax. A little music and some energy goes a long way at 2am in a city with a lot of nightlife… they brought in $4,400 in one day!
- Use your skills… we have had people paint paintings, do their friends’ taxes, rent out their cottages, give concerts and much more. If you don’t have all those skills… ask your friends if they will do something for you.
- Host a dinner party/backyard BBQ. Invite 50 people on a summer day to come to your house (or a friend’s house), charge $40, get someone to play some live music for you, play one of our videos, and auction off a few items. This can easily clear $1,500 or more.
- Our top fundraiser last year convinced a local bistro (a new one that was looking to market itself) to host 4 seatings of a 4-course meal. The restaurant owners (thank you Brooklyn Warehouse in Halifax) leaned on their suppliers and provided everything at cost or had it donated. Tickets were sold for $50 and she raised $4,500.
- A wine-tasting and silent auction brought in $6,000 for another rider… focus on ticket sales… put 3x as much effort into selling tickets than organizing it.
- Find some existing fund-raisers (i.e. youth clubs, Boy Scouts, church groups) and ask them to donate to your cause.
- Yuk Yuk’s did a comedy night for one rider last year… we sold the tickets and they provided the entertainment and the door went to us. That was good for $1,000.
- One of our more experienced riders puts on an Olympic distance triathlon every year… I think that brought in almost $4,000 last year.
