Fundraising / Charity Ideas Blog

For some parents this will be a wonderful time of year ( for kids this will be a time of biblical levels of pain. Sorry gotta be done kids…).

Many schools face strict funding restraints and parents are asked to provide more and more of their childs supplies. This is a squeeze on many schools and low income families. As parents you want to provide the best opporuntities for kids to learn and experience new things.
For some parents this is an added burden.

School fundraising plays an important part of providing the basics as well as giving the kids the extras. Library funding, computers, school sports, band, trips all rely on fundraising help.

The community can throw a school supply drive to gather the essentials for kids. These events can collect pencils, pens, rulers, calculators, textbooks. You can even ask for clothing items to provide gym clothes or winter jackets, hats and mitts.

Once school gets going you can ask The PTO and PTA’s to do a brainstorming session for ideas. Get the kids to participate in the fundraising. Asking them what they would like to fundraise for makes sure they are motivated to get it done.

You Can Help Out
justfundraisings list of fundraising ideas.
adoptaclassroom. You can sponsor a class or pick by different states or teachers.
Join ptotoday and keep up with what others are doing for their school.

What other ideas have you come up with for back to school fundraisers? Post your responses so others can learn.

Ok so I’ve spent post after post recently telling you fundraising tips and new ideas in charties. Well the training wheels come off today boys and girls! It’s your turn to pick what you would like to support and get to it. Fly …. be free!

I’ve read about internet sources that help you raise money for causes that are important to you. I’ve come across one lately that I really like called crowdrise

Created by Edward Norton (yea the incredible hulk guy) and Shauna Robertson crowdrise helps people create fundraising projects and raise money for their causes. Create your profile and update it with stories, videos and pictures of what you are doing in your charity life. You can sign up with specific causes or vounteer opportunities to join other peoples.

It’s free to use and users can wind prizes like hats, t-shirts, along the way for donations. Crowdrise charges a 5% deduction from donations to stay in business so it’s very reasonable. The only small print that I saw is that it’s currently only donating to US charities. I would like to see this changed in the future when this business concept takes off. However I understand the legal complications of such an endeavor would be HUGE!

The Crowdrise brand is all about answering the call to service and having the most fun in the world while you do it.

While your working away at your fundraising don’t forget us at justfundraising.com maybe we can help you out along the way.

Now off you go and tell us what you’ve signed up for in the comments.

A simple way for you to get involved for Earth Day is to go to the movie theater.

This year, Disneynature is releasing OCEANS, the sequel to the incredible documentary Earth it premiered in time for Earth Day 2009 last year.

Nearly three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water and OCEANS shows in crystal clear imagery the seas amazing life . Narrated by Pierce Brosnan, the feature-length film showcases spectacular never-before-seen imagery captured by the latest underwater technologies.

Yup..there’s a connection between this movie and fundraising…wait for it…

Disneynature will contribute a percentage of proceeds from OCEANS opening week take(April 22-28, 2010) to The Nature Conservancy to save coral reefs.

Not bad huh! Another major company stepping up to the plate with a contribution to the greater good. You can also do fundraising for the environment by putting on your own fundraising campaign. We have a lot of ideas for you.

The video says it all

I’ve tried to come up with some good shopping ideas for you that either donate a portion of proceeds to charity or give the whole thing. There’s still time to shop these places for the holiday season.

This list isn’t comprehensive and if you have a great cause that would like to be part of the list let me know.

Ok let’s get going with this:

Catalogue sales from:
The Leprosy Mission
Oxfam
Worldvision
Mercy Corps
Water 1st.org
World Wild Life Store adopt and support your favourite animal. Donations of $40 receive a stuffed animal, certificate and report signifying what your money supports. Penguins, Sharks, Ferrets, leopards and more available.

Specialty Stores

Atayne – 25% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Atayne leverages innovative technologies and uses “trash” to make performance athletic gear that is safe for people and the planet. www.atayne.com

Autonomie – 15% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Autonomie Project is an innovative Fair Trade fashion company offering stylish, high-quality and affordable sweatshop-free, eco-friendly & vegan footwear, clothing and accessories for children and adults. www.autonomieproject.com

Fair Trade Sports – Free Shipping – Code: BCorpHol
Eco + Fair Trade Certified sports balls for soccer, football, basketball (and more)! Learn more on our blog at www.fairtradesports.com. For more info go to www.fairtradesports.com/seasonofgiving

GoLite – 40% Discount – Code: BCORP09
GoLite makes high-performance outdoor apparel and equipment that is light on the planet. We inspire people to protect nature by increasing their enjoyment of it. www.golite.com

Indigenous Designs 15% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Indigenous Designs, a pioneer in the fair trade and organic apparel market, provides hand-knit, natural fiber clothing that honors both people and the planet. www.indigenousdesigns.com

Lateral Line – 15% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Easton, Maryland, Lateral Line builds the most technologically advanced year-round fishing apparel on the planet. www.laterallineco.com

Vedante – 20% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Fashion that Reflects Well on You! – Vedante creates SuperReflective accessories for People and Pets that are fun and fashionable. A great way to be safe and seen when you are out at night this holiday season. http://shop.vedante.com

Inesscents – 20% Discount on orders over $25 – Code: BCORP09
Inesscents Aromatic Botanicals is a small family owned handmade, organic, eco-friendly, zero waste body care company. The Eco- logical alternative to the unhealthy chemical based cosmetic industry. www.inesscents.com

Kinesys – 30% Discount & free shipping on orders over $45 – Code: BCORP09
KINeSYS manufacturers the only Oil, Alcohol, PABA, Preservative and Paraben Free broad spectrum UVA/UVB spray on sunscreen. The “greenest” sustainable sunscreen on the market. www.kinesys.com

Morning Indigo/Skin Care for Athletes – 25% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Skin Care for Athletes is the only organic and natural skin care line designed specifically for athletes, offering total body care products. www.skincareforathletes.com/seasonofgiving.html

Alter-Eco – 10% Discount – Code: BCORP09
ALTER ECO works directly with dozens of farmer cooperatives in the Global South to offer exquisite Fair Trade, Organic and Carbon Neutral foods including chocolate, quinoa, rice, sugar and Olive Oil.
www.altereco-usa.com

Essential Living Foods – 15% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Organic Superfoods such as raw chocolate, maca, goji berries; sourced direct from the farms with 1% of every purchase going back to support the local communities. www.essentiallivingfoods.com/company/seasonofgiving.html

Greyston Bakery – 10% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Celebrate every day with a Do-Goodie Brownie. Indulge someone special with our gift boxes that taste good and ‘do good.’ All Do-Goodie profits are donated to the Greyston Foundation! www.greystonbakery.com/greatgifts.php

Guayaki – 20% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Guayaki is the pioneer in organic, fairly traded, yerba mate, restoring and protecting the South American rainforest, while empowering indigenous people and local farmers. www.guayaki.com

Numi Tea – 15% Discount – Code: BCORP9
Numi Organic Tea is a leading purveyor of premium-quality Organic and Fair Trade Certified teas and herbs. Numi Organic products contain 100 percent real ingredients for a pure taste, without oils or flavorings. Numi is a leader in sustainability, producing a healthy product that benefits people and the planet. www.NumiTea.com

Untours – Free Shipping – Code: BCORP09
Untours, a unique travel business offering vacation rental packages, is selling “Hal’s Blend” Fair Trade Certified coffee (named for Hal Taussig) to benefit the Untours Foundation. www.equalexchange.coop/hal

Barkwheats – 20% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Barkwheats™ are a new kind of grain-free dog biscuit, baked with organic ingredients sourced directly from farmers. Buy now for healthy pups and a healthy planet! www.barkwheats.com

Better World Books – 10% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Better World Books (www.BetterWorldBooks.com) collects and sells books online with each sale generating funds for literacy initiatives in the U.S. and around the world. www.BetterWorldBooks.com/SeasonOfGiving

Green Heart Global – 12% Discount – Code: BCORP09
GreenHeart Global – Ditto® Hangers are the premiere environmental hangers for retail and consumer use. Purchase our brand new Ditto® 10-Packs on Amazon.com. www.dittohangers.com

New Leaf Paper – Over 15% off – Code: BCORP09
New Leaf Paper produces environmentally-leading commercial printing papers and beautifully designed, sustainable consumer products for home, school, and office. www.newleafproducts.net/holidaygiving

Melissa Joy Manning – 20% Discount – Code: BCORP09
Melissa Joy Manning jewelry is hand made in her Oakland, California studio. Her work is eclectic and modern. Using gold, silver, semi-precious & precious stones and found objects, her line blends traditional and modern jewelry by utilizing unconventional materials to create neoteric pieces. www.melissajoymanning.com

Sustainable Industries – Over 50% off – Code: BCORP
Sustainable Industries is an independent media company serving business leaders of the new economy with its monthly sustainability magazine, quarterly business guides, web site, webinars, e-newsletters and forum events. Receive 12 monthly issues plus 4 quarterly Sustainable Business Guides for only $19 – that’s 50% off ! Use promo code: BCORP www.sustainableindustries.com/subscribe

The other way to donate this christmas season is to fund raise with our victory cards and donate to your favourite cause.

I’ve come clean on my interest in drumming and music before in my post Music to the Rescue. I’ve been playing and studying drumming for a long time and came across a great article featuring some of my favorite players donating parts of their kits for charity. Although the auction took place last December the reason why they did it is still relevant.

The auction took place for teenagers with cancer in the UK. Everyday the UK will diagnose up to 6 new cases of cancer in teens and young adults. In this age range cancer is the most common form of death after non-accidents. Survival rates are lagging behind adults because teens are often misdiagnosed losing time for an important early treatment.

The teenage cancer trust uses their fundraising to deliver presentations to schools for awareness and promoting a healthy lifestyle. They build units in hospitals devoted to teenagers with cancer. The units give the patients an ability to connect with other teenagers with cancer to connect and talk about their ordeal. They can also spend time on the internet, play pool, video games or with musical instruments while in the hospital.

Drummers (that noble breed of musician…ahem, cough, cough) came to the aid of the teenage cancer trust. “Snares, cymbals, toms and bass drums autographed by Phil Collins, Sting and The Police, Elton John, Iron Maiden, Kasabian, Chad Smith from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and members of backing bands for Pink and Paul Weller were all on offer for a very limited time.” Like I said the auction has already taken place but if your curious to see what was up for bids you can check it out at here.

That’s right I missed owning snare drums from The Police and Phil Collins. Crippling news my friends…crippling! (I know your feelin’ my pain here.)

I’m now accepting donations to help me save up for that Stewart Copeland /Police autographed snare drum! I’ll get them to open up the bidding for this. (C’mon people I’m expecting a group effort on this!)

Serioulsy though for more information on cancer check out:
The American Cancer Society
The Canadian Cancer Society
if someone can point out the official UK cancer site I’d gladly post a link to that as well.

One of the great things about twitter is you get to meet a lot of new people. I’ve come to meet a lot of people in the non profit and charitable community who are out there helping others. One such person is Bob Burris.

Bob helps non profits get corporate sponsorship. Along with fundraising which we do corporate sponsorship helps generate the money non profit organizations need.

Through emailing Bob and reading through his website I got to know what he did. I thought that he could slide in here easily and talk to you guys on corporate sponsorship which from emails I know you interested in.

Without further ado…take it away Bob!

————————-

Former sports executive and now non-profit consultant, Bob Burris, offers the first steps of attracting corporations to become sponsors for your event, cause or organization.

Nothing happens until something gets sold!

You may not want to think of yourself as a salesperson because sometimes the label of being a “salesperson” might not be one that is flattering to you. But truthfully, you have been selling your entire life.

Whether it was to your parents to buy your first bike or to stay out later than your curfew; getting your first date or your first kiss; or your proposal to marry your spouse, we are always selling and have been since the beginning of time. In fact, the Bible tells us in the book of Genesis that the first recorded sale in history was the Serpent selling Eve the “Forbidden Fruit.” In fact, he did such a magnificent job that he got a referral – Adam!

But before we sell our event to anyone, we must know what we have to sell and know our audience. Who do we attract? It is very important to take the time to do this exercise because any potential sponsor will be very interested in the type of people your organization draws. Consider such factors as:

o Household Incomes

o Education Levels

o Gender

o Marital Status

o Number of children

o How many automobiles they own?

o Travel – how often?

o How often do they frequent restaurants?

But before we set out to sell anything we must first believe in our hearts that our product or cause is worthwhile and we therefore MUST sell ourselves to ourselves.

Now that we’ve “bought in” we must then sell ourselves to the buyer. Simply put, Our job is get the buyer to like us. I’m a firm believer that people buy people first and then the product they are selling. This is called “Relationship Selling,” and is particularly true in the Corporate Sponsorship sales world.

The First Step

So, when we have an event, a cause or any kind of philanthropic organization that needs funding, who do we target? Depending on what we are selling, (event, cause, etc.) the first place to start is to identify your organizations assets that you feel will be attractive to a corporate sponsor. For example:

o Demographics of Audience — Does this sponsorship hit the prospects target audience?

o Category Exclusivity – can we offer this?

o Hospitality Opportunities – We need to find out if our prospect values a hospitality opportunity

o Exposure – what kind of exposure in the community can we provide?

o Media Value, Charity or Cause – Can we offer Media of any kind?

o Product Sampling – If they are a retail product this might be of interest

o On-Site Product Sales

Typically, corporate sponsors are interested in the above but also the following when considering a sponsorship buy:

Can the sponsorship deliver the following:

o Increase Brand Loyalty from our customers

o Increase Visibility

o Enhance Image

o Drive Retailer Traffic

o Stimulate Sales

o Experiential opportunity

o Client Entertainment

The Second Step:

Identify Your Prospects

Who in your community are the corporate “Players” and those typically willing to spend money to promote their products? What are the categories that we have available to make a corporate sponsor an” Official Corporate Sponsor?” Or “The Official soft drink; wireless provider; computer; tire; etc.,

Lastly, Identify your Circle of Influence

Each person in a company or organization has his or her own circle of influence. Who from your Board of Directors and your donors knows the decision-maker or anyone from the companies in the categories you’ve targeted? These people are on your board and are donors because they care and believe in the organization. They will help, if they are asked. But only ask with the provision that you are NOT asking them to sell for you.

All you want is an endorsement to the decision maker with the ultimate goal of getting a face-to-face appointment. I believe we are ALL more effective in person than we are on the phone. And if your “circle of influence” can get you an appointment or approval to call the decision maker directly, you are more than half way there. When this happens, your call now is a “warm” call as opposed to a “cold” call.

For more information on “How to Sell Sponsorships, Tickets and Popcorn,” visit http://theburrisgroupllc.com/store.html.

The latest estimates provided by the International Red Cross indicate that a possible 100,000 people or more are dead after a devastating typhoon decimated areas like Yagon, a large city in the country of Myanmar/Burma on May 2nd, 2008. Despite ongoing international endeavours to support those dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis, thousands are left with absolutely nothing, not even their families.

We are stepping up to the plate on this and trying to help. We have a plan in place to help those in need but this plan is nothing without you.

We are offering some fundraising products free to pre approved groups.
For more information on what we are doing and how you can help click here.

After speaking with Dale Zak here’s the update to last weekends iPhone application meet up in halifax.

From the thirteen local charities that submitted proposals, three were selected to be receive the proceeds from the applications:

Post Card – Feed Nova Scotia
Meet Me Here – Phoenix Youth Programs
Civic Snitch – Ecology Action Centre

…At the root of everyone’s hard work was the shared belief that their efforts were making a difference…This idea also introduces an intriguing new funding model: sales from the applications created in a weekend have the potential to help fund charities for months to come. Apple gives 70% of sales back to the developer, which means that if we sell an app for $0.99, and it sells 1000 copies, that would generate $700 for the chosen charity.

The iHackHFX teams hope to have all three applications finished and available for sale on the App Store in mid to late August.

What a novel and unique way to fundraise for charities. You may not be in the position to gather a bunch of application developers together but you can donate your skills to charity. It can develop great networking contacts for you, build your resume and skills, plus help charities that are feeling the squeeze now more than ever.

Spread the word…

Not hard to qualify for this fundraising/charity idea.

The haligalloons in Halifax( my old hometown so I’m allowed to say that! )are having an overnight iPhone development charity. Local designers, programmers, social media gurus( that would be me ) and will get together July 25th and 26th to create iPhone applications. The applications will be sold and money donated for charity. The more applications the more charities will be supported.

The event takes place at The Hub 1673 Barrington St. It sounds like a great way learn and network. At the end you have a couple of programming credentials under your belt and have helped a few charities.

For more information on the iPhone Hackathon click here
Ninjas are also invited

Spread the word…by phone