Fundraising / Charity Ideas Blog

Here’s an idea for getting involved for fundraising with whatever skills you have.

Jade Sims has a great idea with crafthope. People enjoy making crafts and it brings them peace, why not channel that into contributions for worthy causes. Quilting and craft volunteers fromthe United States, Germany, Australia, UK and Canada have sent in items for projects. Interested people go about creating scarves, pillow case dresses, quilts, bean bags etc for the project. Their efforts benefit a wide range of people and places around the world. A small sample of the causes they have donated to so far are: Little Heroes PreSchool Burn Camp, Liberia Orphan Education and the Miracle Foundation. They also have been active in helping Doctors Without Borders in Haiti. Their crafts are sometimes created for the recipient or sold to raise money.

Craft hope has a flicker group that shows their amazing work and the quantity the volunteers produce.

The next project that Jade is adding to is helping the animal victims of the BP oilspill. The crafthope group will work with The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies, The Audubon Nature Institute and The Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge to help clean the animals covered in oil.

So here is what we are going to do… They need hand towels and wash rags to clean all of the nooks and crannies of the dolphins and sea turtles. They only need small hand towels and wash rags, no large towels please.

If you can sew, knit, or crochet this project is for you. We are asking that you create sets of hand towels and/or wash rags to send. Preferably in sets of 10 or 20. These do need to be handmade since we are ‘Craft Hope.’ If you are crocheting or knitting, please send whatever you can. You don’t have to send a set unless it is something you are up for.

For more information check outh the crafthope website. Ladies and Gentleman grab your knitting needles and get to work!

If you want to go about fundraising for the oil spill or any other activity in a different way check out our products that you might want to use for a campaign.

Raising money for Charitites, Schools, Sports teams and Churches can be challenging work. Fundraising professionals and volunteers are being asked to do more miracle work with fewer resources. This pressure over a prolonged time can lead to burnout and stress.

Here are a few symptoms and tips to recognize and prevent fundraising burnout in your vounteers or you.

If your approaching your next fundraiser and you:
- Lack of motivation
- Irritability
- Problems sleeping / changes in appetite
- Reduction in work

Take these steps:
-Take care of yourself which means getting plenty of rest and eating healthy food.

- Delegate tasks. Have a team of people around you that can run a portion of the campaign.

- Re-examine your goals. Are you shooting for the stars? You might have to consider lenghting the campaign or realistically altering the financial goal.

Preventing Volunteer Burnout

Actively seek ways to develop new leaders, pick someone and tell them they have shown the potential to do this job. Communitcate clearly with them what the position needs and check up with them frequently. This creates new blood in your organization plus gives the volunteers of your group, who are the pillars, a breather.

Keep a watchfull eye on your MegaVolunteers. Those people who volunteer for everything. They are the people who have the potential to show signs of fatigue. If you have to pull them off a team just explain diplomatically that you are keeping them in reserve and you would like to see other people step up and participate.

Thank your volunteers repeatedly for their service. Since they are there to help free of charge and you probably don’t have the funds to pay them, show the benefits of their effort. Let them know the improvements they have brought on throught their work.

Send Thank You notes or make a quick phone call to thank those people who have given of their time. If your able to maintain solid relations with your workers the chances are good they will return for more when they are asked.

Tell us how you’ve overcome your Fundraising Burnout in your and your organization.

Well that’s funny isn’t it? No sooner do I do a post about Cate Blanchett’s SolarAid charity and mention that I’m a big Indiana Jones fan, then he’s in the news.

Harrison Ford combined his fascination for flying and a willingness to help out by personally flying out medical volunteers and supplies to Haiti from the Dominican Republic for the charity Operation Smile.
The organization provides reconstructive surgery for children born with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate. I didn’t know that the severity of the condition can leave some kids unable to even eat. For a more in depth look at the oranization check out this page

I’m not trying to take away the spotlight on Haiti nor the hard work and little publicity that the doctors and volunteers get who are already there, but I am happy to show people I’m interested in do help out.

I have chosen…..wisely.

So I was reading through some questions on yahoo answers and came across a really good one. A high school student was wondering why he should volunteer, which got me thinking of the benfits of volunteering. I mean lets face it it’s hard to sometimes to put in the effort and it’s not exactly evil to get a benefit out of helping someone else. Sometimes it’s what volunteering gives you that makes it worth while.

I then started thinking about the work experience part of volunteering. When you go for a job interview they can always turn you down one of two ways: No courses /No Experience.

I’ve always subrscribed that experience beats theory any day of the week. Now I’m not putting down studying but volunteering , especially when it’s related to your chosen field can be well worth your effort. If you are willing to donate a few hours a week there’s a cause or organization that would take you.

There are a lot of kids out there who would like to help animals or spend time in a hospital. This of course benefits the animal or patient and gives the kids real world credentials, plus networking and social skills. By the time that they are applying for jobs can you imagine the strength of their resume!

If you are out of work in this economy and looking for new opportunities then it really pays to volunteer. It opens new doors, gives you new experiences and can take your mind off of your self. Volunteering gives you leadership and organizational capabilities. Some positions even give you visibility with administrators and managers. People give big money to schools to develop these skills. It may be high time to consider getting them for free and helping others in the meantime.

That’s me just ranting….what are your thoughts?

As you may remember we wrote a blog about a buch of bluenosers (Nova Scotians) that designed iphone apps and are donating the proceeds to charities.

Here are a few of the iphone applications that have been released so far:

Air Canada iphone app. Find flights, mobile check-in, flight notifications & electronic boarding pass.

On-demand volunteerism via mobile phone

Multilingual translator for the iPhone

We’ll keep ya up to date when other iphone applications are released.

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