If you think fundraising means suffering through yet another temptation-filled bake sale, think again.
There are a number of ways to get creative with fundraising in the workplace.
Doing so will benefit not just the charity but your company as well, building morale and injecting a bit of fun into the everyday routine. We’ve picked the top minds for the best fundraising ideas out there. Here’s what we’ve found:
1. Bring the Boot Fair to the Office
No matter how neat and tidy your employees are at the office, they’ve likely got more than a few things lurking around basements or in the backs of closets that don’t need to be there. The solution: an office-wide boot fair.
Have everyone can load up the boot with all of their extra supplies on an agreed upon day and swap the lunch hour for a fair hour, with the proceeds benefiting the fundraiser. After all, you never know when someone rubbish will strike someone else’s fancy, and why shouldn’t the coin jar benefit?
2. Sales
Yes, we promised we wouldn’t encourage any more tempting bake sales. But there are plenty of other sales out there. A few standard items to sell include: books, healthy snacks, custom mugs or t-shirts, employee-made crafts – you name it.
Sales can be approached in a number of ways. They can be on-going, with products available at mealtimes. They can be associated with a particular month or holiday period. Products can be homemade, or they can be bought from a fundraising company.
There are plenty of options out there, so do the research to find interesting items at a good price.
3. Put the Feet up Fridays
Let’s be honest: no one gets much done after 4PM on a Friday, right? Offer some kind of perk during those hours…for a couple of quid. This could be a film with popcorn, a few pints in the break room, or perhaps a management-sponsored masseuse, available to employees at a discount fundraising rate.
4. Special Events
Special events are a great way to break up the workaday doldrums. They can be as sophisticated or as gritty and fun as you please. A gala event can be fun for workers who don’t get to dress up often, though they often require a fair bit of investment and approval from higher up.
A cheaper option is a cook out, where employees each purchase an entry ticket for a day or evening of meals and fun games. Or, consider having a “Taste of…” event, bringing in great chefs from the region to prepare delicious dishes for sampling.
5. Walk-a-thons
Walk-a-thons can mean everything from a few brisk laps around a track to a marathon or triathlon. Have employees break into teams that will challenge and support each other while training and raising funds. You can join an existing walk-a-thon or you can start your own, looking to corporate sponsors to get the word out there.
Don’t enjoy walking? Then pull on those tap shoes and apply the same concepts to a dance-a-thon.
So you see? There are plenty of ways to raise those funds and have fun while you’re at it.
But if none of these strategies suits your fancy, turn it back to employees. What do they want to do? You’d be surprised just how creative and silly employees can get when they’re working for a good cause.
Rob Toledo is outreach coordinator for digital marketing and communications agency, Distilled Creative.
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