Put Fun in Fundraisers

Last year, my girl came back from school with a card. It was a card that most parent's dislike. No, not a report card. It was a donation card. The kind that have you asking friends, colleagues, neighbors and relatives to write their name and how much they are willing to take out of their wallets. I hate doing that. When I was younger, my school had me do that too on occasions. I remember my mother was so bold as to approach the Yang diPertuan Besar of Negeri Sembilan (the king of our state at that time) to donate. They used to play golf together once in a while.

Anyway, this kind of fundraising is not a good idea if you ask me. It's a win-lose situation. I know charity means not asking "what's in it for me?". However, shoving a donation card into someone's hands and asking for money is like slapping them with a summons. There is no excitement there. People would appreciate getting something back in return. How about brochure fundraising? For example, over at FastTrack Fundraising, they have brochures for gourmet cookie dough. So, instead of a donation card, people get to flip through a brochure to select what yummy cookie dough flavor they want to buy. There's also brochures for scented candles, magnetic fridge frames and Crayola cooking kits. Another cool fundraising idea is to sell discount cards. You could approach local stores like restaurants, hairdressing salons and recreation places to participate. Everybody likes discounts.

So, a message to whoever is planning a fundraiser, especially schools (cause really, the mom is always the one going around asking for money, not the kids), please be a little creative and make it fun.

p.s. If you have lots of money and want to do some good in the world, you can check out the philanthropy forum.

* Brought to you by your friends at FastTrackFundraising.com