Free Easy Fundraising Ideas
When your sports club or group needs to raise money quickly, you need a fast free fundraiser that you can rely on to generate the necessary revenue. The amount you make on these free easy fundraisers will depend on how much time you have to prepare and how well you execute your plan.
Here are three time tested projects to raise some fast cash:
1 - Car Wash
2 - Yard Cleanup
3 - Community Cleanup
Car Wash Fundraiser
Car washes have proven to be great fundraisers in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs. You can put your car wash fundraiser together on short notice.
Here’s what you need to do:
1 - Line up a location with good main road frontage
2 - Ensure it has water access
3 - Assemble supplies list – hoses, buckets, wash towels, dry towels, squeegees
4 - Assign each volunteer an item from the supplies list
5 - Make 8-10 poster board signs in high-contrast colors
6 - Arrange your volunteers in 2-hour shifts
7 - Wash cars for six hours (Saturday preferred)
8 - Have dual lines so you can wash two at once
Your car wash fundraiser’s success will of course depend on the weather. If you can wash 12 cars an hour (one every 10 minutes in each line), you can easily raise more than $500 in one day.
Remember to put together a quick flyer that includes the reason why you’re raising funds and clearly states the price. You can even offer some extra services such as Armor-All tire treatment or interior vacuuming for an additional fee.
Alternatively, you can advertise a free car wash and just ask for donations for your cause. Often, this can raise more cash than stating a specific price, because people will see a group of volunteers working hard and having a good time, and may pay more than you would have asked.
Keeping safety in mind, be sure to get volunteers to hold and wave signs toward passing traffic, not just volunteers to wash cars. If you have time, advertise your car wash event in the local newspaper, and post signs a day or two in advance.
Yard Cleanup
A yard cleanup fundraiser is extremely fast and easy to put together. Simply create a set of instructions for your group detailing what to offer, what to say, and how much to charge.
Like most fundraisers, the target market is family, friends, and neighbours. Depending on the age of your participants, your offerings can range from simple lawn care all the way up to weeding and mulching flower beds.
Create a flyer describing your fundraiser and clearly list your prices for the various cleanup options. Assign a fundraising quota to each participant.
Offer some individual and group performance bonuses. There’s nothing like a team pizza party or movie passes to motivate a junior sports group.
Community Cleanup
A community cleanup, also known as a garbage bag fundraiser, performs a valuable community service while also providing a significant revenue opportunity. Organising a community cleanup project is a way to raise funds and send a positive message about your group at the same time.
This type of one day or weekend fundraising event is very similar to the Lap-A-Thon concept. Here your group's participants seek sponsorship from the usual suspects - family, friends, and neighbours. Have local businesses donate garbage bags and recruit parents and relatives with utes to haul what you collect.
Donations are tied to a specific attainment goal such as the number of full bags of rubbish collected or the length of the road cleaned of debris. You'll need to create a one-page overview of your cleanup program and a donation sheet.
It works best if your overview specifies a suggested range for donations per bag or kilo of rubbish.. An amazing amount of rubbish can be collected from local bushwalking tracks or illegal dumping areas.
Have local businesses donate garbage bags. Recruit parents and relatives with utes or trailers to haul what you collect.
Do the sums, and you'll be surprised at how much money you can generate. Assuming 50 participants, each of whom has five pledges of $10 a bag, if you collect ten bags each, your group will raise $100 per participant or $5,000.
That's not bad money for a free fundraiser! You’d be surprised at how easy it is to collect rubbish!
Each of these fundraisers is fast, easy to put together, and a reliable revenue generator for your group. As with any group event involving junior participants, an adult should be in attendance at all times for safety purposes. Get started on your free easy fundraisers today!