Three Fundraising Ideas to Try Now: Part 1
You know what I like to say about fundraising? “Two heads are better than one and five heads are better than two”.
As you may or may not know - I’ve been mildly obsessed with paying attention to all things fundraising - especially things that can be done online. I’m looking forward to getting back out there as much as the next person, but the truth is - the new “normal” might look very different from what we are used to.
Back to me being obsessed. I’ve been so impressed with how some organizations - and even regular people are raising money to support the causes they love. Like, BLOWN AWAY.
Since I know you all love a play-by-play and examples, I wanted to share a few ideas that have caught my attention.
I’ll be dropping these ideas 1-by-1 over the next few weeks - so keep your eye out.
First up...
The Wine Pull: For the grassroots organization (or any organization if you choose!)
For the last two years, my friend Anna has reached out with simply one email (short and to the point, but compelling) about a fundraiser her daughter’s preschool is doing: A Wine Pull (I actually don’t know if this is what they call it, but it’s what I’m calling it!).
They run this event in late fall before the holidays (and in advance of all of the holiday parties where you have to bring a bottle of wine as a gift - so smart - but really, I think this could work any time of year).
How it works:
Each family from the school donates a bottle of wine valued at $15+ or higher. They do recommend asking people to buy from a local wine shop vs. a grocery store just so there is brand variety, etc.
Next, the school emails their list and families reach out to their personal networks. Here is the email Anna sent to us (told you, not a big deal!):
Over a week or two - the preschool uses a service called RallyUp that allows the school to take online donations in the form of raffle tickets making things supper easy. In working with companies like GiveSmart or Mobile Cause before - these technologies would also allow you to have essentially virtual raffles.
Finally, depending on the number of bottles you’ve collected (I’d suggest no less than 10-15 to a bundle - you want people to feel like they REALLY got their money's worth) - you pick and announce your winners! I think last year Anna’s school had 4 winners (each winning 15 bottles of wine each).
Anna said to me: “It’s honestly the easiest ask of all time to my friends and family because who doesn’t like wine? Especially when a raffle ticket is $10.”
The result? On average the fundraiser brings in around $6,000 for the preschool. Not bad!
Some questions I know you are going to ask me:
Can people who don’t live locally participate?
YES! This is taking place online so it can be open to all
What if someone far away wins - how do we get them their wine?
That is up to you kimosabe. You can deliver the win, you can try to mail them the wine, etc. They can also donate the wine back since this entire thing is more about the cause than the wine. In fact, last year - Anna’s parents, who live out of state won one of the pulls. They just gifted the wine to Anna and her family and she hosted a dinner party for all of her friends that contributed to the fundraiser. So, in a way - everyone ended up winning!
What if people only like whites or reds or a specific type of wine - do they get to pick and choose what’s in their bundle?
I’d strongly advise not going down this rabbit hole. I’d include some language about “each winner will receive an assortment of 15 bottles of wine - no exchanges will be offered”.
Next week, I’m going to share another idea that is a little more tech involved, but still totally doable!
Have you ever tried a wine pull? What were your wins and lessons learned?