Here's How To Make Your Fundraiser a Success
Need ideas for how to raise money and hit your fundraising goal before race day? Here are some extra tips to help make your Team Lemon fundraiser an instant success!
Use your ALSF fundraising page: Raise funds for your event online or hold a virtual lemonade stand by using your Alex's Lemonade Stand fundraising page that is created when you register on www.TeamLemon.com!
Here are ways to use your fundraising page:
- Send the link to your friends, family, coworkers, and classmates so that they can contribute to the cause. It is also a great way for family and friends to donate right to your page and leave comments for you!
- Add your fundraising page link to your email signature. For example you can write, “I am running the Marine Corps Marathon this fall to help make a difference for children with cancer. Please help me reach my goal of $X and donate to my fundraising page: (insert page link here). Thanks!”
- Send regular updates/blogs about your training to family and friends. You can send something like, “I am feeling really good about my run over the past weekend. This is the first time I’ve ever run 5 miles and it was amazing. I’m a bit nervous about moving up in mileage, but I will keep in mind how important it is to find a cure for childhood cancer.” Continue to describe your training if you would like, feel free to share a childhood cancer hero’s story, and thank your supporters. You do not have to actively solicit your supporters for donations each time you send an update, as that may turn them off from donating. Some may just enjoy reading about what you are doing. They may spread the word to their contacts so they can help you hit your fundraising goal too! This is a more gentle approach and may just remind people who did not donate yet that they still can. For those who have already donated, updates like these will be fun to read and reassuring to them that they made the right choice in donating because of how committed you are to what you are doing. After your event, send an update with photos and thanks to all who supported you.
- Spread the word about your event by using social media outlets! You can post the link to your fundraising page on your Facebook or Twitter accounts. Ask your family and friends if they wouldn’t mind donating their status for a day too. You can suggest, “Please consider donating your Facebook or Twitter status for a day to help spread the word about my upcoming event and fundraising goal!” You can post: “Help my friend fight childhood cancer, by clicking here (insert fundraising page link).”
- Donate to your own fundraiser. Set an example to those you are asking by kicking off your fundraiser with your own donation. Potential donors will know that you are serious about your efforts and you will also be a bit closer to your fundraising goal!
- Host a lemonade stand and/or bake sale. When registering for Team Lemon online, you can choose to receive a fundraising starter kit which includes an ALSF banner, poster, fliers, a pre-paid donation return envelope and other items to help you host your lemonade stand or another fundraising event of your choice. Pick a date and a place to host your stand that works best for you. Feel free to “sell” baked goods, other refreshments, crafts, or ALSF merchandise. Ask local businesses if they would like to donate supplies for your stand. The business may also allow you to host your stand at their location. Host your stand, have fun, and return your donations (please convert your cash to a check or money order before sending) in your pre-paid donation return envelope. For more information on how to host your own lemonade stand, click here.
- Sell paper lemons: Another way to get others involved is by selling paper lemons. Click here to print your lemons or ask us to send you some! Approach a local store or other business and ask if they could help you by selling paper lemons to customers for $1/lemon. Do it over the course of a weekend or even make it a month-long endeavor. Businesses can hang the lemons on their walls to create a visual impact so other customers learn more about what they are doing. This could also help with employee morale, make it easy for customers to learn about ALSF and contribute, and overall it will help a great cause. After the paper lemon selling is over, collect the donations from the business and send them a thank you letter for assisting you in fundraising.
- Accept donations by check: Tell potential donors that they can give by writing a check made payable to Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation. They can send the check directly to ALSF with your event ID (you get this number when you register) on the check or they can give the check to you so you can send it to ALSF. Each check donor will receive a tax receipt for their gift. A “Checks Payable” sign is included in the pack of materials you request when you register. This sign can be displayed at a fundraising event if you are hosting one.
- Accept donations by text: People can also text a donation to your fundraiser! Ask them to text “Lemonade E(plus the 5 digit event ID # you receive when you register)” to 85944 for a $10 donation at any time. This will appear on your fundraising page within a few weeks and automatically be added to your grand total.
- Join the Team Lemon Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/TeamLemon. Post your fundraising goal here, share your training stories, ask for additional fundraising tips or other questions, and meet other Team Lemon members and supporters!
- Have a car wash. Ask a local gas station, shopping center, or other place of business that may have access to water/a hose if they would allow you to host a car wash for donations. This may help bring customers to their place of business too. If you are able to secure a car wash location, gather a team of volunteers and decide who is going to do what. Some volunteers should stand close to a road or major intersection in a safe location where they can hold signs that direct people to your car wash. Other volunteers can collect money and help to organize incoming and outgoing traffic while others wash the cars. Ask each driver for a donation to have their car washed and tell them what you are raising money for. Be sure to thank them for their donation!
- Host an anything-a-thon (a walk-a-thon, cartwheel-a-thon, lemonade stand-a-thon, etc.). A unique way to raise funds is by asking people to make pledges toward your anything-a-thon event. Pick a location and tell your friends and family, “Please help me reach my fundraising goal by pledging to donate a certain amount for each cup I serve, mile I run, or lap I walk. If you can commit to your pledge via email, that would be helpful, and I will post it on my fundraising page. After the event, I will follow up with you in order to make your final pledge donation to my page. I appreciate all of your support for my event!”
- Be a guest bartender. A bar or pub may allow you to guest bartend (usually serving beer or wine) for an evening and allow you to keep tips made during your volunteer shift. Encourage your contacts to come out for a night of fun, to see you bartend, and to tip you well! Bars or restaurants may also donate a portion of the proceeds from each meal ordered from a customer you brought in that day.
- Once you have done your initial “ask” for donations, follow up and ask for something more specific. Putting a specific ask out there will motivate people a bit and give them some guidelines to work with. For example, request that 10 friends donate $10 each (or plug in numbers that you think are appropriate). They may want to be one of the 10 people to get you closer to your goal and for some, $10 is an easy give! Often times this works well and will get you an extra $100 with ease. Or if you are able to get 10 prizes donated, you can say, “The first 10 people to donate $10 will get a free pizza coupon for Bob’s Pizza.” As an alternative, tell people you will do something silly, like send them an embarrassing photo of you, if they donate. Even though people enjoy being charitable, getting something in return can be motivating too!
- Create fliers describing what you are doing with your fundraising page link so people can donate directly to your page. Hang these fliers in community centers, public notice boards, gyms, etc. Be sure to ask for the building manager’s permission of course!
- Have a contest. People love to compete to win something. Consider giving a prize to the highest donor or the person who helps to gather the most donations for you. Prizes could include items such as donated gift cards, tickets to a sporting event, trips, or even the chance to win one of the incentive items you receive when you hit a certain level of fundraising. Click here to check out what incentive items you can receive. Create contest rules and announce your fundraising contest!
- Host a beef and beer, wine-tasting, barbeque, or other evening-out type of event. Your supporters may enjoy attending an event where they pay a certain amount at the door, eat, drink, are entertained, and have the proceeds donated to charity. Many successful events include food, drinks, bands, comedians, silent auctions, live auctions, dance contests, and games.
- Provide a service for donations. Tell others you will cut their lawn, walk their dog, clean their gutters-you name it-for a donation.
- Consider matching gifts and dollars-for-doers. Your company or your donors’ companies may have matching gift or dollars-for-doers programs. These are often great ways to double, and sometimes triple, your efforts. Matching gifts are offered in an effort to encourage employee giving. In dollars-for-doers programs, employers recognize volunteer efforts with grants to charity. To learn more about these programs, please click here.
- Host a garage sale and put all of the proceeds toward your fundraising goal. Share this information with garage sale visitors. They may want to donate more if they learn what you are doing!
- Make it mean something. Connect your contacts to the cause by honoring a local child with cancer or one of our heroes from our website. If you are interested in being matched with a local family whose child has cancer, please contact us. Other ways to make it meaningful: if you are hosting a fundraising event, create a wishing well for guests to throw in change and wishes for children with cancer, display photos and stories of childhood cancer heroes from our website, and hand donors cards with childhood cancer facts on them.
- Ask for public relations/media assistance. If you are hosting a fundraising event, invite honored guests or local celebrities to come. Then promote your participation in this nationwide event by appearing in your local newspaper! For help with garnering media attention, contact our Public Relations Specialist, Gillian Kocher at Gillian@AlexsLemonade.org.
- Use other social media ideas. In addition to using social media outlets, like Facebook and Twitter, to advertise your event to friends and family, join the ALSF Facebook fan page or follow us on Twitter to find out up-to-date information about what we’re doing! Visit our Social Media page to learn more. To see your stand or other fundraising event promoted on our own social media channels, please e-mail Melissa@AlexsLemonade.org with a link to your fundraising page.
- Ask for donations the “old-fashioned way”- send out letters in the mail! Type and print a letter, include a short hand-written note, sign, and then send to your contacts. It may seem somewhat time consuming, but this is especially effective with those who may not use e-mail or social media. Even if your contacts use e-mail or social media, they will appreciate that you took the time to send a letter and personalize it. For sample letters, click here and check out page 8. Often, it’s a good idea to include a self-addressed stamped envelope in each letter, so all your contact needs to do is write a check and send it in the envelope you have already given them. It may seem like a minor detail, but it really helps to increase your return rate! Follow up with a thank you letter (a sample thank you letter can be viewed on page 9 in the link above) or phone call, so your donor knows you received their contribution and will be more likely to give again in the future.
- “Sell” some old items on eBay and select for the proceeds to come to ALSF. eBay offers sellers an opportunity to raise funds for charity online. You can list items and collect proceeds on behalf of charities either with eBay Giving Works -- the dedicated program for charity listings – or without eBay Giving Works (as long as your listings meet eBay’s guidelines for charitable solicitations).
As always, we are here to help! Please do not hesitate to contact Cara Salladino to ask for assistance by calling toll free at (866) 333-1213 or emailing Cara@AlexsLemonade.org!
