⦁ Ask 10 friends to donate $10.
⦁ Ask 5 friends to donate $20.
⦁ Host a yard sale. I’ve had several as adoption fundraisers. We made far more than $100 each time. Make sure you have it in a high traffic area and make lots of BIG signs directing people to you. Hang a banner to tell people what the money is for. Have enough helpers that you can greet EVERYONE with a smile and greeting. I cannot express how important that is.
⦁ Conduct a bake sale. Location is everything for this one! (You may be able to ask a local and centrally located business to sit in front of. Otherwise find out if you can have it after church or at an event.) Ask family and friends if they will help bake items for the sale. Artfully wrap your goodies and consider labeling what the item is and what the ingredients are.
⦁ Have your family babysit or organize your church small group or youth group set up babysitting services for a large church event.
⦁ Wash windows in your neighborhood.fundraising
⦁ Wash car windows in the parking lot after church.
⦁ Rake leaves, trim bushes, water plants, weed gardens.
⦁ Sell lemonade. (My 11 year old raised $275 in one day selling lemonade at a Fourth of July parade for $1 a cup!!) You can set up a table somewhere or do what we did, put the lemonade in a giant keg type cooler and use a wagon to pull it through the crowd.
⦁ Clean a neighbor’s garage.
⦁ Do face painting at events (carnivals, festivals, etc.).
⦁ Use a viral fundraising site such as Crowdrise, FirstGiving, or gofundme.com and invite friends/family to donate.
⦁ Set up a birthday or holiday wish list using Facebook Causes.
⦁ Send a letter to family and friends explaining why you want to adopt and a bit about your child, if you have that info and ask for their support. Always ask for more than you expect. Include a “response needed by” date. (This is one of the first things my husband and I did!)
⦁ Cash in your change. According to Coinstar.com, the average U.S. household has nearly $90.00 of spare change just sitting around.
⦁ Sell your old gold and silver (broken jewelry, single earrings, etc.).(I did this one too!)
⦁ Sell the stuff you never use on eBay or Craigslist.
⦁ Host a Karaoke Night – pay to sing your favorite song, pay not to have to sing, or pay to make someone else sing.
⦁ Have a quarter run. Organize teams of people to collect quarters.
⦁ Host a house party. Do not charge admission. Invite as many people as you can. During the party, give a short talk about your adoption cause and ask everyone to consider a gift of $10, $20 or more (depending on the crowd). Either distribute envelopes and ask people to give then, or after the party contact everyone who came and ask for a larger gift. Indicate that you have given and, if appropriate, how much you have given.
⦁ Sell homemade cinnamon rolls after church or at a weekend morning event.
⦁ Sell interesting and creative flavored cupcakes at an event.
⦁ Offer to clean houses.
⦁ Set aside ten-dollar bills each week until you have $100.
⦁ Hold a World’s Largest _______ record breaking event; charge an entrance fee to participate.
⦁ Set up a dunk tank; find “celebrities” to sit in the tank (dads in your group, boss, pastor, Sunday School teacher -the more stoic the better, kids, etc.)
⦁ Host a Tug-of-War tournament..
⦁ Go caroling and take tips bucket with you!
⦁ Christmas in July party ideas
⦁ Mani-Pedi Night — Invite girlfriends over for manicures and pedicures; ask them to donate what they normally would have spent at a spa.
⦁ Host an outdoor movie night. Do not charge for admission, but ask for donations and sell concessions.
⦁ If you have a photographer friend (novice but, GOOD) and you have a location where you can set up some props, all you need to do is advertise. Charge for the digital file and email after you have edited the photos. There is a lot of easy and free editing software.
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