Raising money can be as simple as sitting at your computer – or reaching for your laptop or tablet. So there’s no excuse not to get involved.
The beauty of the internet is that it is easy to set up and manage your fundraising and you don’t need to spend valuable time collecting money. Giving you more time to pound the streets training for your marathon or slave in the kitchen ready for your mega cake sale.
By jumping on the World Wide Web, you open up a seemingly endless supply of unique fundraising ideas and advice.
Above all it’s fun and you might find handling your fundraising a great deal easier!
1. Online giving
Get started by creating an online web page to highlight your fundraising, whether it’s a personal challenge such as a sponsored slim or team effort such as a three peaks climb. This helps encourage your friends, family and work colleagues – indeed anyone who views your page - to donate.
The webpage will be up-and-running in an instant and allows people to contribute by credit/debit card directly to your chosen charity. Donations are then showcased, for all to see. Amazingly it also automatically thanks people for supporting your cause – how good is that! All you need to do is set your page up and then encourage people to dig deep.
The only question is "Which provider should I use?" First ask your chosen charity . Most large charities will have paid a fee to join an online giving provider and will therefore receive additional benefits.
2. eBay
Selling off your old and unwanted possessions for charity has never been easier – thanks to the internet. There are numerous sites out there that will help you do this – the most popular being eBay. Everything with any value from clothes to furniture and electrical goods to children’s toys can be ‘listed’ and sold to the highest bidder.
All you have to do is sign up, write a description about each of your ‘lots’ - stating a minimum reserve sale price - and upload it into the relevant category with a digital photograph for each one. You can post the auction again and again – and, of course, you can add as many lots as you want. A mention of your charity cause may also boost the bids.
3. Small change
A great way to raise some money without lifting a finger is to ask your family, friends or colleagues to empty their pockets every evening for a week, or even a month. Everyone’s likely to have plenty of small change and it soon builds up. You will probably be surprised at the amount raised! You could even make a collection box for this and all the money raised helps to boost your fundraising target.
4. Social media
Of course social networking is a must if you want to spread awareness of your charity efforts. It’s cheap and easy to use Facebook, Twitter and other social media to get people to donate. Through Facebook you can set up a fundraising events page or in the case of Twitter – post a message with information regarding the charity or cause. The beauty of social networking is the ease of which information goes viral and so it’s an extremely effective way to spread a message and capture an audience without leaving your front room.
5. Match giving
Don’t miss the opportunity to sit down with your employer and agree match giving – which is simply a pledge by your bosses to match your fundraising efforts. This can be a really good way to make a huge difference to your charity total without lifting a finger!
If they have not heard of the scheme, encourage them to look into it and then negotiate with your boss. In some cases every penny they put towards your sponsorship could be deducted from their taxes. This is an added bonus as it allows them to donate to charity and might also reduce the amount of tax they pay- so everyone benefits!
Feeling inspired? Why not view our list of Partner Charities and pick a great cause to support.
Picture credit: qoppi / Shutterstock.com
