Charity Fundraising Ideas at Work
Charity begins at home, but it most necessarily does not end there. So if you're one of the people who are constantly on the lookout for some way to help the lesser fortunate, but cannot find the 'time' to do so, then why not inculcate this thought into your work? How? By holding a charity fundraiser at your office. It will give you the 'time' you need and let's be honest, who wouldn't want an off in the middle of the week, right? It may all sound very glamorous right now, but there's a lot that goes into the actual planning and execution of such an event. But you don't need to worry about it too much. In this Buzzle article we will give you some ideas to organize a charity fundraiser.
Ideas for a Charity Fundraiser at Work
When it comes to fundraising ideas, we always want to come up with something unique. And just when we think that we've finally come up with the best idea to use, we realize that it's either not feasible or it just won't go down well with everyone at work. So, the most important thing to do, is to make sure that everyone involved is on the same page. First organize the organizing committee. Get everyone to agree on what would be a good theme for the fundraiser. After that, it's all just purely logistics. Given below are some ideas for fundraisers that you can organize at your workplace.
Potluck
Food is always one of the best ways to attract people. This idea is not only absolutely delicious, it also involves the entire organization. So, you take care of teamwork as well. What you have to do is, inform everyone in the organization about the date of the fundraiser. Also tell them that all will have to participate by bringing one food item along with them for lunch. You can leave the decision of the food item entirely up to them. Or you can divide them into groups and ask each group to bring a specific course of the meal. This way you'll have an equal amount of appetizers, main course dishes and desserts. Now for the fundraising part, you can either charge everyone a fixed fee while they enter or you can give out food coupons for the lunch that you have organized. When they know it's for a good cause, everyone will forget their 'diets'. So don't worry about that.
Wardrobe Makeover
If you've watched how Rebecca Bloomwood in the movie Confessions of a Shopaholic raises money to pay off her debt, then you'll have a pretty good idea about this one. You've obviously splurged on something at least once and realized after reaching home that you don't really like it any more. Ask everyone in your office to collect and bring all the pieces of clothing that they own, but do not wear any more. Make sure they're all in a wearable condition. Have a special team assigned to do this. Check all the garments thoroughly and organize a massive sale in the basement of the office. Clothes, accessories, jackets, sunglasses, bags, shoes, whatever you have and don't wear. Everything that is in mint condition and can be worn by someone else. Divide them into categories and price them appropriately. You'll see the money flowing in and you'll also have a whole new wardrobe if you're smart enough to pick the right items.
Guess the Baby
This is a fun idea to raise some money at the workplace. A month in advance, ask all the employees to bring photographs of themselves when they were babies. Give them a month's time to hunt them down and bring them. Ask them to write their names behind their photographs. On the day of the fundraiser, ask everyone to pay an entry fee. When they enter the area, give them each a paper and pen and ask them to go around the place looking at all the baby photos pasted on the walls. Number each photograph and ask each employee to list down as many names as they can guess. The one with the highest number of correct guesses wins a small prize and then you can have a dinner for which they'll have to pay la carte.
Designer Haircut
How about getting people to cut their hair for a cause? No one's going to say no to a designer haircut, especially when they know that the money's going to help someone. What you can do is ask a popular hairdresser to come to your office for a day. Pay him or her a fixed amount in advance. Advertise that he or she'll be giving designer haircuts at an attractive discount and that the proceeds will go to charity. Watch as the people flock, pay for their haircuts and leave with a smile on their faces and a warm feeling in their hearts.
When you organize a fundraiser, the most important thing you need to keep in mind is the cause that you're raising for. If it's a charity, then you must make sure that the methods you use are in no way offensive to the cause and the people that you're raising the money for. They are your prime responsibility and you must do them proud. The ideas mentioned above are fairly neutral. So they can be used for any purpose. Think on the same lines and you'll have a successful fundraiser under way.
