Once you put the fun into fundraising, you will find that you will want to
raise as much money for charity as possible. It really pays off to have
some fun while helping out a charitable organization or cause and to not
see fundraising as a chore.
The first step is to choose a charity. As a mother, I tend to lean in to
charities that support children.
Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) is
one of my favorite charities. RMHC is passionate about keeping families
together and close to the medical facilities where pediatric patients are
receiving long term care. Since 1974 RMHC has created programs that focus
on strengthening families during difficult times, such as long term medical
stays and prolonged medical treatment.
RMHC works with leading hospitals all over the world to provide
compassionate care to both children and their families. With a focus on the
family, RMHC provides access to healthcare and family-centric care to help
lessen the emotional and financial burden of families. RMHC recognizes that
families are already overwhelmed and challenged with their child's illness.
RMHC strives to make an already difficult and emotional situation a little
less stressful. As a parent of a child who has a chronic medical condition,
I can appreciate how much a difference it makes to have someone in your
corner during these times.
RMHC is able to provide care to families with the help of generous donors.
From spare change to corporate sponsors, every little bit makes a
difference in the care of a child and supporting the family. You can get
involved by
fundraising for RMHC in fun ways that take the chore out of
fundraising.
Here are a few of my favorite ways of putting "fun" into fundraising for
RMHC.
Fundraise As A Family
As they say, it takes a village. Why not fundraise with your family? There
is power in numbers, and the more people you involve, the more money you
are likely to raise for RMHC. Even if you have young children, there will
still be plenty of ways you can fundraise. For instance, you could do a
sponsored silence where your children have to stay silent for a period of
time. You could ask people to pledge a certain amount of money per minute
of silence. They will love the challenge as well as asking family and
friends to sponsor them. And you can enjoy some peace and quiet! There are
also some family fun runs or walks that you might want to do with the whole
gang. This is a great way to encourage the kids to make fitness a part of
their everyday life.
Get Active
Many people are very sporty these days and regularly take part in races for
charitable causes. A 5k walk/run if very doable for most participants. It's
fairly short, and you can add a fun aspect to it such as dressing up a
certain way. It’s more about participation than about winning! For example,
you can host your own color run. This is a 3-mile run during which you will
be covered in colored paints. It will certainly feel a lot more like a
party than a fundraiser for RMHC!
Get The Neighborhood Together
Do you need an excuse to meet your neighbors and get to know them a bit
better? You probably do, since most neighbors rarely socialize these days.
Well, why not get your whole neighborhood working together to fundraise for
RMHC? There are a few different ways you might want to go about this, but a
really awesome idea is to host a street or block party or a movie night,
complete with an inflatable screen.
You could have a bake sale during the party, and you might want to find a
musician that is willing to donate a percentage of their profit to RMHC.
You could also organize a raffle for the party. Prizes can be anything from
children’s story books to wine baskets to cash prizes. Ask everyone in the
neighborhood who attends the block party to make a
small donation to RMHC.
You'll see that those small donations soon add up to a large amount for a
good cause.
Involve Your Colleagues
It’s not just your neighborhood who can help with your fundraising
endeavors. Get your colleagues or your employer involved too. In fact, many
companies regularly hold bake sales in aid of certain charities. It's also
worth checking to see if your company has a donation matching program. Many
corporations will match the amount that you raise up to a certain amount.
You can check with someone in human resources or public relations to get
more information about corporate matching for RMHC.
There can be a lot of fun in fundraising. The more people you involve in
your efforts, the more successful and the more fun it will be. To get
started, visit
www.rmhc.org/raiselove to start a fundraiser.
How do you plan to raise money to help
RMHC in its efforts to help families
all over the world?
Check out how we prepared for our bake sale to raise money for RHMC.
