Module 5: Offline Fundraising Ideas
Remember that the fundraising page is the only pre-approved fundraising method, and any other fundraising plans (including the ideas below) need to first be submitted to Unite For Sight for review and approval.
- Test Prep Course Auction: Kaplan, Princeton Review and Examkrackers will often donate vouchers for test-prep courses (MCAT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT and/or OAT) for student volunteers to auction off. While the vouchers are worth about $2000, the winning bidder usually pays $1250-1500, 100% of which supports Unite For Sight.
When approaching Kaplan, Princeton Review or Examkrackers, it works well to describe this as a great opportunity for the company to advertise on your campus. One student will receive the course voucher through the auction, but many other students will likely learn about the course and therefore enroll with the company on their own.
While planning the auction, it will be helpful to refer to Harvard’s Facebook event as an example. Similarly, your Facebook event page should give details about the voucher. What classes can it be used for? Does the voucher expire? Where can it be used? It’s also important to set a minimum bid of $1000. Otherwise, you risk receiving much less money than the voucher is actually worth. If someone were purchasing this course directly from the company, they would pay $2,000. The minimum bid should therefore be at least 50% of $2,000, or $1,000. Volunteers frequently get the bidding up to $1500, which means that the winning bidder pays $1500 to support cataract surgeries for patients in Ghana, and the winning bidder has also saved $500 on the course.
All bids should be multiples of $10 or $20. This way, bidders don’t increase their bids by mere pennies or dollars.
Publicity is key to the success of these auctions. Volunteers have had success distributing flyers outside classes with lots of pre-medical or pre-law students and emailing health- and law-related email listervs. Be sure to emphasize that this is a great deal for students. They only pay if they win, and the winner pays much less than they would otherwise.
This type of fundraiser works well for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students who are fundraising for Unite For Sight. Those enrolled as an undergraduate, for example, can auction the course voucher among their classmates, while medical students can auction an MCAT course voucher among the undergraduates at their university.
- Textbook Collection: Collecting and reselling used textbooks is a great fundraiser, especially at the end of the semester. Many students don’t bother selling their used books, and are happy to donate them to a Unite For Sight volunteer. You can then resell them to other students on campus or online. This event has raised over $300 for volunteers in the past.
- Cartridges For Kids: This environmentally-friendly fundraiser is easy to set-up and continue throughout the entire academic year. In short, volunteers collect used electronics (ink cartridges, cell phones, music players, calculators, cameras, etc.) and mail them to Cartridges For Kids, who then recycles the material and makes a donation to Unite For Sight based on the contents of each shipment.
To begin this fundraiser, enroll at the Cartridges For Kids website. They will then provide advertising materials and collection bins. Set up these bins throughout campus, focusing on spaces like the library, computer lab, media center and administrative offices. It works particularly well to coordinate the fundraiser with the employee in charge of the printer or copier so that they know to deposit empty cartridges in the collection bin. Volunteers have also collected larger used electronics like GPS devices and laptops from their hometowns during winter and summer break. This is especially successful since larger devices are worth more money.
Cartridges For Kids provides all shipping materials free of charge. Materials should be mailed at least once every six weeks. Most volunteers raise over $20 each month, or approximately $100 during the academic year.
- Penny Wars: Penny Wars relies on students’ competitive instincts to raise money in the form of spare change. This relatively simple fundraiser can be adapted to fit all kinds of campuses; Penny Wars can take place between floors within a dorm, between study groups, or between fraternities and sororities. Each team is assigned a large jar or jug, and earns points based on the coins that they deposit.
There are a variety of scoring systems, but it seems to work well to assign points based simply on the value of the coin. Pennies and silver coins add points, whereas dollar bills subtract points. For example, Team A increases their own score by depositing coins in their jar, and decreases Team B’s score by adding a dollar bill to Team B’s jar. The contents should be emptied and counted daily, and the totals for each group should be posted to encourage friendly competition.
- Bake Sale: This is a reliable fundraiser that consistently earns $50-$150. Baked goods or ingredients can easily be purchased using personal funds. When this funding isn’t available, it works well to ask local restaurants (Dunkin Donuts, Tim Horton’s, Panera, etc.) to donate day-old baked goods. Past volunteers have recommended holding holiday-themed bake sales and offering to delivery treats to the library during exams.
- Movie Night: Movie nights are relatively easy to coordinate: volunteers simply reserve a room, invite students, and project a movie. Attendance seems to be particularly high for holiday movies (a scary movie for Halloween, a Christmas movie in December, a romantic comedy for Valentine’s Day, etc.). To maximize revenue, sell refreshments such as drinks and popcorn. This event has raised as much as $100 in the past.
- Holiday-Grams: In exchange for a donation to Unite For Sight, students can surprise their unsuspecting friends with a holiday gift or message. This fundraiser can be easily modified to fit nearly any holiday. Sell “scare-grams” and arrange to spook people for Halloween. Deliver candy canes with holiday messages during December. Recruit the help of an a cappella group to surprise people with love songs on Valentine’s Day.
- Sports or Videogame Tournament: Students form teams and pay an entry fee to prove their athletic or gaming prowess. It works well to have local businesses donate prizes such as gift cards for the winners. To increase buzz on campus, invite popular professors and staff members to compete.
- Benefit Concert: Invite campus musicians (bands, choirs, orchestras, etc.) to perform at a concert that will benefit Unite For Sight. Admission might include dinner or refreshments donated by a local restaurant as a way to boost attendance.
- Dance Marathon: Organize a full day or night of dancing in which participants pledge to dance for a certain amount of time or compete to see who can remain standing longest. Participants pay to participate, or they can collect sponsorships from their friends and family members. Ask a campus DJ to donate his or her time.
- Date Auction: In this traditional fundraiser, students bid to go out with volunteers. This works particularly well before formal university events or dances.
- Service Auction: Volunteers donate their time and talents in order to raise money for Unite For Sight. Popular donations include tutoring, cleaning, cooking or fitness training.
- Dinner Event: Invite students to attend a dinner to benefit Unite For Sight. Food can be prepared by volunteers, or donated by campus dining or a local restaurant. Some volunteers have had success with “Dine in the Dark” events, wherein attendees experience dining as a blind person would. To increase interest, feature a keynote speaker or a musical group.
- Benefit Run: Have students make a donation or find sponsors in order to participate in a race across campus. To drive turnout, add gimmicks such as holding the run at midnight or placing creative obstacles on the course. It also works well to invite fraternities and sororities, as well as different athletic teams, to participate.
- Trivia Night: Teams of students pay $10 or $20 to compete in a trivia night modeled after a traditional pub quiz. To increase interest, provide snacks or have a local business donate a prize for the winners. Volunteers have similarly held team spelling bees or name-that-tune nights.
- Party: Throw a themed party with a small cover charge that benefits Unite For Sight. Ask a student DJ to donate his or her time, and borrow decorations from a fraternity or sorority on campus.
- Fitness Class: Coordinate with the campus rec center to organize a yoga, Pilates, kickboxing or spinning class led by a professional instructor. Rather than benefitting the gym, a small participation fee would support Unite For Sight.
- Give the Gift of Sight: Sell Unite For Sight gift cards to students to give as gifts during the holidays. Rather than buying Dad another necktie or Mom a sweater, they can honor their loved ones with a donation to Unite For Sight. For sample cards, please see Unite For Sight Gift Cards.
- Half-time Competitions: Host a center-stage competition during a university athletic event. For an entrance fee, attendees can try to score from half-court or participate in an elaborate obstacle course. Feature a prize donated by a local business. This is a great event that not only raises money for Unite For Sight, but also raises awareness about the organization on campus.
- Networking Mixer: Ask graduate students and professionals in health-related fields to attend a mixer with undergraduates. For a small cover charge, undergrads have the opportunity to learn from people who have navigated the process of applying for and succeeding in graduate or medical school.
- Rummage Sale: At the end of the year, ask students to donate furniture, appliances, and other items that they’ll no longer need. You can then resell these items to underclassmen, with all proceeds benefiting Unite For Sight. If storage space is available during the summer, it works well to collect items in the spring and then sell them to incoming freshmen in the fall.
- Restaurant Percent Night: Restaurant percent nights are a great way to raise money for Unite For Sight while spreading awareness about the organization. Local restaurants donate a percentage of their profits on specified days in exchange for the extra business you bring to the restaurant. This kind of event often raises more than $100.
Chain restaurants that have held restaurant percent nights in the past include: Chick-fil-A, California Pizza Kitchen, Panera, Panda Express, Friendly’s, Uno Chicago Grill, Boston Market, BD’s Mongolian Grill, CiCi’s Pizza, Friendly’s, Bruegger's,Max & Erma’s, Moe’s, Noodles & Co., Potbelly, Sonic, Souplantation/Sweet Tomatoes and Buffalo Wild Wings. Family-owned restaurants are also very supportive of this kind of event. For the best results, choose restaurants that don’t require customers to present a flyer or mention Unite For Sight. This way, all purchases contribute towards the Unite For Sight’s proceeds. Volunteers have also increased revenue by placing a donation jar at the cash registers so that customers can donate above and beyond the restaurant’s contribution.
Advertising strategies include distributing flyers in from of the restaurant and making announcements in class on the day of the event. It also helps to encourage students to attend in groups (i.e. with their entire sports team after practice, with their class after a big exam, with their families, etc.).
- Bar Night: There are several different ways to structure a bar night. The bar could donate a percentage of their profits to Unite For Sight, they could donate part or all of a cover charge to Unite For Sight, or you could sell wristbands that entitle customers to discounted drinks. All of these options have raised several hundred dollars for volunteers in the past.
- Amusement Park or Sports Venue Volunteering: Local parks will often make donations to non-profit organizations in exchange for help selling concessions, directing traffic or cleaning up after event. This can be done on- or off-campus.
- Dress-Down Day: Ask local businesses to allow employees to wear casual clothes to work in exchange for a donation to Unite For Sight. Banks and university offices have typically been very supportive of this kind of fundraiser. It also works well to coordinate a dress-down day with local schools that require students to wear uniforms.
- Car Wash: Coordinate resources with campus facilities or a nearby gas station to hold a car wash. Advertise by distributing flyers in the campus parking lot.
- Reverse Trick-or-Treat: Go trick-or-treating with friends, but instead of requesting candy, pass out treats in exchange for a donation to Unite For Sight. Volunteers have held this fundraiser both in dorms and in surrounding neighborhoods. This event has raised over $100 in a single night.
- Seasonal Chores: Go door to door in nearby neighborhoods offering to help residents with seasonal chores such as raking leaves and shoveling snow. Campus facilities are usually able to loan volunteers necessary supplies for yard work.
- Gift-Wrapping: Many department stores and shopping malls host non-profit organizations during the holidays to wrap gifts for customers.
- Grocery-Bagging: Supermarkets often allow students to assist customers with their groceries in order to earn tips for Unite For Sight. This works especially well before Thanksgiving and the Super Bowl.