Two Interesting Fundraising Ideas I Liked Very Much

by Vesna
(Serbia)

Here are two fundraising examples from my personal experience which I found original and exciting.

While I lived in Budapest, I often went to a shopping mall near my apartment where local charities organized all kinds of fundraising activities.

Once they collected food for the homeless. They had a little booth near an entrance to the supermarket. Neatly stacked boxes were all around it, some were already full, and it was covered with colorful brochures.

They handed them out to shoppers who were about to enter the supermarket. Instead of money donations, they asked them to buy various products listed on the brochure, mostly food, generally non-perishable food, and bring them back to the booth.

In my view, when people donate money, most of the time, they figure their roll ends there, but in this case I could choose products I wanted to donate and which I knew were needed. It felt more like picking a gift for a friend.

Another idea comes from what I read in local news...

It was an eye-catching article about the mayor of a small town who decided to raise money for a good cause.

It would not be so unusual if he just gave a speech as a host of the event, but he was the main attraction of the event. He climbed onto the podium and became a living target. According to the news, 5000 balloons were filled with water and ready for launch.

Considering the handsome sum of money the organizers collected it would appear that many had skipped an ice cream or a beer for a shot - pun intended - at the mayor.

The money was donated to a local school for kids with disabilities.

We are used to seeing people such as actors and rock stars campaigning for such-and-such cause, but it is also fun when the campaigner is somebody you can actually meet on the street.

Especially when you live in a small town where everybody knows everybody and especially when that person happens to be the mayor.