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Three Quirky Group Fundraising Events (And How You Can Replicate Their Success)

One great way to get noticed as a charity is to figure out quirky ways to raise money that get people involved and that inspire the donations you want. From slightly off to downright strange, your group can get their inspiration from others who have gone a different route with raising funds. Events such as these are an especially effective way of engaging your corporate supporters by encouraging their workforce to become actively involved in fundraising.

1) Pay to Abandon a Dress Code

One way to garner donations is to dare individuals to ditch their dress codes for a day like the upcoming “Wrong Trousers Day” by The Grand Appeal. The premise is by paying £1, supporters can wear ‘wrong trousers’ to work instead. What constitutes ‘wrong trousers’? Anything loud and colourful fits the bill.

This is a very clever way to raise funds. Donors get to spend the day in something fun, but they also stand out amongst their co-workers. When asked about why they’re wearing wrong trousers, they can talk about the charity, ultimately transforming them into passive advertisers.

2) Say it with Sweets

Sweets are a very popular means of getting a message across and increasing the bonds between friends and co-workers. The point is to get together with co-workers or friends to bake cupcakes, which are then sold to hungry customers, thereby raising donations for your cause.

You can do literally anything with this concept, including having some kind of fun theme, where all of the bakers dress in a certain way, and all the cupcakes reflect the theme. For example, you could have a 1950s Cupcake Day, where the treats are designed in the style of the decade, and your group is decked out in poodle skirts and leather jackets. You can even have 50s music playing in the background on the day of the sale.

3) Travel in (Silly) Style

If your corporate has group plans to travel to a conference, you can raise awareness about your cause by encouraging them to dress in the same way, such as all in costume. Perhaps you could travel dressed as superheroes, with the intention of garnering donations for your organisation while abroad.

You might also consider if there is any charity work related to your organisation that needs doing in the city or town your supporter’s group is travelling to. This could have several benefits, not the least of which is the cross-promotion of your charities. You need a good relationship with a supporter to arrange this kind of event, but if you’ve got the courage to arrange it, it can really pay off in terms of publicity, and may even go viral on social media.

Spreading the word

In order to get the word out about your quirky event, you need to be able to reach a lot of people. One very effective way to do this is by accessing your CRM’s list of previous donors. These individuals are supporters already, and so are more likely to tell their own contacts about your plans.

You should post your event on your website, as well as on all of the social media your charity uses. Then, using your CRM system, aggregate the reaction to your efforts from all of your channels. Reviewing this information will provide a good overall picture of how your campaign is doing. Having this picture of your campaign will make it far easier to make those seemingly small adjustments that can have a major impact on the amount of donations you receive.

There really is no limit to the size and scope of quirky fundraising events your charity can put on. The sense of fun and camaraderie that this kind of event can create will put corporate donors in just the right frame of mind to support your cause.