Online Fundraising Tip of the Week #4: You’re Never Too Old to Hold a Bake Sale.

If you have set a high fundraising goal for yourself like $5000, you’re probably going to reach a point when all your friends and family have contributed and the donations that once came in droves have now slowed down to a trickle.  What do you do if you’re still short of your goal at this point?

Well, when the going gets tough, the tough get creative.   One good strategy is to hold an offline fundraiser event and then contribute the money you raised to your fundraiser page.

There are literally thousands of offline fundraisers you can do to supplement your online fundraising.  Get creative and remember to always have fun with it.  if you’re stuck for ideas, here are just a few examples of fundraisers that have worked for people in the past.

• You’re never too old to hold a bake sale. A few years ago, I promised my friends and family I would run the Marine Corps Marathon in a banana costume if they helped me raise $5000 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital. To go along with the Banana Man theme, I got in my banana costume and sold Trader Joe’s banana bread in my law school lobby.  Unfortunately I underestimated the demand for delicious, delicious banana bread and the stuff sold out within half an hour.  I ended up making about $100 for my fundraiser but if I had had more banana bread, I’m sure I could have easily raised like $10 million dollars.

• Throw a “wristband party” at a bar. If you talk to your local bar manager and tell them you are raising money for a good cause, most bars will allow you to throw a wristband party and keep half the proceeds.  The way a wristband party usually works is you invite a bunch of friends to come drink at a bar with you.  Each person who shows up for your party pays $25 or $30 for a wristband which entitles him or her to free drinks for a set period of time (usually 2-3 hours).  At the end of the night, you split half the cover with the bar.  My friend Amol threw a party like this while he was doing Team in Training (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) for the Chicago Marathon and raised close to $500.

• Babysit. My friend Kristin is training for the Austin Marathon right now with Team in Training. To supplement her online fundraising efforts, she is babysitting for neighbors.   If you decide to babysit make sure to let your neighbors know you are doing this for charity. Sometimes if they’re nice, they’ll give you a little bit higher rate, and depending on how nice they are, you can expect to raise $500-$1000 over the course of a month or so.

If you have any fundraising events that have worked for you and you’d like to share with everyone else, comments are always welcome

Lastly, if you need some more fundraising ideas check out these tips on Step-by-step-fundraising.com.