The fundraising sector is always changing, primarily due to trends and dietary requirements in schools. The Institute of Medicine’s (IOM) Nutrition Standards for Food in Schools are optional recommendations and primarily influence options for school meals and vending machines, while they also have an impact on fundraising. The IOM suggests implementing the nutrition guidelines for student incentives, fundraising events, and celebrations held in classrooms. In addition, substituting non-food items may have two advantages by reducing unhealthy snacks AND improving physical activity. In addition, a number of organisations state that they prefer not to be concerned with product integrity, product melting in transit, or expiration dates, which is another reason why they picked a non-food fundraiser.
In such, a growing number of non-profit organizations, and school groups are searching the internet for Fundraising Ideas without Food to help raise their necessary funds, or healthy fundraising ideas. There are two main sorts of programs when looking for fundraising ideas without food: fundraising products and fundraising events. Let’s look at some of our top choices for each:
FUNDRAISING PRODUCTS TO SALE
Smencils & School supplies
Since their debut, Smencils and the many other Scentco school supplies have ruled the marketplace for elementary school fundraising. Students can relate to selling pencils, thus it makes sense to do so as a fundraiser. Parents that purchase the items for their kids are giving them a useful and fun gift.
Discount cards / Coupon books
These fund-raising suggestions give their supporters a genuine return on their investment. Additionally, it supports numerous local businesses. Discount cards and Coupon books offer some of the fundraising product highest profit percentage, with some giving up to 90% profits.
Many sports teams and school clubs who compete or travel should find the discount cards and coupon books quite appealing because they will incur restaurant, hotel, and perhaps automobile fees. You may assist students, athletes, and their families in lowering some of these costs by providing them with discount cards.
Some of our favorite products are the restaurant.com gift cards and codes, Movie & Movie card, Entertainment and SaveAround coupon books.
Candles
Most candles use paraffin, the most inexpensive type of wax. Although paraffin is suitable for holding fragrance and color, it tends to create soot as it burns. It’s also not very eco-friendly, as paraffin is a non-degradable byproduct of petroleum. Quality candles tend to use higher-end alternatives to paraffin, such as coconut wax, beeswax, and soy wax. Higher-end candles will cost more, while candles of lower quality will cost less. Based on your target audience, both could help you raise a lot of money.
Flower bulbs
A flower bulbs fundraiser makes a great Spring fundraising idea, while there exist Fall bulbs campaigns. Flower fundraisers are, practical, and environmentally friendly. It is also a fantastic way teach our kids about horticulture while also making a lot of money. Useful, you won’t ask many families to spend more money than they already do; you’ll just ask them to switch where they purchase their flowers.
Magazines, Cookbooks, Book Fair
A fundraising idea that promotes reading. Most American homes buy at least 1 magazine or book annually. Regardless of each and everyone’s interest, a magazine and book fundraiser include a range of publications to enable you to consistently make successful sales! Some fundraising companies even offer digital subscriptions available!
Both a brochure fundraiser and an online version of this program are possibilities. Both can start without spending any money up front. You might even host a book fair by solicitating donations of books and magazines from parents.
Custom apparel
Contrary to snack fundraisers, garment fundraising allows you to promote your organisation with durable and long-term goods that keep contributing. People will wear your merchandise with pride, which will help to spread the word about your company or cause each time they do so. People will enjoy stylish clothes that supports your organisation whether you are raising money for a school, religious organisation, after-school activity, or anything else.
EVENT FUNDRAISERS TO DO AND ORGANIZE
Yard sale
A neighbourhood yard sale is a popular spring and summer school fundraising event. Cleaning out garages, basements, and closets in the spring will help you find items that have been sitting on a shelf. Take advantage of this wonderful chance to request that any unneeded items in good condition be donated by parents and students. In addition to giving folks a motivation to start their spring cleaning, it also gives them an opportunity to donate to a worthwhile cause! Time to turn trash into treasure!
Auction
Request donations from local residents and businesses for a silent auction or raffle of things such as vacation weekends, pool or lawn care, babysitting, or lunch with a local celebrity. You can host a live event in a school, library, community centre, or another location, or you can have an online auction using a service like Auctria.
Small event
Organize a small event that you may sell tickets or charge a fee in exchange for service in order to raise money: car wash, gift Christmas wrapping services, skating and bowling night, Scavenger/treasure hunt. Options are endless… Don’t forget that providing snacks and beverages at these events is a fantastic way to raise even more money.
Large events
Like small events, only bigger and with more participants. Large fundraising event ideas include bike-a-thons, sled-a-thons, walks, dance-a-thons, rock-a-thons, and read-a-thons, for which sponsors donate money by the distance travelled, the number of hours spent dancing, or the number of books/pages read.
Sports and Arts clinic
Provide clinics for a cost. This might be a workshop for seasoned athletes to hone particular skills, or it could be an introductory session for brand-new participants. The most well-liked concepts include martial arts introduction classes, baseball clinics, 3-on-3 basketball competitions, cheerleading clinics, paint workshop, build a piñata, etc
There are so many options offered to those interested in this fundraising idea.
Cooking Class
Ask a nearby cooking school if they would organize a special cooking lesson for your fundraising event. The beautiful part about this approach is that all the ingredients and supplies will be handled by the cooking school. All your cooking students will need to do is pay their tuition (part of which will be donated to your charity and part to cover the costs incurred by the cooking school) and show up prepared to cook.
To raise more money, you can use this chance to offer cooking supplies, ingredients, and cookbooks.
Simply ask
Last but not least, simply ask. Seek direct money contributions. You can write a letter or send an email to your prospective supporters explaining the purpose of the fundraising, how the children or group members will benefit from it, how the money will be used, by when it is needed, and how much.
In conclusion, there are numerous ways to plan events and raise money. The best strategy will be determined by analysing the demographics of your community, the likes and dislikes, and lastly, which fundraisers are now taking place or have previously occurred in your community. This is true whether you are looking for fundraising ideas without food or food fundraising ideas. To avoid unnecessary mistakes and focus on the best fundraising ideas for your organization, recruit volunteers before deciding on the kind of fundraising event you wish to hold. You and the group will be able to collaborate on ideas.
For more fundraising ideas, contact us, or visit our blog for many more suggestions and reviews.
