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Fundraising Ideas
Who knew fundraising could be so much fun?!

Here are some great tips and ideas to help with your fundraising!
Family and Friends

Friends and family are already so proud of your commitment to make a difference in the world - now is a great time to include them in your plans. If you share with them the details of your global volunteer program and talk to them about the needs of the Kenya, you’ll find most people will want to help. Not everyone has the opportunity to volunteer themselves, so this is a great opportunity for others to be a part of making a difference. Remember that every donation makes a difference. 
 
One idea is to ask talented friends or family members to create goods for you to sell or raffle. Try hosting a bake sale or car wash and see if any friends or family you know can help by providing a venue, special goods or their time and hard work.
 
 
Community Outreach
 
Reach out into your neighborhood and see if local businesses will help in your efforts. Ask a local business to donate a percentage of its profits on a specific day (a local bar could donate 2% of its profits for the event). In most cases, if you can guarantee the owner that you will bring in a lot of customers for your fundraising event, bars and restaurants are usually happy to help the cause. 
 
Contact local Rotary, Lions, Elks or any other special interest groups and clubs, as they might be interested in sponsoring you, especially if you can make a special presentation when you return from abroad.
 
Sell something door to door. Believe it or not, the old fashioned candy selling still works charms (you could buy in bulk at stores like Costco or BJs). Volunteers with artistic talents can even produce their own goods (teeshirts, mugs, pins, etc.) to sell. Make sure you calculate the sale price in relation to the cost of the materials and the time spent making and selling their production. These types of items could also be sold at a local fair or similar event. If it is around the holiday season, try selling something people would want to buy anyway, such as candy near Halloween or hand-made ornaments before Christmas.
 
 
Provide a Service in Exchange for Donations
 
Your elderly neighbor may need her driveway shoveled and your grandpa may be looking to have his yardwork done. Ask family, friends and neighbors if they would like to take a day off while you clean out their attic, wash their car, organize closets or babysit their children. Remind them that you are traveling to Kenya to do volunteer work and every little bit helps. 

You can also offer to give private tutoring in an area of expertise to teens in the neighborhood or if you have a specific skill, (spanish speaking, accounting, carpentry, massage therapy, autobody repair - the list is endless!) now is a great opportunity to use use these tools for your fundraising efforts. 


Fundraising Event Ideas 
 
Raffle
 
This can be done either in person or over email. Ask everyone you know to buy $15 raffle tickets to be entered into a prize drawing. Offer several prizes for the first, second, and third names to be drawn. Ask business owners you know or in the community to donate the prizes for your raffle. Other ideas may be to buy something using gift certificates from birthdays or the holidays or sell unwanted items on eBay to find a new home while you buy a new item for your raffle; or, you can give away framed photographs you've taken, wine, movie tickets and more. 
 
 
Game Night
 
Make fundraising fun by hosting a game night with friends and family. Create a quiz about Kenya with the history, current events, native animals, year of independence, current president, size of the country or popular movies filmed there. Ask participants to pay $10 to enter for a chance of winning the grand prize (see "Raffle" for gift ideas). You can even do a "Jeopardy" style game by only awarding points for answers given in the form of a question (i.e. "What is Kenya?"). If you're into gaming, you could also host a video game or board game competition with a grand prize for the winner. A $10 entry fee to win possibly a brand new video game, a board game or anything else that may tie in with the games.  
 
 
Movie Night  
 
If you know someone with a large screen TV and lots of space, or if you ask a local independent movie theatre to donate a theatre for one film screening, you could play a documentary film about Kenya for $5 at the door. It's a great way to educate your peers about Kenya and raise some money for your volunteer program! 
 
 
Sponsored Sporting Event
 
Participate in a sporting event where you can ask friends and family to support your run / walk / bike / triathalon for a cause. This is a popular and great way to raise funds for what you believe in! 
 
 
School Presentation
 
Contact local schools and classrooms to see if they would like to help other children around the world. Not only would school council probably like to help raise funds, but the children will also get the opportunity to learn about people in another part of the world. You can bring an educational presentation to the school about Kenya complete with slideshows, videos and cultural music. You can even ask the students to draw pictures or write letters to their new friends in Africa. Many schools would probably be interested in a presentation even after you return to see what you've accomplished. This is a great way to reach out not only to your global community - but your local community, too! 
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