35. Birthday: If your birthday comes before November 28 you could ask people to donate to your fund raising effort instead of buying you a gift. Use the cards that the church has printed and send them to everyone you know, even to those who would normally not even know it was your birthday.
36. Cakes: If you’re a good baker you can bake cakes and sell them. But if you do this sell them for a higher price than normal and make a big deal about how your customers are helping the youth of Peckham by buying your cakes.
37. Car Wash: Offer to wash cars for a fee. Ask your company if you can use the company parking lot on Saturdays.
38. Car boot sale: Hold a personal car boot sale and invite family, friends, neighbours and colleagues.
39. Coffee & croissants: Get permission from your boss to serve coffee and croissants several mornings a week in the office. Fill one or more thermoses with coffee, buy the croissants and charge more than what would normally be charged for coffee and croissants. Make sure everyone knows what this is about.
40. Company website: Ask your employer if they would include a link to The Ben Nevis Challenge website. This will create awareness and you could also add your fundraiser number.
41. eBay: Sell items on eBay and donate your proceedings. A member in Finsbury Park is an expert on eBay and is holding classes for a small fee about the ins and outs of selling on eBay. Call the HelpLine for information on these classes.
42. Garden clean up: You could offer to clean up people’s gardens for a fee. Remember to charge more than you normally would because it’s for a good cause.
43. Hair cuts, manicures: Offer to give haircuts and manicures to friends and acquaintances and let them know that all the proceeds will go to the Peckham UCKG.
44. Husband/wife’s co-workers: Get your husband or wife to take the Ben Nevis letter with him/her to work and ask their colleagues for donations for you.
45. I won’t accept less than “x”: When you know people well you can tell them that since they are such close friends or colleagues you won’t accept less than “x” amount from them, e.g. £50, £100, £150. (We have people in the church who’re using this idea with lots of success.)
46. Justgiving.com website: At the justgiving website you can set up your own fundraising page where you create a message for your friends, choose your target and the UCKG HelpCentre as your charity, and place a picture of yourself. Then people can donate by card in a fast and easy way. Setting up the page is very easy and people seem to respond well to it. Go to www.justgiving.com and set up your own web page in 3 minutes. It's that easy! See a sample at www.justgiving.com/renatocardoso
47. Karaoke night: Find a Karaoke system and invite people over for a night of singing and fun. As usual, charge for the night (£30, £50). At £30 per person, ten people could bring in £300… twenty could bring in £600.
48. Makeovers: You could do makeovers for women and face painting for children.
49. Market Stall: If you have a local market and willing volunteers, hire a stall and sell something: handmade jewelry, used clothing, used appliances, etc. This can get more money from good quality donated goods. If you need something to sell you could ask family and friends if they have something to donate for your stall.
50. Neighbourhood bake sale: Ask your neighbours to make baked goods and then have a block party to sell them. Neighbours with businesses could even take the opportunity to display their business cards on the tables. All proceeds would go to Ben Nevis.
51. Parachute Jump: This is a real attention-getter. Ask people to sponsor you to go for a parachute jump for the first time in your life. Make sure that the money you raise will be far more than the amount you pay for the jump. (Some parachute jump clubs run charity events for novices. You will usually pay reduced rates for the training and jump.)
52. Park clean up: You could get a company to sponsor you and a group of friends to clean up a nearby park.
53. Raffle: Buy something that people would like to have (iPod, microwave) or ask for a store or restaurant to donate a voucher, and sell tickets for 2 or 3 weeks. Get the participant’s names and phone numbers and notify them of when the drawing will be held. Note: Most gaming regulations state that tickets must be fixed price, you may not sell 5 for the price of 4 since it alters the odds.
54. Residents Association: If you live in a neighbourhood with a Residents Association you could get yourself featured in their monthly newsletter, inviting residents/neighbours to sponsor you, especially if you are a climber.
55. Shave off your beard/go bald: If you are known for your beard or moustache, and no one can remember what you look like without it, friends and colleagues may be willing to sponsor you to have it shaved off. Alternately you could offer to shave your head.
56. Shoe shines: Men and youths could offer to shine friend’s and family’s shoes. This may seem a very humble job, but it will show people that you’re serious about raising the money any way you can.
57. Slimming: Get sponsors for every pound you lose over a certain period. People know how hard it is for some people to lose weight, and when they see that you are prepared to do it in spite of the difficulty, they'll sponsor you. Friends will do this because they want to see you more healthy.
58. Tea party: Several members have done this successfully. Invite people over to your house for tea, cake and conversation. Tell them that everyone has to donate a certain amount (£30 is a good number) because it's for a very good cause. If you want you can show a DVD with the testimonies of the youth in Peckham. (Contact your local pastor if you need DVDs.)
59. Tins: As you know, the church has fundraising tins labeled "Change for Peckham". Take 5 and recruit four friends to fill them up for you. Filling up a tin with £1 and 50p coins will bring in between £50 and £100. If you can get people to fill up tins with those coins, all you would need is between 12 and 25 tins to reach your target of £1250!!!
60. Walk/cycling: Decide on a route of say 3, 5 or 10 miles around local streets or in a nearby park and get sponsored for the whole distance or per mile that you walk/cycle. (This is already being done in Peckham.)
61. Unofficial tutor: Offer to help tutor friend’s, colleague's and neighbour’s children for a fee with school subjects that you are good at. Or offer English conversation classes to people who don't speak well.
62. Window washing: If you have a nice long ladder and are not afraid of heights, offer window cleaning to neighbours and friends.
63. Your testimony: Nothing communicates the importance of a charity more than when you explain your firsthand personal experience of transformation. Even strangers will understand and be willing to support your cause. Check out the “Case Studies” section on the UCKG website to find out about others who have received help at the HelpCentre to add to your story.
64. Your target: When people know your target they’ll be more prone to give something that will make a difference. Let them know that your personal target is £1250, or more.
65. Adopt a fundraiser: If you are a climber, and even if you're not, get other people who are not fundraisers to fundraise for you. Naturally they don't even have to be members of the church. Imagine if you have 5 people filling up 1 or 2 tins a week for you...
66. Singing on the sidewalk: A group of South Africans are dressing up in their traditional African dress and singing traditional African songs outside the Bullring in Birmingham. They are asking people to sponsor them beforehand, and they are accepting donations from onlookers on the day. Positive points are that they are good singers and their traditional dress is varied and attractive.
67. No uniform day: If you are a student in primary or secondary school you could apply to have a No Uniform Day which would mean that on the chosen day every student that attends school without their uniform must pay £1 towards The Ben Nevis Challenge.
REMEMBER don't leave it too late! The earlier you start the more you will get and guarantee reaching your target.
Happy fundraising!
Got any great fundraising ideas? Email them in to us now.
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