Are you so excited to go on the program, but not sure how to make it happen financially? You've heard of fundraising ideas, but if you're here that means that you still haven't found the right fit yet. And we're here to help!
So there's a lot of different ways to fundraise and some work better than others for different people. So which is best for you? Are you a Social Butterfly who loves hosting parties and get togethers? Or how about a more Online Social person who is good at making connections with friends on the web? Neither one of these? Read on
Need more tips to get started?
Everything you need to know about fundraising
Fundraising Personality Types
- Social Butterfly
- Online Social
- Connection Maker
- Email Junkie
- Creator
Social Butterfly
Are you the type of person that loves having people over, blasting music and making sure everyone has a good time? Throw a party!
You could get pizza and drinks donated, or make a bunch of different types of cookies and charge a $5 entry to make some extra cash. People will love to support you either way, having treats is just an extra bonus.
You can also host a cook off. Let your friends get creative in what they want to cook, but here are some more ideas. Who doesn't love yummy food and helping out?
Online Social
Recently, a lot of volunteers have been able to get donations online. I have a friend who made T-shirts to raise money for her trip and they turned out so cute. She sold them on Instagram and made some good money to help with her trip.
Fundraising can look like a lot of different things (feel free to get creative!) but our fav method is for you to create a post on your personal social media (just like a normal post) and then share your Venmo + ilp.org/donations as ways to donate and share that post to all of your friends and family to spread the word. It's quick, easy, and donations go straight to your semester.
Connection Maker
Are you a regular at any local restaurants or dessert joints? If not, there are people who you probably have in your corner who would love to help, they just don't know it yet. Something that you could do is go to different restaurants and see if they could make any donations.
Make sure you have some printed information about what your good cause is — like helping children abroad have a brighter future as you serve with ILP!
It helps you, but it also helps them with publicity so it's a win-win! There are a few more tricks here.
Creator
Do you have a hobby that you love doing? Maybe you're into graphic design, or you really like making hair scrunchies. You can create so many things and sell them online where people already hang out all the time. You can create an Etsy shop for basically free, or just sell through Instagram and Facebook. Are you a good baker, or can you follow a recipe? You can make yummy brownies or cookie dough and sell it for $25 a tub. There was one volunteer who did this and raised her entire program fee for Uganda! Use your skills that you already have to your advantage.
Email Junkie
Creating and sending emails can be such a quick and easy way to raise money! We even have templates laid out for you so you can just add details and things that will make it more personal for you. And think of everyone on your contact list. Copy, paste, edit, send!
Pro tip: Use your resources! Do your parents have a huge list of friends that they send important family updates to? Or how about people in your church or workplace? Get that email sent out and then have them forward to their family and friends and then you'll be set.
Ready for more help affording your semester abroad?
Fundraising has really been something that has helped make the experience affordable for our volunteers, so we're a big fan. After talking to so many volunteers over the years of what worked for them and what didn't, we've compiled all of our resources below. We hope it helps.
If you're super proud of the things that you are selling or creative ways that you have fund-raised then post in on social media and tag us @ilpadventure. We would love to see what you come up with, and other volunteers would too!
