House
Party – This is a sure-fire way to fund raise. Call your Rider Rep
today to schedule your event!
Corporate Matching Gift – Ask your company to match the amount
of pledges you receive from your fellow co-workers.
Your own personal friend Matching Gift – Ask a friend to see
if they can investigate getting their company to match pledges.
Corporate Sponsorship – Identify one or several large
companies and contact them directly. They may be willing to sponsor you
completely.
Garage Sale - Know all that stuff that’s been hanging out in
your garage…in your attic…in your basement? Gather it up and ask your
friends to do the same. Put it in your front yard and sell, sell, sell!
Put all the money raised toward your pledge minimum!
Bake Sale – Become Julia Child (and ask your friends to do the
same) and host a bake sale. You can even have it in conjunction with your
garage sale. It’s a fact that people will buy more stuff on an empty
stomach!
Extra Change In My Pocket" Box - Create these little boxes
for your friends and family and have them place it on their dresser. At
the end of the day they can drop that spare change in the box. Before the
May 11th pledge deadline you can gather the boxes and count the
dough!
Office Fundraising Challenge – Speak with everyone in your
office and get them to challenge each other to raise the highest amount.
Give the "winner" a prize. Maybe some movie passes? Gift
certificate to dinner?
Answering Machine Message – This will alert everyone who calls
you at home that you’re up to something special! Let them know that you
need their support!
Return Address Labels – Print return address labels for your
outgoing mail. Print something like, "I’m riding in California AIDS
Ride 8 Presented by Tanqueray. Will you sponsor me?" You may want to
include a pledge form and a self-addressed envelope to make it really easy
for them.
Internet Chat Rooms – post a message on an internet chat room.
You’d be amazed at how many people you don’t even know who will be
willing to help you.
Web Site Creation – Create your own website about your AIDS
Ride journey. Send an e-mail to everyone on your contact list and invite
them to visit the website.
Ask your local waiter/waitresses to donate a portion of one day’s
tips – Ask your local waiters and waitresses to donate a portion of
their tips to your cause.
Ask your local bartender to donate a portion of one day’s tips
– Same as the waiters and waitresses. Ask them to donate tips from one
night. You can create a sign for the bartender to place on the bar stating
that "All tips collected tonight will go directly to "Joe
Rider" who’s riding 575 miles to raise money for those people
living with HIV/AIDS."" If the patrons see that sign they may be
willing to dig a little deeper in their pocket!.
Ask your local restaurants to place a money jar at the front of the
restaurant – Check with the restaurant manager. They may be willing
to place the jar in a high traffic area so lots of patrons can see it.
Fundraising dinner at your local favorite restaurant – Ask
your favorite local restaurant to host a Fundraising Dinner for you. They
supply the food and your supply the pledge forms!
Happy Hour party – Invite all your friends (and their
friends!) and get them to sign your AIDS Ride T-shirt (the one you’ll be
wearing as you ride out of San Francisco. Charge $10.00 per signature.
Theme Party/Dinner – Hold a theme party for 10 ( or more) of
your friends. Donation: $50.00 per person. Spend no more than $20.00 per
person on the food and you’ll have $300.00 (or more) in pledges by the
end of the night.
Movie ticket donation – Ask your local movie house to donate
several movie tickets. Sell them and put the money toward your pledges.
Host a movie party at your house – Pick up a new flick at your
local movie store, make some popcorn, pick up some soda and invite your
friends and family over for movie night. Of course have your pledge forms
ready to go!
Local theater to donate tickets to a performance – Ask a local
theater to donate a couple tickets to one of their plays or musicals and
auction them off.
Birthday gift pledge – This is a very simple way to raise
money and it’ll be a lot easier for your friends and family to write you
a check instead of spending hours trying to shop for you!
Christmas gift pledge – I know, I know. This is a tough one
for those of us who love to open up gifts during the holidays but it’s
an easy way to reach your pledge minimum.
Valentine’s Day pledge – It’s always sweet to get a dozen
roses from your sweetie but it’ll be even sweeter for your sweetie to
write you a sweet little check and put it in a card addressed to you.
Delegate – Give 10 of your friends 10 pledge forms each and
ask them to help raise money for you.
Creative Friends - Find a local artist or ask a creative friend
if they would donate a piece of art or some jewelry that you could auction
off.
House Warming Party – Are you moving anytime soon? If so, ask
your friends to make a pledge instead of purchasing a gift for your new
place.
Color Pledge Forms – These
can be very eye-catching. Send them in colored envelopes, too. These will
stand out among your friends’ bills and
stuff. – Do you always make your travel plans through the
same agency? Ask them to donate a travel voucher. You can auction it off
at one of your parties.
Doctor/Therapist/Veterinarian/Insurance Agent – Ask him/her to make a check out for you instead of the
other way around!
Dentist – Hopefully you won’t have to pull teeth to get him/her
to help you out a little!
Chiropractor – They've cracked your back. Now ask them to crack
open their check book and make a pledge.
Yoga Instructor – You’ve bent over backwards for them…now it’s
their turn to do the same for you!
Radio Station – Call your favorite radio station and ask them to
make an announcement on the air. They may even interview you. Pledges can
be sent directly to the pledge office.
Gym – Ask you gym to place a Pledge Jar at the front desk! Leave
a stack of pledge forms at the counter, too.
Spinning Class – Have a stack of pledge forms with you and ask
your spinning instructor to make an announcement in class.
Hair Salon – Ask your barber or hairdresser to donate $2.00 of
every haircut they complete over one weekend.
Picnics – National Holiday Picnics are a great place to raise
some pledges!
Christmas Tree Ornaments – Get creative (and ask some friends to
pitch in) and make some ornaments for the holiday season. Sell them at a
local bazaar or fair.
Mow-a-thon – Get your kids involved in this weekend activity.
Check ahead of time with all your neighbors and ask them if you can mow
their lawn for $50.00.
Neighbor – Write to all your neighbors on your block (or in your
building). Attach a letter stating what you're training for and ask them
to make a donation.
Free Rent! – ask your landlord to donate one-month’s rent to
the cause!
Good Karma Tipping Jar – Ask local businesses to put one of those
jars near the register or on their front counter. Tape of picture of
yourself near your bike and short explanation of why you’re raising
money.
Errand boy/girl – Offer to be your friends and coworkers personal
assistant for a day (or maybe for just a few hours) in exchange for a
large donation. Maybe $250.00 or more!
We’re in Hollywood after all! – If you’re a make-up artist
take a portion of your fee and turn it into a pledge.
Garden Tour – Check with a local historical society to see if
they would sponsor a garden tour of one or several homes in your area.
Promote the event in local newspapers.
Meet the Press – Does your company distribute a newsletter? Does
your company have interoffice e-mail? Take advantage of these! It’s a
perfect way to get the word out.
Baby sitting – Offer up your services and let your friends have a
nice, quiet night out of the house!
Pet sit – Are your neighbors going away and they don’t want to
leave "Spot" at the boarding facility? Again, offer up your
services and charge them what they would have had to pay at the facility!
House sit – Friends going out of town for awhile? Maybe they need
a warm body to stay in their place in their absence!
Neighborhood Chores – Are you a Mr. Or Ms. Fix-it? A lot of your
neighbors would probably rather pay you than someone else. Place signs
around your neighborhood advertising your services (i.e. watering gardens,
cleaning roof gutters, sweeping the driveway, fixing an easy plumbing
problem, painting a room, etc.)
Karaoke Night – Who cares if you can’t carry a tune. Spend a
Friday night at a Karaoke Bar and sing your guts out! Have the announcer
tell the crowd that you’re singing for pledges!
Talented Friends – Do you have a little piano bar in your
neighborhood and a talented piano playing friend? Ask the owner to let you
bring some friends in one night for a cocktail and piano night. Charge
anyone who attends and let them know that it’s a fundraising event for
California AIDS Ride.
ebay.com – Remember the garage sale idea? How ‘bout rounding up
the goods from your friends and putting it all in Ebay.com to be auctioned
off?
Company Vacation Days – Ask your boss or human resources director
if they can swap one of your vacation days for a day’s pay.
Sell Spokes – Sell each spoke of your wheels for $20.00 each.
In memory of… - If you’re riding in memory of a loved one,
include a picture of you with your loved one in your pledge letter, on
posters, etc.
Pledges for each day on the ride – Ask people to pledge an amount
for each day on the Ride. Remember, they can pledge over a 10 month period
- $50 minimum if it’s on the credit card. Translation = $50/day over 7
days means you will receive $350.00 from each person.
Pet Birthday Party – I know this may sound a little dorky, BUT,
people love their pets. And they love other pets…even yours. Get the
word out that if they were thinking about buying "Sparky" if new
toy maybe they should think about writing a check out to California AIDS
Ride instead!
Television show finale Party – Remember M*A*S*H? Remember when
Ross married Rachel? Remember when Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer ended
up in jail? How about when Niles and Daphne sped off in an RV on the
"Frasier" finale last year? It’d be fun to gather a big group
and friends to tune in to watch a big season or series finale. Of course,
charge ‘em at the door and put the $$ toward your pledges.
Game night – Get out those board games and start playing! Break
into teams and let the fun begin.
Host a poker game – call your serious (or not so serious) card-playin’
friends invite them over for poker night.
Bowling Nights – plan a fun night of bowling at your local lanes.
Ask the owner to waive the cost of bowling and you can collect that money
and turn it into pledges.
Used book sale – Everyone has books that have been sitting on
shelves or in the attic in boxes or in the basement collecting dust. Ask
your friends, family and neighbors to donate whatever they’ve got and
set up a little weekend book sale in your front yard. Wear your AIDS Ride
t-shirt and put up some signs so people will know where the money is
going. Once they know that they may even give you more money! And in the
words of Martha Stewart, "That’s a good thing".
Local Stores – Ask a local store manager what the hot selling
item is these days and THEN ask them if they’d be willing to donate a %
of the sales from that particular item to you.
Curse Jar – C’mon, everyone does it. Now they’ll have to pay
for it. Place a Curse Jar in your office and whenever someone says a bad
word they have to open up their wallet, grab a dollar and put it in the
jar.
Dress Down Day – Ask your company to allow an official California
AIDS Ride 8 Dress Down Day. For the privilege of dressing down, employees
pledge $20.00 toward the ride.
Company Grants – Find out if your company offers grants to
employees who volunteer their time for charitable causes. If so, you can
volunteer your time at the Ride office and get paid grant money (pledges!)
for the work. You may need a letter from us stating that you’ll be
volunteering in the office and we’d be happy to make that happen.
Church Bulletin – place an advertisement in your Church bulletin
letting the congregation know what you’re up to!
Red Ribbon Distribution – create small red ribbons to bring
awareness to our fight against HIV/AIDS. Sell them to your friends, family
members, etc.
Pledge Letter – Remember to have all the pertinent information in
the letter: What you’re doing, why you’re riding, the amount of money
you’re trying to raise, the deadline for raising the money, a pledge
form with your name and rider #, return envelope to make it easy for them
to send in the $$, postcard which your sponsor can mail back to you
alerting you that they’ve made a contribution (this card is in your Ride
Guide and can by photocopied onto card stock at any printer).
Is there a teacher in the house? – Get your students to help you
fundraise. Kids are incredibly creative and cute, too! Have them put
together those red ribbons for you!
Sell Your Secrets! – We’re in LA, LA Land.
Other Parents – If your kids play on soccer leagues or any other
sports teams distribute your pledge forms to the other parents at the
event.
Ride Along – Ask a potential donor to ride along on one of your
training rides. They may be more willing to donate once they fully
understand what you’ve committed to doing!
Remind Them – In case you didn’t receive an answer the first
time you asked….ask again! Your potential donor may need a little
coaxing.
Inspirational Book Marks – Create them and sell them to your
friends and family.
Universities and Colleges – Contact your local schools and ask if
you can put an advertisement in their school newsletter asking for
donations. Some of the organizations may even invite you to make a short
presentation.
Bicycle Companies – Contact a couple of the big bike companies.
Tell them what you’re training for and ask them if they would like to
sponsor you for the entire amount! You may even get some cool riding gear,
too. Ask big and ye shall receive!
Computer Screen Savers – Create a California AIDS Ride 8 Screen
Saver and send it to everyone in your company! A gentle reminder is a good
reminder!
Mechanic – You’ve given ‘em lots of money to work on your
car. Now it’s time for them to give a little back to you!
It’s Football Season! – And that means it’s a perfect time to
get some football parties going! And what’s a football party without a
football pool? Of course, all the proceeds will go toward your pledges!
Speaking of Football – Host a Super Bowl party in January and
ask your guests to make some pledges toward the Ride!
Rock on! – If you know any musicians, ask them to perform a
benefit concert. Tell people that their admission ticket is a check made
out to California AIDS Ride 8.
Share the Ride – Tell your story. The more you talk about your
upcoming adventure, the more people will share in that excitement and want
to pledge to you.
Children’s Party – Throw on that Barney outfit and get out
there! The kids will be having fun as their parents are writing you pledge
checks!
Wine and Cheese Party – Host a party at a local restaurant and
ask the owner to donate the wine and cheese.
Temporary Tattoos – Swap a temporary tattoo for a pledge.
Names Project – Call your local chapter (the AIDS Quilt) and see
if they would be willing to display some panels at your House Party.
Do you have a favorite magazine? – Call the editor and ask them
to sponsor you on the Ride. If you’ve subscribed to a particular
magazine for a long time they may be willing to give something back to
you.
Fraternities and Sororities – Contact the National Chapter of
your college Fraternity or Sorority and ask them to make a donation.
Alumni Organizations – Call your own college or university and
ask them to place an ad in the alumni newsletter asking for donations.
Ask for the right amount – Take a good look at who you’re
asking for donations and make sure you ask for the right amount. Don’t
ask for $100.00 if you know they can pledge $1000.00.
Beneficiaries – Get to know them well. You’ll be asked where
the money is going and it will be very impressive to a potential donor if
you’re able to speak eloquently about it.
Start now! – The earlier you begin fundraising the better off you’ll
be. You’ll be able to go way beyond your pledge minimum and then can
focus on your training.
Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. Ask. – And ask
again!
