Fund Raising Promotional Products & Volunteers

Fund raising for a charity or a cause is fun. Importantly it raises important funds for worthwhile causes. Therefore it is quite important to not only have a good time but to extract the maximum amount of revenue as possible. Choosing promotional products wisely with products that appear much more expensive than they actually are worth or simply having products that are appealing and cheerful can definitely help. What can also help is to encourage participants to volunteer their time. Fund raising events typically require a lot of hands to help make it a success. Success defined as revenue raised, fun and enjoyment to be had and a really lively atmosphere which can only be created by participants and enthusiasm.

To involve more volunteers the first thing you may want to consider is community. Your charity may be a national or even an international event, however without local community involvement it simply will not resonate with the general public. So engage with local businesses to begin with. Perhaps a local bank manager may be able to help you get in touch with the head office. Many local and national businesses love to have their staff involved in community days. For a corporate there are many advantages in participating in locally run fund raising events including:

- Fuss Free Team Building

- As stress relief break from daily work routine

- Corporate Branding Exposure as a caring company in the community

- Engagment with the community (who are all potential customers)

- It is Fun and most if not all fund raising events are simply worthy causes

In fact i am aware of many companies that simply have community days embedded within their employment conditions from the lowest to highest management teams so that they are compulsory events where they must participate.

Other than local businesses another good source of volunteers is engaging with local schools. Primary schools would require close supervision from adults whilst high school teenagers may potentially not require as much close supervision. School children and teens when their energy is directed in the right way can be quite enthusiastic and can really liven up an event. From a students perspective they can learn a lot of different skills and some of the benefits for students include:

- Business skills in marketing, pricing and merchandise sale cycle

- Confidence building in engaging with adults with a commercial transaction

- Stress relief from daily study routine

- Fun

The learning that students can get is not of the hard text book variety but of the soft skills in absorbing how a product can be marketed as well as having an insight into marketing and promotion of a product. One thing to consider though is the liability of fault should anything happen outside of school grounds and is an issue that needs to be discussed with the school. Potentially legal waivers may need to be signed by the student depending on the type of event you are holding.

Other good ways to engage the community and to have extra pairs of hands to help your event become a success include contacting local clubs such as RSL as well as sporting clubs. Religious groups may also have members who are all too willing to assist. However as opposed to students and workers they may not be available during normal weekday school and work hours. Fund raising is a worthy event which is to help people. Deep down everyone wants to help and appealing to them as well as having fun with the community for the community for your charity should be easy.