- Year-round fundraising. Ideally, fundraising occurs all year round and not just during the month or so between states and globals. The problem with this is what to do with the funds if you don't actually make it to globals? Our town has a non-profit that supports the DI program. Money accumulates with that organization so that it's there when a team does make it to globals. That's the theory, although I realize there's a lot of details in the implementation which I do not know.
- GoFundMe. We got tipped off to this during our first trip to globals and we're using it again. The site does take a fee off the top, but it's worth the cost in the ease of use. A lot of successful fundraising has to do with reducing friction for those who want to donate, and GoFundMe does a great job of that.
- Business sponsorships. Our town has a culture of working with local businesses to provide support for various things. It really does take a village. I realize that demographics and culture might make this a less viable option. Remember that it's a culture that has to start sometime and somewhere, so why not with supporting DI? You can even sweeten the deal by mentioning how you will display your gratitude for the fundraising.
- Business fundraisers. This is another side of the previous item, but maybe more palatable for businesses. We have a number of restaurants in the area that will do proceed sharing nights. For example, 20% of the proceeds from orders at Ginger during April 23rd were donated to our town teams heading to Global Finals. I admit that the owners of the restaurant have a daughter on one of the teams, but I've seen other organizations do similar things with a local pizza place. It makes sense: you drive traffic to their restaurant and so everybody wins.
- Bonfire. We did a t-shirt fundraiser for the first time this year and it took off like gangbusters. Part of that came from a particularly popular design by the older sister of one of the team members, but even our less popular shirts did well. Obviously you want some kind of original design that will sell well, but that's a little like saying "buy low, sell high" on the stock market.
- Cookies. A different organization we participate in uses selling cookie mixes and doughs to fundraise. We are dipping our toes into that a little right now, although I cannot report on the results for us yet. We have noticed success elsewhere with selling cookie doughs or mixes. It takes some time to create and deliver the goods, but the supplies are actually pretty cheap and yield a good return for what you sell. I've seen a similar approach done with pizzas.
- Share. Share on every social media platform you have, and then do it again. Specifically, I am thinking of Facebook and Instagram. If you use Twitter, tweet early and often. Same with Pinterest. Even go for Reddit, if it fits. I am not sure about LinkedIn as a platform for this, but I tried it. I am not a Snapchat user so I did not use that myself, and the same goes for Whatsapp. I probably should have. Once you have the GoFundMe or Bonfire or whatever set up, market it on social media over and over and over again.
- Individual emails. Email your family. Email your friends. Email everybody you know. Probably don't email your coworkers, but if they have an off-topic channel or list or forum, put it there. Don't spam people (email them repeatedly), but a single reach out shouldn't bother anybody. Ask for donations, but also ask for them to share with THEIR networks.
While it's great to score a big raise through these efforts, it's really more about eating the elephant: one bite at a time. Good luck and have fun!
