Share Your Fundraising Ideas!

[PEPY]

Hey PEPY People! Many people who are signing up for trips are interested in fundraising tips and we know that you have lots of great ideas! Please help us put together some of our most fun and successful fundraising ideas to help our new participants!

Maryann, our Managing Director, just posted this article on Matador (http://matador.org/five-ways-to-raise-money-at-home-for-your-cause-...). Give it a read to get your ideas flowing and then post them to the discussion!

Thanks, The PEPY Team

[Aileen Cameron]

For those PEPY participants working as JETs in Japan, holding a cultural event is a great way to fundraise.

Japanese people (and other foreigners from different countries) are very interested in foreign culture and so will be interested in attending the event for the educational aspect, without even realising they are giving to charity.

Every year here in Ehime my friend and I hold a Scottish Burns Night supper and ceilidh. People come to take part because they get to experience some Scottish culture (food, dance, music, poetry) and they pay 1500yen entrance fee. Even after covering costs (venue, food, equipment, etc) we always make a lot of money for charity!

AND, we get to enjoy the event ourselves! Bonus!

Happy fundraising :)

[Chris Wagner]

My biggest fundraising tip is to be really prepared, do your homework, and have information to give people. Generally, donors will want to know what their money is being put towards, so they'll like seeing things like budgets, project descriptions, etc. (Not quite as thorough as going where your money does, as PEPY would say, but still important!) No donor will want to feel like they're the ONLY person giving you money, so it's helpful to get a couple of "sure things" out of the way early to share with future donors, and to have a list of who else will hopefully be contributing.

I retract my earlier statement, my BIGGEST fundraising tip is to keep in mind that the WORST thing that can happen when you ask someone for money is that they say "no". As long as you're prepared, have evidence to support your cause, and speak with confidence, the rest is somewhat out of your hands. I think it's a good experience to get turned down a few times, you'll learn this lesson and it'll make you bolder in asking others!

[jeffdkennel]

I recently documented PEPY's work in Chanleas Dai (the slideshow is here: http://pepyride.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&...). If any of you need photos to help show people where you're going and what PEPY does feel free to ask PEPY or myself for specific photos and I'll be happy to send you a copy you can print out or use in a slideshow presentation, etc. that might help you in your fundraising efforts.

Could possibly print out some of the photos as postcards to raise money.

Cambodia photos here: http://www.jeffkennel.com/JeffKennelPhotography/multimedia.html

[Maryann Bylander]

Thanks Jeff---FYI guys, these photos ROCK. Check them out and definitely ask if you would like to use any of them!