As two families adopting from our Taiwan program start their fundraising process, we decided to share with you some creative and fun ideas for successful fundraising. For example, the Smith’s and Tybor’s, two families adopting their forever children from Chung Yi in Taiwan, chose a silent auction for their fundraising. They asked local businesses to donate services to be auctioned off after a dinner. This great idea incorporates their community with their cause. Here are a few great ideas for your fundraiser.

1) *Pop That Balloon: You will need balloons, canvases, darts, paint, and tape. (You might also want some cute decals as well.) First, fill balloons with different paint colors. We suggest sticking with lighter colors, so you don’t end up with a black blotch of paint on the canvas. Also, you can buy different types of paint, like watercolors, acrylics, or oils. Tape the paint-filled balloons to canvases of different sizes. Have the participants buy darts to throw and ultimately burst the balloons. Then, after the dart-throwing fun, they can buy their favorite work of art. Also, as the picture to the side demonstrates, you can have images on the canvas. Just securely use paint tape over the area you do not want paint to go. After the paint dries, you can remove the tape to show the awesome image.

2. Save the Change: This fundraiser really allows people get involved in your adoption. Petition people to save their leftover change at the end of the day. Suggest a container to house the leftover change. This could be a baby bottle or a decorated mason jar. In Poland, one of their natural resources is salt. So you could suggest people keep their change in an empty salt container. For Taiwan, cuisine plays a huge part in their notoriety. Bubble tea, a milky tea filled with tapioca pearls is vastly popular. So you could suggest people keep their change in an empty Lipton tea box or even a teapot if they are feeling fancy. At the end of the month, they could donate the amount to an online account or directly to you.

3. Meal and Cookbook: Have locals make homemade meals to donate to the auction. Also, have them donate the recipe to be placed in a cookbook. Auction off the meals and the cookbooks to participants. This way people get to taste the meal as well as getting a collection of local staples. It’s a win/win.

4. Tried and True: There are plenty of fundraising ideas that have been successful over the years. Lemonade stands, T-shirt sales, candy sales, etc. Put a twist on these tried and true fundraising ideas. Instead of a lemonade stand, do a smoothie stand. Smoothies are huge right now for the health benefits they supply. Offer a variety of options and let customers create their own. Offer personalized T-shirts. Let people choose the tie dye colors they want, or even let them tie dye their own shirt. Instead of selling corporate candy, sell homemade cake pops, truffles, pancake pops, pie pops, rice crispy treats dipped in chocolate, fruit dipped in chocolate, s’mores kits or flavored popcorn (red velvet, parmesan, ranch, pepperoni pizza, bacon jalapeno). The ideas are endless, and pinterest is a great resource to find recipes and other ideas.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 662-842-6752.
*photo courtesy of pinterest