Like the non-profits below, be sure to send us all your great fundraising ideas to share and in the meantime,click here to get our fundraising tip sheet.

A "Fun-raising" Idea from First Congregational Church:

This Sunday, October 4, runners in the Big House Run will be passing our church. Many of our church members will be running. We need you to be cheerleaders - Please think about coming early (around 9 a.m.) and providing encouragement to the runners as they pass by the church - maybe sing some songs, or bring noisemakers to use as they pass by, or just shout encouraging words. Thanks!

Fundraising Ideas from Big Hearts for Seniors (BHS):

The UM Health System (UMHS) older adult programs (Ann Arbor Meals on Wheels, Housing Bureau for Seniors, Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UM, Silver Club, and Turner Senior Resource Center) worked together to form a team to walk in the 2008 Big House Big Hearts race. We raised over $35,000 for our non-profit organizations! We are forming a team again in 2009 and hope to exceed last year's fundraising amount. Big House Big Hearts provides non-profits with the infrastructure to raise money and there is no "middle man."

Here are a few ideas that your organization may want to try to help raise funds for your organization:

- Appoint team leaders and ask each to find X number of walkers to be on your team
- Ask walkers to indicate a personal fundraising goal
- Use Big House Big Heart's "sample letter" to create your own personalized letter about the race and your participation for your non-profit; your walkers can distribute it to friends/family/coworkers
- Reach out to businesses to sponsor your team; we developed a letter with sponsor levels and "perks" for businesses (e.g., if you sponsor our team at Platinum level, your business name and logo will be displayed on our t-shirt, at the Expo, on a flyer in the runners' bags, etc.)
- Reach out to organizations who support your non-profit and ask them to have employees join your team to raise funds
- Sell cookies or have raffle items at your Expo table
- Post flyers and goal charts (asking for walkers and/or $$) in lobby of all appropriate buildings
- Put a tip jar in all appropriate lobbies
- Collect recyclables and donate to the team; put a visible receptacle for recyclables in lobbies
- Sponsor bake sales on monthly basis; include crafts if team members have items to donate
- One of our members raised money by asking her co-workers (who she visits on-site periodically) for "just a quarter" every time she sees them! It adds up!
- If you're involved with committees, boards, groups, etc., bring your pledge card and talk about your effort; ask for donations from these acquaintances
- If you're involved in an exercise class, that's a great opportunity to talk about the event and ask for donations
- If hosting a friends' party, put out a "tip jar" for your effort
- One member spoke to her hairstylist and she thought it was such a great idea that she put out a jar for donations from her customers
- Give out "prizes" (e.g., gift certificate, gift basket donated from a business) to your top walker fundraisers
- Invite your friends and neighbors to a fundraising spaghetti dinner (or Mexican etc.); ask for "donations" to attend and hold a 50/50 raffle
- Hold a card party and charge nominal fee to participants
- Send out a press release before the event to raise awareness of your goals. Click here for an example from Big Hearts for Seniors.

You'll be surprised how lots of small donations add up! Good luck!

Big Hearts for Seniors

Fundraising Ideas from Hope Clinic:

At Hope Clinic, we are encouraging our patients and clients to participate in the event. They’ll be sponsored by the different squads we have running from a variety of organizations. We hope to encourage our patients to be more active and fit, and see the BHBH as a great way to do that. We also believe that by having a personal connection between the squads and our clients, those participating on the squads will understand the needs of others a little more clearly and will raise additional funds because of it.

Greta Buck
Hope Clinic

Fundraising Ideas from ProQuest Pathfinders:

“I’d walk a mile for a Camel”
Super Bowl TV ad for Camel cigarettes (1969)

Forty years later, the motivation for walking a mile has changed significantly, and for the better. Now you can walk (or run) a mile for healthful reasons. Tomorrow, Friday September 18, is National Run@Work Day

To train for the Big House Big Heart run, ProQuest PathFinders team members plan to run or walk a one-mile loop in the ProQuest neighborhood.

Anthony Targan
ProQuest

Fundraising Ideas from It's My Heart:

Our National has a relationship with Blackbaud-Kintera and they have a system where you can create a website (done by our web admin), link it to them, and they will collect fundraising money and disburse the money into your account. People LOVED this. We also accepted checks and cash of course, but this site was a hit. We had a main site where everyone in our group signed up under and then, everyone had their own page where you could write why you were participating, thank your donors, etc... We used Facebook, Twitter, blogs, work email accts, bulletin boards, and personal email accounts to get the word out about the site and our individual pages. We used ourselves as "walking billboards" by wearing CHD apparel and getting our stories out there.

I used Facebook and my blog A TON. Facebook especially. I was constantly updating my status on there with the link to our site. I also posted pictures of my son and told his story on both Facebook and my blog. When his journey story was published in our newsletter, and I sent that out to my family to see, my brother used his story to solict funds...he finished second in fundraising. People were genuinely moved by my son's story and sent ME emails about him. I think I can speak for all of the officers when I say we used the best assets we have, our children. What they have gone through and what their friends have gone through speaks to people. And everything we do is for them, their CHD friends and our fellow CHD parents.

We encouraged our team to fundraise by giving an incentive of having a team shirt provided to them free of charge if they raised a certain amount. The shirts cost a fraction of that suggested amount and everyone was able to have them. We all wore that shirt on race day so no matter what event one competed in, IMH was represented. We had a tent where everyone could gather and be a team. We solicited donations from local businesses and provided refreshments to our team. Everyone loved the comradery the day brought about. We also had a friend of mine take professional type pictures of everyone and the team as a whole. We used Constant Contact to send out weekly emails and updates.

Lastly, it all comes down to people's generosity. People gave WAY more than I ever expected they would in today's economy. I clearly underestimated what I thought we would get with our original goal. We are humbled and overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and generosity. To that end, way more people participated with us that we had estimated. In the end, nearly 50 ppl came out that day to run or walk with us!

Mary E. Brown
It's My Heart