Raising Money With Free Fundraisers

If you've ever been involved with fundraising, especially those in which kids are involved, you've probably seen your share of certain popular fundraisers. Some of the more common ones include bake sales, candy fundraisers or other product sales, dances and other special events, auctions, raffles and yard sales.

These are usually labor intensive activities and tend to require a substantial investment in time and money from the supporters (read: parents). Among the endless duties you'll recognize in these types of fundraisers include making, or buying and storing products for resale, producing and distributing flyers, making phone calls, taking kids door to door, collecting money, working ticket booths, supervising, cleaning up after events, driving back and forth, etc. The list is endless.

Although these fundraising ideas can raise a lot of money quickly, some people get so tired of the whole process they sometimes try to bypass it altogether by just donating money instead, so they can avoid all the grunt work. The bakeless bake sale was invented for this very purpose. Instead of actually making or selling anything, would-be volunteers send in a check for the same amount they would have spent or raised, thereby circumventing the actual bake sale – hence the term "bakeless".

Fundraising doesn't always have to cost a lot of money or be so difficult. There are some excellent FREE fundraisers available that are especially well-suited to large groups such as schools or religious organizations.

One such idea, specifically for schools, requires no ongoing effort at all; that is, beyond what you do on a day to day basis: shopping for groceries, buying gas, going to the movies, etc. Some banks, such as Washington Mutual, credit a small amount to your school account every time you make a purchase. Your purchases must be made with the WAMU debit card and the accumulated credits must exceed a certain amount at the end of the year for the school to receive the equivalent donation.

Your mission then, should you choose to accept it, is to get as many teachers, parents, grandparents and friends of the school as possible to sign up so the money accumulates faster and longer. This is a great fundraiser that can run all year long, year after year, without any further effort beyond signing up for the program.

Another free fundraiser that is growing in popularity involves recycling. With increasing awareness of pollution and its impact on the earth there is no better time for this excellent fundraiser.

Millions of ink and laser jet cartridges from homes and businesses are simply thrown away each year after the ink is used up. Rather than letting these cartridges go to waste and rot in landfills for millennia, why not recycle them and make money for your cause at the same time?

Get the word out to all your friends, relatives and all the businesses in your community to save their used cartridges for you instead of tossing them in the trash. As with the bank idea shown above, the inkjet recycling fundraiser works all year long, rain or shine. Plus, you can raise money by recycling cell phones too.

In addition to earning money for your group, you educate people about the environment and help the planet…all at the same time!

Although these ideas may not earn money as quickly as some of the traditional fundraisers, they have the potential to earn substantial money over time without exhausting your volunteers or their wallets.

For more FREE fundraising ideas or to learn more about great ideas like the inkjet recycling fundraiser shown above, visit the Fundraising Ideas Center.