US Campaign for Burma relies on the support of our members to keep our efforts going. There are a lot of fun things you can do – fundraising doesn’t have to be boring! Here are some ideas:

Personally:

- Getting Married? Consider putting USCB down on your wedding registry. You don’t really need that kitchen blender do you? Tell you guests to support Burma. Find out more here.

- Honorary donation: Going to a wedding/birthday/celebration of a socially conscious person? Make a donation to USCB in their name. We can mail you a special notecard for it.

- Workplace giving: One of the most convenient ways to contribute is by donating a portion of your paycheck through your employer’s workplace giving campaign, allowing you to make automatic payroll deductions without losing the tax benefits of charitable giving. Workplace giving also allows you to be involved with your company’s philanthropic endeavors. Many employers often offer matching gift programs, which can double the impact of your contribution. Check with your employer’s personnel office to find out about their charitable giving program.

Fundraising events:

Bowling for Bucks:

- Arrange with a bowling alley to rent a group of lanes, or the entire building, and start soliciting teams
- One way to raise a lot of funds is to charge a large entry fee for each foursome, for example, $60 each
- Encourage families to attend by offering free tokens for the game room
- Publicity: Invite lots of people and seek out plenty of publicity. Contact local radio and television stations well ahead of your event, and post info on free sites like Craigs List and get flyers out to all the leagues
- Prizes: Bowlers can also compete for prizes such as most strikes, most gutter balls, highest game, lowest score, best team, etc. You can offer comical, hand-made trophies or the more traditional mantle-ready versions. Just make sure that the focus remains on having fun.
- Costumes: Make it a costume event and award prizes for different costume categories like funniest, worst, most original, best team costume, etc. Give your event a theme that inspires the participants to wear outrageous costumes such as “Hollywood Bowl” (movie stars) or “Space Bowl” (Star Wars and Star Trek characters).
- You can add extra ways to fundraise by selling food, selling t-shirts related to the cause, offering discount bowling passes, etc.
- At the end of the night, announce the winners of the prizes, awards, etc.

Bake Sale Fundraiser:

- The basic premise is that everyone in the group brings in homemade baked goods that are sold to other supporters or the general public
- The bake sale fundraiser can be part of a bigger fundraising event or a standalone moneymaker
- Fun Twists:

• Adding a musical cakewalk where the person standing on the winning square when the music stops wins a free cake is one way to liven up a baked good sale, or you can sell cakewalk tickets for $1 each.
• A themed approach such as a Christmas Cookie Exchange – everyone brings in several dozen of their best Christmas cookies and attendees get a standard 10-ounce box that they can fill to the rim with a half dozen cookies from each platter
  • The twist is that selection order is based on a ticket drawing, not time of arrival. You sell “cookie raffle” tickets ahead of time and have everyone waiting for their number to be drawn
• Another fun twist is providing a guest speaker such as a cookbook author or noted food columnist
• You could also have local chefs there preparing special foods for customers to sample. You could turn it into an Iron Chef battle or just pure entertainment along with scrumptious appetizers
  - You can also sell other fundraising products such as $10 discount cards that offer two-for-one deals on fast food, pizza, or Subway sandwiches, or sell t-shirts for the cause, etc.

- Promote bake sale event with posters, flyers, roadside signs, group email lists, newsletters, etc.

Mega Yard Sale:

- Choose a nice high-visibility location like a school or church parking lot.
- Advertise in the local paper and put up signs near the roads so people passing by can see them
- Group your items together by category – kids clothes, tools, toys, books, pictures, music, etc. Place general price signs around items instead of pricing everything individually (For example, “$5-$10 Tools” or “Books: $1-$3).
- Make it a fun time with some helium balloons for small children and have coffee and doughnuts available for adults.
- Try to get as many donations from as many different households as you can

Barbecue Contest:

- Get together a group of judges and a group of people to do the barbecuing
- Create categories for different meats and vegetables, and categories for mild and spicy sauces
- Require contestants to pay an entry fee, and then you can charge spectators by the plate
- Don’t forget the napkins, beverages, and easy side dishes like chips
- This event can be held on its own, or as part of a larger event like a field day
- Give the people barbecuing incentives by offering awards for the winner such as coupons, ribbon, trophy, etc.
- Make sure all participants are aware of the cause you are fundraising for

Buckets for Donations:

- This fundraiser is perfect to collect the change given at countless stores in your town
- Gather old coffee cans and other types of containers and then punch holes in the top
- Print out a cover sheet with information about what you are collecting money for
- Cover the cans with your cover sheet and then distribute them to local businesses willing to place them on their front counter
- Approach the store manager and have a professional looking cover sheet that explains your charity and your goals of fundraising
- Keep the cans there as long as it is acceptable to the business owner or for the duration of your fundraiser
- Empty out the cans once a week and collect the money
- Make sure you update the store manager on your group’s progress and thank them for helping your group