Fundraising ideas for supporting your community don’t have to cost a lot of money. If your nonprofit, charity, church, or other group needs to raise money, you can pull off a flourishing fundraiser.
One way to get around the budget issues is to ask supporters to donate items, time, services, or resources to your group.
You can even ask for them to sponsor a donation page (or to donate to your page).
Another, more creative option, however, is to throw a fundraiser in which you can sell handcrafted items.
Fundraising Ideas for How to Run a Handmade Item Fundraiser: Step-by-Step
Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can run a handmade item fundraiser on a low budget.
1. Gather Your Items
If you have decided to sell handmade items for your fundraiser, the first thing to consider is where you are going to get these items.
You and your group can make everything on your own if you have the time to do so. Alternatively, you can promote your fundraising idea to the community, getting local artisans, craftspeople, and residents involved with your event.
2. Gather Participants
Make sure you have plenty of members or volunteers available to help run the event so your operation can go smoothly.
By getting others involved, you can save a ton of time and money and can create an event that is much more exciting and marketable. It also helps draw in more people, since participating artists will want to market their goods.
3. Determine the Event
You will also have to decide if you will do an in-person event or place your event online with our online auction software, or both!
Allow people to sell their wares at your fundraising event in exchange for a small participation or booth fee or a percentage of their sales.
4. Find the Event Venue
The next factor is determining where you are going to hold your event.
If your occasion is one that only requires a small amount of space, you can rent a booth, or a pop-up shop, at a local shopping mall where you can sell items regularly. You could also hold a yard sale or neighborhood yard sale one weekend featuring your craft and homemade items.
Something to consider that will attract an even larger audience is to have the artists or crafters to make their items during the event or even offer “how-to” classes.
If you plan to develop a larger public event, you will need an area that will accommodate your plans. If several crafters are attending to sell their hand-crafted fundraising items, you can talk to the city about using a community park to hold your event. Another option is to see if a local farmer would donate or rent a piece of his land for use for the day.
Look around your community. There may be halls, clubhouses, or other rental spaces available that perfectly match your needs.
5. Promote the Event
Once you have determined how you want to run your homemade item fundraiser, it is time to market it to the public.
Announce that local artists are welcome to participate. Give them plenty of information, so they know how much it will cost for them to rent a booth and whether they need to bring their tables, chairs, canopies, or other supplies.
Be as specific as possible. Provide participants with plenty of contact information so they can pay for their space or ask questions before the fundraising event.
Ideas for a Homemade Item Fundraiser
Make your fundraising items from the heart!
Here are some homemade fundraising ideas that will give you an idea of the different types of hand-crafted or homemade items you could sell at your fundraising event.
1. Fine Art
Local artists can display and sell their paintings, sculptures, prints, and other art during your handmade item fundraiser.
2. Food Items and Sauces
Items such as hot sauces, honey, fresh or dehydrated produce, spices, baked goods, peanut brittle, fudges, and so on can be sold.
Sellers can add their private label to their treats, giving them an opportunity to promote their delicious creations during your fundraiser.
3. Hand-crafted Dolls and Toys
Dolls, stuffed animals, dollhouses, and unique toys are excellent sellers that make great gifts that parents can purchase for their children.
4. Hand-crafted Jewelry
Whether articles are made of sterling silver, beads, or stones, handmade jewelry is always a hit. Plus, you can typically find a skilled artisan in the area who is willing to participate.
5. Leather Goods
Leather wallets, pouches, purses, Native American motifs, moccasins, belts, and the like can be sold with the artist’s name embossed in the leather.
6. Soy or Beeswax Candles
These natural candles sell well and burn beautifully. Scents and colors can be added to molded or jar candles to make them even more appealing.
7. Woodcrafts
Hand-crafted decorative wood boxes, shelves, rocking horses, door stops, birdhouses, or other wood items are excellent sellers that many people enjoy.
8. Wreaths
Straw, grapevine, or Juniper wreaths adorned with dried flowers, ribbons, bows, and other décor make a nice, natural gift that people can enjoy on holidays, for seasonal decorations, or other occasions.
In Conclusion
If you haven’t decided on how you intend to raise funds, you might consider a charity auction to benefit your favorite nonprofit. Here’s a link to auction software designed for this!
No matter which homemade item(s) you decide upon for your fundraiser, make sure that you and your group have thoroughly examined every aspect of your event from planning to implementation.
