How to Plan a Volunteer Event
How to Plan a Drive
Practically Painless Fundraising Ideas

Do you feel strongly about a cause?

Do you want to help a non-profit organization that you care about?

Do you know others who have similar beliefs?

How about arranging your own volunteer event? It can be much fun to participate in something meaningful with your family and friends! And just think of all the help you could provide to your community. Planning a volunteer event is a perfect way to have a good time and solve many pressing needs in your neighborhood or community.

If the thought seems overwhelming to you, read on! You’ll see that it isn’t as difficult as you might think.

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HOW TO PLAN A VOLUNTEER EVENT

Planning

• Think about who you would like to help. See our group idea section for some ideas that could be done with groups. Good service projects match community needs with the interests and skills of volunteers. For specific organizations in your area who might need help, login here. If you would like to look further than organizations we have listed in our website, feel free to look into our resource sheet on How to find organizations in your area.
• Define and set your goals in writing. For example, do you want to raise public awareness about an issue in your community? Would you like to do a fundraiser for your favorite organization? Visit our Questionnaire for Planning an Event for a great brainstorming list of more questions to get you started.
• If you want to arrange a fundraiser, check out The Foundation Center http://fdncenter.org/learn/useraids/events.html for helpful resources.
• If necessary, reserve event sites or needed space.
• If necessary, recruit and inform an event committee, key staff, and volunteers.
• Determine a marketing plan for getting the word out. This could include invitations, flyers, website postings, and media attention). For more information on publicizing your event, click here.
• Plan well in advance of your date. A realistic timeline calls for about three months of advance planning.

Finding Volunteers

• Now you must gather a group of people to get the project off to a good start. Begin thinking of project partners who encompass diverse abilities, experiences, ages and perspectives. You might want to include people who are:
• good at organizing and planning
• know the community and its needs
• can help with recruiting and publicity
• have fundraising skills or contacts
• have energy, enthusiasm and care about making a difference
• Determine how many volunteers you need for the event and how long you will need them (is it a one-time job or will you need to schedule volunteers on an ongoing basis).
• Think about whether there any special skills needed.
• Sketch out a simple job description, both for your sake and for the volunteer. It helps to be specific about what you need.
• Start looking for volunteers among your own friends and family! Once you’ve exhausted your personal network, continue on to churches, schools, service clubs and businesses.
• Make sure that staff, volunteers and even donors enjoy working with you and say Thank You when the job is done!

Getting Donations

• Build your budget.
• Determine if the organization benefiting from the event can provide financial help.
• If you need any in-kind donations, approach local companies. Develop your message to these companies carefully – a good fundraiser will not just talk about the benefits of your event, but also state the benefit to the potential donor, show why the program works and most importantly ask for a specific donation (for example $200).
• If you need to raise money for the program, you have many options. Some ideas include: asking local businesses or foundations, conducting a special event or a raffle, offering merchandise for sale, conducting an auction, holding a bake sale or car wash, or simply asking your volunteers!

Don’t forget that it’s also important to be enthusiastic and have fun – it’s contagious!!!

Contact us with questions.

Examples

The following are examples of two families who have arranged events and subsequently won the Family Volunteer Award from the Points of Light foundation.

The Donn Family
The Donn Family of Tampa Bay, Florida, has turned an annual volunteer event into a demonstration of the power of family volunteering for all generations. AT&T employee Alan Donn and Dorothy Holle-Donn, along with Alan’s parents Ruth and Ray, are the organizers of the Florida Coastal Cleanup, a yearly event to help rid their local shorelines and oceans of trash and debris. Working with families of AT&T and IBM employees, they started the project in 1993 with 25 volunteers, ballooning to 97 in 2001.

Their efforts have transformed a dumping ground into a pristine area in which the Southwest Florida Water Management District is developing a new park opening for the general public in 2002. In 2001, AT&T employees recognized the project with one of five “AT&T Champions of the Environment” awards, the sum of which was donated to the not-for-profit Keep Hillsborough County Beautiful organization.

Alan and Dorothy also volunteer their time through work with children and persons with disabilities at the National Teach-In and volunteer with the local Sierra Club. The impact of their tireless efforts speaks for itself and volumes for the families that work together to change their communities.

The Dunckelman Family
Members of the Dunckelman Family of Houma, Louisiana, have worked hard to demonstrate the volunteering spirit that generations can pass down from one to the next. After the death of a grandmother who impacted the life of the entire family, Geralynn, William, Andrew, and William H. Dunckelman felt compelled to keep her memory alive and have worked to aid the other elderly members of their community.

Targeting local nursing homes and private houses of the infirmed, they developed a series of service projects called Family Focus, which were developed by each member but supported by the entire family. The eldest son started SENSE-ible Service, designed to stimulate the senses of the elderly, collecting flowers, eyeglasses, and food and coordinating visits by musicians and animals. The younger son developed Project FAME (Fine Arts Motivating the Elderly). His efforts resulted in over 1,000 youths and adults working together to collect over $100,000 worth of audiotapes, videotapes, and books for use by sites in 13 states.

And those are just the efforts of the children! Their parents, Geralynn and William, not only work hard to support the efforts of their sons, they also conduct visits to local nursing homes, pair at-risk preschoolers with the elderly in reading programs, and remind us all that to give back for all we have received throughout the year and our lives. The Dunckelman family celebrates family volunteering as it celebrates the life of someone they loved – with their hearts, minds, and works.

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Questionnaire for Planning a Project

Modeled after the “Five Ws” we learn in school, these questions are designed to assist you in your brainstorming process as you plan great volunteer projects!

Who will help you develop this project? (ie friend, committee, community leader)

• Who will complete each step?
• Who is in charge of making sure things get done?

Who will be participating in the volunteer project (families from your club, school, youth group, neighborhood association, community members)?

Who will you help?

Is there a community-based organization or a target group of people you would like to benefit (a local food pantry or a nursing home)?

Need some ideas, login here (register page)

What is your goal?

What needs to be done beforehand?

What is your timeline? (Set realistic deadlines.)

When will you hold the event?

Date and time?

When will you have a fundraiser (if needed)?

When will you begin advertising your volunteer project?

Where will your project take place?

Will you be on location at a non-profit organization, house of worship or school?

Do you need to reserve a location?

Is your project one you can do in a variety of locations? (for example, conducting a coat drive)

Is the location accessible by public transportation and/or is there parking available?

Need some ideas, visit our list of ideas. (idea page)

Why? (Make sure that your project addresses an existing need and be able to explain to people its importance!)

How will you get the money to complete your project (if necessary)?

• Will you ask local companies for donations of goods?
• Will you conduct a fundraiser (for example, a car wash or bake sale)?
• What ideas do you have for good fundraisers?

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How To Plan a Drive

Holding a drive is a great way to involve lots of families in the community!

1. Identify an area of interest, an organization you would like to work with, and some possible suggestions of items you would be able to collect.
   
   You can have a drive for just about anything. The type of drive that you decide to hold will vary according to the needs of the people and organizations you help.

2. Contact the organization you want to help to learn what their needs are before you hold a drive! Most organizations do not have tons of storage space and they work with diverse people whose needs may change from month to month. Many organizations have “wish lists” and are happy to suggest ways you can help.

Some ideas might include drives for

• clothing
• toiletry items
• personal hygiene items
• toys
• canned food
• children’s school supplies
• backpacks
• paper products
• stationery, journals
• art and craft supplies
• yarn
• towels, blankets
• healthy snacks for children
• first aid kit supplies, etc.

3. Have a letter/brochure with more information about the drive.

It’s helpful to include the following information:

• Why are you having the drive?
• Who is sponsoring the drive?
• Who are the people and/or organization you would like to benefit?
• What date and time will the donations be picked up?

Who are contact people (name, phone number, email) if someone has questions about the drive and the organization?

4. Publicize and spread the word so people will be able to participate!

Depending on the type and size of your drive, there are many ways you can publicize. Make sure you communicate with your target audience! You could distribute flyers, make and put up posters, advertise in bulletins, newsletters or community newspapers, put information out to an email list, etc.

Different ways to hold a drive

• You can have a drive where the families in a specific school, place of worship, company, or other organization are participating and donating supplies. You designate collection points where everyone brings the items.

• You can hold a drive in your neighborhood. Sometimes people pick up items the same day that they pass out flyers. You can work together with your family and neighbors to distribute flyers and information in your neighborhood and invite neighbors to donate the needed materials. (This usually works for more general items such as cans of food that people may have on hand anyway.)

• Another spin on the neighborhood drive is when people distribute flyers on one date and collect the donations at a later time. This is good when there are lots of people willing to help with the drive. Plus, it gives people a little more flexibility to help out and not be put “on the spot.”

• Often a drive will also involve a final project where volunteers come together to sort through and organize the donations the families have collected or brought.

Drives are lots of work, but they are also a great way to build community and allow many people to come together to support a common cause.

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Practically Painless Fundraising and Donation Ideas

• Do you feel passionate about a specific issue or organization?
• Perhaps you would like to help them out with a monetary donation, but are a little tight on cash?
• Maybe you want to get more friends and family involved in a good cause?
• Or maybe you absolutely dread the thought of raising money or having a drive?

The following are Practically Painless Fundraising ideas that can be used to mobilize family, community members, and friends to support a good cause!

• For your birthday, have family and friends give presents that support a specific cause or organization. This can be applied to other gift-giving occasions as well. For example, if you want to help animals in need, call a local animal shelter to learn what their greatest needs are and make a list. Give the list to friends and family and ask them to bring gifts for the animals (ex. bowls, water dishes, toys, food, blankets, etc). Then give the gifts to a local shelter.

• Babysit, work outdoors, or have a lemonade stand or bake sale and donate the money you earned to help a specific cause.

• Walk or run and raise money to donate for example to families who do not have a home of their own.

• Sponsor a party, meal or festival where people can learn more about a specific cause, have fun, and give money to help out. Perhaps your family was inspired by travel or study in a developing nation? Or maybe you are hosting a foreign exchange student who would like to help the needy from her country? You could have a culture evening where you share the food and culture while also asking for donations to help buy school supplies or to provide micro-loans to women starting up their own businesses.

• Organize a drive to collect items in your family’s neighborhood, place of worship, classroom or school. Find out what the organization needs (many places have a Wish List, but do not hesitate to contact them directly as these needs may change). Work with your family to make and decorate posters, advertise what you will collect, and get permission from the right people to collect everything! Make sure to thank everyone for their generosity and hard work.

• Have a garage sale and donate the money to a good cause! Clean out those closets! Anything that you don’t sell can also be donated to help others. (You might consider if the items would have more value if you gave them to someone in need directly or if you sold them and gave the money to a good cause.)

• Have an auction! Get lots of your family and friends together who are willing to make or donate something to help people, and then sell the items at an auction to the highest bidder. You can use the money you raise to donate to an important cause or a volunteer project in the future.

*Be creative about donation ideas! This can be lots of fun! Does Grandma have a special pie that everyone would love to eat? Or maybe your cousin plays the guitar or sings in a band and could entertain for an hour? Maybe a friend would love to teach someone how to make origami? Or give scuba diving instructions? And your sister loves to make beautiful homemade stationery. There are all sorts of possibilities of talents and lessons that people could donate and auction off for a good cause!

• Talk with your family about the importance of supporting others and helping them out financially, even if you cannot afford to give very much. Some families find that it is helpful to automatically set aside a certain percent (or amount) of money they earn each month and donate it to a good cause or charitable organization that they admire. Talk with your family to decide who or the organization(s) you would like to support. You could rotate and help fund a different special project every month (or a few times a year) if you are having a hard time choosing just one place.

• Make cards, picture frames, magnets or other special artwork that can be sold to provide resources as well as bring joy to someone else’s life.

• Hold a Marathon Fundraiser. You could have an all-night dance competition, game night, etc. with the money going to benefit a good cause of your choice.

• Be creative! Use great ideas of your own to come up with more fun and effective ways to help out!

Do you have any great fundraising ideas of your own? Email us ideas to share!

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