How we raised $858 in one day for the CN Tower climb

By Jennifer Watson, Manager, Donor Relations & Services at WWF-Canada
What we did to raise the money:
We decided to hold a bake sale, because it’s an excellent fundraiser, and people really enjoy contributing. They are a lot of fun and there is little risk that they won’t be successful.
Tips:
-A few weeks before your event, get together and meet with the folks who are going to participate and choose a day when nothing else significant is happening. If you’re in an office, ask your building manager for permission to hold the event.
–Assign specific jobs to your team members according to each person’s strengths.  Staffing the table at the event, baking, reaching out to local businesses for in-kind donations, making signage, set up and tear down are all crucial jobs.
–Ask local businesses for donations. If a business would like to give donations in kind, but would not donate food, we accepted gift cards and held a draw to reward people who brought in baked goods for us to sell. We put a ballot into the draw for every dozen servings that were donated by our team.
-To solicit a local business, draft a letter on your organization’s letter head that explains the concept of your fundraiser, and what group will benefit from the money raised.
–Advertise well and hold your event in a central location with lots of foot traffic. If you are in an office, put your bake sale in the main foyer if possible.
-Be sure that everyone knows what cause you are raising funds for.
-We advertised the week before our event with a humorous poster and some stars around it with details like the times, locations, and some prices of key items we would sell.

-On the day of the event we continued the star theme by putting little reminders on star shaped pieces of paper near key doorways and elevators in our building saying ‘Bake Sale Today’ and reminding of the location
–Don’t sell only sweet things. We made noodles, quiches and salads and sold them for 3 items for $5.  as a lunch special.
-We found that sweets sold best when they were single servings such as cupcakes and cookies. Colourful, appetizing and home-made worked the best.

–Have a clear listing of your prices to help people decide what they want to purchase. At our bake sale, we sold all items as 3 items for $5, or $2 for one item. An item might be a mini-quiche, or a slice of pizza or a scoop of salad. For smaller things, (like small cookies) we considered two as one item.

–Have plates and paper bags handy to help people take their purchases with them. Napkins are also a good idea.

–Provide beverages. We had donated coffee and pop, we gave the coffee out for free, and charged a dollar per can of pop.
-If any food is left over, you can repackage it into grab bags for your volunteers or sell them off to any late-comers.
-Once the event is finished, draw names for the prizes to give to people who submitted treats, and sent out thank you messages to those who contributed letting them know how much we raised and thanking the businesses which donated items.
And that’s it. Happy fundraising!