Before throwing yourself into a creative effort we advise that you be well acquainted with the issues of poverty – especially in the areas we are focusing on. The resources tab will take you to a variety of films, books and websites to help deepen your understanding. The following list of ideas can be overwhelming but land on one that fits you. Also, you are free to alter these ideas any way you want. This is just to get you going. This list is to give you a kick-start. Before you launch an idea be sure to contact us so we can get some materials in your hands and work out details.
1 A classic way to raise money is the simple collection jar. Have some kids decorate jars. Then have the same kids ask their parents, aunts, uncles … if they will take the jar for a certain length of time to collect loose change. Maybe the kids could involve several relatives and make it a contest? The winner gets 50 of grandma’s famous meatballs – or whatever. You’d be amazed at how competitive people in the family will get and how much money ends up being in those jars of loose change.
2 You or someone you know might be able to design an interesting t-shirt (or button). Buy 100 (sweatshop free) t-shirts and get a design printed on them. Maybe it could be something to highlight the cause of poverty? Then sell the shirts for $20. A lot of people are very willing to purchase a sweatshop free well-designed t that will benefit people suffering in poor countries. It would be smart to make the shirts available in November and sell right through Christmas.
3 Make the funkiest looking collection jar the world has ever seen. Make it so cool and so interesting that local business owners would die to have it on their counters. Recruit someone who is really good with people and/or is really pretty to ask business owners if they can put their funky collection jar on their counter for a period of time to help the cause of poor children in Nicaragua and Haiti. Be sure the collection jar is secure (ask your engineer friend to give that some thought). Imagine if you could put a jar in 100 busy stores for a year? By the way, visit the jars to be sure they aren’t overflowing.
4 Big cities and small towns alike have regular events that draw massive crowds. Contact the organizers and ask if you can have a spot to sell tacos, baked goods, lemon ice or whatever for your cause. Or maybe sell balloons? The nice thing about these events is that people are coming to you. And lots of people want to buy their child or girlfriend an ice cream cone that benefits the cause of the poor.
5 This is a tough one but ask a local business if they would, for one day, have customers be given the option to add $1 to their sale toward the cause. Be ready to get a lot of “nos”. But this is done all the time. Obviously, sometimes, some managers are saying “yes”. It doesn’t hurt to ask. It doesn’t hurt to have some connections as well.
6 Maybe you are a guy with a big moppy head of wild hair that is your pride and joy? Put the word out that if 100 people commit to donate $10 each to Beautiful World you will shave your head. Do it through facebook maybe? Start a group.
7 Talk to your pastor or priest or rabbi about sponsoring an event. Maybe you can show a video, share some stories and ask the people for an offering. Don’t overlook this simple but effective way of raising money.
8 Have an oil change day. Find a handful of friends who know how to do oil changes. Set up an oil change day in a strategic location. Make small invites to hand out all over. Maybe $10 oil change with 100% of the money going directly to help impoverished communities. See if a local auto store will perhaps donate the oil?
9 Find a handful of friends who will donate 3-4 Saturdays in the fall to leaf raking. Make some invites explaining what you are doing. Basically, you would rake a yard in return for a donation of $100 or $200 (depends on yard size). Some people hate raking and love helping the poor.
10 Have a sports or Wii tournament with an entrance fee. All money from entrance fee gets donated to the cause. Maybe local businesses will donate some interesting items for prizes as an added incentive to participate? Even a small tourney with 40 people and a $10 entrance fee would be $400. How bout Chess?
11 Challenge someone at a game, or arm wrestling or Chess or whatever. Tell them if they win you will rake their yard, detail their car or do some other task they dread doing. If you win, they donate $100 toward Beautiful World to help the poor. They win either way ! If you lose, challenge them again. Plus, they will feel so bad that you are raking their yard to raise money for the poor they will probably still give you the money.
12 Find someone you know who works at a large company. See if you can set up a taco stand during lunch for one day to raise money. Usually, in bigger companies, everyone goes out to lunch and they are totally sick of the options available nearby. Do amazing tacos or something with fresh bread. Try to get the food and equipment donated. You could even make a few posters and small handouts to let people know days in advance that you are coming. Let them know that 100% of the proceeds will go to help the poor. Put together a team of excellent chefs to pull it off. Create some energy and buzz in the foyer and make it your goal to get every one of the 500 employees to buy a taco. Create a silly slogan – “taco for paco” or something (you can do better than that I’m sure).
13 For those in school still maybe you can shoot free-throws for the cause? Enlist people, teachers, students, family and so on to commit to give you a penny for every free-throw you make during recess every day at school for 100 days. Recess is a half hour? Think of the potential. Soon you’ll be getting your friends to help you. It will draw attention to the cause simply because of your relentless determination out there everyday. It will inspire people. If you suck at basketball skip this one.
14 Create a “drink coffee at home for one month club”. Find a handful (or 20-30) people willing to not buy coffee out for 30 days. Around Providence a good cup of coffee is close to $3. Many spend $50 or more a month on coffee. Find $30 people to participate and you’ll have raised $1500.
15 Maybe you know a lot of artists and are an artist yourself. Put together an art show raising awareness and money for the impoverished communities of Haiti and Nicaragua. Invite 20 artists to donate art. Let the sales of all art go to the cause (or a percentage). Invite people that like to buy art. Ask a local gallery to donate their space for one night to do the event. Involve lots of people. Have a wall of photos of children in Haiti and Nicaragua and/or have someone share some stories about the need.
16 Help start a walk-a-thon in your city to raise money.
17 Sponsor a booth at a local marathon or festival in the name of Beautiful World and sell coffee or other drinks and food. Soccer fields on Saturday morning in the suburbs are overflowing with families very willing to buy a hot chocolate and a homemade donut. Especially when the weather is cold. Ask local businesses to donate food or needed equipment.
18 Do a Beautiful World mural on a city building. It could be some sort of image that brings attention to the poverty in our world. Put the website on the bottom for concerned people to find out more.
19 Ask your local movie theater if they would be willing to let you do a 5 min presentation to the people before the movie and ask for a $1 donation. This is done all the time and lots of people are willing to donate. Usually, they get a little pin or something in exchange.
20 Show a documentary or film in your town and have a $5 suggested donation toward the cause.
21 Throw an amazing party and tell everyone you know to bring a small donation toward the cause. Or, even better, create a wheel that people spin at the door. So their admission for a night of abundant food, drink and entertainment will cost them either $0 or at most $20. You can create the wheel in light of the people you invite. For some crowds you could have a wheel with even $100. It makes it fun and risky. Picture Wheel of Fortune. By the way, it would be a good idea to ask a talented local musician to do live music.
22 Get rid of all the stuff in your basement that you don’t need through a yard sale or selling on ebay or craig’s list. Donate the money to the cause. Be sure to let people know that all the profits go to help the poor. It will raise awareness and also cause people to buy things they don’t really need. They go home with an Elvis album for $4 with a good feeling they helped the poor even though they don’t own a record player.
23 Have a dinner party. Invite about 12 friends. Tell them to bring nothing. All the food is on you. But they bring the money they would have spent on a restaurant as a donation to the cause.
24 Pull together a group of artists. Use sidewalk chalk to make some interesting illustrations and to write statistics about poverty in approved areas.
25 People are busy during December and barely have time to wrap their gifts. Ask a retail store locally if you can set up a wrapping table. Maybe each gift you wrap is a $1 donation? Be sure to make clear signs in front of the table so customers know the cost of getting a gift wrapped and also what the cause is for. This can make all the difference. You will find that people are very generous at Christmas and it won’t be uncommon that people will get a couple gifts wrapped, give you a $10 and say, “Keep the change.”
26 Decide to give something up for a month or even a few months. For example, maybe you buy lunch daily because you work 9-5. Maybe bring peanut butter and jelly on Tuesdays and Thursdays and save the money you would have spent to give to Beautiful World.
27 You or someone you know could give some sort of classes (pottery, art, music, cooking) and let people know that the fee for the class will all be donated to the poor.
28 Have a good old fashioned bake sale at some gathering. Attach the bake sale to a gathering where people are already spending money. Most people love sugary foods and are quite willing to pay a $1 for a delicious brownie.
29 Create a Beautiful World print project. If you know a wonderful visual artist, ask them if they would allow you to create some small prints of some of their work. Then, sell the prints and donate the money.
30 Pizzeria Uno has an interesting program. If you host a group dinner they will donate 20% of the bill to a charity you choose.
31 Give 20 people $5 each and challenge them to creatively multiply the money over the course of 30 days. Make it a friendly competition. This is great for some people since you aren’t asking for money at all. You are asking for their creativity and their business savvy. Or try giving them $100 each?
32 Many workplaces will allow workers to wear casual clothes on a particular day in exchange for a $1 donation to a cause. Present it to your boss. Or maybe you are the boss?
33 Start a prayer group with a circle of friends who commit to get together and pray for the people in La Chureca, Nicaragua and Lamothe, Haiti. It most cases, prayer leads to creative action. Maybe an idea will come from above that you can add to this list?
34 Link up with a handful of musicians and do a compilation CD. Each of you could contribute 1-2 songs and then sell the CD for $10 for the cause. It’s fun, it deepens you musically, it gives you a bit of publicity and it raises money for those who need help.
35 Create a small handout listing a variety of services that you and perhaps some of your friends can do. It may be carpentry, yard work, painting, childcare, gutter repair, graphic design, websites, photo shoot or whatever. The cost of labor would go directly to the cause of helping break the cycle of poverty in impoverished communities.
If you are ready to take on an effort in the course of the next year to help see the poverty cycle broken in the lives of the poor in Haiti and Nicaragua please e-mail us regarding which idea interests you.