Quick Tips & Fundamentals for Campus Fundraising

Money, Money, Money. So, your student group wants to have a lecture series and invite several national speakers to campus?  Or, perhaps you’re dreaming of things like concerts, dance parties, t-shirts for all group members, fundraising for a local charity, a film festival or a conference.  How will you ever come up with the money to do all of this?  You may have to resort to fundraising.

Fundraising money for your student organization can be fun and very rewarding.  While their college or university funds many student organizations, some are not and most are not as well funded as they want or need to be.  Fundraising for any student group can be challenging.  In some cases, finding money for an LGBTQ student group has it’s own challenges.  Here are some thoughts and resources on how to do this:

• Co-Sponsorship: This is a way to get more than one group or office involved with your program or project. You can reach out to non-LGBTQ groups on campus or LGBTQ community organizations. Even small contributions add up and having many co-sponsors strengthens the publicity and outreach of the event.
• Funding Requests: Put together a proposal and present it to the Student Government Association, Student Activities, and the Dean’s Office.  Make sure that your proposal is solid, includes information on both your group and the event, and explains why you think the Dean (or the Student Council, etc.) should give your group the money.
• Food Sales: Whether you are selling baked goods, bagels, candy bars or soup & bread, these are pretty self-explanatory.  While they might be labor intensive, food sales are also a good way to get publicity for your group and the event you are fundraising for.  
• Raffle: Another way to make some money for your cause is to hold a raffle.  With a 50/50 raffle you sell raffle tickets and the winner gets half (50%) of the money, while your group gets the other 50%.  Or you can solicit great prizes from local businesses and sell raffle tickets.  You get the money and the winners get cool gifts.  (Be sure to check with your Campus Activities office about this, as the rules regarding raffles may vary from campus to campus.)
• Grants: Research and find out if there are local, state, regional, or possibly even national grants for which your organization can apply. Even if some application deadlines have passed, keep track of them so that your organization can apply next year. Some of these grants are LGBTQ-specific, while others support students working for “progressive change.”
  

These are just a few of the ways to fundraise for your student group.  If you have some suggestions and success stories, let us know!  Campus Pride would like to share your tips and information with other student leaders too.

Source: Campus Pride, 2012.