Green Fundraising Ideas: Raise Money the Ecofriendly Way

If you are starting a fundraiser for your local school, church or youth activity center, you should know that, by going green, you can make a lot of money.

Why continue to sell the same old disposable and ecologically dangerous items that schools have been selling for years?

People are so interested in going green these days that it can really boost your sales to offer something green in your fundraising efforts. There are so many ecofriendly fundraising options out there, you can be sure to find something appropriate for your group from the following ideas.

Sun Tea Fundraiser
Making tea with natural sunlight is not only ecofriendly, it's delicious too. Your group can get donations for large gallon glass jars and tea bags. Pre-take orders for a gallon of sun tea and then arrange a day to make all of the tea. Drop off the tea at a pre-determined day along with a thank you card attached to the glass jar.

Silent Auctions
Although this fundraising idea isn't exactly new, it's definitely green! By having items donated from community businesses and running a silent auction, your organization can make a lot of money.

Hold the auction yourself by placing a clipboard with room for the bid amount and the person's name. People can walk around, look at items and place their bids.

Alternatively, the bidding can be done in secret with each person donating a specified amount. Whoever pays the most gets to keep the item and the rest of the funds are collected as a donation for the organization.

You can give your silent auction a green theme by getting donations from gardening shops or by using recycled materials.

Green Cookbook Fundraiser
Help your community eat better and use locally grown produce, all while getting donations for your organization. First, collect recipes from your local community or look online for organic and eco-friendly recipes that use locally grown items. Spread the word about the recipe collection and you'll be sure to have a lot of submissions.

Once all the submissions have been collected, have the students or members of the group type up the cookbooks. You can get them printed very cheaply on recycled paper and spiral bound. Once the books are created, hold a bake sale with recipes from the book and sell your cookbook. You may also be able to put a few books for sale at local shops.

Planting Trees
Taking donations and planting trees is probably one of the most eco-friendly fundraisers there is. Although you could do the planting yourself, there is a much simpler way to fundraise. An organization called Help the Planet (just do a quick google search for the URL) will plant one tree for every bookmark that is sold by your organization. The bookmarks are sold at $3 each and you can keep 30% of the money raised. In addition, a tree will be planted. Talk about win-win!