<p>D would like to go to a really poor foreign country to do community service and needs to do fundraising to pay for the program. My D really likes to do service projects abroad. She likes to learn about other cultures and gest a lot of personal satisfaction of helping really poor communities. This is not for college admission since D already finished with all her college applications. Does anyone have some advice about the best way to do fundraising for this type of activity? thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Does she want to get sponsors and make a presentation about what she’s planning to do? Rotary, Lions, and other community groups sometimes sponsor projects they consider worthwhile.
Having a concert is a popular way to raise funds, but involves significant coordination. Is your D going to do all the fund raising herself? Babysitting? Computer consulting? Website design? She’s not a non-profit, so some avenues are not available. What org will she be working with? Do they have suggestiosn?</p>
<p>I’m sorry I wasn’t clear enough, himom. I mean my D needs to pay for the fee that covers all the travel expenses. Ideally, she’ll find a way to get $$.</p>
<p>D still needs to decide which organization she goes with. It may be Rustic Pathways, Putney, Cross-cultural solutions, or others. thanks.</p>
<p>My d has done both Putney and Rustic Pathways, and Rustic Pathways is much more affordable. She really enjoyed both programs. And I think they might offer financial aid. My d went to India and Thailand with RP and loved it. She is thinking about returning this summer. The Putney program she did was an Excel in Spain, so no community service but she had a great time.</p>
<p>If you live in an area that has a community foundation, you may some some funding opportunities available that way.</p>
<p>A friend of mine’s daughter organized a “garage sale” for their neighborhood and has been doing it for years now. It offset all of her travel abroad AND she donated money to a school she helped build on one of those trips. People drop off their stuff, she marks it and they get something like 50% of the proceeds and she takes the rest. I have given her our stuff (esp our teenagers clothes) and basically just told her to keep what she makes because I have no interest in having a garage sale and would just be sending the stuff to good will or some other pick up organization.</p>
<p>I agree with Modadunn. We have a town yardsale each year, and decided to use it as a fundraiser for my daughter’s soccer team. Many people were happy to donate items because they didn’t want to have their own sale. Promoting it as a fundraiser, people were quite generous, and we made about $1000 with no investment. Added bonus was the garage was less cluttered afterwards! We did need about 5 people working it at all times to handle the crowd.</p>
<p>One more idea. When my daughter was a senior, she and a bunch of her friends had a dress sale. It was really just a way to trade clothes, but if you could get donations of dresses, it might be really fun! All I know is that with the number of dances at high schools, it makes sense to trade around vs always buying something new.</p>
<p>I went on the Rustic Pathways website and the trips sound fantastic. I’d feel weird asking for donations to send my child on a trip. Yes, there is some community service performed on the trip but it’s more like sending your kid to camp for a fun experience. Maybe your daughter can work part-time over the course of a year and earn enough money to finance a trip for next year.</p>
<p>DD is going on a community service trip during spring break that she had to fully fund. One thing she did (I know this isn’t fundraising…but…) was send emails to our family outlining the details of her upcoming experience. Specifically to the grandparents and us…she stated that she really wanted contributions towards her trip instead of any other gifts (birthday, Christmas or anything else). Her sponsoring outfit actually has a secure website where folks could make direct contributions to HER for this trip. She “raised” more than half of the expenses for this trip by contributions from relatives and close friends. She paid for the airfare and the balance of the cost (at this point…looks pretty good) will be her birthday present from US. Her chapter of this organization at her school did some fundraising as a group to offset some of the group expenses.</p>
<p>^^ I’ve gotten these requests in the past and I always donate. But I will be really honest. I am not a fan. In fact, when I do not take fancy vacations (let alone normal ones) and pretty much lead a fairly frugal life, when I see these parents traveling all over the place to visit their kids who are all visitng some foreign country for one reason or another, I am like… why don’t you just pay for it instead of asking me?? Do I really care if I am included in updates to her blog? No. I am just saying. Asking grandparents ok. Maybe even an aunt or two. But friends of the family? That’s really a little presumptuous, especially now I think.</p>
<p>Modadunn…DD only sent her request to very CLOSE family friends…and only a few. These are folks who have known her since she was a baby…not casual acquaintances who see her only once a year. And these are friends who WOULD send her a Christmas or birthday gift…or both. Her letter was very specific. IF you plan to send me a gift, please donate to my community service trip. She also put the total cost of the trip and the amount SHE was contributing to the trip so that folks would know that she was NOT just expecting others to pay.</p>
<p>Re: taking “fancy vacations”…we haven’t had one in years…two kids in private colleges. Our friends and family KNOW that we aren’t asking them to pay for this trip because WE are taking fancy vacations (or buying new cars, or remodeling our house, etc).</p>
<p>Yes, there is some community service performed on the trip but it’s more like sending your kid to camp for a fun experience
I dunno… my daughter has worked in Ghana- no running water/electricity, and she is leaving for three months for India- no running water/electricity to work on an orphanage and a farm. Yes I am sure there will be times when it is " fun", but I wouldn’t compare it to summer camp.</p>
<p>My daughter’s trip won’t be like “camp” either. It’s a medical assistance program in Honduras. I’m not saying some of these trips don’t have a “sightseeing” component…but my kid’s doesn’t.</p>
<p>The yard sale is good. A popular fundraiser in our town whenever an individual or family needs money for a good cause is to get a restaurant to reserve a night when 20% of all receipts go to the fundraiser if the customer mentions the fundraiser when they order. You send your friends and family in to have pizza or whatever and if they mention your fundraiser, you get part of the proceeds of that order. This works particularly well if the restaurant makes food to go as well as offering eat in dining. I bet in this economy that plenty of restaurants would love to have people coming in to support your daughter. She makes a big poster and sends out flyers and then is at the restaurant to answer questions about her fundraising project. That and a yard sale would be good options in this economy.</p>
<p>Check out firstgiving.com</p>
<p>There are a lot of ways that a personal fundraising page could be used in this situtation. Browse around for examples.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the great ideas. I’m sure we’ll find a way to fundraise.
Just to clarify some misunderstanding, there are trips that combine both some community service and traveling, but my D chose a program that is mainly community service in very poor villages.</p>
<p>[Community</a> Service Programs for Teens, High School Summer Travel - Rustic Pathways](<a href=“http://www.rusticpathways.com/2009/2009ghtm/community.html]Community”>http://www.rusticpathways.com/2009/2009ghtm/community.html)</p>
<p>Look like fun trips–snorkeling, surfing, hiking, ziplines, etc.</p>