Ashleigh Mills is currently participating in the 2017/18 and has kindly shared her creative fundraising idea to inspire other Can Too-ers to think outside the box when it comes to fundraising!
After completing seven programs there are only so many emails that I can continue to send to friends without annoying them so it was time to think of something new for fundraising.
The last few programs I have had some successes running a wellbeing (yoga) event and baking supplies for Christmas gifts, shortbread and rocky road in the lead up to Christmas.
While these were successful, they took a lot of effort and a big mess in the kitchen on my part! A couple of months ago I spied a jewellery designer on Facebook, Rochelle From Browne & Blue, who makes beautiful unique clay earrings. A friend posted that she was getting some made for her business which gave me the idea to design some for Can Too.
I contacted Rochelle and she was more than happy to work with me to develop some fundraising earrings at wholesale prices. We played with some designs and then I picked a range to sell. She was super helpful and designed some earring cards to go with them, and helped me with pricing and how to order suitable packaging to assist with postage. After a long time with Can Too, I knew that there were not a lot of cute orange earrings on the market and that the Christmas style would be a great stocking filler as an addition. They are also super light for running!
Originally, I pre-ordered 100 pairs as I was not sure how they will go, and they were so successful that I ordered 100 more! After recovering my costs, I should be able to raise around $1500 from the earrings and people get more of a discount the more they buy. To sell them I set up an open Facebook group, so people could order online and share with their friends, plus I took them in person to the beach sessions and social events. People were buying them left right and centre for their families, schoolteachers, and office buddies. It has been a great idea and something I will repeat next year before Christmas with new designs.
TIPS: The swim which runs through November and December is a great opportunity to think about creating something that people will want to buy for Christmas gifts if you can get yourself organised in advance. Having something small, on hand that people can buy with a $10 or $20 note in person helps a lot too, it means they get it on the spot and you get your money straight away too!
