Sometimes the best fundraising strategy is just to get a little creative, like trying to raise $10,000 in 10 days. Our friends at Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis (DSAGSL) were deep into their campaign for their 2010 Step Up for Down Syndrome awareness walk held on June 13, 2010. Donations were coming in, but the staff wanted to raise awareness and crank up momentum for the event as the date neared—and they wanted to do it fast. That’s when they came up with “The Challenge”. The DSAGSL development staff created a series of YouTube videos to announce that Jeff Pomranka, the organization’s COO, would shave his head if they could raise $10,000 in 10 days. He didn’t think they could do it. He was wrong.

They didn’t raise $10,000 in 10 days—they raised $10,000 in just four days! In fact, Jeff’s team raised a total of $16,000 as a result of the videos! As the donations poured in, Jeff quickly realized that the only close shave was going to be his own: “When I left the office around 5 P.M. on Friday (3 days in) we had raised over $9,000. By Monday it was over $10,000, but I had stopped thinking my hair had any chance of survival over the weekend.”

The Challenge was a big success not only because the DSAGSL team met their goal, but also because it boosted their overall fundraising efforts. By helping to attract greater attention and awareness for the 2010 Step Up for Down Syndrome awareness walk, The Challenge built momentum and participation in the weeks leading up to the event. It all goes to show that sometimes it pays to get creative.

For other nonprofits looking to create a similar event, Jeff has some advice: “…Use someone that people feel like they know. I think the social media aspects can be very helpful. The four YouTube videos have been seen nearly 400 times. We posted them in the DSAGSL Facebook page so people could then use that to put them on their own Facebook page.”

So, to recap…

• Get creative! Come up with a fun, creative challenge for a well-known staff member
• Create videos and announcements for the challenge
• Send out regular updates that can easily be shared by your supporters