Easy Ways to Raise Funds for Tiny Charities
Teemill raises funds from selling branded organic cotton t-shirts for tiny charities.
easyfundraising is likely the best way to raise money for small charities, as it donates money from items you already buy.
Just sign up, and if you shop at one of the 6000 brands (from zero waste shops to Amazon and Argos), and your chosen cause receives a portion of the profits from what you buy – from phones to train tickets and from laptops to insurance).
So rather than you donating, you’re basically having the company you buy from, donate a portion of the price to your chosen cause.
Retailers pays a set fee or percentage, depending on their policy. Donations are sent to charities each quarter, and the service does not affect loyalty points.
Donate Unwanted Goods to Small Charities
A Good Thing lets businesses donate items to small charities via an app, rather them languishing in offices or going to landfill. From office furniture to laptops, you can even donate meeting room space.
The dispenser above was sitting unused in a dental surgery. This organisation arranged for it to be donated to a homeless shelter, to sanitise rooms ready for incoming residents. It would have cost £1600 to buy, but they got it for free!
Many animal shelters and wildlife rescues can legally take unused human medical waste from GP surgeries and hospitals. Get in touch to see how they could help.
Most small local charities need volunteers, from helping out at shelters to building/decorating work. Or use your graphic design or photography skills to help promote and drive fundraising.
Photographer Sophie Gamand uses her photographic skills to snap animals in shelters, ready for adoption drives.
Save and Donate to Charity (at the same time)
Charity Bank is a saving bank and also a registered charity. So if you sign up, your ‘rainy day’ money is pooled with others, to support small projects in communities.
Your savings become part of a social mission, from investing in clean energy and affordable housing, to supporting small causes. The simple accounts include fixed rate and tax-free ISAs. There are also simple accounts for charities, credit unions and businesses.
Just imagine the huge difference to communities, if everyone put a little something away in one of their accounts, rather than with big banks?
Switch to a Charity Search Engine
Nearly all of us use search engines to find information we need. Ecoisa uses sponsors that has so far funded the planting over 200 million trees worldwide in 35 countries. This provides food and homes for birds and wildlife, and also helps to prevent climate change and floods.
You can also download their browser that generates solar energy, for each time you make a search. All data and privacy is protected, so you can safely surf the web.
Apply for Micro Grants
The Pollination Project is a US idea that is great inspiration on what could be done here. It offers tiny microgrants (around £1000) to help small charities establish or keep afloat.
Two examples was a mobile vet van (to help pets escaping from domestic violence) and earth-friendly water bowls given to stray animals in India).
Create (organic) Branded Goods with Teemill
If you run a small shop, you could use the branding to create print-on-demand grocery totes on organic cotton at Teemill is a wonderful company (run by an organic fashion company from Isle of Wight).
It has used its success to create a company where small companies (and charities) can make profit (or raise funds) by designing organic cotton print-on-demand t-shirts, sweatshirts and grocery bags. The above organic cotton jumper helps The Shark Trust.
Your customers or fans then order, and everything is printed-on-demand (to avoid waste) and sent you in zero waste packaging. Everything is also made with green energy.
You can even send items back at end of life (using QR codes in the care labels), and they’ll be recycled into new t-shirts!
This organisation has managed to create lots of funds for important animal and environmental charities, and also lets indie shops brand their own goods. Like Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Or Sea Shepherd.
For instance:
- If you ran an indie shop, you could find a nice designer to create a logo with tagline, then have it printed on your own bags, for people to give you advertising around town.
- If you ran a wildlife charity, you could again find some nice premade designs, then sell organic fashion and bags on your site, to help raise funds, and save plastic at the same time (which of course is doubly good for wildlife!)
Innovative Ways to Raise Funds For Your Cause
The following organisations make it easy to raise a lot of money for your favourite cause. If nominating medical charities, only support those that use humane medical research (not innocent animals).
Annual Charity Donation Programs
Movement for Good is run by the Benefact Group, which gives away all available profits to charity. This annual program donates over £1 million to good causes each year, and accepts nominations each year.
During each year, you can nominate your favourite charity or charities for awards of £1000 (one nomination per charity). This can also be in Ireland, the Channel Islands or Isle of Man. There are six £1000 draws each year, staggered throughout.
My Giving Circle is a social enterprise that each year, gives away up to £2 million in grants and donations, funded out of earned income.
It earns money by connecting charities with donors and earning a small platform fee, when people donate via the website. Sometimes companies also get on board to sponsor grants.
Help for Small Charities (to raise big donations)
Work For Good is a fundraising platform that helps businesses raise funds for charities through legal channels. Each year, charities have to turn away millions of pounds of donations from business, simply due to a legal agreement: Commercial Participation, which is expensive and time-consuming, so no good for tiny charities.
So this organisation has made the process quick and simple, by making a digital version, so small non-profits can raise unlimited income and accept corporate sponsorships.
Local Small Charity Award Nominations
Yorkshire Building Society is just one of many companies, that accepts nominations from local charities via its own foundations. It considers projects that help job prospects in or near Bradford.
Charities can apply from £100K to £500K for a funding period of up to three years. All must be registered with The Charity Commission, and submit annual returns on time.
Its national Small Change Big Difference® Fund provides donations from £250 to $2500 to small charities working to ease financial hardship, with annual income of less than £100K.
An Insurance Company (that offers environmental grants)
The Naturesave Trust is where profits from its own Naturesave Insurance goes, providing grants to grant environmental projects, help for small businesses to go green, and tree-planting programmes.
Just sign up, each time there is an open nomination process, to help favourite causes.
Inspiration from Abroad: The Pollination Project
The Pollination Project offers small grants (around $500) to tiny animal welfare non-profits worldwide.
It has a dedicated team of 75 grant advisors and 5 country co-ordinators, all experts in their fields to guide funding decisions, to ensure each dollar creates meaningful change.
For farmed animal advocates, it can offer larger capital, and follow-up funding of up to $10K. Examples of projects funded include:
- An exam table for a pet mobile vaccine unit
- Earth-friendly water bowls for stray animals in India
- Campaigning for CCTV cameras in Spanish abattoirs
- Funding a vegan food relief bank in Ukraine
