Remember in grade school when your buddy was dared $10 to drink a gallon of milk? Well, doing random feats as a fundraiser is kind of like that. Instead of sponsoring you to run a marathon or ride a bike across America, your friends, family and co-workers sponsor you to walk backwards around the block 5-times in a tutu singing “baby got back.”  People love novelty. We like to observe and be part of something unique.

Getting Started

Step 1. Pick a feat. Start with a quick feat, like having your co-workers chip in $10 each if you can walk backwards up your 12 story office building at lunch. If you’ve picked something clever, people will be eager to sponsor your efforts just to see you do it. If you’re feeling daring, go for something bigger that requires training and planning.

Step 2. Fundraise and engage. Word of mouth and just building excitement will make fundraising easy. “I’m raising funding for global poverty, how much will give me if I…” If you’re planning a more involved feat, utilize the methods for online fundraising, along with fundraising letters to encourage people to contribute.

Step 3. Go for it! Attempt your random feat. Have someone record it or take pictures.

Step 4. Mail in the donation. If people gave cash, you can write a check for the amount given or donate it via credit card online.

Tips

1. Know your demographic. What would your friends, co-workers, and family find funny? Is there an inside joke that could be incorporated into the feat.
2. Make your sponsors famous. Wear a T-Shirt and write your sponsors (friends) name on it black marker.

The King of Random Feats

Ashrita Furman has the Guinness World Record for the most world records… 236.  The person in second place has a mere 20. Furman’s world records range from pushing a car 17 miles to walking 80 miles with a gallon of milk on his head. While your feat doesn’t need to be Furman caliber, his random feats are great inspiration for coming up with ideas.