How to Raise A Lot of Money and Become a Hero

Heroes Club members are our angels.  Heroes have committed to raising at least $1,000. Our Heroes are treated very special and given lots of additional incentives just for reaching this goal.  Don't forget to see the list of incentives just for reaching the goal of the Heroes Club.

Listed below are a few ideas to assist Heroes Club members in reaching their $1,000 goal. If you have an idea you would like to see here, please email the Heroes Club Coordinator. If you would like more ideas, don't forget to attend the Hero's Club Fundraising Workshops.

"Fundraising Ideas"

Hero Club Tips & Tools  

People can't donate if they don't know you are walking! Talk about the AIDS Walk with everyone you come in contact with.

Talk to your grocer, doctor, nurses, dentist, etc.
Ask them if they would be willing to support your efforts.

Bring a sponsor form to your place of worship.
If you attend religious services regularly, bring along your form and ask fellow members of your congregation to support your efforts.

Recycle.
Collect and recycle aluminum cans. Put a container in your break room for collecting the cans and let colleagues know that recycling helps the AIDS Walk. Don't forget to collect cans at home.

Answering Machine Message.
This will alert everyone who calls you at home that you're up to something special. Let them know that you need their support.

Ask your local bartender or waiters/waitresses to donate a portion of one day's tips.
You can create a sign for the bartender to place on the bar or a slip to put with checks that reads, "All tips collected tonight will go directly to Joe Walker who's walking 5 kilometers to raise money for people living with HIV/AIDS." When people see the sign they may be willing to dig a little deeper in their pocket!

Hold a benefit tag sale.
Ask your family, friends, and co-workers to donate items. Have all proceeds go to your Hero Club fund and give anything leftover to a local non-profit organization.

Business Cards.
Print some inexpensive business cards on your computer so that you can hand out the web address of your site and get more online donations. Hand them out to everyone you meet!

Find your creative outlet.
Do you love to cook? Can you make the most fabulous brownies? What about creating stationery or designing T-shirts? Use your creativity to work for you! Sell to your family, friends, and co-workers, with proceeds going to the AIDS Walk.

Raise Money on the Job.
Include the AIDS Walk information as part of your auto signature file in your email. Include a link to your AIDS Walk web page in your signature. Each time you send a message, the recipient will be reminded to sponsor you.

Get your company to have a Denim Day.
If there is a dress code in the office, have company employees wear jeans and a red ribbon to work one Friday if they donate $5.00 to the AIDS Walk.

Sell goodies to your officemates.
Pick up bulk packages of the most sought after sweets and set up an honor snack area near the photo copy machine. Charge $1.00 per item.

Collect Loose Change.
Everybody has a stash of loose change in a cup or jar just sitting around. Ask everyone to donate theirs toward your goal. You will be surprised how fast it adds up.

Post an AIDS Walk poster or sign.
Put up a note by the elevator, coffee maker, copy machine, vending machine, break room, or bathroom on your floor, letting everyone know that you are a Hero Club Walker for AIDS Walk Long Beach and that you would be grateful for their donation.

Designate an AIDS Walk Awareness Day.
Give out red ribbons to each person who donates.

Skip-a-Snack.
If you normally buy candy, sodas, or other snacks, donate the change you would have spent to the AIDS Walk instead. It may be fun to pick a day or a week when your friends or co-workers do it together!

Sandwich Runs.
How many of your co-workers wouldn't donate a few dollars to have a trusty runner fetch their sandwiches?

Hold an office potluck.
Ask everyone to cook and donate an item for a themed luncheon in the office. Then ask everyone who partakes in the lunch to donate $5 to the Walk.

Decorate Your Desk at Work.
Hang up AIDS Walk posters, registration cards, note cards, design your own poster, hang up the Hero Club celebration invitation- go wild! Make a poster with a thermometer, your goal being the top, and fill it in as you raise money. If you did the Walk last year, hang up paraphernalia from it. Get creative! Make sure people know that you are a member of the Hero's Club for AIDS Walk Long Beach, and what that means.

FUNdraising Events

Don't Come Event.
Are there times you would rather not attend a function? Do you feel that you would rather stay at home, relax and help out a really good cause by doing so? Then a Don't Come Event is something that you should seriously consider using as a fundraising event! Send a humorous invitation for an event that will never take place. The invitation must be clear in explaining that the event will never take place and why it is to your invitee's benefit not to come to an event they have paid for. Be original and use your imagination. Since the event will never take place you can have it anywhere, anytime and it won't cost anything extra. After the invitee has paid for their ticket(s), issue a Thank You note for their non-attendance. Again re-affirm all the benefits the invitee has enjoyed by their non-attendance mentioned in the original invitation. Where possible include a speech by the guest speaker who also did not attend.

Awards Show Party.
Everyone watches The Oscars, The Grammy's, The Golden Globes and The Tony Awards -- so turn your party into a fundraiser. Charge a cover and hand out ballots to see who can predict the most winners. Of course, charge a fee for entry into the competition. You can also present the winner with a hand-crafted statue that they will be able to take home and use as a bookend.

Murder Mystery Dinner.
Use one of the scripts from the board game, How to Host a Murder Mystery. Decorate your home in accordance with the theme. Follow the characters and scripts. Perform Scene One and then serve the salad. Perform Scene Two and then serve dinner. Dinner is followed by Scene Three, then dessert, then Scene Four. All who come are then invited to guess who the murderer is. Charge per ticket for the dinner. Make sure your meal is low-cost, even donated if possible.

Karaoke Night.
Sell tickets for an evening of awful singing at a local bar or at home. Get people to donate money to stop their friends from singing or have a singing contest. Charge an entry fee, and have proceeds from the ticket sales go to your Star Walker fund.

Have a pop idol competition with your friends and co-workers.
Everyone gets sponsored to perform a song and you choose your own panel of judges, making sure at least one of them is as nasty as Simon on American Idol! Of course, charge 'em at the door and put the $$ toward your pledges.

Disco Party.
Plan a Disco party on a Saturday night. Sell tickets in advance, and have a raffle during the evening, appoint judges, and give a prize to the winners. Have refreshments, a costume contest, and a dance contest. Relive the glory days of disco and raise money for the AIDS Walk.

Reverse Raffle.
Hold a non-raffle raffle, the raffle no one wants to win. Intriguing, yes? Everyone at an event is issued an equal number of tickets in the raffle for free but they have the opportunity to buy back their tickets stubs and reduce their chances of winning. Why? The first prize is one that no one wants to win, i.e. having their hair dyed green for a week!

Benefit concerts/gigs.
If you know a rock band, barn dance caller, jazz group, disco DJ or string quartet, ask them if they will do a benefit evening for the AIDS Walk at a local club or coffeehouse.

Long Beach AIDS Foundation

2630 E Fourth Street, Long Beach CA 90814

(562) 987-5200  Email: info@aidswalklb.org