Get Creative

CEO challenge: When you reach a goal for your fundraiser, have your top leader do a challenge like wearing a funny costume or singing at your next virtual meeting.

Executive or company match: Have an executive commit to a personal match for employee giving. This could be for the whole duration of the fundraiser or just a specific day or time. If your company matches employee giving, encourage staff to double their impact during your fundraiser.

Skip coffee or a meal out: Encourage everyone to donate the cost of their morning coffee, a meal out or both to the fundraiser. You can even invite someone from Second Harvest to give a presentation during a lunchtime event.

Host a TED Talk-style event: Host a livestream presentation with a speaker or panel on a topic like leadership lessons or hunger. Include a link and call to action for your attendees to donate to your fundraiser.

Social media takeover: Have a Second Harvest-focused “takeover” of your social media accounts by sharing content from our website, social media pages and your fundraising link.

Fuel up: Encourage supporters to donate their fuel, mileage and insurance savings from working at home to support Second Harvest.

Online contests and competitions: Participants can pay to enter and donations count as votes! Create a contest that is connected somehow to your fundraiser:

• Talent contest: Invite executives at your company to serve as judges in an America’s Got Talent-style competition.
• Photography contest: Host a photography competition with prizes for different categories. May we suggest a food category?
• Costume contest: A food-themed contest works great for this.
• Art or drawing contest: Create a theme or several categories.
• Aspiring chef competition: Organize the aspiring chefs in your office to give a cooking lesson.

Penalty donation: If someone is late, their phone goes off in a meeting, or anyone commits any other office foul during the fundraiser, have them make a donation as a penalty.

Don’t forget! Every fundraiser, no matter the size, is helping to make a difference for our neighbors in Silicon Valley. Fundraisers provide hope — you provide hope! So, develop your plan, get creative, have fun and help our neighbors access the food they need to thrive.

Principal or teacher challenge: When you reach your fundraising goal, have your top leader do a challenge like wearing a funny costume or singing at the next school-wide event.

Online contests and competitions: Encourage students to make a gift to participate.

• Talent contest: Invite teachers to serve as judges in an America’s Got Talent-style competition.
• Photography contest: Host a photography competition with prizes for different categories. May we suggest a food category?
• Costume contest: A food-themed contest works great for this.
• Art or drawing contest: Create a theme or several categories.
• Aspiring chef competition: Organize the aspiring chefs in your school to give a cooking lesson.

Skip coffee or a meal out: Encourage everyone to donate the cost of their morning coffee, a meal out or both to the fundraiser.

Social media takeover: Have a Second Harvest-focused “takeover” of your social media accounts by sharing content from our website, social media pages and your fundraising link.

PTA involvement: Involving parents in your school’s fundraiser can be a recipe for success. If you have multiple parent organizations, encourage some friendly competition to see who can raise the most support.

Read to feed: For every book a student reads, the school donates to Second Harvest.

Extra credit: Offer students extra credit opportunities for making a gift online.

Don’t forget! Every fundraiser, no matter the size, is helping to make a difference for our neighbors in Silicon Valley. Fundraisers provide hope — you provide hope! So, develop your plan, get creative, have fun and help our neighbors access the food they need to thrive.

Educational activities to incorporate into your fundraiser

• Use your fundraiser as an opportunity to create lesson plans around hunger and food insecurity. Invite someone from Second Harvest to speak to your school.
• Host a CalFresh challenge: Could you eat on $5 a day? CalFresh, the food benefit program for low-income individuals, allots less than $5 per day for food in many California counties. Through this challenge, students can experience the struggle many families face getting enough food through public assistance programs. See an example of the challenge from the San Diego Hunger Coalition.
• Host an Oxfam Hunger Banquet that dramatizes the inequitable distribution of food. Check out the Hunger Banquet Kit from OxFam America.

 Additional resources

• Map the Meal Gap from Feeding America
• Hunger Facts from No Kid Hungry
• This Is Hunger Online Interactive Gallery from MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger

Books on hunger and food insecurity

K-8:

• Maddi’s Fridge by Lois Brandt
• Uncle Willie and the Soup Kitchen by DyAnne DiSalvo-Ryan
• Stone Soup by Marcia Brown
• Gettin’ Through Thursday by Melrose Cooper
• A Kids’ Guide to Hunger & Homelessness by Cathryn Berger Kaye
• The Greatest Table by Michael J. Rosen

High school and college:

• Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
• Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond
• Free for All: Fixing School Food in America by Janet Poppendieck
• The Working Poor: Invisible in America by David K. Shipler

Interfaith hunger event: Get together with other faith-based organizations in your community to stand together in the fight against hunger. This could be a concert, a guest speaker, or any other event that works for your congregation. Encourage participants to make a gift.

Skip coffee or a meal out: Encourage everyone to donate the cost of their morning coffee, a meal out or both to the fundraiser. You can even invite someone from Second Harvest to give a presentation during a lunchtime event.

Fuel up: Encourage supporters to donate their fuel and insurance savings from working at home to support Second Harvest.

Don’t forget! Every fundraiser, no matter the size, is helping to make a difference for our neighbors in Silicon Valley. Fundraisers provide hope — you provide hope! So, set your foundation, get creative, have fun and help our neighbors access the food they need to thrive.

Host a concert: Share music and make a difference. Encourage your concertgoers to make a donation in exchange for a ticket.

Class or workshop: Offer a paid cooking lesson, a yoga lesson or more and donate the proceeds to Second Harvest. Other classes you can offer are meditation, exercise, art, knitting or a foreign language.

Fuel up: Encourage friends and family to donate their fuel and insurance savings from working at home to support Second Harvest.

Fitness challenge: Want to make your fundraiser a fun, healthy and impactful experience? Click here to learn more about a variety of ways to add a fitness component to your fundraiser.

Online trivia night: Put your knowledge to the test and have teams compete for the top spot. Encourage participants to make a gift to Second Harvest.

Watch party: Host a watch party for a documentary or film related to food insecurity. Encourage participants to make a gift.

Game night: Bring people together to socialize and play Pictionary, trivia, Bingo or other online board games. You could also organize a gaming tournament with multi-player games like Call of Duty, Rock Bank, Mario Kart or FIFA. Encourage participants to make a gift.

Birthdays and special events: What better way to celebrate a birthday, anniversary or other special event than to give back? Host a party and encourage others to donate instead of giving gifts.

Advent calendar: Encourage family and friends to make a small gift, like the cost of a favorite healthy snack, every day of the Christmas season to help our neighbors in need.

Don’t forget! Every fundraiser, no matter the size, is helping to make a difference for our neighbors in Silicon Valley. Fundraisers provide hope — you provide hope! So develop your plan, get creative, have fun and help our neighbors access the food they need to thrive.