Need Funding? Try Cow Dung & Bouncing Boobs

Bottle drives, chocolate pushing, raffles, car washes… BORING! Who would you rather give money to, the homeless dude just sitting there with his hand out, or the one wearing a Spiderman costume, breakdancing while holding a banana? You’d toss the latter a quarter because he earned it. Fundraising should employ the same valued principle: creativity. Present something so out of the ordinary and folks can’t help but say “yes” to whatever project you’re seeking funding for. Raising money for your Dragon Boat team? For breast cancer? For your first feature length Ghost-Pirates Vs. Zombie-Ninjas film? The following are some of the most unique, hilarious, and innovative ways to earn sponsors and support for your cause.

1. Cow Dung Bingo

Easily my favorite method for raising funds is to organize a good ole game of Cow Bingo. If you live in the city this might prove difficult, but if you have any farms or open fields within 30 minutes of the city it’s definitely worth the drive.

What you will need:

1. One cow.
2. A large field, preferably with elevated stands for spectators.
3. A chalk field liner with chalk. You can buy one new for about $130, but if you’re a true fundraiser you can find them cheap on Craigslist or eBay, or just ask your local high school gym teacher to borrow theirs for free.

The game is simple. Using the chalk field liner make a large grid across the entire field, then number each square. Invite participants to pick their squares, paying $X amount for each square purchased. Your goal should obviously be to fill the stands with spectators, with no squares left unaccounted for. Feel free to sell food and beverages at the event for extra cash. After giving it plenty of food and water, escort your beautifully groomed cow to the field and let the games begin. As time goes by tension rises in the crowd, as well as in the cow who will in essence “choose” the winner. You can set up side bets for which square(s) gets a hose down, but the real prize goes to the square getting nuked.

This and other weird ideas found here.

2. Mother-Son Dodgeball Dance

Found this one on a pissed off mom’s blog. She was ranting (and with just cause) about the lame fundraising events her son’s school keeps trying to involve her in, the most recent of which taking the lame cake: the Mother-Son Dodgeball Dance.

As much as any young boy relishes the idea of pelting the woman who brought him into this world with a large rubber ball at the risk of being grounded for life, I’d be surprised if any moms showed up given the ridiculous flyers that were sent out: “Boys… Here’s your chance to ‘Get Mom’ at the thing you do best! Mom… Here’s your chance to show him how you get your head in the game! When you’ve worked that out, get out and shake it! $20 includes admission for 2 with disc jockey, momento photo, sweatband, drinks, and treats! Sneakers required! It’ll be a blast!”

Wow. This fundraiser gets props for involving dodgeball, but gets booed off the stage for a) implying that dodgeball is what boys do best.
b) forcing moms to “get out and shake it” when they’d rather just stand there and whip that ball right back at their little s*** disturbing children.

3. Become a Ditch Monkey

In an effort to raise funds for The Woodland Trust, the UKs leading woodland conservation charity, Hugh Sawyer decided to ditch civilization to go live in a rainforest for a year. The project was only supposed to last for six weeks, but after breezing through them with relative ease, Hugh decided to push it to fifty-two. He calls himself “The Original Ditch Monkey” and he collected online sponsors while living amongst real monkeys. It’s unclear whether he lasted the entire year but he did manage to raise close to $13,000 (£6,118) and he kept an interesting blog of his woodland adventures.

4. Follow the Bouncing Boob

Walk-a-thons are boring. A boob-a-thon, on the other hand, transforms ordinary walking into a spectator sport Boob-bouncing is an easy and entertaining way for bold ladies or overweight middle-aged men to raise significant amounts of money. It may show up in the form of crumpled dollar bills, but money nonetheless.

What you need: Boobs

Best known in London as “The Booby Sisters”, Tania Amazon and Laura Hawkins managed to raise over £322 for breast cancer, by ironically bouncing their boobs from The London Eye to Parliament Square across the Westminster bridge.

5. Swimming with Sharks

Dave Spence risked life and limb for the Henshaws Society for Blind People by scuba diving with ten-foot sand tiger sharks. Without a cage to protect him, Dave wins for most extreme method of fundraising.

6. Sponsored Hair Waxing

Excruciatingly painful, but extremely hilarious, waxing for cash is becoming an increasingly popular method for men to raise funds and awareness. If Harrison Ford can do it for the rainforests then you can do it for…whatever the hell you’d want to do it for. Good luck finding sympathy or support from the ladies however, they already pay enough hard earned money having their own hair ripped out.