Ask schools and businesses to allow you to place a large punch bowl in a central area near their food court or cafeteria. Use Friends of WFP materials, such as brochures and flyers, to surround the bowls with information and ask people to put their extra change in the bowl as they come and go from lunch.

Coin Drives and Competitions

At your school, business or community organization, divide participants into at least 2 teams. The teams compete against each other in raising the most money to help end hunger. Each team has a jar in which members contribute spare change. Each coin corresponds to a point value (1 penny = 1 point, 1 nickel = 5 points, etc.). Teams may sabotage each other by sneaking dollar bills into their opponents jar; the value of the bill will be deducted from the team’s score ($1 = -100 points, $5 = -500 points, etc.). The team with the most points at the end of the competition wins.

Strike out Hunger

Have people sign up and create teams to hold a bowling competition. Charge a small sign-up fee or ask the bowling alley to offer free bowling with a donation made to Friends of WFP. You could put together a similar event with any sport or activity - softball, volleyball, kickball, etc.

Mariah Levitt and the WFP Committee of Miami, Florida organized Get a Clue for a Cause, a city-wide scavenger hunt in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Teams throughout the community participated and helped the committee meet and surpass their fundraising goal.

Poker Tournament

Organize a multi-table poker evening in a large open space such as a cafeteria, meeting room, etc. The tournament winner will take home the glory, but buy-ins can be donated to Friends of WFP.  Younger fundraisers can switch out poker for Go Fish, BS, Euchre, Spit, or any other popular game.

Service Day
Grab a group of friends and family and provide a convenience service for the day, asking for donations. Here are a few examples: Ask your grocery store if you can offer customers the service of carrying bags to their cars. Ask management at the mall if you can set up an area for a coat check. At local stores, find out if you can provide gift-wrapping around the holidays.

Food Fundraiser
Ask a local pizzeria, ice cream shop, coffee shop, deli, etc. to team up with you on this event. On a selected date, a portion of the profits from the food/beverages purchased by community members will go to Friends of WFP.

Members of the WFP Committee of Springfield, Missouri held a bake sale in their community to raise funds for Friends of WFP and directly support WFP hunger relief projects in the field.

Empty Bowls Banquet
Each attendee buys a bowl and is then served a simple meal of soup and bread to illustrate the daily nutritional reality for millions around the world. If possible, enlist local artists or art students to donate hand-crafted bowls. Create a presentation on international and domestic hunger issues as attendees eat, or contact us to access the PowerPoint presentation and talking points developed by Friends of WFP’s Education and Outreach team.

Benefit Concert
Ask local bands to volunteer their time to play a benefit concert. Hold the event on a Friday or Saturday night. Ask for volunteers to manage tables outside of the venue where people can donate money. You can also charge a small admittance fee, letting attendees know that all profits will be donated to Friends of WFP.

Benefit Play
Talk to a local theatre, acting troupe, or your middle school/high school drama club about putting on a production focused on the issue of world hunger. Just as for a concert, get volunteers to manage tables outside of the venue where people can donate money or charge a small admittance fee, letting attendees know that all profits will be donated to Friends of WFP.

Stewart and Stewart – a Washington, DC-based international trade law firm – spearheaded the Silent Tsunami Campaign, which raised over $20,000 for Friends of WFP and the Capitol Area Food Bank.

5K Walk/Run for Hunger
Talk to your local officials about setting aside public roads, a park, a track, or other space to hold a walk/run. Runners can set time goals for themselves to complete the race and recruit friends and family to sponsor them. Depending on how closely runners meet their time goal, sponsors can donate various amounts of money. You may also wish to charge a small sign-up fee for a large walk/run event. You could simultaneously educate participants and supporters by marking meter distances with hunger facts, such as “25: the number of pennies it takes to feed one child in school one meal.”

Family Carnival Day
Get in touch with a business that does carnival/fair equipment rental and find out if they’d be willing to reduce prices in order to increase donations to Friends of WFP.  Hold the carnival either outside or in a large gym space. Charge a small entrance fee and/or sell ride tickets to collect proceeds that will benefit Friends of WFP. You may want to contact local food and beverage providers to find out if they’d be interested in the free advertising they would get by setting up a free food/samples stand at the carnival.

REMEMBER: The easiest way to raise money is to use your unique talent(s). If you’re an artist, have a sale of your work. If you’re always at the gym, get sponsored for how many push-ups you can do or how long you can stay on the treadmill. If you love to read, get sponsored for how many books you can plow through in one week, etc.