The Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter’s

Independent EventsIdeas Book

World Change Starts with Educated Children.®

Version 1 (July 2013)

How to use this bookSo you’ve decided to help us raise funds for Room to Read? Fantastic! But you’re not sure how to do it? No worries – we’ve done the hard work for you – the answers are all here. BUT, if you have an idea, as this is not an exhaustive list, we look forward to your suggestions!

This book is packed full of fundraising, awareness-raising and event ideas. Some of them you’ll have heard before, others are new or maybe even a little crazy. But we hope that they’ll inspire you to take action to help Room to Read bring education to developing countries.

Once you’ve held your event or fundraiser, make sure to share your story with us – so we can inspire others to follow in your footsteps.

Thank you for your support of Room to Read – it is greatly appreciated.

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Become a champion for children’s literacy and gender equality in education.

Hosting a fundraiser is a great place to start!! Whether you’re running a race, organizing a

teambuilding activity for your office, or raising a glass to literacy, you can change the life of a child and

generations to come.

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First, set a goal

Do you want to send a girl go to school for a year, or maybe ten girls for ten years? Or perhaps you’d like to fund a library in Nepal, Cambodia , South Africa or Zambia?

Whatever your goal, remember that every dollar helps. Here are some key figures to set you on your way to helping us raise funds for Room to Read…..

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$1 = one new book in the hands of a child

$2,500= 10 years of Girls’ Education

$250= one year of Girls’ Education

$100= school uniforms for 16 girls

$25= books to fill a library shelf

$50= a bicycle for a girl to get to school

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Not enough? Try this!

PROJECT SPONSORSHIP:

Establish a Classroom Library in Asia $5,000

Establish a Classroom Library in Africa $20,000

Construct a Library in Asia $20,000

Construct a Library in Africa $40,000

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And now for the ideas…

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Donate your birthdayThis has to be the easiest fundraiser ever, but it can have huge results. How does it work? That’s easy…

• Set up a fundraising page at – create a fundraising page online at www.roomtoread.org/FriendsAskingFriends

• Now, listen carefully - this is the important part– explain to your friends and family that this year you’d rather not receive birthday gifts; rather, you’d like them to make a donation to Room to Read to the same value as they would have spent on your gift

• Take the lead by donating your salary for the day

• Go viral - share your actions on Facebook and Twitter

• Be creative – donate your engagement, wedding or even Christmas!

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Give up to Give Back!

We all have things we’d like to give up – why not give it up in the name of literacy? Just ask your friends to sponsor you.

Here are some things we think you might like to give up for a while:

• Drinking • Smoking • Chocolate• Desserts• Television• Facebook• Shaving (see Beards for Books later on)• Coffee• We’re sure you can think of more!

create a fundraising page online at

www.roomtoread.org/FriendsAskingFriends

to help you easily manage the

donations that are sure to come piling

in

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Money for jam

Pull out your grandmother’s old recipes and make some scrumptious jam or chutney.

Bottle it into special jars, wrap them beautifully and sell the packages to your friends and family.

Market your wares before upcoming festivities such as Christmas or Mothers’ Day to maximize your sales.

Claire sold 300 jars of home-made jam

and chutney, and raised $800 –

that’s 800 new children’s

books

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TriviaNight

Trivia nights are a fun way to spend an evening with friends and raise funds at the same time.

Think of your own questions or find a ready-made quiz on the internet.

Mix it up a little by including some games.

Ask local businesses for donations for raffle or auction prizes.

Cameron raised $2,000 by asking his

friends tricky questions and pitting

them against one another. That was enough for eight

girls to go to school for a year!

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Movie Night

Many cinemas have charity packages, where they give discounted rates for groups. Find out what your local cinema has on offer.

Invite your friends to join you for a favorite movie, or the new blockbuster. Get as many people to come as you can, and charge them an entry fee. Hold a raffle or auction to raise extra funds.

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Dining for Dollars

You can do it in style by booking and paying for the restaurant and catering, inviting a large group of friends and then charging an entry fee; or you can go low-key by having a quiet dinner at home and asking guests to make a donation.

Talk passionately about Room to Read, and why it’s important to you, to inspire guests to make extra donations on the night.

Julia held a dinner party for a milestone birthday and raised $16,000 towards her

goal of building a library in Zambia.

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Book Swap

If you love books, this one’s for you.

Simply invite some friends over and ask them to bring a favorite book. Ask them to write a note explaining why

they liked it so much.

Ask everyone to make a donation to Room to Read, and then swap books.

What could be easier?

Jan, Jess and Anja raised $270 - another

year of Girls’ Education – just by combining two of

their favorite things: books and Room to

Read

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Beers for Books is a very popular concept all over the Room to Read world – hmmm, we wonder why?!

The basic idea is you find a cool bar and ask them to donate $1 for every drink sold on a specific night. You invite your friends, they invite their friends, and everyone has a great night.

Every single dollar raised funds a high quality local language book.

Beers For Books

Check out the Beers for Books

website at:

www.beersforbooks.org

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Beer not your thing? Easy – just swap the beer for champagne!

Find a cool bar willing to donate $1 for every drink sold and you’re on your way to raising money for literacy.

Sounds like a bubbly good idea to us…

Cocktails for a Causeor

Bubbles for Books

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Beards for Books

Yes, that’s right Beards for Books! If beer and bubbles don’t do it for you, maybe a beard will!

Victor grew a beard for fun while on holiday in Vietnam. When he returned, friends encouraged him to keep it. He agreed but only on the condition they donated to Room to Read.

Room to Read supporters Victor,

Chris and Sop raised money simply by growing beards!

How cool is that?

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Garage Sale

Is your stuff holding you hostage? Ready to break free? Want to invest in literacy and education at the same time?

Then hold a garage sale, and donate all the proceeds to Room to Read. Invite your neighbors to do the same and turn it into a community event.

Hold your own or join in the Garage Sale

Trail.

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Host a theme party

Pick your favorite theme, throw a party and invite your friends.

Charge an entry fee, get everyone dressed up and then party on!

Amy held a Mexican Day of the Dead

party, invited all her friends and raised $1600 – six more

years of Girls’ Education

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Play ScrabblePeter loves to play Scrabble. He wanted to raise some money for Room to Read but didn’t want to organize a big event.

He got talking to another Room to Read supporter, who said that the best way to organise a fundraiser or awareness-raiser is to center it around things you already do in your own life.

The light bulb went on, and Peter immediately went home and started to plan his Scrabble tournament. He invited everyone from his Scrabble community, and raised $720 in the process – enough for over 100 new school uniforms!

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Get active

These days you can get your friends and family to sponsor you to do almost anything. Here are some ideas:

• Running a marathon • Join our Cowtown Yak Pak running team• Undertaking an endurance event • Skydiving • Swimming• Walking• Dancing• Bowling for Books !

Don’t fancy the active lifestyle? How about these ideas:

• Shaving your head • Growing a beard

create a fundraising page online at www.roomtoread.org/FriendsAskingFriends

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Lattes for Literacy gather your friends for a coffee

morning, bring your mothers and daughters, add in a book swap or something else that’s fun, and share

your passion for girls’ education.

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Casual Day at Work or School

Collect donations at work on casual days. Also a popular

campaign for schools!

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CampaignsWe have plenty of campaigns on the go – pick the one that appeals to you and

organise your fundraiser around it.

In 2013 we’ll be focusing on:

• International Book Giving Day - February• International Women’s Day - March

• Book Week - May• International Literacy Day – September 8

• Booktober – September/October• International Day of the Girl – October 11

Know of another one? Tell us about it!

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Tips and tricks

• Make sure your venue is the right size – you want to create atmosphere but still have room to move

• You may incur some expenses, such as a room rental fee, so factor this into your financial plan

• Learn how to talk passionately about Room to Read (come to our workshop on this) and speak at your event – this inspires others to follow your lead and take action

• Checkout our Independent Events Kit for more info• http://www.roomtoread.org/MyCampaign

• Ask us for our handy How to write a Press Release kit so you can get some publicity

Here are some handy hints, given to us by the lovely people who’ve already held events for us:

• Approach local businesses and ask them to sponsor your event, or donate some goods or services as prizes

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‘Friend’raisers

Not quite ready to ask for donations? Not a problem!

It’s just as important to share the news about Room to Read. So, host a ‘friend’raising event to raise awareness.

The goal of a friendraiser is to give people information about Room to Read and let them know how they can get involved. Sharing one of the short videos from YouTube is a great way to show the work RtR does to improve the lives

of millions of children (see http://www.youtube.com/user/Roomtoread) .

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All your fundraising efforts support the DFW Room to Read chapter and we want to support you! By filling out an event form, we will be able to assist in advertising your event via our social media networks.

Email form to dallas@roomtoread.org

And remember, all the funds raised via your event and the DFW chapter go directly to Room to Read!

World Change Starts with Educated Children

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Thank you for your support of Room to Read – it is greatly appreciated.

World Change Starts with Educated Children.®