Thank you for being an active fundraiser for the Indiana AIDS Walk. Fundraising is critical to ensure that we continue to help those in our community. 

We updated the list of fundraising tips with social distancing in mind. Remember to be safe, wear masks, practice social distancing, and wash your hands! Included in this year's tips are recommendations for how to use social media to fundraise, with more step by step instructions below. If you decide you still need a good long walk, here is a link to some of the best trails in Indiana. Perfect for social distancing. 

Here are other ideas to help you and your team be successful:

  1. Set up Your Online Page: The key to successful fundraising begins with creating your personal online fundraising page. For the best success, populate your page with pictures and your personal story. Tell the world what motivates you to support this year’s event. Here are step by step instructions for setting up your personal page and your team page.
  2. Share, Share, Share: Through your online personal page, you will find links to share your fundraising page to your social media accounts. Use them! Use these step by step instructions for setting up FB LIve and Instagram Live.
  3. Update Your Facebook Profile Picture: Add one of the Indiana AIDS Walk frames to your Facebook profile or add a photo of yourself from the walk last year.
  4. Online Garage Sale: Clean out your house and host a virtual garage sale! Post items on eBay, Craig’s List, or Facebook Marketplace. This win-win idea will help you clear clutter while raising funds for your team.
  5. DIY Connection: Have a talent with do-it-yourself projects? Use your talent to raise money for your team by selling your one-of-a-kind creations. Make and sell face masks to help keep each other safe and fundraise.
  6. A Trip to Plato: We all have those items in our closets that no longer fit, but still have value. You and your team can collect your unneeded clothes and accessories and take a trip to Plato’s Closet, or any consignment store. The money you make can go to your fundraising total.
  7. Karaoke Night on Facebook or Instagram Live: Are you or someone else you know an excellent singer? Host a virtual concert! Patrons can suggest songs for a fee or give a donation for joining.
  8. Tribute Day: Everyone is impacted by HIV. Pick a day between now and the Walk that means something to you and/or your team and designate it as a “Tribute Day.” On this day, encourage others to share your fundraising page on social media along with their personal story.
  9. Texting Tuesday: Each Tuesday, between now and the Walk, send a text message to your contacts with a link to your personal page and ask them to give.
  10. Celebrate a National Day: Choose a national day and accept donations to deliver celebration supplies.
  • August 4 - National Chocolate Chip Cookie Day: A traveling bake sale! Bake cookies and deliver them for donations.
  • August 16 - National Tell a Joke Day: Tell a joke to those who donate.
  • August 19 - National Potato Day: For a small donation, allow people to anonymously send a potato to their friends or family.
  • August 31 - National Trail Mix Day: Create your own trail mix, distribute it to those who donate.
  • September 18 - National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day: Encourage donations to support HIV/AIDS and Aging awareness in your community.
  • September 19 - National Dance Day: Share videos of you doing your best dance moves for a donation.

We voted on our favorite new fundraising ideas! Here are our top three:

 Virtual Hang Out: Have friends, family, and team members donate what they would have spent on a meal out. Schedule a day for everyone to get together over Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, or another video platform to reminisce about past fundraising events. 

 Fruitcake Pass: Would you want to get stuck with a fruitcake? If not this is the perfect fundraiser for you. Drop a fruitcake (or another undesirable item) at a friend's door. Include a message letting your friend know that for a small donation to your walk efforts they can send the fruitcake to an unsuspecting person. This next person must match or increase the previous donation to get rid of the fruitcake. This continues until someone decides to keep the cake.

 Game Night: Host a game night over Zoom, Google Hangouts, FaceTime, or another video platform. Each guest pays $10 to join, the winner could even receive a small prize! This Yahtzee online scorecard is a great tool to use! Remember to have guests bring their own dice!

Have an idea that has worked in the past? Share it with us on Facebook so we can recommend it to others. Remember, creativity can go a long way!