Can you help me decide what type of event to host?

Sports

• Fitness Class – Do you go to a weekly yoga, Zumba, cycling, or other exercise class? Ask your instructor if they would be interested in donating their time to your fundraiser. Pick a time and day when they are available and charge an entry fee for the class. Make sure to tell all of your friends and family about the class!
• Bowling Tournament – Love to bowl? Ask your local bowling alley if they would be willing to donate a few lanes for a night. Invite community members and charge a fee to enter the tournament.
• Mini Golf Tournament – Discover your competitive side with a Mini Golf Tournament. Find a place nearby or even set one up in your house.
• Scavenger Hunt – This can be done in a small area like a park or even around your town/city. Place clues around the area and charge for the first clue.
• March Madness – Charge friends, family, and coworkers to enter their March Madness Bracket.

Family Fun

• Movie Night – See if a local school (or even a generous movie theater) will donate their auditorium for a movie night and charge for tickets.
• Students vs Teachers Basketball Game – A great way to get kids involved is through competition. Gather some students and teachers a charge money for the big game!
• Bag Groceries – See if a local grocery store will pay for baggers for a few hours one day. This is a great way to get kids involved and talk to members of the community about what you’re raising money for. You may even get some donations!
• Car Wash – Nothing has withstood the test of time like a good old car wash. See if a local store will donate necessary materials and advertise around town.

Food

• Pancake Breakfast – A pancake breakfast can be done anywhere from your house, a school, or even a local diner. Charge a flat fee for all-you-can-eat pancakes.
• Happy Hour – See if your local bar will assist with a happy hour even. Many bars will donate a portion of their proceeds to a good cause. Invite your friends and have a fun night out for a cause!
• Restaurant Night – Just like bars, restaurants will sometimes donation a portion of their proceeds to a cause, especially when you help drive business to them. Ask around your favorite restaurants and see if they’ll participate.

Other

• Trivia Night – Everyone loves trivia! Have a trivia night and see if a local bar or restaurant will donate the space. This not only helps you raise money, it helps the bar/restaurant make money with food and drink sales!
• Art Auction – Talk to local artists and see if they’ll donate a piece to an art auction. This not only helps you fundraise, but puts the artists name out into the community.

The Foundation Fundraiser team would love to help you brainstorm creative ways you can raise money and awareness in your community. Contact us today to set up a brainstorming session!

Hosting an event seems a little overwhelming, but I would like to help. Do you have any other fundraising ideas?

Yes! Hosting a fundraiser in your community is not everyone’s cup of tea. Another effective way to raise money is to create a donation page, using OneCause and ask your friends and family for their support. You could tie this request for donations around a special day, like your birthday or a holiday, or use it as a way to celebrate a GBS│CIDP milestone – one year since your first steps! Many people want to help, especially after they hear about your personal connection to the GBS│CIDP community. 

Where does the money go?

DIY fundraisers, like the one you’re planning, help the foundation support patients around the world, connecting them to a global network of volunteers, health professionals, and researchers that will help their journeys with GBS/CIDP be a little easier. Money also helps educate. GBS and CIDP are rare diseases, meaning many healthcare professionals and care givers often don’t have much experience with them. Our foundation helps educate so that patients are receiving the best care possible. Through funds raised, we also support a program that provides grants to researchers around the world to better understand these diseases. These grants are helping groundbreaking research that will provide quicker diagnosis, new medication, and a better understanding of GBS and CIDP. Lastly, fundraising dollars go towards advocacy. We advocate on the federal, state, and grassroots levels to help benefit our patient and caregiver community.

If you would like to raise money for a certain aspect of the organization, like research, please contact the Development Team at events@gbs-cidp.org. We will ensure that all money you raise goes towards our Research Grant program.

Setting up a page seems a little overwhelming. Who can help me?

Contact the Foundation’s Development Team at events@gbs-cidp.org. We would love to provide some technical assistance and show you all of the unique features your fundraising page has to offer.

How does the Foundation help in planning my event?

Yes, the Foundation can help you in many ways! The Foundation Development team LOVES a good party. We would love to help you brainstorm or talk about your event planning timeline. We can also help promote your event to our GBS│CIDP community in your area by posting it on our events calendar. We can also help raise awareness of these rare conditions by sending you Foundation literature and giveaways. For more information, contact the Foundation Development team at events@gbs-cidp.org.