How to Get Fundraising Ideas, Part 3

This fundraising post is about creative thinking, as we usually think of it. Last time I wrote about a systematic way to explore different elements of fundraising in a search for new ideas. This post is about an intuitive technique for creating ideas by using random concepts to spark new thinking about fundraising.

New ideas are often just concepts taken from another field and adapted to fit. The concept of a library has been extended to garden tools. You can lease a washer and drier in Europe, now or pretty soon. With those two examples in mind, take a few minutes to examine this list of concepts:

Coupon
Vending machine
Clearance sale
Holiday sale
Product recommendations (People who bought X also enjoyed Y)
Layaway
Buy One Get One (free, half off, et cetera)
Lease
Deposits
Refer-a-friend
Credit
Renting
Sharing (bikes, cars)
Fractional ownership

Think about a specific fundraising challenge your organization is facing and take another look at the list. Try working with each concept in turn until you get tired or get a great new idea. That's basically it. Try to brainstorm for a few minutes and write down everything that comes to mind.

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