One smart way to ensure you go green with your fundraising is to ask yourself the following question: do my money-raising activity uses one of the three R’s? You might wonder what exactly are the three R’s; they are the mantra at the very core of any ecological action: Reuse, Reduce and Recycle. Starting from there, you might well realize you are in fact sitting on a source of money for your project, without noticing it! Let’s examine an idea that implies reusing: a yard sale.

Take a look around your house. Hum… See that little piece of plastic collecting dust on the shelf? That old bike in the garage your kids don’t use anymore because they grow up so fast? What about that old painting in the attic Grandma gave you and you never really liked? You get the point. You can sell these for others to reuse and fund your project while cleaning up space in your house. It’s a win-win situation!

Organizing a yard sale cannot be more easy. Just ask your group to collect objects they don’t need or don’t want anymore during the week, then on the weekend throw a massive collective yard sale. You’ll attract people from all around the neighborhood, willing to help  a good cause and bring back home that little something they were looking for. What can be more exciting than gathering with your group, tag prices on items you don’t need anymore and spend an afternoon giggling at old stuff and sharing stories of days old?

Even better, turn the yard sale into a friendly competition. At the start of the day, have each participant choose an object they’d like to bring back home. Distribute a box to each participant with their name on it: this is where they’ll keep the cash they make from selling. At the end of the day, the participant with the most money in his box can keep the object he chose earlier! Now that is sure to stir up some sales and add a good bit of fun to the day!

You see, simply by starting with the idea of using one of the three R’s for your fundraising activity, you can come up with something that doesn’t imply buying knick-knacks and reselling them, doesn’t demand a lot of energy and all the while still be a go green money-raiser. Make up some room and have fun!