How to Fundraise Your Way To Camp

If you’re a camper that’s excited to attend The YES Camp but don’t qualify for sponsorship or subsidies—or need additional support beyond what you’ve received—you’re in the right place! 

Here are some ideas for how you can plan and lead your own fundraising efforts within your own community:

• Ask local businesses, organizations and individuals (family, family friends, coaches, teachers) to contribute to your sponsorship goal.

• Make friendship bracelets or other crafts and sell them to them in your community.

• Connect with some of your camp friends, and host a bake sale, lemonade stand, or car wash together. 

• Organize a bottle drive 

You can learn more about each idea below, but be creative! In the past, we’ve seen campers come together in their communities and fundraise to attend camp together. We encourage you to take initiative and fundraise in a way that reflects your strengths and creativity!​​

​You might be surprised by how many people in your community are ready to support you when you share why camp matters to you! 

If you need support, promotional material, or want us to share your fundraiser, send us an email at info@theyes.ca. We’d be happy to help!​

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1. Ask local businesses, organizations and individuals to contribute to your sponsorship goal. 

One way to fundraise for camp is to write a letter or email to those in your community at home! Write about what excites you about camp — maybe learning new skills, meeting new people, gaining confidence, or becoming a stronger leader in your school or community. Help your supporters understand what going to camp means to you! 

You can ask:

• Your local Service Clubs, ex. Rotaries, Lions Club, Elks

• Your extended family, ex. Aunts and uncles, grandparents, and cousins

• Your local community, ex. Your favourite businesses, your coaches, your neighbours

You can find a sample letter here to get your started. Remember that this is just a starting point. We encourage you to personalize your letter! 

Writing Letter Tips:

• Consider what your goal is. Are you trying to raise money for a full sponsorship? A partial sponsorship? Include the exact amount in your letter so people know! 

• Share what you can offer in return! Perhaps you can do more chores, volunteer your time for a cause, or speak at a meeting about your experience at camp. 

• When thinking about who to ask, remember to only reach out to those that you feel comfortable with. There’s no pressure to send out hundreds of letters or emails. Start small and go from there! 

2. Make friendship bracelets and sell them to those in your community.

Friendship bracelets are part of the camp magic, and they can be a great way to fundraise for camp! Whether you use beads or thread, like we do at camp, you can offer bracelets for a small donation to your camp fees. This is a great opportunity to share a piece of camp with your supporters! 

Some things to consider:

• Are you open to personalizing your bracelets? Add people’s names with beads or use their hobbies and favourite movies, music, and colours as inspiration! 

• How much is a fair price for your time and design? We would recommend pricing your bracelets on a sliding scale - with a minimum price of $10 - Some generous folks will donate more to help you get to camp! 

• How much time does it take you to make a bracelet? Don’t overpromise how many orders you take on!

3. Connect with some of your camp friends, and host a bake sale, lemonade stand, or car wash together. 

Like many activities, fundraising is more fun when you do it together! While you could do these options alone, reach out to your camp friends in your community, and host a fundraiser together. 

Here are some ideas:

• Bake Sale

• Lemonade Stand

• Car Wash

• Dog Walking

• Babysitting

• Leaf raking, lawn mowing or snow shovelling

Some things to consider:

• What skills do you and your friends have? It might not be the best idea to host a bake sale if none of you bake. Focus on your strengths! 

• What resources do you have and what resources do you need? 

• What’s the best location to host your fundraiser? 

• Who can you invite to your fundraiser? Where else can you advertise?

Hosting a fundraiser can seem like a lot of work, but reaching your goal and the feeling of accomplishment after is incredibly rewarding!

4. Organize a bottle drive

Collecting refundable bottles and cans from your community and redeeming them for cash is an effective way to raise funds! Not only are you fundraising your way to camp, it also helps the environment through recycling. 

There are 3 ways you can hold a bottle drive:

1. Go out into the community and collect refundable containers 

2. Pick a collection site and ask people to bring the refundables to you

3. Create a Return It fundraiser and share your referral link! This works if your donors are willing to drop off their bottles themselves.

Once you’ve decided on your method, make sure you know where to bring your refundable containers in your community to exchange them for cash!

Tips for Running a Successful Bottle Drive:

• Make sure you share about it in advance, so people can start saving their refundables for you. Share with your family, friends, and community members through social media, posters, and more!

• If you have a physical location to collect bottles, make big colourful signs that are easy to read for passerbys. 

• Have fun and enjoy meeting your community!

Bottle drives can be done with friends as well! 

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Whichever method of fundraising you chose to use, we hope you find a way to have fun while you’re at it. You are loveable and capable, and we can’t wait to see you at camp this summer!