Five fresh ideas to kickstart your Big Brew!
Hosting a Big Brew this year? We’ve got some suggestions to help you put the fun in fundraising…
1. Make use of a lovely brick tracker printout!
Download your brick tracker here! Every full brick on this shop poster represents £10 raised to help get another store up and running. You can get there faster by pledging £5 for half a brick or £10 for a full brick by writing your name on a brick and donating – see how many your community can fill in to reach the £350 goal! Alternatively, use your bricks to track donations – adding up the amounts you’ve made from coffee, cake etc. to share your fundraising progress.
2. Stand up sit down game
This is a really fun game to play when people are having their tea or coffee. Everyone who wants to enter pays a small fee, and a caller at the front stands with their back to the room (eyes closed!), picking ‘stand up’ or ‘sit down’, as people do just that. Everyone taking part has to guess which will be called, and if you get it wrong, you’re out! The last person standing (or sitting!) is the winner. You could offer a prize, or simply give them a free well earned tea or coffee and slice of cake.
3. Guess the number of sweets in the jar
It’s a classic coffee morning game! Simply fill up your jar with some treats (we like Jelly beans for the lovely colours!) and charge people an entry fee to guess how many are in the jar. Winner keeps the jar! Just don’t forget to count them before you close the jar…
4. Donation day
Sometimes, it’s tricky ask too much of people all at one event. Don’t worry – you can always send a follow up request, or ask another time. If you’re part of a Church community, you could ask to hold a special collection at the end of a service, or write about your Big Brew in the parish magazine, asking for people to support you in raising the £350 target. Don’t forget, we will be sending a certificate which you can display to show people that their support has helped fund these amazing community shops.
5. Get creating and selling!
A straightforward way to get fundraising is by good old fashioned selling. Before your event, ask people to donate something they’ve made – jam, cakes, seedlings, greetings cards or knitted crafts are always popular – price them up, and sell them to attendees. It’s amazing to learn what talents your community might have – from felted animals to amazing Victoria sponges, the possibilities are endless.
You can find additional stories, fundraising resources and other downloadable items on our Big Brew page, and our small-but-friendly public engagement team are always on hand to help - just email hello@transform-trade.org, and we will do whatever we can to offer support.
Don’t forget, that for every group who raises £350, we’ve created a lovely certificate, with a photograph of a community shop, which you can display in your community to thank everyone who helped support your Big Brew.
The most important thing of all is to have fun! However you choose to fundraise, know that you’re a vital part of an amazing global movement working together for trade justice - and we can’t thank enough!