How to Raise Money with a Fabulous Charity Knitting Party
Want to raise money for charity with knitting and have fun doing it? Try throwing a party
Once upon a time, Nellie the Knitting Nut and her friend Kitty (the original owners of Knitting for Charity) found that their knitting circle was a little tired of their usual “knitting and donating” routine.
They had a hankering to get more of their community involved with their charitable activities. But short of teaching everyone to knit (a daunting task!), what could they do? 🤔
That’s when they decided to throw a silent auction shindig! 🤫
Here’s what they did. And what you can do, too, if you’d like to get your community more involved in your knitting group’s endeavors.
How to Hold a Charity Knitting Fundraising Party
When you think about it, nonprofits do this sort of thing all the time. They have fundraising parties that may involve $100-plate dinners or enormous thousand- or even million-dollar auctions.
Your group can easily do something similar. No, of course you don’t have to charge $100 a ticket, nor do you need to have auctions with opening bids at $50,000. But you can easily put together your own auction or raffle party. 🥳
The first steps of planning your own charity knitting party:
- Choose a local program, a national organization, or an overseas mission.
- Figure out a date that will work for everyone in the group. (Make sure it doesn’t conflict with any major town events.)
- Decide what everyone will knit.
For the last decision, you have a couple of options.
Option one: you could each knit a few squares for an afghan, put it together, and then have a raffle. You could consider offering a few smaller prizes as well.
Option two: you could each knit a collection of items and auction them off separately.
(You may want to avoid knitting clothing that fits only one size. Scarves, cowls, and stretchy hats are good ideas; sweaters, socks, and tight-fitting hats, not so much.)
For ideas on what you could knit for a charity fundraising party, take a look at my charity fundraising series!
Other Possible Elements of a Successful Shindig
Food is an excellent way to kick a party up a notch!🍽️You can make it as simple as you like; a cookies and punch reception is always appreciated. Of course, if your group loves to cook and/or bake, you can offer more elaborate refreshments.👩🍳
Consider asking local businesses if they would be willing to pledge to match each dollar you raise. This is particularly a good idea if you’re raising money for a local organization.
Where to have your shindig? You can have it at a group member’s home, at a church reception hall, or a rented public hall.
You might even be able to find local entertainers willing to lend their talents to the cause. (Nellie said their party had bellydancers! I wish she’d taken video.)
In addition to bringing the fun of such a party to your community, an event like this can generate a lot of goodwill. Can you imagine how it good it might feel to attend a party where the object is to raise money for a great cause? 🥰
Think of how you feel when you donate something you’ve knitted for someone in need. It’s a lot like that!
So if you’d like to try something to break out of your usual routine for folks in need, why not consider a charity knitting party?
