Knitting for Charity Fundraising Made Easy: Made4Aid

Thanks to Made4Aid, charity fundraising through knitting couldn’t be easier!

Would you like to raise money for charity through your knitting?

You may have already read my introduction to knitting for charity fundraising and found yourself intrigued by a different avenue of making a difference in your world through your knitting.

But perhaps, while you love the idea, you’re hesitant. 😒

• There are no craft fairs, bazaars, or silent auctions nearby.
• I don’t have a blog or a huge following on social media.
• I really don’t want to deal with putting together an online shop just for charity fundraising.

All of this is, of course, perfectly understandable.

Wouldn’t it be great if there were a website already set up that’s devoted entirely to knitting for charity fundraising? Where all you had to do was knit and send photos of your items, and the website would take care of the transaction and putting you in touch with the buyer?

What if I told you, there is just such a website? 🥳

Made4Aid: Your Partner in Knitting for Charitable Fundraising

Made4Aid has been in existence since 2009, when a group of crafty bloggers discovered another blog called “Joyce’s Electric Bag Blog.” This blog was devoted to selling handmade bags to raise money for refugees in Darfur.

These crafty blogging types wondered, “could we find other crafters out there who would like to donate their creations and have us donate the proceeds to charity?” Of course, thanks to the Internet, they were able to do just that, and Made4Aid was born. 🥰

For nearly a year after its creation, Made4Aid sold items for charity through its blog. Then they opened an Etsy shop, and these days their marketplace is found entirely on Etsy.

How Made4Aid Works

Made4Aid makes its process as easy as possible, both for crafters and for purchasers. The crafter who wishes to donate an item for sale simply e-mails Made4Aid with the details of their creation and a price point.

Made4Aid then lists the item on Etsy. When a purchaser orders an item, Made4Aid e-mails the creator, who will ship the item directly to the purchaser. (Made4Aid reimburses the shipping charges unless the creator chooses to donate the shipping charge as well.)

Once Made4Aid receives funds, they are donated to Doctors without Borders, one of the world’s highest-rated charities.

That’s all there is to it–it really couldn’t be simpler!

How You Can Contribute to Made4Aid

Does this sound to you like an ideal way to raise money for charity? Then you’ll definitely want to join in the Made4Aid mission.

1. To find out what Made4Aid accepts, check out their guidelines. Made4Aid will list just about anything you want to make, so long as it is handmade, in good quality, and can be shipped. Any of the items within my pattern collections tagged knitting for charity fundraising would be ideal for Made4Aid!

(Made4Aid accepts some crafting materials as well; contact them to see if they can accept any of your excess yarn or needles.)

2. Second, make your item or set of items.

3. Follow the steps listed on this page. Scroll down to the “Donating to made4aid – an overview” heading, where you’ll find everything you’ll need to submit to Made4Aid in order for them to list your item(s).
   
   You’ll also find out what happens when the item sells, and what your responsibilities will be.

Finally, if you’d like to see where the money goes after items are sold, check out the Doctors without Borders website to learn more about them.

If you’d like some inspiration for your own creations, you may want to take a look at the Made4Aid Etsy shop just to see what sort of items they may sell.

Thanks to Made4Aid, the process of knitting for charity fundraising couldn’t be easier! What could you knit today?