A significant percentage of WorldTeach volunteers fundraise all or part of their program fee, and the success stories are many. In fact, volunteers often report that the work they put into fundraising before they left added value to their overall WorldTeach experience. Please read our featured fundraising ideas below to see how other volunteers are doing it!

Fundraising is part of any non-profit work. If you can get past the feeling that you are raising the funds for you, and instead consider that you are raising funds in order to provide much-needed help to others (while learning a lot along the way), you'll find fundraising to be a much more enjoyable experience. Fundraising is an opportunity not only to energize others about your upcoming experience, but to educate them about needs and issues in the developing world.

Check out the WorldTeach Fundraising Guide to get started!

"I had a great experience fundraising for my WorldTeach program. I used the fundraising guide that WorldTeach provided as a starting off point, and would encourage people to rely on that for ideas, past successful campaigns etc. One of the best aspects of fundraising for the program is the commitment and desire you acquire to go to [your country of service] once you've raised all the money. A fundraiser is most compelling if they have a belief in their cause. I think that's what enabled me to raise $10,000 when I only intended to raise $6,000."

-- WorldTeach Namibia Volunteer

"Fundraising ended up being one of the most rewarding aspects of my experience in Ecuador. For one, it enabled me to educate my community back home about the development issues faced by a small South American country that otherwise would never have reached their radar screen. Secondly, it turned out to be something I could market once I returned: not only did I volunteer in Ecuador for a year, but I fundraised my way there. Now that I work in the non-profit sector, having that fundraising background has proven to be very marketable."

Back to top

...

I. Benefit Concert in NYC: Elisa Mandell, Namibia Year

Elisa organized a benefit concert on Pier 63 in New York City to help support her service in Namibia as a WorldTeach volunteer. She planned this fun evening on the water with live musical entertainment by a new band, west eight five. Her goal was to raise $10,000.  She surpassed this goal in part thanks to a generous matching gift by a private foundation.  Elisa has made available her fundraising letter so that future WorldTeach volunteers can follow her example.

II. Bike Ride from Chicago to St Louis: Andy Cramer, Ecuador Year

Andy Cramer recently completed a 318 mile bike ride from Illinois to Missouri to raise money for his service in Ecuador. Andy originally got the idea for the bike ride from the WorldTeach Fundraising Guide, and adds: "I knew that volunteering for a year would grab the attention of a lot of people, but I thought that by throwing a Tour de Illinois into the mix, even more folks would become interested."

Like Elisa, Andy had great success. He and a friend completed the ride the weekend of July 9-11, riding over 100 miles a day. He admits that the actual cycling was more difficult than he anticipated, but overall was "well worth the effort." He set up the event by having his supporters either pledge a certain amount of money per mile of the ride, or just donate a lump sum. He sent out packets explaining the rules of the game to everyone he knew who might be interested, and tried to do as much networking as possible to expand his donor base. Congrats, Andy!

III. Hike-a-Thon: Leigh Cohen, Ecuador Year

Leigh planned a hike-a-thon to fundraise the cost of her program in Ecuador, and spent the month of July on Vermont's 275-mile Long Trail, the oldest hiking trail in America.  She knew it would sound crazy to potential donors, and hoped that it would catch their attention. Leigh successfully completed her hike and fundraised most of her program fee!

Leigh has made available an article she used in her fundraising campaign which we hope will be useful to future WorldTeach volunteers. 

Back to top

...