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Ready, Set, Plan, Give: 8 Great Fundraising Ideas For A Loved One Suffering From Cancer

Cancer care isn’t cheap.

For instance, in 2014, people with cancer paid $4 billion of their own money for treatment.

It’s a double whammy. Alongside a debilitating illness, there’s suddenly a host of financial concerns to worry about. That’s troubling news for the 1.7 million people who’ll be diagnosed with cancer this year.

How can you relieve the financial burden? Fundraisers are one popular way of doing so. They do more than just raise money though.

They spread awareness, bring family and friends together, and demonstrate in no uncertain terms the support that cancer patients have around them. There’s immense value all-round.

Are you interested in running a fundraiser of your own? Want some ideas? Let us help!

Keep reading to discover 8 fundraising ideas to help support a loved one with cancer.

8 Awesome Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising is a great way to deal with a challenging situation. Here are some ideas for what you could do to raise some money.

1. Start Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding has brought fundraising into the 21st century.

There are incredible stories of people being gifted thousands upon thousands of dollars for worthy causes. You set up a crowdfunding page online, where you ask for donations in support of your cause. In this case, that’d be raising money for cancer treatment.

You can do it for yourself, or on behalf of someone else. There are different platforms to choose from. It’s incredibly straightforward to get started. Decide which platform to use, set up your page, and then begin promoting it.

Post it on social media, email it to friends and family, and ask anyone you know to donate and share the page.

2. Hold a Concert or Festival

Sometimes you need to think big.

Why not set up a concert on behalf of your charity.

Sure, it might not be Woodstock standard. But you might be surprised what you can achieve with ambition and hard work. Work out a venue, figure out ticket costs, and set about contacting musicians. Some well-known artists may even lend their name to your endeavor if they know it’s for a good cause.

However, you could also set the bar lower. A concert in your local community, with local artists, may be more feasible and realistic. Sell tickets and/or ask for donations. 

3. Do a Skydive

Scared of heights?

Why not conquer your fear with a sponsored skydive? Your job’s simple: ask for money, jump out of a plane, and donate all the money to charity, or a loved one in need.

Think about requesting sponsorship in relation to the height you jump from! The higher you go, the more money you receive for the cause.

4. Run a Marathon

Marathon’s aren’t easy.

They require months of training, dedication, and serious commitment to complete. What better way to show how you care for someone, and to raise money in the process?

Ask people to sponsor your run. Set yourself a target and begin gathering contributions. Consider asking for sponsorship by the mile, as opposed to a completed course. That takes the pressure off finishing. You know you’ll be bringing back money, even if you get injured, or have to stop.

Why not run it as a team, with a bunch of friends? This may help maintain your motivation. It may also enable you to raise more money. With more of you raising funds, you can aim for a higher target.

5. Hold a Gala

Everyone loves getting dressed up.

Why not set up a gala event to help your fundraising efforts? A swanky evening, with food, drinks, and entertainment is sure to be popular.

It might take some cash to get started though. However, one way to avoid initial fees is to collect the money for tickets before investing in what you need. Create a poster, advertise it online and around town, and start raising money.

Make sure you highlight what you’re raising money for. Again, you could collect funds through ticket sales and/or donations.

Likewise, the venue, entertainers and food suppliers may even offer discounted or free services.

6. Do a Community Garage Sale

Garage or car-boot sales are a classic fundraising technique.

You get to clear out your house of unwanted items and earn some money at the same time. However, it’s unlikely that you’ll make any dent in medical costs this way.

Why not ramp things up by inviting your neighbors to take part? You could ask your entire street to set out their unwanted items, raising money for the same cause. This is a great way to bring people together.

7. Apply for Grants

Did you know there are government grants to help out with cancer-related medical costs?

Here’s a long list of financial support possibilities.

The obvious benefit here is that the money is already there. All it takes is an application. If you qualify for the money, it’s yours to have. Sure, the funds you get may not cover all medical expenses. But every little bit helps.

8. Run a Raffle

Raffles are another old fundraising favorite.

And they work. All you need to do is get together a selection of prizes, hire a venue, advertise the event, and sell the tickets. Running this as part of a team will help share the workload.

The bigger and better the prizes, the more you’ll be able to charge for entry. You could even consider running your raffle as part of a gala event (discussed above).

Reach out to your community for support with prizes too. You’d be surprised at how many businesses and companies might be willing to contribute. After all, it reflects well on them! It also reduces your costs and enables you to offer more significant prizes.

Read more here about a company going out of their way to support people with cancer.

Time to Wrap Up

There you have it: 8 fundraising ideas to support people suffering from cancer.

Cancer is a common burden for millions of people around the country. The physical, mental and emotion impact can be significant and deleterious. Unfortunately, the financial burden of medical expenses can exacerbate what’s already an awful situation.

Fundraising to help people with cancer is an awesome way to help out.

Hopefully, the ideas above have given you some inspiration on how to get started!

Have you recently been diagnosed with cancer? Click here to read about 5 things to help you deal with the situation.