You can use the money you raise for team projects and events or you can pass them on to related groups and organizations.

See Also:

• LoCoDealingWithMoney

• ActivismHowTo

Fundraisers

Good grassroots fundraising is not only a way of raising money, it is a way of raising awareness. (And it also deals with that unspoken question of the uninitiated public, “where do those people get their donations?”)

Grassroots fundraising should involve lots of people as volunteers. Try to get local donations of supplies, advertising, prizes or whatever from local merchants (and of course give them public credit and thanks).

What kinds of things are grassroots fundraisers? Here’s a sample list. But it’s not exhaustive. You can build on these ideas, but better still, come up with your own.

• Potluck suppers with an entrance fee. Fun. Great food. Cheap and you’ll have something for the campaign pot when the dishes are done.
• Bake sales. You can get lots of people involved. Hold it at the local mall, or after church.
• Raffles. Go for donated prizes or make your own.
• Hold a community fair! Have clowns. Kids’ events. Sell things. Include an auction.
• Ask a local bar if you can have an evening of entertainment for a cause. This will appeal to lots of young people.
• Hold an auction. Or hold a flea market of odd junk items. Donate services — a deluxe brunch in someone’s home, or catered to your place, a sailboat outing, babysitting, carpentry, barter for cash for the cause!
• Hold a massive yard sale. Recycle all your stuff and raise funds.
• Hold a church supper. Church halls can be rented for not too much, and they are perfect. Big kitchens, well equipped for a crowd and they feel great for community events.
• Order t-shirts or mugs with your message. Sell them at all your events.

Who to Support

There are many related organizations and projects which could use donations

Your LoCo Team

Many teams offer free pizza and drinks under a release party. This is not free and has to be financed. Fundraising can be a great way to make a release party or any other LoCo activity an even more attractive and better event, while you strength the boundaries within your local community.

• Contact local existent FLOSS related organizations and ask for funding for your release party or FLOSS activities. More often than not, they will do what they can to help you.

• Go Enterprise and find all FLOSS related companies in your area. There are lots of Ubuntu enthusiasts in those companies and they will be more than happy to ask their marketing to help you, so find them first: they are in your mailing lists, forums, wikis and social media related sites (FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Identi.ca)

• Go find Canonical partners in you country/location. They will most likely glad to support you.
• YOu can also borrow premises to hold events from organizations, educational institutions and FLOSS companies. This is not exactly getting cash, but space and time is worth a lot in a community context!

Organizations

• The Open Rights Group

• Free Software Foundation

• End Software Patents

• Electronic Frontier Foundation

• Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

Projects

Hardware donations may also be accepted

• Core Systems

  • Coreboot - Open source BIOS

  • OpenBIOS - Open source firmware

• Open Hardware Foundation

  • Open Graphics - Open source video card

• Xiph Foundation - Free file formats