If you’re looking to do a youth fundraiser, having them do a sponsored silence is a great way of raising money – parents will often pay good money to have their child be quiet for a day!
What’s a sponsored silence?
If you’ve not heard of this youth fundraiser before, a sponsored silence is pretty self-explanatory – youth are sponsored to not say a single thing for a certain amount of time. It usually takes place over the space of 24 hours, but if you and your youth are feeling brave this could always be extended to 48 hours – it depends how well you think your young people might be able to hold their tongue!
The best way of having people donate is by asking them to sponsor a certain amount for every hour the young person can go without talking. That way, if the young person accidentally talks after 13 hours they’ll still raise some money, rather than if the sponsorship was contingent on them not speaking for a full 24 hours.
Sponsorship forms
To keep track of the youths’ fundraising, put together sponsorship forms that they can have people complete when they agree to be sponsors. This should have columns for the person’s name, address, phone number and how much they agree to sponsor per hour – the forms can be put together easily by inserting a table on Word with four columns and multiple rows.
Maximize the amount sponsored
Encourage your youth to explain to people the reason why they’re doing the sponsored silence. If it’s thought to be a good cause, this will increase both the number of people willing to sponsor them and the amount that they’re willing to sponsor.
If your country allows, take advantage of tax benefits to increase the amount sponsored. For example, taxpayers in the UK are able to Gift Aid donations. Charities and religious organizations are able to reclaim the original tax amount paid by the person donating the money, increasing the amount donated by 25%. This means a donation of £50 results in the charity actually getting £62.50. To take advantage of this, include an extra column on the sponsorship form for people to tick that they’re a taxpayer.
Set the youth up for success
Not saying a single word all day is hard for anybody, especially young people! If possible, set them up for success by having a lock-in at your church or community center while they’re doing the sponsored silence. This really helps as they’ll be around others who aren’t talking, so there will be less temptation or opportunity to talk to people. Instead of calling it a lock-in, it could be renamed a “Shut Up” for this event!
Make it even more fun by turning the lock-in into a movie marathon. This has the added benefit of giving them even less reason or opportunity to say anything as they’ll be busy watching the movies.
Organize the sponsored silence over a weekend rather than during the week. Not only will this make it easier to hold a lock-in as it’s not a school night, it also means the young people won’t be around school friends who’ll be trying their hardest to make them talk!
Collecting money
The final step of this youth fundraiser is to collect the money from the sponsors. Print off certificates for all of the young people to confirm how many hours they stayed silent for. This will give them something to show the sponsors to prove how well they’ve done and should help encourage the sponsors to congratulate the youth.
If you liked this idea, you might like our other youth group fundraiser ideas.
Question: What tips do you have when planning a sponsored silence? Share your ideas in the comments below.
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