Fresh Fundraising Ideas for Your Commercial Playground Project
When you are planning a new community playground project, it is important to allocate some time to pursue fundraising events to finance a portion of the expense of equipment and installation. When you have arrived at an accurate cost summary of your project, the next step is to figure out how to raise the capital you need to create your quality community playground.
The good news is that there are a limitless number of avenues to explore for funding. Don’t limit yourself to find one source or one option to raise the money you need for your project. Community groups typically budget at least a year to plan charitable events, to seek out sponsorship opportunities from local community and private organizations, and to allow crowdsource funding options to secure donors and backers.
Grants for Playground Equipment
In the United States and worldwide there has been an increased awareness about the value of community parks and playgrounds from the perspective of sociocultural benefits to health and wellness benefits. The impetus is being placed on communities to educate children and adults about the intrinsic benefits of outdoor exercise, the social value of neighborhood parks, and the role they play in building happy and healthy communities. Whether urban or suburban, the need to replace aging playground equipment is a focus for municipalities and non-profit groups.
New designs of park and playground equipment engage not only physical and social development, but also assist in cognitive learning. Since healthy kids are a priority for virtually every community around the world, a number of Federal programs as well as private charitable organizations offer grants and bursaries to help communities build playgrounds. Your first step is to explore and apply for any qualifying grants, and there are a variety of grant directories online and resources to explore.
Business Sponsorship Ideas
The best kind of advertising for a local small business is to demonstrate their community leadership by participating in a new playground project. By offering businesses something in return that is enduring and tangible (such as the goodwill of the community through sponsorship plaques) you may be able to find a number of private business sponsors to donate for your project.
Looking for a unique idea for business sponsorship? If you are adding site furnishings to your budget and wish to include something unique to your park, offer a customized logo or business name on our metal Custom Bench or our Recycled Custom Bench. Create a highly visual advertisement for your business sponsors.
Crowdsourcing and Other Fundraising Event Ideas
After you have evaluated your grant funding opportunities and your business sponsorships, the next step is to create a plan of special events to help raise awareness about your community playground project and raise funds. Does your church do a bake sale for mission trips? Does your school team with special vendors to do candy fundraisers? Why not take that concept when raising funds for your playground equipment?
Business sponsors can play an important part in your private fundraising events, and can be approached to provide promotional gifts such as prizes, discounts or gift cards for their products and services. This allows an additional advertising opportunity for small and medium sized businesses in your community. Crowdsource funding, or “crowdfunding,” is an excellent and relatively new online avenue for raising money for projects of any kind. Your local sponsors can help donate goods or services in exchange for “perks” for online backers. Perks help give incentives to potential donors which appeals more than just to their sense of charity.
Consider some of these resources for fundraising ideas:
All People Can Play can also help you discuss financing options to make payments more manageable for your commercial playground project. Call us at 1-888-404-4416 and one of our playground experts will be happy to assist you. We’ll get you in touch with reliable financiers who’ve helped numerous other customers secure the playground equipment they desire.
