Charity shops have something different to offer in comparison to high-street stores; the opportunity for people to do a selfless act whilst saving money on pre-loved items that you won’t get anywhere else! We all know this of course, but your customers might need a little extra encouragement, so how can you entice customers into your store? Fun fundraisers, of course!

Readathon

Encourage people to donate their old books whilst challenging people to read as many books as they can in a year! They can set themselves a target and get their friends and family to sponsor them for their efforts.

Game Stalls

You can have stalls for games like a lucky dip, lucky duck, higher or lower, guess the name of the teddy bear, etc. People will pay a small fee to play and the proceeds will go towards your charity!

Generation Game

Advertise in your window for customers to play the generation game and get sponsored for charity, with younger people buying clothes for more elderly people and wearing them for the day – that means a wig, glasses, walking stick or a zimmer frame to really adhere to the stereotype!

Bake Sale

Advertising a bake sale at your store might give people more of an incentive to come in and browse your stock – but even if they don’t buy anything apart from a cupcake, the proceeds will still add towards your charity!

Raffle

Another fundraiser could be to get local and surrounding businesses to donate items as prizes for winners of a raffle – you can attach tickets to items in your store so that customers are automatically entered into the draw!

Knitted Knick Knacks

Know of some knitters in the area? Encourage customers to use their skills to knit anything and everything – the more bizarre the better – to donate and then sell in your store.

Online auction

Again, with the help of customers and local businesses alike, you can host an online auction with slightly more valuable items by setting up an eBay page for your store, and winning bidders can either have their item delivered or pick their item up from your store if they’re local.

Arts and Crafts

Get people to donate gifts with a little more love and care by hosting an arts and crafts charity fair with proceeds going towards your charity!

So give these ideas a try to make charity shopping a fun way of fundraising, and to get the best out of our EPoS charity retail systems. For further information about our products and services, get in touch at 01204 706 000, otherwise find us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.