Fundraising is essential to any successful MUN Team. More Money=More people who can pay for conference. It’s as simple as that. The more money your club has, the possibilities are endless to host a conference, go to more conferences, or expand your delegation. Fundraising is the foundation to any successful Model UN team. In my opinion, here are the best possible ways your club can fundraise.

Corporate Donations/Sponsorships

These are by far the best way to get the most money for your club. Through various connections you may have, try reaching out to various businesses and people and ask for a donation to your MUN team. The best way to contact people are through emails or phone calls with local businesses and any successful MUN alumni who would love to donate some amount of money to your club. This is also the hardest way to fundraise as it can be difficult to convince people to donate or the sponsor your club.

Selling Food at your School

Selling food is one of the easiest ways to get money for your club. A quick bake sale, pizza sale, donut sale, or Ice Cream sale can be an incredibly effective and easy way to get money for your MUN team. This usually involves filling out fundraising forms for your school and requesting a date to sell food. Usually this will be outside the main office or cafeteria. This may also involve a parent initially buying some materials who should be later reimbursed once the sale is over. Although this may not be the best way to get money, it is certainly the easiest.

Candy Grams

Candy Grams are such a fun way to collect money for your club. Getting permission from your school to host a candy gram sale is very inexpensive and fun for all. This again involves filling out some kind of fundraising form for you school, then setting up a table before school or during lunch for students to come up and fill out a quick form which states which students to send it to and what class to send it to them in. You can charge somewhere around $2-$5 per candy gram depending on what candy. It’s a great way to get huge profits and to make everyone feel excited about spending money.

Restaurant Night

Ah, Restaurant Nights are some of the most memorable points for MUN clubs. Having these nights are such a profitable way to get way to get money while establishing club bonding. Calling up a local restaurant such as Ledo’s Pizza, CAVA, or Chipotle and asking for a fundraising night is a very good source of income. Typically these restaurants will give half of their profits in one night to the club which asks for a fundraising night. You will be given a quick flyer and once you present the flyer when you walk in, half of their profits will go to your club and you will typically go the next day to pick up a check for your club. The key is to make a club social/fun night and a fundraising night on the same night to maximize members coming which maximizes profits/money for your club. Not only will you get money, you will get clun chemistry which is equally important.

Bake Sales

Bake Sale Perspective from the Thomas S. Wootton High School MUN Secretary, Dorothy Oldach:
A bake sale, although deceptively mundane and one-dimensional, can actually prove extremely effective at encouraging a dialogue between your club representatives and the greater community as to the importance of an adequately-funded MUN program. While many bake sales can take place in your school or club location, setting up a table in different locations such as grocery stores and libraries can result in more generous donations from adults in your community that, after a brief conversation, appreciate your efforts for promoting awareness of current events and academic endeavors. To preface your bake sale or other fundraiser involving an outside source, it’s standard procedure (at least for my school) to fill out fundraising forms and confirm our event with the financial secretary and administrator, so make sure you’re familiar with your school’s procedures to avoid having your profits invalidated. During your bake sale, don’t be afraid to have conversations with your customers—most people will be curious as to what you’re fundraising for—and stress that funds are vital to lower conference costs/help grow your club. Also, ensure that you have enough materials to facilitate your sale, including tables, chairs, napkins/bags to distribute goods, and a large banner to draw attention of passerby. To have substantial club involvement, not everyone has to sell goods. Setting up a group baking session can serve as both a club social and a way to stock up on baked goods for your sale, and you can also urge club members to bake via social media. To conclude, don’t write bake sales off as a childish, meager attempt to fundraise—in my experience, bake sales have been one of our biggest source of funds.