This document contains suggestions for fundraising activities for an individual Dojo. For guidelines on fundraising please see our Fundraising Guidelines document. Please note wherever possible we would encourage Dojos to see to have expenses such as belts, insurance covered directly by a sponsor.
Dojos have been known to acquire grants and funding from local government bodies, educational bodies and tech initiative funds. If your Dojo is in need of funds it is worthwhile to explore if any of these options might be available in your area.
Often Dojos have been able to secure sponsorship from local organisations and businesses and we recommend trying this route before resorting to fundraising directly at the Dojo. Please see the Template Letter for Corporate Sponsorship document to help you with this. Please bear in mind to work with appropriate sponsors for a youth based organisation, be responsible with your sponsor choices
This could mean having products or services donated such as a space, technical mentors, equipment, wifi access etc. We recommend that Dojos opt for sponsorship in kind over fiscal sponsorship if it is available as dealing with money complicated Dojo operation significantly and creates more work for the Champions.
You are free to accept donations/sponsorship from local organisations and corporations to cover Dojo costs (eg. insurance) or for investing in your Dojo (eg. equipment).
Not all Dojos are able to secure corporate sponsorship, be it in kind or through donations, so in order to cover Dojo costs that may occur there are numerous ways for Dojos to generate funds.
In order for CoderDojo to be open and free to all who wish to attend it is important that no parent ever feels that they must contribute financially as this will lead to feelings of exclusion and goes against the CoderDojo Ethos. What is recommended is that Champions make a general announcement relating the reason why donations are needed and leave a collection jar/tin/bucket for people to contribute to freely if they can. It is imperative that parents/guardians do not feel pressured into donating as this goes against the ethos of CoderDojo. Also reach out to active Dojo parents to help with organising fundraising events.
Some Dojos have found that they can make all the money they need to cover their costs for the year through running a weekly ‘Tuck Shop’ where they sell fruit, chocolate, soft drinks/sodas, crisps/chips etc. Again please try to ensure that parents/young people do not feel obliged to participate in this
If you have a need to raise funds for a certain purpose or project then a good option to consider could be running a local CoderDojo showcase and invite attendees families and local businesses. Once or twice a year your Dojo could have a showcase where all the regular Dojo attendees can show off their projects and tell all the Dojo visitors what they’ve been up to. There could be a bake sale on, a collection bucket clearly visible ora suggested donation for showcase visitors to contribute to the Dojo
If trying something like this it is important to ensure that donations are optional and that no families feel excluded due to not being able to afford to attend.
If you would like for people to be able to contribute to support your Dojo but would
rather not deal with money, a good option to deal with it could be to create a wish list for
your Dojo of things that you could use in your Dojo. For example, check out what Rob
Curran, the Champion of CoderDojo Wilmslow, has created: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/registry/wishlist/1ANSFTHAP230C
If fundraising internally within the Dojo then it is imperative that Dojo attendees, and their families, do not feel pressured into giving money as this goes against the CoderDojo ethos of being free, open and available to all irrelevants of their economic circumstances.
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