HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR TRIP

Don’t let the volunteer fee for your Yuda Venture scare you. We know it might feel daunting now, but there are many ways to pay for your trip! We understand that for most families, raising the money can feel out of reach. But don’t worry, you can do this! Plenty of families have found different ways to make this work in the past, and we’ve gathered a few tips from them to share:

  • Corporate Donation Matching. Your parents might work for a company with donation matching. Many companies like Adobe, State Farm Insurance, General Electric, American Express, Home Depot, Microsoft, and many others do donation matching. More often than not they will match every donation made dollar for dollar. Since contributing to a trip can be done in the form of donations, with Donation Matching you can get two trips for the price of one. If you have a family member working at one of these companies reach out or ask your company’s HR department if they participate in Donation Matching. This also works if you have friends or relatives that want to donate to your trip through their work.

  • Save up the whole cost of the trips. It can be hard, but it’s worth it. You can pay over the course of five to seven months, with benchmark payment deadlines along the way to help you stay on track which you can see here. 

  • Fundraising. Many of our trip volunteers fundraise part or most of their volunteer fee. If you are feeling ambitious and want to mail all of your friends and acquaintances a letter and ask them each for small donations then go for it! But most families find success by putting a little more effort into keeping a personal touch and letting your inner entrepreneur shine. Keep in mind that people that donate directly at your donation link can benefit from a tax break since donations are tax deductible- this might be a nice selling point to mention. We have had volunteers raise money by babysitting, selling artwork and mowing lawns. Whatever you decide to do it’s best to start TODAY, even if your’e saving for a trip next year.
    • Bake and sell treats like cookies, bread, or desserts for the holidays
    • Offer a holiday gift wrapping service
    • Ask family/parents to “gift” you money towards your trip instead of giving you presents for Christmas or your birthday
    • Mow lawns, rake leave, shovel snow, clean gutters
    • Make something unique like bracelets to neighbors
    • Make chocolate covered strawberries for friends and neighbors during Valentines Day
    • Run a two week summer camp for kids in the neighborhood
    • Start babysitting and telling those you work for what you are using the money for, you’ll get tips!
    • Get an after school job
    • Sell Yuda Bands shirts (talk to your trip guide for details)
    • Sell old clothes on Poshmark or Instagram, you can even do this for friends and keep a commission

There are many ways to pay for your Yuda Venture, hopefully this list gets the ideas flowing! The main thing is to let everyone know why you are raising money. Print off pictures about your future trip and tell everyone you know about it. In our experience there are many people that you know that would love to support you, and a cause like Yuda Bands. They just don’t know about it. So tell them! Remember to share your fundraising efforts on social media (you might get more donations) and be sure to tag @YudaVentures so we can share to our audience too!