Whether you love the spontaneity of a teambuilding day or hate the idea of ‘mandatory fun with coworkers’, we can all agree that skydiving for charity certainly is at least a bit more exciting than most attempts at a memorable and effective teambuilding day.
If you or your company are looking for creative teambuilding ideas that will have the team talking about the event for years to come, you’ll have a difficult time beating a charity skydive fundraiser. What else matches the absolute thrill of freefall combined with the warm and satisfying feeling of supporting a worthy cause?
How does a charity team-building skydive work?
A charity team-building skydive day is surprisingly easy to organise and pull off, making it a very popular alternative to the usual scavenger hunt or office pizza party. Charity skydiving organisers, like Skyline Skydiving, have partnered with dozens of airfields around the UK to combine people’s love of skydiving with charitable giving. When pledging to donate a certain amount per jumper, airfields and jumpmasters offer free tandem skydiving experiences in the name of charity.
The process is as simple as booking your jump, launching and managing an online, in-person, or combined fundraiser, and showing up at the airfield on the day.
Who does a charity teambuilding skydive benefit?
The short answer is ‘everyone’. The charity at the receiving end of the team-building activity benefits financially, enabling their good work; the employees or participants get to experience arguably one of the most intense adrenaline-pumping activities out there; and the organisation scores years’ worth of brownie points with their employees who have now bonded as a team that’s overcome a challenge.
This really is a win-win-win situation for charities, teams, and organisations.
How do you raise money with a charity team-building skydive?
There are several avenues one could take to raise money with a charity team-building skydive. These events are typically organised months in advance, giving the organisation and the team time to properly set up and run a fundraising campaign either in person, through online platforms, or as an effort that combines the two.
Some of the most common ways teams raise money for their events include:
- Charity auctions: Host charity auctions with donated items or experiences, with all proceeds going towards the event. Read our article on ‘top tips and tricks for hosting a memorable charity auction’.
- Fun runs and fitness events: Events that combine fitness with popular sports and activities can draw in huge crowds for a successful fundraiser. Learn more about combining fitness challenges with fundraising.
- Raffle ticket sales: You might think this is outdated, but with the right prizes at the other end of the ticket, raffle ticket sales for charity are still well supported in businesses. Get the raffle prizes sponsored to cut costs if possible.
- Corporate sponsorship: Reaching out to corporations that share your views on philanthropy could net you sponsorship in return for something like exposure, a ‘shout out’, or other marketing opportunities.
- Crowdfunding campaigns: While your crowdfunding campaign would be competing against thousands of others, a well-managed campaign that effectively leverages good storytelling and the right platforms could go viral, resulting in massively smashing through your crowdfunding goals. Check out blog posts on leveraging the power of storytelling in online fundraising and
How does a charity skydive help with team building?
The team-building starts the moment the event is announced to the team. The excitement of hearing that you and (hopefully) close colleagues will be jumping from thousands of feet in the air IF you manage to pull together as a team and raise the required amount is enough to get a cat and a mouse to collaborate.
Once the initial excitement is over, the team will have to work together to plan and execute their chosen fundraising strategy. The team will have to decide which types of fundraising activities to pursue, decide on a marketing strategy, and then work together to make it all happen. While this sounds easy, fundraising often requires that people put in the hours; making and sharing posts, contacting businesses and donors, and planning every last detail of an in-person event require teamwork and cooperation at the highest level.
Once the hard work is out of the way and jump day is approaching, team members share in that butterflies-in-the-stomach excitement, bringing them even closer together in anticipation.
We’ll wrap it up with this:
Just close your eyes and imagine the chatter around the office water cooler on Monday after you all went skydiving…