Become a Fundraiser

Visit our fundraising page at firstgiving.com/yokoji to sign up!

We have enlisted the services of FirstGiving, an online program that allows you to raise money for Yokoji. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on donations to meet our basic operating costs, and this is a way for you to serve the sangha by helping raise money. The site is set up for grassroots fundraising - you pick a way to raise money, create a page with your fundraising story on it, add some photos and maybe a video, and then you distribute the link to friends and family. Instructions and tips for best practices can be found at the FirstGiving site.
Check out some ideas for ways you can raise money.

• • Sporting Events

  • Ever wanted to run a marathon? Go skydiving? Scale El Capitan? Take the opportunity to do it and raise money at the same time. Get friends and family to sponsor you per mile, or donate a set amount upon completion, or just to support your efforts. This can be any sporting event you can think of - biking, hiking, running, swimming etc. Join an organized event or set up your own. The more challenging it is for you, the more support you will get.

  
  

• • Personal Occasions

  • Fed up of socks at Christmas and unwanted gifts for birthdays and anniversaries? If you would like to honor your personal celebration by giving to Yokoji, then this is the perfect way to do it. You can direct people to give money to celebrate your birthday or other event, or to donate money instead of bringing a bottle for a party you are organizing. The possibilities are endless!

  
  

• • In Memory

  • Honor a loved one's memory. If a friend of family member who treasured Yokoji passed on recently, consider honoring their memory by collecting donations for the training center they valued. Perhaps you would like to organize a fundraiser as a way of commemorating someone who played a part in your life, someone that taught or helped you through their experience of Zen practice.

  
  

• • Use Your Imagination

  • Find your own way to fundraise. Shave your head, grow a beard, quit smoking, hold a sponsored silence - any thing you can think of that people may be willing to sponsor you for. If there is something you want to change in your life, then consider turning it in to a fundraising event - this way you can achieve something you have been meaning to do, with the support of others AND it's for a good cause. Be creative!