Thank you so much for your desire to fundraise for us! ASAN is a small nonprofit, so donations from our supporters go a long way toward furthering our goals. Unless you tell us otherwise, you are raising unrestricted dollars that can go directly towards supporting our civil rights advocacy work and allow us to respond rapidly to emergencies. Our policy advocacy and public outreach programming would not be possible without the generosity of donors like you. If you are interested in donating to a specific cause, please contact us directly so funds can be earmarked appropriately. Programs that can take earmarked funds are:
We get a lot of requests from supporters who want to organize a fundraiser in their community but aren’t sure how to get started. We want to help! After reading this, you should have a good outline for how to run your fundraiser and donate the funds you raise. If you still have questions that aren’t answered here, send us an email at [email protected].
How do I raise money?
What if you want to raise money for ASAN but just aren’t sure what you can do? We can give you some ideas to get you started based on things supporters have done for us in the past. Our community is incredibly creative!
- Fundraise directly by starting a Peer-to-Peer fundraiser! This allows for you to donate directly to ASAN and track how much you have brought in. You can create a fundraiser here by clicking the “Fundraise +” button found on the middle of the page. You can make or join a team and share your story! This will give you an individual link to share with friends, family, and colleagues who wish to support us.
- Do you run a business or work for a business that would like to donate? We love it when companies donate a percentage of their proceeds, either through a specific fundraising promotion or as a long-term campaign. Some businesses will donate a percentage from sales of a specific product or during a set amount of time. Feel free to get creative!
- Are you in a sorority, fraternity, or other group that fundraises for charity? Consider giving to ASAN! Unlike many other autism charities, ASAN is run by autistic people for autistic people. Your donation goes directly to creating resources for the community, in comparison to other orgs, like Autism Speaks.
- Will you be hosting an event soon? We have had organizations hold very successful silent auctions with proceeds going to ASAN. Find our Plain Language Fundraising Event Toolkit here! You can also sell tickets with a percentage of the proceeds going to ASAN and/or have a tip jar at your concert, play, or get-together. There are any number of ways you can collect donations at your conference, convention, or gathering.
- What’s your special interest? What is something you love to do? Hold a gathering where you and your attendees do that thing and get friends and family to donate. Knitting? Watching train videos? D&D? Video gaming? We love to see it all!
- Did you know that we have a whole program set up where you can get entry into sought-after marathons and half marathons if you fundraise for us? Check out our Run with Team ASAN program and run races in New York City, Tokyo, Sydney, Berlin, and more!
- Are you an athlete who would like to raise money for us in another way? We’ve had supporters organize 5K races, run local races, take part in adventure races and even one donor who biked 1,000 miles to Alaska to benefit us! It is easy to set up a fundraising campaign on any number of online platforms, some of which are listed in the next section.
- Do you livestream or have another online platform where you can raise money for ASAN? Many of our supporters have discovered generous givers in their audiences. There are lots of resources to help you hold a successful livestream for charity, including this one-pager with more information.
- Did you know that more than 75% of people who work for companies that match charity donations don’t know their company does this? If you want to donate, please check to see if your employer matches donations. This way you can double your impact!
- Do you have a donor advised fund (DAF)? Think about donating to ASAN!
- Are you getting married or doing estate planning? Consider including donations to ASAN. We also accept stock donations!
- Is there an old car or motorcycle sitting in your driveway? You can donate it to benefit us. CARS will pick up the vehicle, sell it, and handle all the paperwork.
- Creating Facebook and Instagram fundraisers are super easy as well.
- If you have access to somewhere that you can table or hold a bake sale (for example, at a college student union or a farmer’s market), this is a great way to raise money and let people know about our work! We can send you pamphlets or fliers to print out.
As you can see, there are many different ways to hold fundraisers for ASAN, varying in time commitment and what you might enjoy. This list is just a start! We love to hear about the inventive ideas our supporters come up with.
FAQ
Can I use your logo?
Sure thing! We’re happy to give you vertical and horizontal versions of our logo that you can use. There are some rules though:
- The ASAN logo can’t be printed on any product
- It must be clear from the way the logo is used that we do not endorse the event or product, we did not collaborate, nor is ASAN the one selling the item
- The only use we allow for our logo is for you to illustrate your statement that proceeds from your product or event is going to ASAN; a viewer shouldn’t be able to interpret the use of the logo differently than that
If you’re unsure, send us an email at [email protected] and we can clarify the rules in your particular case.
How do I send my donation to ASAN?
Once you’ve decided how you want to raise money, you will need to know how to send the donations to us. There are several easy ways to do this.
If you are collecting checks, you can send them to us at PO Box 66122, Washington, DC 20035. Make them out to Autistic Self Advocacy Network and we will do the rest! Some of the following services charge fees to process your donation, but sending a check gets 100% of your donation to us. If you don’t have a checkbook, you can go to your bank and have them print one out for you. We will send tax receipts when we receive the donation.
If you are raising money online, we are set up to receive donations on several fundraising platforms. You can create campaigns on GiveButter, hakusports, and Tiltify, among others. If there is a different online fundraising platform that you would like to use and you can’t find us on it, let us know and we can look into joining.
We also accept donations through PayPal, using [email protected], as well as through our PayPal Giving online donations page.
We also know that sometimes donating organizations need the charity to fill out forms or provide W9s. We are happy to do these things for you. Just reach out to us at [email protected] and we will work with you on the paperwork.
Is my donation tax deductible?
Yes! ASAN is a 501(c)(3) exempt organization and donations to us are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. Donors providing an email or mailing address will receive either a receipt after donating online, or a letter that functions as a tax receipt. ASAN’s federal tax ID number is 26-1270198.
If you are donating in honor of or in memory of someone, we are available to send an acknowledgement to that person or their family. Just give us the address to which we should send it.
Where can I find information about ASAN to show my donors?
Your donors might want to know more about ASAN before they donate. We are happy to provide any information they want. The first place to start looking for information about ASAN is on our website. Be sure to check out our “About” drop down menu where you can find our mission statement, history, and information on our Board of Directors and staff.
We also publish our IRS Form 990 every year, as well as a yearly annual report. The annual report in particular is a great place to get information about what we have accomplished in recent years. The 990s are in the “Who We Are” tab of the “About” section and the annual reports are in the “What We Believe” tab.
Be sure to have your donors check out our Action Center where you can learn how to make change in your own community and our resource section, where you can find so much of what we offer to the public at no charge, including book downloads and toolkits about a variety of subjects.
If you are holding an event and would like to have some information available for attendees to take with them, you can print out and use any of the flyers on the following pages.
As always, we continue to fight for the rights of all disabled people: our right to access health care, our right to communicate, and our right to live in the community. Your support is invaluable in allowing us to continue our work. Thank you!