Event and Fundraising Ideas - National Osteoporosis Foundation

Event and Fundraising Ideas
Once you start thinking about how to best take care of your bones, many questions come to mind. How much
calcium and vitamin D should I take daily? What are “bone healthy exercises” and how do I incorporate them
into my lifestyle? How do I speak with my healthcare provider about osteoporosis? What can my children and
grandchildren do today to build strong bones for their future?
Below are some ideas to help you choose the best event or activity for you and your community to get
answers to some of these important questions. Start small and in the future you may wish to add more
complexity and guests!
Bone Healthy Potluck: Invite your friends and neighbors to a bone healthy potluck and give a prize for
the tastiest calcium‐rich recipe. Talk about what you do to keep your bones strong and share favorite
family memories. Afterwards, share your photos and recipes over email (and with NOF at
GenerationsofStrength@nof.org)!
Generations of Strength Lecture: Invite a local expert to give a talk on nutrition, exercise,
osteoporosis management or bone basics. Hospitals, wellness centers, universities, public health
agencies and even local businesses like grocers and senior living facilities may be interested providing
a speaker, donating goodies and even sponsoring the event. Some topical themes may include:
The Skinny about Calcium – Protecting Your Bones
D stands for “Daily” – Vitamin D and Why You Need It
Aging and Mobility – Stay in the Game
Kale, Calcium and Beyond – Tips for Boosting Bone Health
Interesting venues always bring people out! Consider approaching a local museum, yoga studio, retail
store, restaurant or even an outdoor park. You can suggest to your guests that they give a nominal
donation to support our future efforts and events.
Get the Kids Involved: Osteoporosis is often described as a “pediatric disease with geriatric
consequences.” It is never too early to teach the children in your life the importance of strong bones
and osteoporosis prevention.
Instead of “wine and cheese,” host a “milk and cheese” (even grilled cheese) and discuss all
the tasty foods that are good for our bones. To get you started, NOF has a calcium bookmark.
Have the little one’s friends over to “Boogie for Bones.” Dancing is a great form of bone
healthy exercise. Even Rock Band® will get your teens moving!
Start a “healthy bones” money jar and add $1.00 for every bottle of soda you don’t buy for
your daughters and sons. Try it for a week, a month, even a year! You’ll not only protect your
children’s bones, but also support our efforts in osteoporosis prevention.
Have an active game night…Twister, anyone?
Work together to plan a yard sale, lemonade stand or car wash to raise funds and awareness
for NOF’s Generations of Strength.
National Osteoporosis Foundation I 1150 17 th St, NW, Suite 850 I Washington, DC 20036 I (800) 231‐4222
www.nof.org/startaconversation I GenerationsofStrength@nof.org

Gourmet for Good: Partner with a local restaurant to have a portion of dinner
proceeds go to NOF’s Generations of Strength initiative. Tell friends, family and
co‐workers to eat there that evening to help your fundraising efforts. Encourage
the chef to include calcium‐rich recipes and don’t forget to have NOF’s
information on the table tops! As host of the event you could even start a
conversation with patrons to ensure they’re enjoying their meal and they start
talking about bone health and family history.
Beautiful Bones, Beautiful You: Partner with local beauty salons and spas to remind their customers
that women need to take care of themselves both inside and out. You can provide NOF literature in
the waiting rooms and a portion of the day’s proceeds can go support our efforts.
Pearls of Strength® Proceeds: Approach your local jeweler about donating proceeds from pearl
jewelry to NOF during the month of May, National Osteoporosis Month. They can display signs
reminding customers that, “just like our mother’s or grandmother’s pearls are precious, so are our
bones.”
Bowling for Bones: Work with your local bowling alley and ask them to donate $1.00 from each game
played for a day. For added fun, ask local businesses to donate items for a gift basket and every time
someone throws a strike, enter their name into a drawing to take it home!
Better Bones Lunch Bunch: Encourage your co‐workers to bring a brown bag, bone‐healthy lunch to
work one day a week for a month, and then donate the money you would have spent on lunch those
days to NOF.
Or how about raising money and awareness through a…
Calcium and Vitamin D Community Cookbook
Afternoon Tea Party
Miniature Golf Tournament
Mother‐Daughter Scrapbooking Party
“Make Osteoporosis Silent No More” Silent Auction
Bone Healthy Local Library Display
Home and Garden Tour
In 2010 when JC asked if I’d bike across America with her to raise
awareness for osteoporosis – a disease affecting my own mother
and sisters – I thought she was crazy! But I also knew right then that
I had done something right as a mother. After 3,000 miles, five
National Parks and $52,000 raised for NOF, I’m proud to say we did
it, and that NOF sees in us many “generations of strength.”
Marybeth Bond, National Geographic Author and Bond Girls Bike
America for NOF, with her daughter, Julieclaire (JC)
Do you have an idea not listed here? Email it to us at GenerationsofStrength@nof.org
and perhaps we can add it here!
National Osteoporosis Foundation I 1150 17 th St, NW, Suite 850 I Washington, DC 20036 I (800) 231‐4222
www.nof.org/startaconversation I GenerationsofStrength@nof.org