A Successful Car Wash Fundraiser—and Some Fundraising Tips and Tricks!

Aryan is a high school student from Alabama who cares deeply about the world around him. During a conversation with his advisor, Ginny, the two began to discuss the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Haiti. Ginny mentioned St. Boniface Hospital’s work in southern Haiti, which piqued Aryan’s interest—and his desire to help. 

Helping runs deep in Aryan’s family. His family owns a gas station, which previously hosted a successful car wash for a young woman undergoing cancer treatment. Aryan thought this kind of event would be a great way not just to help raise money to support our work but also to help spread awareness about St. Boniface Hospital and the ongoing situation in Haiti. 

“Choosing St. Boniface as the beneficiary for my fundraiser felt like a natural choice,” he said. “Knowing that my efforts could support such a meaningful and needed cause made it very compelling to me. I wanted donations to have a direct impact and a hospital constantly caring for children and families, whilst utilizing all that they could, made my choice easy. I also want to add how easy it was to work with the [Health Equity International] team in Boston in setting up a personalized donation link and QR code. This made the fundraiser more convenient and credible.”

To help spread the word about the fundraiser, Aryan created a flyer in Canva and began to tell everyone he knew about the event. During the event itself, he also had people stationed at the station’s store to share information about Haiti and Health Equity International/St. Boniface Hospital. Aryan said this tactic “actually brought in a lot of donations, due to many customers not having the time needed to wash their cars.” Since his initial carwash, Aryan has decided to hold them periodically throughout the school year to maximize donations and awareness.

Aryan has a lot of tips and lessons learned for others interested in holding their own fundraiser. He felt the biggest challenge was finding a date when people had time to volunteer and didn’t have other obligations. He says, “eventually, there was a good day or two where Saturday morning to afternoon was free for some friends and classmates, and they were able to volunteer and help wash cars.” 

Likewise, Aryan felt these four points helped him be successful:

• Before you begin, brainstorm and talk to others about it (family, friends, school faculty, community members)
• Know YOUR community and plan accordingly. For example, people are often unavailable on Sundays during college football season in Aryan’s community.
• Offer multiple forms of payment (Vash, Venmo, QR code/donation link, etc.)
• Keep roles clear and consistent (washing, holding signs, cashier)

When we asked Aryan what he would tell someone who might be interested in putting together their own fundraiser, he said, “First and foremost, I would say have fun! Remember why you started and what it is for! Start with one doable event and pick a good spot that suits your needs and fundraiser. Some people may collaborate with churches, businesses, etc., and each may bring in different types of people. Then set out the timing. Will it be a multi-day event? Will it be a campaign spread throughout a few days or months? There is a lot to consider. Also, find a good, busy window of time when you know people are going to be out and about.”

We are deeply grateful to Aryan and his family for holding such an impactful series of fundraisers in support of our work and for their efforts to raise awareness about the current situation in Haiti. Thank you, Aryan!

In addition to his studies and fundraising efforts, Ayan is a photographer and has a small business. He also volunteers at sporting and other events as a photographer as a way to give back to his community. If you would like to see Aryan’s work, you can visit his Instagram account at @captur3d_by_aryan.