Get Inspired

Each year SMILE Ambassadors from across Canada get creative to raise funds and awareness for the Longest Day of SMILES. We are so grateful to community groups, businesses, students, teams and individuals who dedicate their time and energy to helping and healing children born with cleft conditions.

Our Fundraising Toolkit is filled with ways to put the FUN in “FUN”draising, but remember these top tips:

• JUST ASK! Ask everyone, ask often, and ask passionately... be persistent! No doesn’t always mean ‘no’, it could simply mean ‘not now’.
• Share your reason for WHY you are motivated to #MakeSomeoneSMILE.
• Challenge Yourself! Set a stretch goal then make the first donation yourself to inspire others to #JointheSMILEMovement.
• Mix up approaches - don’t rely on one email, one post, or one activity… get creative!
• Never underestimate the power of your network and their desire to help you succeed and reach your goal, this is the magic of peer-to-peer fundraising, especially when the impact is so tangible! We are transforming lives! Click here to Build Your Own List.
• AND, Go SOCIAL! Follow Operation Smile and #LongestDayofSMILES online! When you use #LongestDayofSMILES your post will appear on the longestdayofsmiles.ca homepage! Use the social buttons at the bottom of this page to get started.

Virtual Fundraising Resources

We are pleased to offer some Virtual Fundraising Resources for our current socially distant reality. While we work to flatten the COVID-19 curve in Canada, the cleft curve continues to grow. With 300 children born with cleft conditions everyday, we need your help. Funds you raise today will help us care for the children waiting for surgeries and treatment when we are able to safely return to the operation rooms and our Care Centres. These children and families need your help more than ever!

Whether you are new to fundraising or experienced, it is always fun to work with others to share ideas, tips and motivation. Please join the conversation on our Operation Smile Canada social feeds (links to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter here), plus our team is happy to work with you to help you turn your ideas into magic — magic that will help generate the funds necessary for our medical volunteers to perform life-saving surgery and transform SMILES.

Here are some of our SMILE ambassadors who inspire us every day, with some ideas on how you can get involved too!