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When it comes to most internships, the only payment you will receive is college credit and a valuable learning experience. Of course there are some paid internships out there, but in the chances you don’t beat out the competition for this internship you need to find other ways to support yourself this summer.

Will Your Summer Internship Be Close To Home?

If so at least you won’t have to worry about room and board(as long as your parents don’t mind you moving back in).  Your biggest worry will be spending money and in that case you can support yourself by finding a summer job, or if your lucky convincing your parents to start your allowance back up. No matter what, you should be able to maintain a full time unpaid internship while scraping together spending money each month.

Will Your Internship Be Away From Home?

If you have managed to obtain an unpaid internship away from home, say somewhere like New York City, then you have to really prepare yourself financially for rent, food, and of course spending money. Since you will be relocating it would be best if you tried to raise enough money to at least cover your rent plus a little extra, before you leave.

Here Are Some Fundraising Tips:

1. Apply for scholarships- There are scholarships that are made specifically to fund internships, and you can also apply for school scholarships to use during the summer.  For more inforamtion check out ed2010 or scholarship.com .

2. Search for sponsorship– There are a lot of people who love to help young people do something positive with their lives. It’s up to you to find these people. Make up a donation sheet and pass it around at your local community centers, family functions and even at your parent’s workplaces. Also draw up a sponsorship letter to send to local businesses about sponsoring you. Click here for an example.

3. Hold a fundraiser– Do you possess a talent that people would pay money to see? If so, now is the time to market yourself. Plan a small event, and charge a small fee with all proceeds going towards your internship fund. Just remember to try to put as little money into it as possible so that you will actually make a profit.  You can also sign up with one of these fundraising companies and sell goods to make money.

4. Find part-time work – If you can’t raise enough money before you leave for your internship, you can always find a part time job. You may have to change your internship schedule around, but most intern coordinators will understand.

Just remember that being an unpaid intern isn’t always easy, but in the end it’s worth the struggle.

By Britany Ruby. Britany is a junior Applied Communications/Fashion Merchandising Major at Kent State University. She is an Internet addict, facebook junkie, compulsive twitterhead and obsessive blogger. Contact Britany at bruby@kent.edu.