Service Trip Fundraisers? College Level

[swanmom]

Let me start this off by saying I normally hate fundraisers. But, I am really hoping for help from the out-of-the-box DIS thinkers (and I know you are out there!) My DD wants to do a service trip over spring break to work at an orphanage in Jamaica but the college group sponsoring the trip has to raise money to cover costs. Does anyone have any ideas that a group of college kids could do to fund raise? Have any of your college-age kids been involved in unique fundraising activities at their schools? They are trying to think of something different than the usual bake sales and raffles. There has to be something that a group of strong, capable, clever college kids can do ... I just don't seem to be able to think of it.

Thanks!

[LittleMissMagic]

I'm in a service sorority, and we do a lot of fundraising for various organizations.

One of our most successful fundraisers this year was when we partnered with TigerROAR (our school's male a cappella group) and had a concert, all proceeds going to March of Dimes. TigerROAR is quite popular on campus (it's tradition... and they're cute guys!), so the concert was a hit.

During our school's First Friday week this year, they had a fundraiser where all of the sororities nominated a girl for Miss First Friday, and it was voted on through "Penny Wars." The way Penny Wars works is that pennies are positive votes, but any silver coins or dollar amounts are negative. So you can vote for your girl, but you can also vote against other girls.

Another big fundraiser is a pageant. I'm also on Mortar Board, and our chapter has been recognized for our very successful Miss Clemson University pageant. Sororities and organizations sponsor a girl (and the organizations usually pay her entry fee), and then all proceeds from ticket sales go to our philanthropy.

A lot of organizations on campus partner with businesses downtown who will donate a percentage of sales that night towards the organization. Businesses that are great with fundraising in our area are Moe's Southwest Grill, Zaxby's, 3 Spoons Frozen Yogurt, and local businesses. That's an easy fundraiser because you just appoint people to watch the doors and ask people to ask that their order go towards the fundraiser.

Karaoke is another good fundraiser. Every year, we host Karaoke for Cancer, and ask different organizations to enter a team (with an entry fee). And then tickets are sold at the door, proceeds going to Relay for Life. Another sorority recently had a karaoke fundraiser which they held at a restaurant downtown. It was a $75 entry fee, and I believe the restaurant donated a percentage of their sales that night to the organization, since they were bringing in so much business with the karaoke competition - it's a win-win.

Food eating contests also work. We made a good bit of money for our philanthropy with a wing eating contest. A local wing restaurant agreed to donate the wings, and we charged an entry fee for the contestants. To recruit, we went around to different fraternities and student organizations. We held two categories - King of the Wing (eat the most) and Hottest Wing (eat the hottest).

There are so many other great fundraising ideas out there. My advice is for them to talk to student organizations on campus and see if they'll partner with them for a fundraiser, or perhaps just donate to the cause. Fraternities, sororities, and other student organizations love to give to good causes.

Good luck!

[clh2]

Does your campus have any "big events" on campus? Any competitions that bring in families?

My DD was a competitor in a state-level tournament for the past 7 or 8 years. The state tournament was on a college campus - and there were numerous groups set up for lunch, breakfast, beverages etc. The nice part about something like this is you are tapping into "new funds" i.e. not poor and broke college students.

Good Luck!

[iheartdisney]

What skills do these strong, capable, clever college kids possess?
every year DH's work has a 2 day pig roast/ reunion party which is quite a bit of money. Two years ago they decided they were tired of the usual car washes and bake sales and got creative and rented themselves out to each other.

For example, one guy had an old car he wanted to sell but needed some work. So a few of the guys that are skilled with cars helped him out, and he donated a few hundred to the fund.

Another needed a petsitter when he went on leave, so one guy volunteered to do it if he would donate $100 to the fund.

We needed a retaining wall built, so about 10 of the guys donated one morning to us, and we chipped in the money we were going to spend to have it done.

There are many other examples I could use, but you get the picture. Bottom line, many people would not be able to justify donating $200 to a mission trip, but if they were planning on paying someone $200 to install a car stereo it isn't so big of a stretch.

[clh2]

Originally Posted by iheartdisney

What skills do these strong, capable, clever college kids possess?
every year DH's work has a 2 day pig roast/ reunion party which is quite a bit of money. Two years ago they decided they were tired of the usual car washes and bake sales and got creative and rented themselves out to each other.

For example, one guy had an old car he wanted to sell but needed some work. So a few of the guys that are skilled with cars helped him out, and he donated a few hundred to the fund.

Another needed a petsitter when he went on leave, so one guy volunteered to do it if he would donate $100 to the fund.

We needed a retaining wall built, so about 10 of the guys donated one morning to us, and we chipped in the money we were going to spend to have it done.

There are many other examples I could use, but you get the picture. Bottom line, many people would not be able to justify donating $200 to a mission trip, but if they were planning on paying someone $200 to install a car stereo it isn't so big of a stretch.

That is a great concept!

[swanmom]

These are great suggestions! Thanks to all of you who took the time to post!

[cornflake]

Originally Posted by swanmom

Let me start this off by saying I normally hate fundraisers. But, I am really hoping for help from the out-of-the-box DIS thinkers (and I know you are out there!) My DD wants to do a service trip over spring break to work at an orphanage in Jamaica but the college group sponsoring the trip has to raise money to cover costs. Does anyone have any ideas that a group of college kids could do to fund raise? Have any of your college-age kids been involved in unique fundraising activities at their schools? They are trying to think of something different than the usual bake sales and raffles. There has to be something that a group of strong, capable, clever college kids can do ... I just don't seem to be able to think of it.

Thanks!

Call me crazy here, but why don't they just get jobs if they want to go on a trip?

[swanmom]

Originally Posted by conrflake
"Call me crazy here, but why don't they just get jobs if they want to go on a trip?"



Because it is a group project, with each student in the group working to achieve a common goal - raising funds to put into a community 'pot' to subsidize the cost of the trip. That way, the trip isn't limited only to the kids whose families can afford the whole cost.
Also, many of these hard-working kids do already have jobs in order to pay their tuition bills and other expenses. Rather than telling them 'get a second job,' I'd think I'd rather support them for being willing to skip the usual spring break hedonism and give of their time and effort to help others less fortunate.

[Social Worker Sue]

Originally Posted by swanmom

Originally Posted by conrflake
"Call me crazy here, but why don't they just get jobs if they want to go on a trip?"



Because it is a group project, with each student in the group working to achieve a common goal - raising funds to put into a community 'pot' to subsidize the cost of the trip. That way, the trip isn't limited only to the kids whose families can afford the whole cost.
Also, many of these hard-working kids do already have jobs in order to pay their tuition bills and other expenses. Rather than telling them 'get a second job,' I'd think I'd rather support them for being willing to skip the usual spring break hedonism and give of their time and effort to help others less fortunate.

Maybe they can switch venues? Airfare is going to be pricey, esp. around Spring Break. Perhaps cutting travel costs to an island would be a good idea. Eating on the island will be more expensive too. Pick somewhere in the USA that they can drive. I bet that will cut their costs in half.

[cornflake]

Originally Posted by swanmom

Because it is a group project, with each student in the group working to achieve a common goal - raising funds to put into a community 'pot' to subsidize the cost of the trip. That way, the trip isn't limited only to the kids whose families can afford the whole cost.
Also, many of these hard-working kids do already have jobs in order to pay their tuition bills and other expenses. Rather than telling them 'get a second job,' I'd think I'd rather support them for being willing to skip the usual spring break hedonism and give of their time and effort to help others less fortunate.

To each his or her own.

I personally wouldn't donate, even if they did some task for it. As above, if they want to work with the underprivileged there are plenty cheaper to get to; it's a Spring Break trip to Jamaica.... to work in an orphanage. I've seen people on other boards asking for funds for mission trips to like the Bahamas and Paris. Seems about as likely to work, to me.

[padams]

Originally Posted by swanmom

Originally Posted by conrflake
"Call me crazy here, but why don't they just get jobs if they want to go on a trip?"



Because it is a group project, with each student in the group working to achieve a common goal - raising funds to put into a community 'pot' to subsidize the cost of the trip. That way, the trip isn't limited only to the kids whose families can afford the whole cost.
Also, many of these hard-working kids do already have jobs in order to pay their tuition bills and other expenses. Rather than telling them 'get a second job,' I'd think I'd rather support them for being willing to skip the usual spring break hedonism and give of their time and effort to help others less fortunate.

Nice hook to get others to pay for their spring break! I think they will experience plenty of hedonism in Jamaica when they are not at the orphanage. Why not just volunteer at an orphanage or homeless shelter near campus for spring break?

[leebee]

Car washes worked well for us when we were taking a group of dancers to work on a collaborative dance project in France. We'd make about $500 or more in an afternoon.

Does their school have a sporting venue for football, basketball, or hockey? The local University lets groups collect the water bottles, soda cans, etc. left in the stands after a game. We made over $1000 after just one hockey game, collecting the bottles and turning them in for the deposit.

I hate selling things, and they probably would also, but we took orders for decorative pasta during November. See pastashoppe.com, I think. The price was low enough that people would buy it for christmas gift packages, etc. We made almost $2000 with that, but it's selling... and I hate selling stuff to raise money.