Fundraising Inspiration Needed

[crazymama]

With the vast numbers of DISParents on this board, I was hoping to get some inspiration! Does anyone have tales of great fundraisers that were successful and worth the work? I am on the executive of my DD's dance school and we are brainstorming ideas. The money is used to offset costs for their Performance Group which tours somewhere every spring. I very much appreciated any ideas at all.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

How much money do you need? How old are the girls? How much capital do you have to put into the fundraiser?

It does make a difference. It is harder for older girls to sell stuff as opposed to cute little first graders that are schelpping candy.

I bought some the other day from a cute little boy for his cub scout pack....sooo cute.

And being in GS's for 12yrs, the older girls had to acutally "work" to raise money instead of just selling stuff. Teenagers can be "scary" to people.

 

[MrsJackSparrow4Life]

My daughter's school just did Spirit Cups and it was one of the best fundraisers the school has ever had. We made $12000 doing it.

Of course we live in Bronco Nation so the Boise State fans played a huge factor in the success.

www.spiritcups.com

 

[Jill in Chicago]

If the girls are older is there a venue they can work at? Some times they can work at a food window (at a college stadium) to raise money. I know I have seen parents do that. Also they can work to clean up, say during a town carnival/festival and the town/village will give them a small payment.

They can set a day aside to rake leaves/pull weeds.... and ask for donations. It is ALWAYS better to ask for donations than to set a price. If you ask for $5.00 you will usually get just $5.00. If you say, "donation," you will usually get more.

Find a way to contact past dancers. Just like any almun group they may be willing to support the younger dancers.

Yard sale. "Princess sale," where all the girls bring old costumes for younger girls to buy for dress up.

One day dance studio/Parent Day Out. This would be a drop off service, so other adults would need to be there. Do this during the holidays. It would be a babysitting service so parents could leave and shop, BUT also a fun "dance studio" time for the kids. That way it would be attractive to older kids and not just the 2-6 age group.

One week dance workshop during the summer. Many parents want their kids to try things out, especially during the summer, and one week camps are attractive.

Hope this helps!!!

 

[2goofycampers]

You can buy Krispy Kreme donuts at a special price to sell at fund raising events, you can also buy a certificate for a free dozen to sell.

http://krispykreme.com/fundraising/featured

 

[crazymama]

Wow... thanks for the great responses...some great ideas. The dancers range in age from about 9 to 18ish. All girls except for one brave young boy We just finished the wet, rainy bottle drive and brought in $1850. That's a lotta cans. There are around 24 dancers so it doesn't go too far but is certainly a step in the right direction. It would be great to raise as close to $1000 per person as possible. It seems a daunting goal. We are pursuing some corporate sponsorship as well. Don't know how well that will go but we have a letter ready to send out. Companies are deluged with requests I know. If there are any other ideas out there keep em flowing. We have a board meeting tomorrow to float things around. THANKS!

 

[N&B'smom]

My DD used to go to a dance school that did a 'bun raiser' three times a year. They did it for picture day, dress rehearsal and the actual recital.

They had some of the dance teachers and older dance students do the girls hair all up in a bun or however the hair was supposed to be for their dance number. It cost $5 a person. I was THRILLED because I didn't have to worry about fixing DD's hair and getting it to look perfect! We had signup sheets a few weeks in advance to pick our times!

 

[N&B'smom]

I'm glad you started this thread...I'm hoping for more ideas. My DD7 is part of a dance team that is planning to dance at Disney in 18 months. I know they'd like to raise a bit of money for that!!

 

[crazymama]

I'm glad you started this thread...I'm hoping for more ideas. My DD7 is part of a dance team that is planning to dance at Disney in 18 months. I know they'd like to raise a bit of money for that!!

Dancing at DL was just such an amazing experience. Not only do they get to dance at California Adventure and DL but Disney provides AMAZING workshops for the kids. I was one of the privileged chaperone's allowed backstage! The rehearsal hall is beautiful with a great sound system, lighting, etc etc. When they put on Tarzan's "Two Worlds" for warm up I had to pinch myself. Okay... so I am a bit melodramatic but it was a special experience. Your DD will love it!

 

[Mad4Mickey]

do a Pancake Breakfast , we did it for Wrestling and raised a ton of money .

We also did the thing with Krispy Kreme and maybe it was the area but it did not do well for us.

We also did bake sales and stuff like that : ) Oh how I miss the days of being Booster Club Prez . It became a game to me to see how much money I could raise .
I once got someone to donate making those big signs you see hanging in the gym . Then I sold them to local businesses and we make 25K for the season doing that .

 

[barkley]

when i was in highschool i was in a performing group that raised a large amount by doing a gift wrap table for a department store. the store donated the wrap, advertised free wrapping with a minimum purchase amount and we got to keep any donations and tips.

i was in a boarders bookstore a couple of christmas's ago and found out they do this. they don't charge a minimum purchase, it's anything you buy there-but it's all community groups who sign up for days/times to work, but then get to keep whatever money is donated/tipped during their hours.


another fund raiser that we did (and groups still do to this day where we used to live) is to hit up stip malls or any place with multiple stores and get them to hire the group to provide "holiday ambiance" in november and december. our dancers used to throw on red leotards and black pants, get reindeer antlers and do little routines to christmas songs. the stores would provide candy canes to hand out to the kids, and donate maybe $100 for 3 or 4 ten minute performances per day (we did them every sat/sun from the week before thanksgiving through christmas).

 

[disneydance]

I'm on a dance team and we perform out of state/ out of the country every year so we do tons of fundraising here are a couple of our more sucessful fundraisers

Basket Raffles at recitals- make baskets aka beach basket, wine basket, spa basket etc. Sell tickets at recitals, we can easily make 200+ a basket in less than an hour

Butter Braid fundraiser this is a fundraiser where you have to put so time and effort in but there a big hit and out community! Girls have made up to a 1,000's dollars paid for trips to Disneyland and such with this fundraiser

Papa Murphy pizza cards you make a $4+ profit on them and people love them very easy to sell cost isn't high I've make 250+ selling these to family friends

We did a car wash today where we had tickets preordered so we got money up front and advertised it to the community I know some girls did well on this

coffee fundraiser sell coffee with dance teams logo on it to friends and family great way to advertise dance team well making $$

Avon make up fundraiser you recieve 50% profit girls love make up easy to sell

goodness our studio does alot we only personally do 1 or 2 of the fundraisers a year at tops my parents then pay the rest out of pocket this year I'm thinking I will do the papa Murphy fundraiser in May and create a basket for the raffle that's it. We will be traveling to NYC this year which is a big deal since we live very far away and we hope to earn 300+ in fundraising the rest my parents will pay

 

[amyy]

I once headed up an Avon fundraiser that was very successful. It was with the holiday books. I know people have had luck with Yankee Candles and some cookie dough found raiser. Don't know the name of the company for that one.

Our school does the expensive wrapping paper, chocolates etc.

 

[marcyinPA]

DS15 is in the band, and we need to raise A LOT of money for band trips. The band sells everything....pizzas, hoagies, salsa, engraved cake pans, coupon books, etc. We don't sell everything, but we do sell the fall mums, poinsettias, wreaths, and cemetery logs at Christmas, and spring flowers, hanging baskets, and veggie plants.

I find that we are personally most successful selling things that people will buy anyway. Around here, everyone buys flowers, so this is a no-brainer for us.

In fact, we just delivered 57 mums this weekend....that was $157 into his fair share for his Disney trip in February.

 

[crazymama]

This is just great everyone... love the ideas! I am heading off to the board meeting and will report all of them pronto but keep em coming if anyone thinks of more! Don't you just love DISBoards!

 

[barkley]

DS15 is in the band, and we need to raise A LOT of money for band trips. The band sells everything....pizzas, hoagies, salsa, engraved cake pans, coupon books, etc. We don't sell everything, but we do sell the fall mums, poinsettias, wreaths, and cemetery logs at Christmas, and spring flowers, hanging baskets, and veggie plants.

I find that we are personally most successful selling things that people will buy anyway. Around here, everyone buys flowers, so this is a no-brainer for us.

In fact, we just delivered 57 mums this weekend....that was $157 into his fair share for his Disney trip in February.

i think in today's economy it's ABSOLUTE that fundraising needs to appeal to what people will buy already-and it needs to be sold at comparable to what they will pay if purchasing it from a non fund raising source (people do want to help groups, but the reality is the majority of people are watching their budgets closely).

i think another thing that can help in this, is if the fundraiser figures out a "covenience factor" to their activity-they make it more convenient for someone to buy something from them, which convinces people to even pay a bit more (to raise the profits) b/c it's presented as being more convenient for a person to purchase it from them vs. traditionaly.

the 8th graders at ds's school needed to raise money for a graduation trip last year. they found out that another nearby school had lots of kids that stayed for afterschool stuff (extracurriculars) but there was no source of food for them to snack on. they (with that school's permission) did a trial run of buying 100 tacos from taco bell one day and bringing them to the campus to sell for $1 each. they sold out in less than 30 minutes (about $30 profit). they started increasing the amount they would bring and as word spread they ended up with a consumer group they had never considered-parents were starting to send money with kids who did'nt do the at school stuff but were getting picked up by parents for other extracurriculars. it was more convenient for the parents to pay that extra 30 or so cents per taco vs. having to dash through the drive through with the kids on the way to soccer, dance...

 

[goofy!]

Our gym does a lot of the above fundraising like butter braids, etc.

However, our three most lucrative are:

1) running concession stands at major league games. Our parent's club does Broncos and Outlaws (outdoor lacrosse.) Each parent makes approximately $75 per game that goes into their kid's individual account.

2) We have a large car dealership conglomeration in the area. Several times a year they have a huge sale where they bring all their used cars from their lots to the NFL stadium parking lot for a weekend sale. Our organization drives the cars to and from the lots to the stadium before and after the sale. They drive a car to the stadium and then the dealership provides a van back to the dealership. You get $15.00 per car. It can add up to a large amount of money depending on how long you want to work and how many cars you want to drive and if you want to do both before the sale and after the sale. It has become such a huge fundraiser that the parent's club now has to hold a lottery for the eligible slots.

3) Bingo. We have two nights at a local bingo hall where we run the bingo. However, at least in Colorado, you have to have 501c3 status to get a bingo license. We work about 2-3 sessions a month and take home between $250 up to $750 per quarter. Last year, I had $1,200 in my daughter's account for the year. It was the lowest year for payouts due to the economy.

 

[N&B'smom]

What are butter braids?

 

[goofy!]

What are butter braids?

http://butterbraid.com