Ideas needed

[Ellen aka Snow White]

In the last six months we have learned that my nephew and niece both have to have a kidney transplant. We are having our first meeting this week to brainstorm ideas on fundraising. Does anyone have experience with "event" type fundraising. We have a source for any type of "sales" fundraisers we want to do. What works best - raises the most bang for the buck (time)? Any input and all prayers will be greatly appreciated.
Ellen

 

[FireDancer]

For our Relay for Life team the two events that make the most money are a golf outing and a night at the races. We also set up a booth at a local rib cook off and sell root beer floats. If the weather is warm we make a lot there too.

 

[golfgal]

Don't they have health insurance?

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

Don't they have health insurance?

Yes they do have insurance but it doesn't cover 100% of the medical expense plus they incur a lot of additional expenses during the process.

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

For our Relay for Life team the two events that make the most money are a golf outing and a night at the races. We also set up a booth at a local rib cook off and sell root beer floats. If the weather is warm we make a lot there too.

What do you do as far as "a night at the races"? I am familiar with the golf outings and the root beer floats are a great idea!

Ellen

 

[golfgal]

Yes they do have insurance but it doesn't cover 100% of the medical expense plus they incur a lot of additional expenses during the process.

How much do you need to raise then?

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

How much do you need to raise then?

Our goal at this time is $80,000 for the both of them. Both parents are working professionals. Both kids have been very active and involved in a number of different areas. This is something that came as a complete surprise to our family and we are looking every way possible to help them through this.

 

[FireDancer]

What do you do as far as "a night at the races"? I am familiar with the golf outings and the root beer floats are a great idea!

Ellen

It might be a regional thing but they are pretty common up here.

They very a bit but they are evenings where people come in and bet on pre-taped races. People could sponsor horses or whole races along with buying ads in the program. Before each race people place their bets on the horses they want and we play the race. The winners get a % of all of the bets and we keep the rest. There are also side boards, 50/50 raffles, and some other side events to raise money. The last race is for sponsored horses where people buy a horse. The race is run like normal but instead of splitting the winnings 2 ways (us and the people who bet on the winners) it is split 3 ways with the sponsor of the horse getting some.

All bets are single dollar amount (usually $2 or $5) and you only bet to win, no trifectas or anything like that. If you want to bet more you just buy two tickets for that horse.

We rent out a hall and provide beer and wash along with the main course of food. Anyone attending can bring liquor or wine and can also bring additional food.

It takes us about 9 months to plan since there is a lot of co-ordination not only in the logistics of getting the hall and caterers but also in the permits and tax documentations since there is gambling but it is for charity and falls under different rules for gambling, at least here.

How much you charge for things depends on your demographic. We go pretty low ($2 or $5 bets, $100 to buy a horse, $1 per try at the 50/50) but there are some that have as high as a $100 minimum per bet and charge $10,000 for a horse. If we tried that we would have a very large empty hall since we just don't roll in those circles.

 

[golfgal]

Our goal at this time is $80,000 for the both of them. Both parents are working professionals. Both kids have been very active and involved in a number of different areas. This is something that came as a complete surprise to our family and we are looking every way possible to help them through this.

For that amount of money I would first set up a trust or some other entity and get a charitable status with your state. This will maximize your potential donations. I would then look into holding a silent auction combined with another activity like a golf tournament or fancy dinner. It may be worth your while to enlist a professional event organizer in your area. They take a percentage of the proceeds but have contacts to get the prizes donated.

Also keep in mind that most businesses set their donations in January so having your requests in before that and your event after that would be best.

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

For that amount of money I would first set up a trust or some other entity and get a charitable status with your state. This will maximize your potential donations. I would then look into holding a silent auction combined with another activity like a golf tournament or fancy dinner. It may be worth your while to enlist a professional event organizer in your area. They take a percentage of the proceeds but have contacts to get the prizes donated.

Also keep in mind that most businesses set their donations in January so having your requests in before that and your event after that would be best.

We have actually set-up with a non-profit organization so that we can raise this money and it be tax exempt and be a tax deduction for donors. It sounds like a great organization and we get 100% of the funds we raise - they don't keep any of it. We are now into step 2 of coming up with ways to raise the money. We know this will not be done with one event but will take time and lots of planning. I'm one that also don't want to re-invent the wheel. I want to hear what has worked well for others.

 

[DWGal210]

I like the other ideas. A suggestion - do you have a municipal band, local theatre, concert hall, etc in your town? One idea is to approach the director/leader & see if they have a performance where, say, $2 of each ticket sold would be donated to your cause. You could work out with them co-advertising so people would know it was a fundraiser (and thus perhaps they could draw a larger crowd) but they wouldn't be out all their funds, either.

Good luck to you!!!

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

I like the other ideas. A suggestion - do you have a municipal band, local theatre, concert hall, etc in your town? One idea is to approach the director/leader & see if they have a performance where, say, $2 of each ticket sold would be donated to your cause. You could work out with them co-advertising so people would know it was a fundraiser (and thus perhaps they could draw a larger crowd) but they wouldn't be out all their funds, either.

Good luck to you!!!

Actually my nephew was part of the band before he graduated and my niece is still a band member at the high school. Something with them could work out. I will ponder that idea. Thanks

 

[golfgal]

We have actually set-up with a non-profit organization so that we can raise this money and it be tax exempt and be a tax deduction for donors. It sounds like a great organization and we get 100% of the funds we raise - they don't keep any of it. We are now into step 2 of coming up with ways to raise the money. We know this will not be done with one event but will take time and lots of planning. I'm one that also don't want to re-invent the wheel. I want to hear what has worked well for others.

We are in the process of planning a golf tournament/silent auction for the high school band program. So far we have almost $10,000 in donated prizes for the silent auction alone, none of them being huge prizes either. It is a good way to raise money and pure profit for the organization. If you have a golf tournament you then get hole sponsors for additional money. We have sponsorship levels from $100 up to $10,000. For our event the $10,000 is a stretch donation but if we get it, great.

 

[ENSOCK]

some things that I have attended or heard of:

Fishing tourney~ so much per boat. Boat with most weight on certain # of fish win. $100.00 per boat to register.

Co-ed baseball tourney~$100.00 per team, works out to $10.00 per person to play. I have seen both adult tourney and youth tourneys. IN the adult tourney they also have a side line beer trophy. The team that purchases the most beer wins the trophy made from beer cans. Those fools go nuts for that trophy. For the kids you could do a powerade trophy.

We did a fall fest last year for school. We had craftmans come sell their wares at our school. They paid $50.00 or $100.00 per booth and kept any profits they made from the crafts. We sold drinks and food. Also, same day had a jambalaya cookoff. cooks had to donate the pot of jambalaya to win the prize $500.00 and trophy. We then sold the jambalaya. You could make good on a pot. Maybe you could do a bbq cookoff?

 

[tommya60]

Spaghetti dinners are popular, and low cost. You do need a health dept approved kitchen--check a church, senior center, etc.

Good Luck to you and your family!

 

[soccerchick]

We've had to do some fundraisers for my DD's softball team. To be honest, the best fundraisers were where the kids stood in uniform with signs and a bucket outside Dunkin Donuts on a Saturday morning and politely talked about their team and the World Series they were raising money for. Sick kids pull at the heartstrings far more than athletes.

Get as many supporters as you can and hit the coffee shops, grocery stores, and even though I hate them, Wal-mart is good about letting groups solicit in front of them.

It will cost you virutally nothing but time and a few supplies such as a container (recycle from something) and some signs as well as flyers to distribute with basic info about the kids being helped, perhaps a website or local bank w/a community donation fund so people can donate larger amounts later if they are so moved.


Another successful fundraiser we did was to purchase a bunch of gift cards to places like movie theaters, Starbucks, Home Depot, Cheesecake Factory, etc. ($150 value) and sell raffle tickets for $5 each. We only sold 200 tickets, so odds were pretty good for a purchaser. Sold out in just a few days. Cleared over $900 since some cards were donated.

Good luck to your niece and nephew as they undergo this and good luck to you with your fundraising.

 

[My2Cinderellas]

pancake breakfasts are typical here - and look into possibly getting matching funds. This may be available thru a church or civic organization. Being Lutheran, I am familiar with matching funds from Lutheran Brotherhood. I also know our local branch recently helped out a family who was not Lutheran, so don't immediately count a group out.

 

[ksjayhawks]

Fundraisers with food go over well here:

chili/soup suppers
pancake breakfasts
spaghetti dinners (not as popular, though)

Many times you can get most of the food donated, tickets printed, etc.

 

[Ellen aka Snow White]

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. The organization that we have signed with does provide collection boxes to sit around like at gas stations and coffee shops, but soccerchicks reply reminded me when my daughter was in dance we teamed up with the fireman on their "boot" collection and they split the proceeds with us - so thanks for helping me remember. We actaully have a good friend that is a fireman now and who knows, maybe for a cause like this they will let us keep more than half!
The organization also has a benefit bank account set-up for the kids so that anyone can make a direct donation.
Thanks everyone for all the ideas and the well wishes. Keep the ideas and prayers coming.
Ellen

 

[golfgal]

Thanks everyone for all the great ideas. The organization that we have signed with does provide collection boxes to sit around like at gas stations and coffee shops, but soccerchicks reply reminded me when my daughter was in dance we teamed up with the fireman on their "boot" collection and they split the proceeds with us - so thanks for helping me remember. We actaully have a good friend that is a fireman now and who knows, maybe for a cause like this they will let us keep more than half!
The organization also has a benefit bank account set-up for the kids so that anyone can make a direct donation.
Thanks everyone for all the ideas and the well wishes. Keep the ideas and prayers coming.
Ellen

How much of a cut is this "organization" taking?