Share your fundraiser/benefit ideas

[Connie of Trenton]

I would like to hold a fundraiser/benefit for a charity and I would like to hear about different fundraisers/benefits you all have been either been apart of or or helped organize that were successful. Thanks ahead for any input.

 

[FroggyinArk]

we host a haunted house during october as a fundraisor for the charity org, that i am now president of, we are having a planning meeting after the bbq today.. its a blast putting it togethre and pulling it off, and its sooo much fun to watch football jocks trembling in fear..mwaaahhaaaaa last year we had a retired nfl player that refused to come past the lobby.

 

[Connie of Trenton]

That sounds like a creative idea
FroggyinArk...any more ideas out there?

 

[tar heel]

Go to Terry Axelrod's (google it) website and see the basic description of her method. It's direct and has limited overhead. My organization raises $50,000+ (net not gross) in an hour using this method. The problem with a lot of fundraisers is that too much of the $ goes for overhead.

 

[BuckNaked]

We do a silent auction every year for the school, but it is planning intensive.

 

[hlbtimes2]

There are so many companies out there that specialize in fundraising. Are you wanting something big and different- like a black tie auction? or do you want something that would apeal to a more broad base of people?

Most of the direct sales companies (party lite, pampered chef, tastefully simple, etc) have a fund raising option.

Our school is selling Entertainment books this year. They have a low overhead and are a product people like.

Tell us more about what you would like to do- seek donations to sell, sell a product, sell a service, ask for donations, host an event???? So many options- it just depends on your time and how large of a support group you have to pull off an event.

 

[va32h]

I am bumping this because I was recently elected President of my moms' club and we are broke!

Every year we do at least one service project that benefits a small, local charity. We don't raise a lot of money, but we know our dollars go a long way.

Last year we had a community garage sale and did gift wrapping at Xmas time to raise money, the year before that, we did a silent auction.

Well, our member with all the connections to get us the donations for the auction has left...we will do the gift wrapping again, but I don't know if we will have the resources to do the yard sale.

We would prefer not to sell stuff - a lot of us moms already feel pressure to sell for school and Scouts, so we are looking for non-direct-selling methods.

 

[simpilotswife]

Innisbrook has a sock fundraiser. Basically they're color-coded sweat socks that people can buy with a code through the Innisbrook website.

 

[bigmerle1966]

Some of the things I have bought and seen around my area.

Krispy Kreme donuts
Pizza
Cookie dough
Candy
Gift Wrap
Yardsales- either you have people buy a space or people come and sell their stuff for your organization.
Magazines
Craft sale- this was to benifit a local elementary school
Basket Bingo

 

[Connie of Trenton]

WOW there are alot of routes to go with this project. I need to give this some thought. I appreciate all the ideas your giving me to consider. Thanks.

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

I like the Craft Sale & the Yard Sale idea.

For one of DD's fundraisers, they sold those little rubber bracelet bands (all different colors with different sayings on them).

Good Luck!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Leukemia Lymphoma Night at Texas Roadhouse.

They donated 10% off of ALL proceeds that evening and it was freakishly slow -- we still raised $900 from meal tickets and I raised about $200-$300 on a drawing.


I also applied for a community matching grant from Walmart in that same time frame and was given $1000 to donate to LLS.

My coach--organizes a road race (running) every year. We have an awesome running store who for a very small fee--provides all the race logistics. You would still have to figure out you awards, food, water, and prizes. But the racing logistics are taken care of.


Not sure what you are raising money for--but if you can tie the event into your cause--for example...during the Texas Roadhouse event, we also had a bone marrow drive from the American Red Cross.

Also work the holidays--Barnes and Noble lets you do giftwrapping (They provide the paper) and for 4th of July LAST year, I found bottled water on sale--bought some trashcans (needed new ones for the house anyway) and filled it with ice and the water bottles. Then through cooperation with the city, was given vendor space for free at the fireworks festival they have--we also did a raffle--we raised about $700--after expenses it was about $500. Had we had better raffle items (sales weren't going well so this was an emergency raffle from a prize donation stash that one of my helpers had)--I think we could have raised more. (Like restaurant gift certificates). She roamed the crowds to sell tickets and did awesome. It was my first time doing that--but with proper planning and a good background event, I nice way to raise money. We have teammates who also do monthly downtown block parties as well--one sells little beanies that they ordered with the Team in Training logo.


Others have done tennis tournaments and golf tournaments.

I tried a golf tourney--it didn't work so well...but for groups with access to volunteers who can get people to play--you would do better. I didn't have that type of connection, so it didn't work. But the great thing is most golf courses will work with you, they will do all the logistics..but you get the teams and the prizes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Some of the things I have bought and seen around my area.

Krispy Kreme donuts

Krispy Kreme also does it where you can sell vouchers and then your donors can pick up donuts whenever they want. Our homeschool group did this last year and raised a few hundred dollars. They did it around Christmas--so it was nice b/c you could encourage people to buy them as stocking stuffers or whatever.

I believe you get to keep half the value of the coupon--so the coupons are $5--and you get to keep $2.50.

They presold the vouchers (so the group could use the money to pick up the coupons) and then the sellers distributed them.

 

[Pooh Crew]

One charity auction (it was a combination live/silent auction) we attended did an instant raffle several times during the auction. There were tickets on the table and if you wanted in on the raffle, you just filled out the ticket and waved your money in the air to be collected by the woman walking around showcasing the item being raffled.

Another thing I have heard of is a "reverse raffle." I'm a little fuzzy on the details, but basically everyone who wants the prize buys a ticket. When a ticket is pulled from the hopper, that ticket is removed from the raffle and has no chance of winning. However, the owner of that ticket can purchase the right to go back into the hopper (esentially by buying another ticket). This process continues with the price of re-entry into the hopper increasing until there is only one ticket left or through a designated number of "reverses." Does this process make sense? Basically, people have to keep paying to stay in the raffle. Hope this helps!

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

I've done fundraisers for different groups, and each group required a little different approach.

One group did a "service auction" where people volunteered their time & talents and others "bought" these things in an auction format. For example, one woman volunteered 5 hours of childcare. We started the bidding on that at $25 (a bargain!) and in the end the high bidder paid $250 for it. Other things offered included: Baking service (bake 3 doz. cookies or one cake), yard work (for 3 hours), housecleaning, guitar lessons, general handyman help, etc. The tricky part was making sure people who won items got connected with the people offering the services, and also making sure the people offering services followed through.

For another group, we sold potted and hanging plants. We got a contract with a local nursery for 3 kinds of geraniums and 2 kinds of impatiens at 75% off retail value. We took orders ahead of time for about 60% of the plants we planned on buying from the nursery, and then on the delivery day we set up tables and sold the remaining 40% in about 4 hours.

The "easiest" of all fundraisers that I've done is to host a desert. This involves finding an appropriate space and arranging for a good desert, coffee, tea and water. You send out invitations to people inviting them to attend this event, and arrange for a couple people from the non-profit to come to share stories of how their organization makes a difference and why it is a good investment to give financially to this non-profit. You then need someone very eloquent to give the "ask", and you have envelopes and brochures for everyone to assist in making their contribution. I've done these as a casual setting in my home with me making the food and had 10 people over and raised $500 - $800, and I've gone mid-level and had it in a church fellowship hall with the women's auxilary making the food and raised $1500-$2500, and I've gone fancy with renting a hotel banquet room, bringing in a caterer, and inviting more "big-wigs" and raised $10,000+ (but had a few thousand in costs).

Have fun exploring ideas, and thanks for wanting to raise money for a charity! It is always much appreciated!

 

[Connie of Trenton]

come to think of it I have seen alot of those rubber bracelets for various groups...seems like an easy and inexpensive idea.

 

[TheDisneyTraveler06]

come to think of it I have seen alot of those rubber bracelets for various groups...seems like an easy and inexpensive idea.

It was very easy, and very popular!

 

[barkley]

my kid's little christian school likes to do a charity fund raiser each year-they decide on a particular charity or cause, and they found the most effective way is to "invest" in securing a christmas tree at a local event held nearby. there is a large group of business and community leaders who get individuals/groups to "buy" a christmas tree and decorate it. on a selected night there is a big chairity auction wherein people bid for the individual trees totaly decorated (alot of buisnesses buy them to display)-the sponsor of the tree gets to designate the charity/cause the funds generated from a particular tree go to.

i was on the board of directors for a npo for awhile-we got very "burned" by some auctions/silent auctions. some vendors did not honor their donations (mostly gift certificates) in the most honorable manner. also some put severe restrictions such that unless the "auctioneer" was very clear in explaining people demanded refunds after the fact. i would say this option is not for the "faint of heart". also with raffles there are very specific laws about mailing out anything on them-you can get into major problems with the postal authorities if you don't follow them.

our school has no hot lunch program-so each week a family volunteers to provide for the entire school (30 kids) and we charge $2.00 per kid-it provides another $60 per week for extracurriculars. i had a co-worker whose church did a major lunch campaign every couple of months-people would place orders a week ahead of time and then they delivered them to work (ribs or chicken/potato salad/beans/roll/pie-$7.00)-they made a fortune! she said then cooked everything they could the weekend before and freezed it-then re-heated the day before/of to put into the styrafoam containers.

i hate selling stuff, and i don't go to the fund raisers at restaurants (i figure with what it costs for 4 of us to eat i can give a heafty donation that will save me $$$ and be alot more than the 10 or 20 percent the restaurant kicks back).

 

[Connie of Trenton]

I am so excited about everyones suggestions...thank you so much!