Each year the fundraising gets more and more difficult ... what are the creative fundraising ideas you have had? or the ones that were most successful?
I don't know if you could call it "successful" but, I asked all my friends to save their beer/wine bottles for me. Every now and then, I come over to collect them and take them to the beer store for refunds. I then put those coins (not much every time) in a piggy bank. Again, each visit to the beer store only produces a few coins but, after a year, it adds up!!!! I'm hoping this year will be even better as I'm starting now! Hopefully a hot summer will yield more empty beer bottles!!!!!
Please note I'm not encouraging people to drink... I'm just offering to remove their recycling once they're done drinking!
Good luck!
-- Edited by lpino on Monday 27th of June 2011 06:06:03 PM
Three events are our main fundraising "go to's" each year. I Ride in the RTCC and both my wife and I walk in the WEWC so we have to raise $6500 total over the year. This year we decided to do a Golf tournament at my local club where I am a member. It takes a lot of foot work passing out flyers, obtaining prizes from local businesses and sponsorship, and getting golfers but it's well worth it. We had just 24 golfers attend this Innaugural event this summer and didn't decide to go for it until February, and we still raised $1400 plus got a local business to sponsor us with a $500 cheque! That's 2G's right there. Other than that we do a Charity Yard/Bake sale each summer and all funds go to either event and it's always fairly successful. Solicit friends and family to donate items or baked goods and you're good for over $500 usually there. Lastly we try and ask our friends to save bottles from each long weekend during the summer and donate them to us for charity! The golf tourney is the most work but if you plan well, and put the time into it through out the year it pays off. Hoping to make ours twice the size next year and raise more than 3 grand! GL
I have started a cookie drive this month but it is a slower process similar to the bottles. The nice part is that I was able to pick up all of my supplies on sale so that leaves even more money to earn off of each cookie. I've been bagging them in 3's and selling them at work for $1.50. My mom jumped on it and sells them at her work for me too and same with a friend who owns a dance studio. So far the dance studio is the top seller lol. With the type of cookie I am selling, I raise between 50-75 cents per bag sold depending on how many cookies I got out of each batch of dough (usually between 50-60). The cookie cutter is in the shape of a ribbon and they are crazy cheap (bulk barn - 89 cents). I included the link to my personal page, a list of major allergens in the cookie (milk, wheat, eggs) and a quick "Thank You!" on a tag attached to each bag. My hope is that some of the snackers will get curious, check out my page and *fingers crossed* donate a little extra :)
I usually suck at fundraising but this is actually working for me so I'm pretty excited!
If you have the right workplace, bake sales can do wonders and Christmas is a perfect time. We just completed a sale that raised over $2000. We sold pies, loaves, cakes and assorted squares on a pre-order basis. Friends and family helped make the squares and pie shells in advance and in a single day we baked 60 pies, packaged dozens of cakes and over a hundred boxes of squares. Items were priced at $10 each, with the cakes costing $20. It was a lot of work, but fun too. There is a lot of planning involved - 2 weeks for taking orders, and a week to prepare the food before packaging day.
Another thing we do is host home-sales (eg Epicure, Enyo) parties in exchange for donations based on a percentage of sales. Another way to combine fun and raise money.
I have had great success with hosting a silent auction on facebook! Last year I held two! I got donations from friends and family members and some businesses. The first one in the fall raised $ 1100.00 and the second in the spring raised $ 2200.00 A lot of communities have a buy & sell site on facebook! I have used it with great success as well this year. I sold a ton of things I was going put in a garage sale and raised over $ 1000.00 I decided to do a goodie tray fundraiser for Christmas. I posted on the buy and sell site and within 24 hours I had orders for 85 dozen. I'm hoping to profit $ 500-$600 with the goodie trays! I also held a raffle last year for a cancer quilt my mother made and donated. I raised $ 1376.00 with it. Mind you we sat at grocery stores and malls selling tickets a couple of Saturdays. I did a calendar last year. I took photo's of people in small rural towns that are doing amazing things with raising money for various cancer related things, and wrote a note about what each person has done. I managed a deal with the printer and got them printed for cost. I raised over $ 2500.00. My team mate holds a raffle every year for a stained glass piece that she makes. Last year she raised $ 1300.00
We have a group of 30 women in town that are fundraising for "Bust a Move" and have sold "boobie" cupcakes at hockey tournaments etc. It was a lot of work as they were made fresh the night before. But they raised over $ 1000.00 in one weekend! They also did a chuck a puck event at a local hockey game! It brought in a couple hundred!
If there is anything you have a niche for, take advantage of it. Baking, crafting, photography, people eat that stuff up! And I find if you are giving them something in return...they are more apt to donate to your cause, rather than just hand over money! There are tons of ways to raise money, you just have to find the one that works for you!
