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75 Fundraising Ideas
Put source unknown
Submitted by robin Wolfe
Be sure to let your administrator know that fundraisers are good for not only raising money to support your activity department, they are excellent public relations vehicles, and will keep you from going over budget.
1. Appraisals (basically an Antiques Roadshow). One facility paid a local appraiser $150 for the evening. They sold tickets to staff and family members for $15.00 per item they wanted appraised. It was a great success – they not only covered the cost of the appraiser but made a couple hundred bucks profit!
2. April: Spring flower sale.
3. Art sale: Have local artists donate some of their works, which will be displayed and then sold to the public.
4. Auction: Have individuals, groups and businesses donate goods and services. Be creative in what you can auction off and make certain that the goods and services are sold at reasonable prices.
5. August: End-of-summer party.
6. Balloon pop: Before filling a balloon with air or helium, put a note inside. Have a certain number of the notes worth a prize. Have people buy balloons and pop them in the hope of getting the prize. Be sure to pick up the broken balloons afterwards.
7. Battle of the bands: Gather some bands from your local community. Book a venue and advertise with posters, flyers, and radio announcements. Hold a mini-concert in which the audience chooses the winning band.
8. Bingo: Host a bingo night at a local hall, place of worship, or school.
9. Boat race: Organize a model boat race on a body of water. Charge a participant/spectator entrance fee. The winner of the race gets a prize.
10. Book sale: Ask all your friends, relatives, and teachers to donate their old books. Advertise your book sale by means of posters and flyers. Set up a table and sell books. If there are leftovers, you can always give them to a needy library, shelter, or school.
11. Bowling: Organize a bowling night or a competition. Charge everyone a small fee to enter or have participants get bowl-a-thon pledges.
12. Calendar sale: Create a calendar highlighting the projects and members of your organization, and sell it to students and their family members.
13. Candle making: Make candles and sell them to family members. This can be educational and fun, but be sure to exercise all safety precautions.
14. Car wash: With a group of friends, set up a car wash in the parking lot of your school, church, or public area. (Be sure to ask for permission and make sure that people are careful of moving cars).
15. Carnival day: Host a mini-carnival, with games, prizes and popcorn, in a local park or your own backyard. Charge admission and/or a small fee to play games.
16. Carol-singing: During the Christmas season, go door-to-door singing carols for donations. It is a good idea to have a card or a flyer with some brief information about your organization to give to sponsors.
17. Charity ball: Hire a DJ or a band, rent a hall, advertise, and sell tickets for a dance.
18. Christmas ornament sale: Sell Christmas ornaments during the Christmas season.
19. Classic car show: Organize a classic automobile show. Invite people to attend and to bring their cars by placing ads in local newspapers, leaving flyers at local businesses, and charging people to come and see the show.
20. Comedy hour: Host a comedy skit during lunch at your school and charge people to attend.
21. Cookie Sales: Join Otis Spunkmeier, get a cookie baker and sell fresh baked cookies to employees and visitors. The day after payday is the ideal time for this twice monthly fundraiser. Put them in sandwich baggies and sell at 3 cookies for a dollar.
22. Craft sale: You and the residents make all the crafts yourself and sell them. Also accept craft donations from staff, families and volunteers.
23. Day of community service: Gather together a group of friends, and contact a number of organizations for which you would be interested in volunteering. Then have people sponsor you to do community service for 24 hours.
24. December: Christmas tree sale; gift-wrapping service; New Year's Eve
25. Dog show: Invite people to show off their dogs in a show. Make it a competition that people pay to enter, and offer a prize for the best groomed dog, most- and least-obedient dog, and so on.
26. Duck race: Sell numbered plastic ducks. Set all the ducks afloat in a race on a river. The person who bought the duck that wins the race gets a prize.
27. Eating marathon: Have a pie eating, hot-dog eating, or ice cream-eating contest. You can charge people to participate or to watch, or you can make all participants obtain pledges. You can buy your supplies locally or order through your dietary food distributor (i.e. Gordon Foods, Sysco etc.)
28. Face painting: Have a face-painting day. Advertise in advance and then charge a small fee for painting young kids' faces during a school day or on a weekend. Use poster paint or acrylic.
29. Family barbecue: Host a family barbecue in your facility's backyard, with games and activities.
30. February: Valentine's Day dance; red carnations for Valentine's Day.
31. Flower show: Invite gardeners from your community to enter their flowers in a competition for a prize. Ask volunteer experts to be judges and charge all participants and spectators a fee.
32. Game show: Recreate one or more of your favorite game shows and charge contestants a small entrance fee. Sell tickets to the audience.
33. Games night: Organize an evening of board games.
34. Glamour Shots. With the help of borrowed backgrounds from a local photographer, and a few props such as a armchair, side table, bible, etc. She set up an entire day to take pictures of the ladies and gentlemen in her facility. Once the pictures were taken, she took orders from the proofs, for 5 x 7, or 8 x 10, etc. and sold them to families. She made over $500 - although it was a full day for her and her staff got excited, and helped her out.
35. Guess the number of coins in a jar: The winner receives all the coins and your group makes money by charging people for guessing.
36. Guest speaker: Invite a guest speaker to your home or local hall and sell admission tickets to raise funds for your cause.
37. Hold a theme party: Decide on a fun theme. Charge an entrance fee, but be sure to explain to people what their cover charge is going towards.
38. Hoopla: The competitor throws hoops over prizes. The person whose hoop completely lands over the prize gets to keep the award. Make sure you do not spend too much money on prizes.
39. Hug-a-gram: Advertise a hug for a dollar. Have people buy a hug for a friend. After a member of your group gives the hug to the designated person, give them a small card with a message from the person who sent the hug.
40. International dinner: Have people from various ethnic origins cook traditional foods, and then charge admission to an international dinner.
41. January: Snow art contest.
42. Jellybean count: Fill a jar with jellybeans and have people pay to guess how many there are in the jar.
43. July: Canada Day festivities with refreshment/food booths.
44. June: Father's Day sale; end-of-school pool party (with lifeguards).
45. Karaoke: Rent a karaoke machine, sell tickets or charge an admission fee, and sing all night.
46. Lemonade stand: Make lemonade, post signs, and sell it on a hot day.
47. March: St. Patrick's Day party; spring car wash.
48. May: Mother's Day flowers sale.
49. Miniature golf: Build a nine-hole miniature golf course at your school, featuring ramps, water and sand traps, and other obstacles. Charge people to play a round during lunch.
50. Nacho party: Plan a morning to make nachos and popcorn, which can be sold during lunch.
51. November: Remembrance Day donations.
52. October: Halloween party; pumpkin sales; Thanksgiving turkey raffle.
53. Piñata contest: Charge a fee to have each blindfolded person have one turn at trying to break a candy-filled piñata.
54. Pitch-a-thon: Rent a radar gun and measure how fast people can throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball. Charge $1 per try and give a prize to the fastest individual.
55. Plant a tree: ask a nursery for seedling donations and then get people to sponsor a tree.
56. Plant sale: Organize a plant sale with plants donated by local nurseries.
57. Pledges: Gather pledges to have dance-a-thons, rock-a-thons, or any other type of endurance contest you can think of.
58. Pumpkin-decorating contest: Around Halloween, hold a pumpkin-decorating contest among different grades of homerooms.
59. Raffles: Sell tickets and keep ticket stubs. On the date of the draw, have someone close his or her eyes and pick a ticket stub from all the ones that were sold. Do this publicly. The winner receives a prize.
60. Recipe book: Gather together favorite recipes and put them together in a book. Sell the book through your school, sports organization, or community centre. Try to get the photocopying donated by local businesses.
61. Scavenger hunt: Set a route and make a list of items that the participants need to find in order to win. Advertise your scavenger hunt well and charge everyone a small fee to participate. The winning person/group gets a prize.
62. Sell buttons or t-shirts displaying your logo: Create a logo, and then make up a whole bunch of t-shirts, buttons, pens, or other gifts with your logo on them. Sell the items at a reasonable price.
63. Sell candy or cards: Work with reputable businesses that provide merchandise you can sell. Be sure at least half of the money raised goes to your cause.
64. September: Back-to-school dance; back-to-school supplies sale.
65. Spaghetti dinner: Prepare a great dinner for students, teachers, or community members and charge a fee.
66. Spelling bee: Look through some books or in the dictionary and come up with a list of words of increasing difficulty. Have participants and spectators pay to participate.
67. Sporting events tickets: Ask sports teams to donate a number of seats for their games and raffle off the tickets.
68. Tacos for Lunch: Set up a taco stand in your facility and sell to staff, residents and visitors. Work with kitchen to order from their food supplier.
69. Talent auction: Auction off the talents of people. For instance, great singers offer to sing at a wedding, party, or special event.
70. Talent show competition: Invite people to show off their talent in a competition in which they can win a prize. Sell tickets in advance.
71. Toy sale: Hold a toy sale. The best season for this is just prior to Christmas.
72. Ugly tie contest: Have the students come to school wearing the ugliest tie they can find. Have them vote on the worst tie with the winner receiving a prize.
73. Videos: Make and sell a video for youth tourists of places to go and cool things to do. Or create a How-To video; for example, how to improve your golf swing, or how to make crafts.
74. Walkathon: Choose a date and a route, make up some pledge forms, and advertise with posters. Have everyone who wants to participate, gather donations or pledges using their pledge forms.
75. Winter carnival: Hold a winter carnival in your local park or schoolyard. Invite students, staff, and the community. Charge admission and/or a small fee to play games.
Important
Rules
In
fund raising, the most important rules are:If
this fund raiser is a Resident Council fund
raiser, the funds
may not be "co-mingled" with the facility
funds. You must set up a checking account or
savings account that specifically is called
the Resident Council Fund.Do fund raisers the
day after pay day! Nurses and CNA's are the
biggest customers!!!!!!!!!!!!Sell food whenever
possible. See if dietary will donate or buy
at cost! Many times the vendors for your facility
will make a donation for your fund raiser of
food.Before you do a major
fund raiser, have a meeting with your Administrator
and let them see your plans in writing. Your
information should include: date of event, place
of event, equipment & supplies needed, cost,
staff needed, rain date (if appropriate), name
of function and vendors involved. You will need
their input and approval. Then, a Department
Head meeting needs to take place and hand out
committee or delegate responsibilities. MEMO,MEMO
and Remind. Ultimately, if this fund raiser
fails, you are to blame.Advertising is very
important. A fund raiser is only as good as
the money you make and the people who participate.
Have a target goal of what you want to make
and let people know that. Send thank you notes
to all who participate in any fund raiser. You
want repeat business. Take Pictures and
put them in the paper.
Keep a folder with all the information regarding this event, flyers, advertising,
meetings, space, etc. Also write down what you forgot and what went wrong so
you wont forget next year.
Fund
Raising TipsYou must have a great
letter of introduction that clearly states who
you are and what you want. Make it simple and
easy to read. Don't ask for outrageous things.
Always get the name of the person you are sending
this to and don't forget to follow up!
Fund
Raising IdeasBalloon Sales: Valentine's
Day is a great way to make money. See if Party
City will give you a discount if you buy in
bulk. Not including helium which can also
be given to you, the balloons (Red Mylar)
cost
approximately 25 cents each and you could
sell for $1.50. Purchaser can write the
message right
on the balloon. Sell to department heads at
cost, so they can purchase for their entire
department. This fundraiser has been a huge
success!Back
to TopEasy
Fund Raisers: Look for things that don't
involve a lot of time.
- Books Are Fun:
They will come and set up and provide you
a
percentage of the sales.
- Vendors: Provide
them a table and require they keep a running
tab
of all sales. They give you 20% or what ever you negotiate.
- Pampered Chef,
Avon , etc. will come in and sell and you
can receive
a percentage for hosting the sale.
Community
Events:
- Christmas: Put
up a large sign asking for Christmas donations
and to come to the facility for a list of
items needed. Collect for seniors in your
area, not just your facility. Presents for
needy seniors vs "Toys for Tots"
- Craft Show. This
involves a lot of planning. Charge either
per table or a percentage of sales. Better
to charge per table in case you don't do well.
- Health Fair:
This is huge and takes a tremendous amount
of time, energy and staff. However, the areas
you can make money are selling food, ice cream,
beverages, raffle tickets and 50/50's.
Weekly
Fund Raisers:
- Dunkin Donuts:
Ask them for all the day old merchandise,
i.e. bagels. They cannot sell it and can give
it to you. You can sell it for $1.00 with
cream cheese. Staff love this.
- Otis Spunkmeyer:
Sell cookies that are freshly baked. Only
3 for $1.00
Other
Ideas:
Contact local television
shows and get free tickets, especially MTV.
Raffle off with a gift basket.
Raffle off gift baskets,
from, for example, Bed Bath and Beyond or The
Body shop. Have a Count the Jelly Beans contest
and purchase chances.
Local
Organizations:
United Way 1.800.362.2563
- They have lots of free items.
AT&T Cares 1.800.258.0649 - They can send volunteers
to help with major events
as volunteers.
Contacts:
Local Private Schools,
Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts to do a drive for
you at Christmas. Lots of gifts will come in.
Arrange this in October to happen in December
or November.
Your local civic groups, i.e. Jr. Women's Club, Men's Clubs, Jaycees, Lions,
etc. to make a donation. Obtain this information from your resource department
at the local library.
Local Supermarkets
and Restaurant's will make donations as well.
Local Church Thrift Shops for donations.
Make sure your ideas
are seasonal. No one will buy entertainment
books in the dead of winter or oranges when
they aren't in season.
Fund
Raising Organizations
Books are Fun
1.800.966.8301
Cookbooks by Morris
Press
Entertainment Publications
Entertainment Books
973.227.8250
Order by: May of each year or sooner
Favorite Fund Raisers
334.262.4898
Fuller Fund Raising
1-800-633-5732
Friendly Home Parties & Fund
Raising
1.800.877.1510
Hale Indian River
Groves
Oranges and Grapefruit
561.978.0056
Jerrys T Shirts
914.934.9292
Meyer Photographers
423.472.7516
Morris County Tobacco & Candy
973.366.0484
Reading is Fun
1800.906.8301
Otis Spunkmeyer
1800 789 8550 or 1.800.275.1538
U.S. Pen Fund Raising
334.262.4896
SEMPLE
BIXEL ASSOCIATES, INC.653
Franklin Avenue
Nutley, NJ 07110
E-Mail: DaveBixel@aol.com
973-284-0444 (Phone)
973-284-0950 (Fax)WHO WE ARE AND WHAT
WE DO…Semple Bixel Associates,
Inc. is an independent fund raising consulting
firm. We offer counsel in:
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offers the most cost effective, reliable and
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for a fund raising professional for your staff
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call for further details of how we can help
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