Fundraising Ideas?????

Bachelor auction?

If I'd have the time I'd go up and participate and we'd nail that target in one shot. Alas...

Edit: Car wash is an old idea, dunno if it would raise much.

Hi Ceili!

I've been really investigating this stuff lately as I am in charge of raising a similar amount for event in May 2004. An idea I got here was to have a silent auction, and have been doing that... getting donations of items from lots of businesses, then having an event where people bid on them.

More ideas... back soon.

Ceili, how much time do you have? That makes a big difference. Like, you can do the small-change stuff, but a lot of it, if you have a year or so. Car washes, selling chocolate bars, all of those standards.

I would suggest that you become a 501 (c) 3 (nonprofit) organization, but I don't know the Canadian law/ if there is an equivalent. There probably is. This allows you to apply for grants, and makes companies more likely to be willing to donate as they would get a tax write-off. The process is somewhat but not terribly complicated.

Since you are working with youth in an at least somewhat educational capacity, there are probably a lot of grants available.

Do you have Pizza Hut in Canada? They have something called FUNdraisers where they donate back 20% of what has been paid for food at an event at the restaurant... for example, you have 50 people spend $10/each for dinner, then you get back $100. (50 X $10 = $500 X 50% = $100.)

That's another in the small change category, can add up somewhat if you have enough time, do it once a month, that sort of thing.

Give me more details and I'll share more info. I am limited by the Canada thing, as what I know are U.S. laws.

(Check out the ads on the side! Some good leads for the small-change stuff there -- selling chocolate bars and whatnot.)

Krispy Kreme has a program also

Hi all,

The organization is Air Cadets and we already get funding from the government as well as the Rotairians.
We have the funds in the bank but due to new laws and limitations on how we previously raised the cash we can't use it for this trip, this as a sudden unexpected developement.
We are aiming for spring break. Silent Auctions are great but getting the donations is getting harder and harder because everyone is out scavaging for the same thing now, I should know, I do it for hockey and baseball. I've thought of having a basket auction - ie: picnic, pizza, specialized with tickets(ballet, hockey) or bottles of wine.

I like your idea craven, but I think I'd take a bit further, mabey yard work, maid service ect.
I was thinking of auctioning a live cow with butchering thrown in, but the profit margin is only a couple o'hundred, not really worth the effort. But with the whole mad cow thang it might work, very patriotic.

We have restaurant and bars that do the same thing as pizza hut et al. The problem is getting people out to spend the cash.
We are also booked at local grocery stores and flea markets, for couple of running weekends, tossing burgers and dogs.
Our climate is a huge factor, it gets way too cold and many events just can't be done 'til summer, so...car wahes and the like must be done soon and only if the weather holds up.

Thanks for the ideas so far, mabey if we work together we can come up with some doozys and help each other, :wink:
Thanks, Ceili

Since the group is aviation oriented, why not plan an aviation event to raise money. For instance, sell rides on vintage WWII aircraft. Owners of those aircraft are so proud of their aircraft that they often welcome any opportunity to show them off. Twenty rides at $100 per passenger in a WWII fighter would generate $2000.

Offer a $100 prize for the best model aircraft. Entry would be $20. The prize money could come from you existing, but unusable savings account. Get 200 people, and you would have $4000 buckeroos in the traveling kit.

Look for a generous donor(s). The Fixed Base Operators at your local airport may helpout. How about, the local veteran's groups?

Nice ideas.

One of the ads on the side led me to something for hot air balloon rides. I'm looking into that.

What's with the laws and limitations? If you already have the cash, I'd look into finding out exactly what is up with the laws and limitations and whether there are ways that you can use the money after all. At the very least you could do something where you use the money to make more money (?) -- like BUY things cheap or wholesale or put together creative combinations (a weekend in ____ with gift certificates for a fine restaurant, tickets to a much-sought show, reservations at a good hotel -- that kind of thing.)

(The live cow is kinda creepy, though. ) (She says, realizing she has to become a vegetarian already if she wants to claim any moral authority...)

Excellent ideas Asherman. I'll start thinking up proposals.

Sozobe, I'm with you on the cow/veggetarian thing, but the cattle market up here was hit very hard, it's just coming around now, so 'Canadian beef' is big at the moment.

The Gaming laws regarding fundraising and where groups spend the cash they earn recently changed (communism anyone???) and like all good? burocracies, if they can screw up a good thing why not.
It's partly 9/11, the liability of leaving your own neck of the woods and big brother deciding how gaming money should be spent. I know many schools had to cancel foreign trips because of this gaming rule and/or because Insurance quadrupled or was not even available. This new rule stipulates that non-profit groups cannot leave our own province with gaming money.
We earn it but can't spend it as we like without the risk of losing future events or the money we've earned outright. I don't know if every province is the same but I'm sure they are all rethinking past procedures.
Thanks Ceili

Fund Raising Idea
Ceili,
Her are two options that work well for our youth
1) Rent a Kid (Youth do odd jobs for people and get contributions for their efforts).
2) Car Wash (Charge $5.00 dollars and ask a business with outdoor water facilities to sponsor).
Hope this is helpful.
Good Luck!
Kyandin

bookmark!

MAYBE . . .
Set up a web site - a FREE one . . .TRIPOD (Lycos)? - and sell merchandise that you buy wholesale.

Or, sell that merchandise on e-bay.

There are auctions of all kinds. Antiques - real or not so real - go good in the States. Ask for donations for it?

Good luck! [/color]

Not in that Lil K bikini outfit....unless.....

You have a pot of money that you can't spend for the trip, so what you need to do is wash it.

Arrange with a local establishment, perhaps the local Country Club, to cater an exclusive dinner. The fund-raiser should appeal and be touted to the wealthy segment of the community, those who can easily afford the tickets and who will appreciate the exclusive nature of the event. Black Tie might just add to the drawing power of the event. By way of example, only 100 guests will be served with each dinner tickets to cost $50. That's $5,000, if the dinner guests are limited to 200 the take would be $10,000. That money is "clear" and can be used for your trip, or whatever.

What about the overhead, and what would get folks to put out $50-#100 (think couples) for dinner? Overhead consists of two elements: the dinner itself, and the "draw". Let us say that the catered dinners each cost you $10, that would be either $1000, or $2000 depending upon how many guests you permit to attend. The "draw" is the inducement. Famous people, athletes, heros, and politicians are all generally good draws. These are people that your local leading citizens would like to meet, to hear speak, to talk with, or even get their photo taken with. If you have someone locally that meets the bill, you may get them to donate their time/effort to making your fund-raiser a success. The local lad who just climbed Mt. Everest, and has a slide presentation that he's just dying to show off would be perfect. If you can't find anyone locally who will be a good draw, you may have to get someone to visit your community. That's more expensive. Generally, you would have to pay their airfare, hotel, meals and give them an honorarium for their trouble. That might add up to a couple of thousand dollars, perhaps even a bit more.

Alright what do we have for expenses? $2000 for the catering, and $3000 for the draw. A total of $5000. You will say, "But that's every cent we would make from selling the tickets. How do we make the profit we need?" Easy. You pay the $5000 overhead cost with the money that you are legally prohibited from spending for sending the scouts on their trip to the U.S. What you'll have done is exchanged money that can't be used for an equal number of dollars that can be used anyway you wish. Now, ideally the event should cost only half the amount that it will raise in ticket sales.

Capice?

BTW, the draw might concievably be the Bachelor Auction, or a silent auction of donated high-end goods (art, antiques, local discounts, etc.) That sort of draw is doubly profitable. First, you wash your existing money and then you collect the money raised through the auction. Don't forget passing the hat, that can sometimes raise some serious cash if one leading citizen doesn't want to appear to be out done by a rival.

look into having a euchre tourney.. we just had a friend lose their baby at 8 months along and she ended up needing a liver transplant, so we did a euchre tourney with jello shots and 50/50 raffles and raised 2,500 with just 40 people... just an idea gl.. :wink: