Ideas needed for fundraisers

[Arsenette]

Hi Guys! I was wondering if you can help! I was hoping for innovative and very inexpensive ways of Fundraising for an organization (see below which one :oops: ). We have plans for the future but I wanted to come up with something different and/or something that maybe some of you can get involved with? :halo:

This is what I have so far: PRFSF PAGE (http://www.prfsf.org/Fundraising.htm)

I even have a Paypal page just in case ;)

[Aussie Willy]

Well on your home turf I would suggest having a trivia night.

At the moment the club at our rink is fundraising to buy a harness. It will take a while, but a couple of things they are doing is selling fundraising chocolates and we are having a video night. And then we might have a trivia night.

[Arsenette]

Trivia night? Never heard of it.. could you explain? :mrgreen:

[what?meworry?]

i hate to admit to dealing with small association fund-raisers, but...

consider hosting an "international night" where you celebrate diversity of ethnic origins. participants bring one "dish to share" that is of their families ethnic heritage.

step 2: ask everyone to submit the recipe for the dish they brought, plus one more relative to the family's ethnic heritage. turn this into a cookbook that you then sell in the neighborhood of the organization, among the participants as well as through neighborhood businesses.

consider soliciting significant prizes from area retailers for auction. you can also get individuals to donate new/craft items and hold a craft fair, selling tables for up to $90-100 for two days plus a donation to a raffle. sell food too, especially good food (greek broiled chicken, stir fry) at a restaurant price with volunteers doing the cooking and serving.

with either of the above, consider a "cookie walk" that people, commercial bakeries, neighborhood grocerie stores, contribute home-baked (or store) cookies for sale by the pound.

but the all-time mother of auctions is to get some seriously big commercial enterprises, like disney, cruise lines, etc. to donate for mention and sell tickets over the internet!

good luck.

[A.H.Black]

One of my favorites is one the symphony used to have around here. They called it Beethovens 5th. It was a 5K run/walk to the music of Beethovens 5th symphony. The idea was to finish the race before the end of the music. It was a great fundraiser for several years. I don't know how you could translate it for your use. Just a thought.

[skaternum]

If your club doesn't already do club pictures, you could consider doing that. The photographers who do school pictures will often come to a rink, set up their stuff, and take pictures of skaters. Pics can be singles, pairs, teams, etc. and can be posed in costume & skates or just head shots. The club can add on $5.00 per order and make some good money at it. The catch is that is does involve a lot of pre-planning and haggling with the photographer to get a good price, but it can be done quite reaonably.

Alternatively, you could have a photographer come and take a group shot of the entire club and sell copies of that. Maybe get them printed up on calendars, magnets, etc. and sell those.

[Arsenette]

Hey thanks guys!!!

BTW - have you ever heard of this??

Skratchers (http://www.skratchers.com/index.html)

Does it work?

[IceDanceSk8er]

Originally posted by Arsenette
Hi Guys! I was wondering if you can help! I was hoping for innovative and very inexpensive ways of Fundraising for an organization

Here's a few ideas:

Go to your local policitians. They love this sort of stuff especially if you can guarantee them any photo opportunities at a rink or with a few skaters. I've did this to help get my daughter to Nationals one year and raised close to $5,000.

Get the local press involved. Tell them what you are trying to do and that you need help from the business community - or anyone who is willing to help.

Look to your federation membership and ask people if they know people who run businesses.

Most corporations will turn you away if you approach them for a contribution, so try the smaller businesses and ask for a small amount. A hundred small businesses donating $50, $75, or $100 adds up to a nice chunk or change.

[skaternum]

Originally posted by IceDanceSk8er
Go to your local policitians. They love this sort of stuff especially if you can guarantee them any photo opportunities at a rink or with a few skaters. I've did this to help get my daughter to Nationals one year and raised close to $5,000.

How exactly do you raise money from this? And what does the politician have to do with it?

[blondeangl]

Ok i have an idea, heres what you do:

~Have a old/used/too small/no longer need/etc.. skate and dress sale from skaters who are members of the PRFSF. You can figure out how much they paid for the dress put it on sale for less (more money taken off for how often it was used/how new or old it looks). Then you can put flyers out in local newspapers and on local bulliten boards at rinks and just common visited places. Have a certain day or two when the sale will take place, and since your skaters are all from different places you can hold sales in several different places.

[Arsenette]

Thanks guys.. I'm actually writing these things down.

I do have one added bonus.. uh.. we are all over the country.. so what do I consider "local"? :oops:

[blondeangl]

Consider local the local areas that your skaters are in ... like if you have several skaters in a certain area in a state do it in that "local" region ... im not sure though

[Arsenette]

Thanks..

What about those scratch cards?? Has anyone ever used one? Any thoughts? It looks really interesting!!!

[IceDanceSk8er]

Originally posted by skaternum
How exactly do you raise money from this? And what does the politician have to do with it?

Politicians know the business community better than anyone I've ever met. The local mayor where we lived contacted his acquaintances and collected a handful of checks that totalled close to $5K

[skaternum]

Oh, I see. You just mean that you solicit donations. I didn't get that from the first message. Duh!

[Arsenette]

We just redesigned our website.. the new address for our Fundraising page is now - PRFSF Store (http://www.prfsf.org/Store.htm) ;)

[Spider68]

Parking Lot Sale
It requires work:
Someone responsible for collecting the donations.
A place to store the donations (if you have good relations with the rink, they might loan you a locker room for the 1-2 days to collect the goods)
Arrange for people to bring tables, cash box, etc.
Signs
Set up the sale in the parking lot.
Tip: Don't overprice -- we had children's clothing flying out at $2-3 for jeans, $1-2 for sweatshirts, t-shirts at $0.50, etc.
Don't accept computers - don't sell.
Big sellers - clothing, kitchen stuff and books.
Be sure to arrange for some local charity group to come by at the end of the sale to pick up what you couldn't sell - or arrange for someone to take the onsold goods to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
We held a sale and made over $1,500 cash.

Fireworks
Another good fund-raiser (where it is permitted): firework stand. Of course, unless you've placed your name on the list early, most of the stands are pre-designated for other service groups. Check around. This is a big-big money maker, but it requires a lot of adult volunteer time (and a camper for behind the stand). My son's Little League always clears about $25K a year from this (we have a huge stand).

Concession
Our 'local' baseball team (Anaheim Angels) has a program for youth club organizations to man the concession stands. You must be 18 or over, and commit to so many seasons. The concession splits a percentage of the profits with you. We made quite a bit of money, it was fun, and helped the parents get to know each other. Depending on the amount of revenue, the split can range from 5-10%. We lucked out and had some of Yankee games and sold lots of beer!

Good luck!

[Arsenette]

HEY!!! I'm so happy! Someone was kind enough to donate us a copier! NICE one too! Just wanted to share ;)