Large Fundraising Ideas?

30 Specific and Unique Fundraising Ideas

• Please review my previous question. I'm looking for SPECIFIC ideas on fund raising. It doesn't have to be really detailed (not as detailed as the last answer). I'm looking for more of a list. Sorta like "101 Fundraising Ideas" type thing, cept I only want 30. A couple sentences max for each idea is fine. Uniqueness is appreciated, but don't stress yourself too much about it. The ideas MUST be in the text of the answer, not linked (though links are welcome extras). Write the list yourself, I don't want quotes. You're welcome to "rip" ideas off other websites or whatever (while staying in GA regulations and copyright laws). Originality isn't the focus of the list. Any questions, please feel free to clarify. Rating will be given. xemion-ga

• Answer:

  Okay Xemion-GA -- you know that I'm only doing this for the rating! Ideas liberally stolen from local Music Boosters: 1. Sell programs at school sporting events. 2. Set up latte stand at school (hospital/sporting event) and have it staffed by the people raising money. 3. Find set up an arrangement to work with local companies at sports venues (in fast food booths). Here we'd done it with two private companies at multiple venues -- Key Arena, Seahawks Stadium, Safeco, Husky Stadium. Workers were paid between $50 and $75 per event, which went into a tax-free fund for the Music Boosters. Requires 501c3 status for the tax-exemption. 4. Sell Krispy Kremes -- they have a fund-raising program that allows significant discounts. If not KK's then another popular consumable. Most programs offer them by the dozen but you could sell them 1-at-a-time at a game. 5. Christmas tree sales. Best done at Christmas time. 6. Have an "Auction Night." Local businesses and parents generally donate time and services and it's auctioned off for the fundraiser. 7. Make the auction dinner itself a fundraiser. Hint: the gross margins are in the booze. 8. Community garage sale: all those involved bring items they wish to sell to a central location. Organizers get $10 per booth plus 20% of the gross. 9. Sell 'Entertainment' books that offer discounts to local attractions and restaurants. They can be ordered for multiple cities, so that relatives in faraway places can buy them too. 10. Take candy-drive offers to company coffee room and set up a donation box. 11. Pick-up and recycle discarded Christmas trees. The Boy Scouts here do it for a recommended contribution of $5. Best done 7-10 days after Christmas. 12. Seek a wealthy patron, like Sergey Brin. 13. Host a SuperBowl party where everyone brings $20 -- specifically for the fund. 14. Used book sale. 15. Used music sale. Demographics and management will be way different from a book sale. 16. DVD swap -- and the organizer gets $2 for each disk swapped. 17. "Curse" jar. This works well within companies, where someone is fined $1 for every swear word. Not likely to work as well in a Baptist Church. 18. Petting sitting service -- particularly attractive during the holidays when kennel spots are hard to find. 19. When I was growing up, Cleveland's United Way would sponsor a "Hole in One" contest. It was $5 for 3 shots -- green about 175 yards away. Hole-in-One won a car (donated by local business). Yours doesn't have to be that extravagant. Or you can buy hole-in-one insurance for an event like this. 20. Gift-wrapping service. Think Christmas-Mother's Day. Exclude Father's Day, as women know how to gift wrap things. 21. Carnival. Dunking booth mandatory. 22. Sale of wall-mounted American flags. Make sure that they include a sturdy mounting bracket -- and provide free installation. 23. Paint house numbers on street curbs. Good program in new neighborhoods. 24. Set up private showing of hot new movie release at local theater. Fundraiser gets portion of proceeds. 25. Collect and print cookbook with favorite recipes. Do it as well as The Junior League of Denver and become a national hit. 26. Bingo night. 27. The old American standby: bake sale. I know that you said unique, but I can't rip off ideas and be totally unique. 28. A raffle: local public station KSER sells raffle tickets at a baseball game and the winner gets 66% of the pot. Tickets are $1 each and they succeed in raising pots of $400-$600 routinely at minor league baseball games. 29. Apply to a foundation for a grant. Your local library probably has several guides to foundations that provide grants of various types. 30. A patron card: Albertson's has a card that must be swiped at checkout. It provides 1% of purchases to school programs. Google search strategy: find Sergey Brin's e-mail address By the way -- watch for the Kamiak High School Band in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! My daughter will be there entirely courtesy of #3. Best regards, Omnivorous-GA