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 |
