What Others Are Doing – Fundraisers in the News – Nov 21, 09
News - Apple Gold Group, the Applebee’s franchisee in NC, AR and OK will host your Flapjack Fundraiser. They will provide the food and cooks, you provide the guests, servers & bussers. Events may be scheduled on Saturday or Sunday mornings. AGG will charge your organization for food at their cost, you keep the rest of the ticket price. See Apple Gold Group’s website for details.
Views- AGG’s cost appears to be less than 1/3 of the average ticket price. This is becoming a popular program, so open weekends may fill up fast.
News - Wild game dinners are catching on at several churches, mostly in the southern U.S. Area residents flock to the events. Many of the older residents say it reminds them of the kinds of meat they ate growing up. Prices vary from $8 to $15 and include home-made side dishes. Among the meats offered are bear, alligator, chicken, elk, deer, antelope, pheasant, turkey, wild hog, duck, goose, possum and racoon.
News - Carver High School (NC) recently held a LUV the Band event. The school’s marching band put on a special show and was joined by the High Point Central High School marching band, as well as the Boss Drummers, a drum group from the Winston Lake YMCA. The groups took turns playing and presented ensembles and skits that aren’t part of a formal marching band competition. They hope to expand the fundraiser next year with more bands and other musical groups.
Views- How about a cooperative agreement where multiple schools will take part in each other’s fundraisers? Other forms of entertainment could be used while the bands are moving on/off the field; singing groups, performers, specialty acts.
Vote for Your Favorite Animal Shelter
Two contests are currently being held for the benefit of animal shelters.
What Others Are Doing – Fundraising in the News – Nov 13, 09
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What Others Are Doing – Fundraisers in the News – Nov. 7, 09
Fundraising ebook Reviews
Whenever money is involved, it’s hard to know who to believe. I have read reviews of fundraising ebooks until my eyes got bleary. Nearly every review I’ve found was either provided by the author or by someone who has a financial interest in selling the ebook. Listed below are some of the more popular ebooks on fundraising or grant writing. If you have read any of these books, please share your experience with the other fundraisers who subscribe to fundraisers-blog.com. Have you tried the methods suggested in the book? Were you able to raise more than the cost of the book? Would you recommend the ebook to others?
Discover the system that puts your foundation funding on auto-pilot.
Fundraising techniques to increase results up to 100%.
Discover how to increase money raised by your church today.
Master the strategies of the event planning pros to host an exciting and profitable 5k run or walk event.
Fundraising ideas for school fundraisers and nonprofit fundraiser events.
Get a new profitable energy drink fundraiser.
Learn how YOU can raise $50,000 (or more) for any organization.
Now YOU can write a successful sponsorship proposal.
How to apply and get approved for free money grants from government sources and foundations.
How to form a nonprofit organization: A do-it-yourself guide.
We Love Pet Lovers
In 2007, BusinessWeek magazine reported that Americans spend about $41 billion annually on their pets. Many enterprising groups have figured out how to tap into that market to support their fundraising activities.
Pet Portraits
For Christmas or any time of year, contact a local portrait studio about conducting a pet portrait fundraiser. You can charge a sitting fee to cover most of the actual costs, then sell packages of portraits or greeting cards.
Pet Parade and Costume Contest
In conjunction with some holiday or event, hold a pet costume contest and pet parade. Assign a number to each entrant. Visitors “vote” for their favorite by making a donation by entrant number. To insure that more people attend, hold the contest as an event during your town’s festival or holiday celebration. Prizes can be a simple ribbon or inclusion in your next newsletter.
Pet Calendar
Produce a calendar which contains photos of supporter’s pets. Every photo submitted should be included somewhere in the calendar. Most people who submitted photos will then purchase a calendar. The calendars may be produced by a local printer or on a personal computer if the printer and paper is high enough quality.
Canine Carnival
What if you could get all the local pet businesses together in one place for a good cause? Hold your own “canine carnival”. Offer dog washes, dog grooming, nail trimming, veterinary consultations, pet store products and more in one place. You can sell booth space or ask participants to donate all or a portion of the day’s profits to your organization. Make sure to have one booth where people can donate dog food.
Pet of the Day
If your group has a website, sell space for the Pet of the Day. Post a picture and short story about the pet. If you have a willing & able webmaster, create a contest where people can vote online for the Pet of the Week/Month/Year. Count each dollar donated as a vote. If you’re lucky, people will solicit “votes” for their pet.
Tips for a Successful Pet Event
- Puppies can always get people to stop what they’re doing for a few minutes, giving you time to solicit donations. If you have a booth at a mall or event, put puppies where kids can see them and adults can reach them.
- The local TV weather people are frequently looking for venues where they can broadcast the weather report and look like the “good guys” at the same time. See if one of them will broadcast from your fundraiser.
- Think twice before you invite multiple species to the same event. All your profits may go down the drain if Fido eats dear little Furby.
What Others are Doing – Fundraisers in the News – Nov. 4, 09
The Salvation Army’s Tree of Lights campaign, which runs each year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, generates one-third of the Salvation Army’s annual budget.
Champion Energy Services of Houston makes a monthly donation to selected schools within the Houston Independent School District for every new subscriber who signs up during the school year.
Casino for Kids is an adult evening event featuring a cocktail reception, sit-down dinner, dancing and gaming. Proceeds from the event will benefit Covenant House Michigan’s Outreach Program.
An auction to benefit The New York Restoration Project features such items as lunch with a celebrity, backstage passes and a walk-on role in a stage play.
The Marion-Dillon County Disabilities Foundation (SC) is sponsoring a “Light-A-Tree” fundraiser. A donation will light a red light in honor of a loved one or a white light in memory of a loved one.
A fundraiser for Brady’s Smile Inc. featured raffles, silent auctions, “bargain balloons,” Halloween costume competitions and even a grand prize raffle for a trip to New York City.
The Road to Responsibility is holding a silent auction. Items include beauty and jewelry donations, autographed and historic items, tickets from the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots, wine and gift baskets, baby items, restaurant meals, framed prints, wills, studio photography sittings and more. Live auction items include vacation homes, golf outings, pampering days, a special MGM Grand package and others.
Students from University of South Florida Polytechnic will hold a fundraising dinner and silent auction to benefit the Peace River Center Domestic Violence Shelter and Rape Recovery and Resource Center. The students created the fundraiser as a community service project as part of a human relations class.
UCLAradio.com will receive a donation for every fish taco purchased from Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill during a fundraising fiesta evening.
The Grande Prairie Public Library (Alberta) is sponsoring a stage production of the popular children’s character, Little Bear. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to the library.
The Yearlings, a Northern Kentucky Volunteer Organization
The Yearlings, a Northern Kentucky volunteer organization, has raised over $600,000 in the past 23 years. They describe themselves as “A volunteer organization comprised of fifty community-minded women committed to raising the maximum for charity at minimum administrative costs.” They fund scholarships and endowments, as well as distributing funds to carefully selected charities. They raise money via website donations, charity nights, golf outings, style shows and an annual gala. The community supports The Yearlings by providing corporate sponsorships, donations of food, services and venues from local restaurants and retailers, exposure by local media and attendance at fundraising events. Their annual gala features local bands, local food, live and silent auctions, raffles and hosting by local TV and radio personalities. website: www.theyearlings.org
Are You the Chairperson or the Referee?
One, he made me more productive. I knew exactly what was expected of me and when it had to be done. I also knew that he would see to it that I got any resources I needed to do the job. He not only gave me assignments, he explained to me how my little task fit into the overall goal and why it was important.
The other thing that stands out is that he was universally disliked. As a consultant, I enjoy going to a company, getting results and moving on. I found out that most people don’t work that way and resent anyone who tries to change the culture in which they have become comfortable. I saw him as a doer, they saw him as a nagger.
As the leader of a fundraiser, your job is much larger than meeting the stated goal. You not only have to consider all avenues for meeting the goal, you must get all of the stakeholders involved and moving in the same direction. You must have, at least, a cursory plan for dealing with personalities, individual strengths (and weaknesses), unexpected obstacles, unrealistic expectations, delays, the weather and every other aspect of the fundraising “project”.
From your experience, do you have any tips for future leaders about what to expect? How do you get everyone on the same page? How do you foster cooperation, even among those with a history of ego clashes? How do you handle differences of opinion about how to reach your goal?
Who’s in Charge Here?
Are your fundraising activities run by a committee? How’s that working out for you? If you’re on a committee where everyone has the same goals, everyone jumps in when they see a need and they all agree on the fundrasing acivities, then good for you.
On a more typical fundraising committee, personal goals, egos and personalities interfere with success. The committee members may not be able to agree on fundraising targets, fundraising activities or fundraising events. One or two people usually end up doing the majority of work.
A successful fundraising effort needs to have one person who has responsibility for running the campaign. That person doesn’t have to, and shouldn’t, make all the decisions, but one person needs to be responsible for coordinating the effort. Individual tasks should be assigned to committee members, with those members having authority to make decisions related to their task.
What has been your experience working with fundraising committees? Do they function better with a competent leader? Does a leader tend to stifle creativity? Please share your thoughts and comments.