Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Fundraiser Question...

Hi everyone!! I am part of a committee that is raising funds for an All Night Graduation Party for this year's graduating class. Right after graduation all the students are bused to a place where they stay up all night and have a wonderful time. The facility has so many different activities for all. They have paint ball, a foam dance floor, a live comedian, all the food and drinks to eat all night long, a bowling alley, a swimming pool etc. It is a wonderful and safe night for the kids (and the parents too...a lot of us are chaperones). The school has been doing this for years and its a great way for the kids to be together one last time in a safe, drug and alcohol free environment. By raising all of the money through this committee, every student can attend for FREE!! Here's the kicker...it's $21,000.00...but so worth it for the safety of everyone after graduation. It also gives those students who would never have the money to participate, a chance to have a great time with their friends.
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We've had several fundraisers throughout the year and we have 2 major ones left, but I was just wondering if any of my wonder blogging friends had any different ideas to help raise money. Just rattle 'em off to me and I'll pass them on to the committee.
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We're taking Kelsie to visit some colleges today and then I have work tomorrow, so if I don't get back to all of you...A Great Big Thank You in advance for all your help!!

Have a great day,
~Karen~

22 comments:

  1. One of the ones we did was a raffle. We had a quilt, a rocking chair and a cedar chest donated to us. We sold raffle tickets during all the home basketball games and did wonderfully well.

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  2. How about a signature quilt that all of the graduating seniors sign and you auction off? Jenn

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  3. Me again...you could sell the blocks for each to sign for say $1 and then sell raffle tickets or auction it off. Jenn

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  4. Hi!
    Around here, they call it Project Graduation and one of their big fundraisers is a softball tournament/ chili cook off. It's Texas after all!
    :) Ann

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  5. I love the Innisbrook gift wrap fund raiser.
    Also we have a wine and cheese fund raiser. A lot of times you can get a hall and the food free. It's a fun social event.
    We also have a fashion show with the graduating students, boys and girls. Local shops supply the fashions and the kids love to see prom wear and summer wear -
    good luck!

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  6. The best fundraiser we ever had would need more time than what you have left...but might work for another year. We had a "Celebrity Auction". We sent out letters to all kinds of "celebrities"...sports, movies, TV, music, news media and asked for an item. We got signed TV scripts, signed hockey pucks, signed baseball gloves, signed shirts, a guided tour of the NBC news studio in NY .....we'd average 100+ items each time and did a bulk mailing to save money. The committee members all baked and contributed beverages the night of the auction. People browsed the items before the live auction began and then we had a volunteer auctioneer and he was great. (I guess it could be done as a silent auction with people putting their bids on a list in front of each item.) We did have a minimum bid posted by each item. We would make between $4,000 - $7,000 depending on how many items and how popular the celebrity was who contributed each item. Good luck!

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  7. I love Jenn's ideas!!!
    Silent Auction items are great...baskets, quilts, donations ect...
    50/50 raffles are huge as well.
    Our school also does a womens bingo night which is great fun and the prizes are usually Vera Bradley bags!!!! It usually makes a good $3000.

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  8. I'm sorry Karen I don't have any
    ideas. My grandchildren will be
    entering high school next year.
    I've been out of touch with high
    school way too long.LOL..In other
    words---I'm too old to know.:O)

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  9. They do the same thing here too. A great night for the kids and peace of mind for the parents. I think one year they did a cow chip raffle. You heard it right. They spray painted a huge grid on a field with about 1000 squares and sold tickets worth $5 per square. Roped off the area, set a date for the cow and then waited for him to do his business. Which ever square it landed in was the winner. The winner won $500 cash.

    Hope this helps, it is kind of fun!

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  10. Yep I was gonna say raffle a quilt too!
    Happy fundraising :D

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  11. Greetings from Albany, Western Australia. Sausage Sizzles outside your local hardware store (how appropriate) on the week-end are great earners here. Just selling sausages in buns with onions etc., and cold drinks (maybe hot ones since you are in Winter) go really well. People drop into the hardware store all day for bits and pieces and often are tempted. Here, the hardware store usually supplies the barbeque and a covered stand. Sam (Sandra)

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  12. I love the idea about the signature quilt signed by all the seniors. We have the same thing in our town. The biggest money makers are the Fashion Show where the seniors walk the run way for all the guests. There are raffle baskets and 50/50. The other money maker is Military Bridge. Many people that attend do not know how to play, but are briefed before the games begin. Again there are a lot of raffle baskets and 50/50. Unfortunately, both these events take a lot of time in planning, but if you need more info. on how to play/set-up let me know.

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  13. Someone already said 50/50 draws. EASIEST fundraiser out there. Sell tickets for 1$ and the winner gets half the money and the fund raiser gets the other half. Sell these tickets at every sporting event and draw the ticket 10 - 15 minutes prior to game ending. You have to keep the people in the room for the draw so it's an instant win. If someone came to 5 basketball games, they would probably buy a 50/50 ticket every game. Easiest way to make money, just get the grads out selling the tickets. Double tickets, one for the pot, one for the purchaser.

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  14. We did a auction with the prize being someones services. Like our local hair dresser did a years worth of hair cuts and her services went for 325 bucks!! Of course that was way more than a years hair cuts, but it was a worthy cause. Child care center did two months of daycare, a grocer did 2 gallons of milk each week for a year. We got really creative and people loved seeing what was up next. All in all they raised over 6500 in one night. Hope any of our ideas help.

    Hugs,
    Vicki
    sunraesban@yahoo.com

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  15. How about a t-shirt quilt from the shirts that represent the school activities for the year? Or, if you don't have the shirts, auction off making a quilt with the shirts that the kids have collected over the four years.

    Try a book sale - parents donate books (cleans out the home) and then invite the general public for the sale. Keep it simple with $1 for hardbacks and $.50 for paperbacks. Our library system does it every year and a local school has one every 2 years.

    A longer term project could be a self published cookbook - there are companies that have a basic format and you just supply the recipes.

    Some local burger or pizza places have special nights where they donate a certain % of the night's profits back to the school, if you mention the name of the school.

    Liz

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  16. I used to be over the football booster club, we had a "Reverse Raffle". We sold a 200 tickets for a hundred dollars each, included in that you had a chance to win $5,000 or 5 chances of $200. It also included a meal for two at the raffle. After the meals were paid for you could make around $11,000. If you want more info on the raffle let me know.

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  17. We did a pancake breakfast,
    raffled quilts
    had craft fair
    hummmmm still thinking

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  18. I like fund raisers that don't require kids to go out and sell things. The things we did, was recycle ink cartridges - they pay you for each one. Also several grocery stores will let you buy gift cards, that the people refill on their own, and the school gets a percentage of the proceeds. That one was easy, because people need groceries anyway. Another school does a silent auction - they make it really fancy with drinks and food, adults only, so you have to pay $$ to get in as well.

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  19. We had one of those parties way back in the day when I was in HS. It was also called Project Graduation!

    If they're not doing it already for another fundraiser, one of the things they did was a senior's last will and testament. It was a list of things that seniors "willed" to students in the lower classes when they graduated. For example, "I will my calculus book to Joe Schmoe - I know he'll just as much fun with it as I did." It was $1 per line in the will, and as long as the material wasn't objectionable you could will whatever you wanted. It was kind of a last laugh for the seniors and also a really good (and easy!) fundraiser.

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  20. I checked with my neighbor on what the kids did at the local highschool - they had a combined 3 high schools event at a local amusement park. So, the kids bought the tickets but the parents signed up to make the food. She also mentioned that the boys bought the tickets/dinner for the prom and the girls bought the tickets for the amusement park.

    Liz

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  21. Another thought is a golf tournament. If you work with your local golf course they would proably be more than happy to help you out. Around her they have a dinner afterwards with silent auction items and some live bid things...they do very well when it comes to fund raising, and I am sure you have a bunch of moms and dads that are golfers. Local businesses would probably be happy to donate auction items too.

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  22. I always thought the Pink Flamingo fundraisers were fun.

    http://www.fundraising-ideas.org/DIY/flamingo.htm

    That website has other ideas for fundraising that you might find useful.

    Good luck!

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