FEB
19th
40 Fundraising Ideas
12:22 am, by Marvin
- Sell TNT purple bracelets. Buy a bag of 80 for $32.00 and sell them for whatever price you deem reasonable. Whatever profit you make can go to your fundraising.
- Place a bucket with a TNT sign on it at your local laundromat, pizza joint, lunchroom at work, etc. Stop by and pick up the $ weekly.
- A list of people you may have forgotten to hit up for $25 each: your dentist, dry cleaner, hairdresser, pharmacist, doctor, real estate agent, accountant, veterinarian, attorney, sorority/fraternity/band alumni, mechanic, financial advisor, all the other soccer moms on your kid’s team, insurance agent, lawn service company, your shrink, professors, home owners association members, the employees of other companies in your office building (put up a sign in their lunchroom!), people in your aerobics class, etc.
- Ask Diddy Riese Cookies (or your local cookie place) to donate a box of cookies to you. Bring the cookies around your office or school and sell them for a $1 each or any suggested donation.
- Restaurant programs: (we know Applebee’s, Coldstone Creamery, Islands and BJ’s Pizzeria have programs too…but they don’t have it on their websites).
- They will give you 10-25% of the night’s profits if you help publicize.
- Ruby’s diner: www.rubysdiner.com/diners/fun_raiser.html
- Baja Fresh: www.bajafresh.com go to “Live Fresh" and click on "fundraising."
- Souplantation: http://www.souplantation.com/Community/
- Paramount TV show tapings: Take 35 people to a TV show taping.. Paramount will write you a check for $500
- This is a great idea if you belong to a church group, sports team, or some other group that you can convince people to come help you out as a group event. Tip: invite over 60 people. Make sure at LEAST 40 say yes. Count on the fact that at least 5 will be no-shows.
- Sell LA Kings tickets- half of the ticket price goes towards your fundraising! Ask your Mentor for more information and info sheets.
- Friends with your local bartender? Ask him/her to put a sign up one night that says that all tips get donated to the LLS. Or talk to a local bar about being a “guest bartender” for a night for a cut of the profits or cover charge (as long as you help promote the night!)
- Collect old "stuff " from friends and family. Auction "stuff" on Ebay, or hold a garage sale (make sure to pick up Krispy Kremes and make coffee to sell for the morning too). Have TNT signs displayed…make sure donors know the proceeds are going to the LLS (prevents haggling).
- Follow up on your letter: call or send a postcard to the people who haven’t donated yet. Or, send a postcard to everyone who got the letter with a note on how your training is going and a reminder that "it’s not too late to donate!" Your personal page has a “send a postcard” feature that will remind your donors it is not too late to donate.
- Throw a basic “party” (“come on over! Pay me $10 at the door!”)
- Create an incentive for your donors: Tell everyone that for every $50 they donate, they get a chance to win something (a gift certificate to a restaurant, a TNT hat, your sweaty singlet after the race). Or, for donation amounts, you will put their name on your singlet (or on your leg!). $100 for name on your singlet, $250 for name on your arm, $1000 for name on your forehead! (or they can put their own “honorees” name on you)
- Wine/Cheese/Dessert party: solicit donations from the local deli, liquor store or dessert shops. Charge $10/head (at least) and then sell raffle tickets for the extra bottles of wine/ cake/ cheese log. Costco and Trader Joe’s are known to donate food.
- Raffle and silent auction hints: Get the prizes donated (see attached sample letter to ask stores for prizes, and list of possible prize ideas). Have at least 5 items in the raffle. Charge $5-$10 for tickets.
- Go to your local mall and ask them what they do with the coins in the fountain. Chances are, you can have it!
- A simple summer BBQ or potluck with raffle prizes or just a cover charge can make big bucks with little planning.
- Have a local newspaper? How about a work/ apartment complex/ housing association newsletter? Contact the writer/editor and ask them to put your story in. It can be as simple as one line: "one of our residents is doing a triathlon for the LLS, here’s how you can donate" to a full story on you and your event. If your complex doesn’t have a newsletter, consider posting a note near your mailboxes explaining to you neighbors what you are doing and how they can give.
- Go to your high school alma mater and ask them (or just the athletic department) to do a "spare change" drive for you, placing buckets at the team’s sporting events or concession stand. Collect the change and start rolling!
- Treadmill marathon or spin class: ask you local health club if you can set up a treadmill in the lobby. Grab a friend and take turns running for as long as you can with a bucket in front for people to throw change (and bills!)
- Contact your local high school’s Student Council or other "do-good" club and ask them if they would fundraise for you (holding their own event to profit your cause). Many high schoolers just need "a cause" and they are more than happy to throw a car wash or whatever (looks good on college apps!)
- Contact your local sorority/fraternity chapter and tell them you are an alum (I’m assuming you’ll have to prove it with some sort of secret handshake, but it could be worth it) Ask them if they would do one of their "charity events" for your cause. Or just ask them for help doing volunteer work for your own event (have them bake cookies to sell outside Wal-Mart)
- It turns out local Bingo games are required to give some of their profits to charity. Why not yours? Make sure to help promote the night you get the $.
- Work for a large company? Send around a big manila envelope with your letter taped to the one side and a donor form on the other. Send the envelope in rotation and have people place the checks right in the envelope. OR, place a display in the lunch room (a little sign with your picture and a note about what you are doing) next to a bucket for donations or a pile of donor slips.
- Afternoon at the races: Same idea as the baseball game, but go to a horse track. http://www.hollywoodpark.com/visit/reduced_admission.html
- Make something TNT related (jewelry/hats/t-shirts). Sell it at upcoming TNT events (ask me for a list of upcoming events)
- Birthday coming up? Ask for donations instead of gifts.
- Go door to door in your neighborhood (better yet.. go door to door in someone else’s neighborhood.. it’s less embarrassing). No need to knock, just place a flyer with all your info on their door.
- Host a tournament (tennis/ bowling/ basketball 3 on 3): For bowling, you pay a flat fee for the night, you provide lanes and snacks. Charge per person or team, and set the round robin going. Give prizes for the winner or worst bowler.
- Too Basic: Wear a TNT shirt. Hold a TNT sign. Stand on a street corner with a bucket. Get $. (works well at sporting events. Not so well in Hollywood) Give people a lollipop (buy a box at Costco) for their donation.
- Ask your boss if you can put in some overtime. Make a mental note that the money earned for those hours goes toward your goal.
- Host a “Mutt Strutt” in your neighborhood. For $30, people bring their dog and go on an organized “walk” together. Host pet contest and offer prizes.
- Sell See’s Candy. Buy a box from the office for $18/ 24 bars (comes to 75 cents each). Sell the bars for $2/each, put the $30 PROFIT to your goal. Where to sell them? Teachers lounge, office reception desk, at the park on a Saturday, factory workers lunch area.
- Grab a few of your outgoing single friends, host a bachelor/bachelorette auction at a local bar. Winner gets a date with the stud/studette (add a silent auction for the evening).
- Start a monthly newsletter on your progress. Recognize your supporters in it and include a donor form. Ask your friends to pass it around.
- Ask your boss if you can host a “Dress Down Friday” Employees buy a button for $5 and get to “dress down” on an assigned day.
- Hold a car wash or a dog wash. Get some kids to help (with the promise of pizza!) Place TNT signs all over.
- Speak Spanish? Know how to fix computers? Can you teach tennis? Offer your services for a donation to the LLS (tutoring, coaching, cleaning, accounting, whatever!)
- Include the fact that you are training for an event for the Society on your answering machine and cell phone voice mail. Let people know if they are interested in donating, they should leave a message letting you know.
- Include a link to your website at the bottom of every email you send out. Most email programs have a “signature” feature that will allow you to automatically include the link. Ask friends and family to include do the same.
- Stuff to sell (a few reputable ideas…with good profit margins)
- Pampered Chef (www.pamperedchef.com)
- www.thepizzapail.com (Looks REALLY easy, and profits are 40% of sales!)
- www.classiccookie.com/html/fund.htm (YUM.. profit is $5/tub)
- www.fundraising.com (want to sell candles? t-shirts? candy? chances are you’ll find it here)
- Make 10 copies of this list: Send the copies to friends and family and ask them to choose one thing on the list to help you fundraise.
Krissy Kobata
Laura Maloney
Nick Gardner
Stevie Ramos
