Top 7 fundraising ideas

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Have you been given the job of organising a fundraising event and are stuck for ideas? Here’s seven great and simple ideas that you can organise:-

Cookie Dough fundraisers

This is an ideal fundraiser for all times of the year. Just take orders and sell tubs of delicious cookie dough to your group. Profit margins 30-50%.

Fundraising Cookbooks

Often described as a recipe for fundraising success (groan!) – creating a personalized cookbook is ideal for groups such as churches, schools, charities and hospitals. New publishing techniques make it easy to profit from selling just a few or even hundreds of cookbooks. Profit per book from $3-$10.

Pizza Fundraiser cards

People will be happy to pay for these cards which entitle them to free pizzas. If your group is spread out geographically, this may be ideal. Ideal for small groups due to small minimum order requirements. Profit margins 70-90%.

Scratch card fundraising

Easy to order and can be printed to link to your group e.g. basketball, baseball, high school, etc. Each person in your group begins fundraising with 1 scratch card. They simply approach friends, family, and neighbors and ask them to scratch too! Profit ranges from 90% upwards.

Fundraiser candles

Everyone loves candles and especially scented candles! Simply take orders from friends and families – these items are especially good for Christmas fundraising. Profit margin 50%

Candy fundraising

Ideal for easter or summer fundraising events – sales of candy can be profitable. You can sell the chocolate at school, pep rallies, sports events, businesses or just person to person. Profit margin 50-60%.

Fundraising brochures

Brochure fundraising allows you to raise money by offering products from color brochures to family, friends, neighbors and business associates. Ideal for Christmas fundraising. Profit margins 40-55%.

These fundraiser ideas are great, for:-

  • high school fundraising
  • college fundraising
  • cheerleading fund raising
  • fundraising for youth groups
  • sports group fundraising

Set yourself a target, establish a plan of action, involve parents, teachers and students and go for it!

This article was submitted by Jennifer Carter, author of School Fundraising ideas

Fast and Free Fundraisers

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When your youth group church, or charity organization needs to raise money quickly, you need a fast free fundraiser that you can rely on to generate the necessary revenue. The amount you make on these free easy fundraisers will depend on how much time you have to prepare and how well you execute your plan.

Here are three time-tested projects to raise some fast cash:

1 – Car Wash
2 – Yard Cleanup
3 – Community Cleanup

Car Wash Fundraiser

Car washes have proven to be great fundraisers in virtually every community. All you need are willing volunteers, a high-traffic location with good visibility, and some attention getting signs. You can put your car wash fundraiser together on short notice.

 

Here’s what you need to do:

1 – Line up a location with good main road frontage
2 – Ensure it has water access
3 – Assemble supplies list – hoses, buckets, wash towels, dry towels, squeegees
4 – Assign each volunteer an item from the supplies list
5 – Make 8-10 poster board signs in high-contrast colors
6 – Arrange your volunteers in 2-hour shifts
7 – Wash cars for six hours (Saturday preferred)
8 – Have dual lines so you can wash two at once

Your car wash fundraiser’s success will of course depend on the weather. If you can wash 12 cars an hour (one every 10 minutes in each line), you can easily raise more than $500 in one day.

Remember to put together a quick flyer that includes the reason why you’re raising funds and clearly states the price. You can even offer some extra services such as Armor-All tire treatment or interior vacuuming for an additional fee.

Alternatively, you can advertise a free car wash and just ask for donations for your cause. Often, this can raise more cash than stating a specific price, because people will see a group of volunteers working hard and having a good time, and may pay more than you would hav asked.

Keeping safety in mind, be sure to get volunteers to hold and wave signs toward passing traffic, not just volunteers to wash cars. If you have time, advertise your car wash event in the local newspaper, and post signs a day or two in advance.

Yard Cleanup
A yard cleanup fundraiser is extremely fast and easy to put together. Simply create a set of instructions for your group detailing what to offer, what to say, and how much to charge.

Like most fundraisers, the target market is family, friends, and neighbors. Depending on the age of your participants, your offerings can range from simple lawn care all the way up to mulching flower beds or pruning tree limbs. In many climates, autumn is a great time to do this fundraiser, because leaf clearing is always a needed service during those months.

Create a flyer describing your fundraiser and clearly list your prices for the various cleanup options. Assign a fundraising quota to each participant.

Offer some individual and group performance bonuses. There’s nothing like a team pizza party or movie passes to motivate a youth sports group.

Community Cleanup
A community cleanup, also known as a trash bag fundraiser, performs a valuable community service while also providing a significant revenue opportunity. Organizing a community cleanup project is a way to raise funds and send a positive message about your group at the same time.

This type of one day or weekend fundraising event is very similar to the Athlet-A-Thon or Fun-A-Thon concept. Here your group’s participants solicit pledges from the usual suspects – family, friends, and neighbors. Have local businesses donate trash bags and recruit parents and relatives with trucks to haul what you collect.

Pledges are tied to a specific attainment goal such as the number of pounds of trash collected or the number of road miles cleaned of debris. You’ll need to create a one-page overview of your cleanup program and a pledge signup sheet.

It works best if your overview specifies a suggested range for donations, say anywhere from a penny to a dime a pound for a large project. An amazing amount of garbage can be collected from a local stream or illegal dumping area, so it’s not a bad idea to also put a maximum limit on pledge amounts of $20.

Have local businesses donate trash bags. Recruit parents and relatives with trucks to haul what you collect.

Do the math. You’ll be surprised at how much money you can generate. Assuming 50 participants, each of whom has five pledges of a penny a pound, if you collect a ton of garbage, your group will raise $100 per participant or $5,000.

That’s not bad money for a free fundraiser! You’d be surprised at how easy it is to collect a ton of garbage.

Each of these fundraisers is fast, easy to put together, and a reliable revenue generator for your group. As with any youth group event, an adult should be in attendance at all times for safety purposes. Get started on your free easy fundraisers today!