Successful fundraising ideas?

[danimarie0820]

I want to raise money for our center to buy new materials that really need replenished. I researched box tops a little. Has anyone done box tops before? If so, was it a good experience? Any other fundraising ideas are welcome. We have sold candles, chocolate, and tastefully simple.

[mom2bobsarah]

I used to sell both Tupperware and Taste of Gourmet (like Tastefully Simple, just a little different). They both do fundraisers and are pleasantly different from the gift wrap/overpriced chocolate that most do around here. If you go to either website you can get info and have a local rep contact you. Although you really do not even interact with a rep, they can just send you the paperwork and you can call them with any questions you might have.

[Momto2Boyz]

What kind of center is it? Does it involve kids? My son's preschool did a trike-a-thon last year that was really cute. They asked the kids to go out and get pledges (either per lap or bulk pledge), then they blocked off their parking lot and had a bike a thon (many were on trikes, bikes, etc.). They made a big deal out of it, had an awards ceremony at the end and gave out certificates to each kid for something. They did it on a Saturday morning and it became an "event" for families and grandparents to come and watch. It was a lot of fun, and they made about $1500, with only 20 kids, I was amazed at how much they made.

Bake sales are also still really great ways to make money. Our local bank, has a bake sale every Saturday morning. Each Saturday they give table space in their lobby to a charity to sell baked goods. It makes the bank look "caring" and give the charity access to people who you know have cash on hand! Even if none of the banks do this, you could always ask them, who knows maybe you'll start a tradition!

I've always found that selling commercial goods (like wrapping paper, chocolates, and even tastefully simple stuff) is more of a hassle than it's worth. Most people see you coming with your sheet and run the other way. So whenever I am involved in fundraising committees, I usually try to stear people away from that kind of stuff.

Edited to add: Around here, many fast food places (Wendy's is the biggest one) does fundraising nights. They set aside a night and you advertise to your group, and you get a percentage of the profits they make from the people who bring in the coupons. I know Schunks grocery stores do the same thing. You register your group, then when people from your group use their Schucks card, you get a percentage of their grocery purchases. Thos are a few things that are painless and would bring in some extra cash!

[ilovechocolate]

My school (I'm a teacher) does the box tops with a big competition each month to see which class brought in the most. We make hundreds of dollars each year.

We have also had a schoolwide rummage sale.

The 5th graders sell Coca-Cola products a couple of times a year as a fundraiser, and it does very well. After all, most people are going to buy the products anyway.

A lot of churches do barbeques. Our local Lions Club and a Boy Scout troop do a pancake breakfast a couple of times a year. And of course there's the ever-popular spaghetti supper.

[lotsadebt]

I am on the parent board of our school. We do the box tops and make over $2,000 a year. The most sucess we had was with the class competitions. The winning classrooms won a pizza lunch other classes have won stuff like ice cream treats, or doughnuts.

We also made over $5,000 selling gift cards this year. There are distributors that you but the cards from at a discount usually 5%. Your groups sells the cards for major retailers, restuarants, gas companies, grocery stores at face value and you keep the difference. If you get your supporters buying the cards from your organization first for regular shopping then you can turn out profits. I run this fundraiser myself. There is a significant time involvment and capitol to fund to begin.

[MaryCarney]

I would have to say the bake sale is always a great idea. I used to have a bake stand at the Farmers' Market, and could have sold (don't ask me why) 50 pineapple upside down cakes every week.
Depending on the ages of the kids, a car wash (esp. in this weather) is fun and can raise a good amount of cash, too.

[frugalfranny]

Probably not much help not knowing your area but check out what CAN'T be done.

Around here they won't even let the schools have a 'bake sale' anymore (liability, I guess)....which SUCKS. They have to buy the stuff then repackage it......UGH!! So you try to help out the school by buying grocery bakery goods.......and we all know what those taste like.

Would a garage sale be possible? Those are always very successful, especially now. Put an ad on CL stating that you are taking donations to make it bigger. Have the other people bring in stuff for the benefit of the center.

[danimarie0820]

Thank you for all of the great ideas. It is a daycare center in southwest Ohio that I would like to raise money for. We do a trike-a-thon every June and we donate all of the money to St. Jude. I am going to take all of the ideas to the parent meeting and have a vote.

[Thevail]

The trike-a-thon sounds so cute.. I would totally pledge for that!

We did a bake sale for the local pre-school with a bit of a difference that did really well. We did the bake sale on Friday and got "orders" from business people, as well as the traditional smaller sales to individuals.

It allowed business owners, managers, or just employees to order 2 dozen cookies or brownies to be delivered to their place of business on Monday morning. We were afraid that it would be a huge hassle (and of course it usually is) but it wasn't so bad, because we already knew what we had to make and where it had to go, and when, so there was no guesswork and no waste. We made several hundred dollars. $5/dozen for cookies, $6/dozen for brownies.

[strezzed]

All of these sound like such great ideas. Our best fundraisers were always bake sales.

[sunshine]

We do a basket auction every fall -- each class collects items for "their" basket around a specific theme, then the baskets are auctioned off at open house.

Some theme ideas we've done -- Winter Holiday (snowmen, hot cocoa, etc.), School spirit (school colors, etc.) Fun in the Sun (sunscreen, sand toys, etc.) Music Mayham (CD's, small instruments like a harmonica, tickets to a concert, etc)


Slave day -- people offer to do odd jobs for a donation to the organization. Cleaning gutters was always a favored task to get lots of $$, and washing holiday dishes would garner a bit of money if the day is held near a major holiday - people want their dishes ready for guests.

[craftypam]

I'm not sure this is fesible; but when my kids were young in elementary school they went to a place that rented carnival games; small ones. They brought them to the school and we also bought small prizes. We served pizza and pop (charging for it). It was such a success we used all of the dough the pizza parlor had and had to keep ordering more pizza. This may be too large of a scale for a daycare; but it was very successful. Families love carnivals.

[missyali]

Albitibi Paper retreiver boxes are great. Talk about no effort. You call and they bring you the recycling bin. A check gets sent to you quarterly (?) It's not a lot of money, but for 2 parking spaces...

Also, my dd's daycare did an art auction. The hung the kids artwork (on piece, maybe, per child) in one room of the center. Then they did a silent auction. The teachers had fun with the parents they knew would get into the spirit and kept upping the bid. Yes, I admit, about 5 years ago I paid $10 for a finger painting my daughter did when she was around 1, but it was for a good cause (now I'd pay her to limit her art to one project per day!)

Good luck!

[mombottoo]

Silent Auctions and raffles always seem to work well around here. We earn close to $8000 in a one shot deal every year for our local chapter of the BIA.

[AmyBoz]

My sister-in-law works for a jeweler that buys gold and platinum. People have cash for gold parties, and they bring their gold and he pays them for the gold and the hostess also gets money for however much is sold...10%, actually. I had a party here at the house and made a few hundred dollars. We did it as a fundraiser for our 8th grade trip and raised close to $2000 for the trip. You might want to check around and see if any local jewelers are doing this.