fundraising

[Pamela]

This is a multi-part question.....

Does your team fundraise, if yes what is their fundraising goals and how do they raise the money?

My new sponsor has set forth a challenge for my team (166) and team 151 whom they also sponsor to each raise $20,000 and I am looking for some new and fresh fundraising ideas to keep our money raising motors running!!

PS. if you're on Nashua, don't read this cause we want to beat you! hehehe, that means you Chris!

[Wayne Doenges]

Besides corporate sponsorship we will be doing some fundraising.
One thing we are going to do is have a pancake breakfast. If we can get all the ingredients donated we will make some good money. We will most likely use the school cafeteria for the cooking and the cafeteria for the eating
Another thing we will be trying is BINGO. In Indiana it is illegal to run Bingo for profit, But it is legal to donate the proceeds (less payments to employees and upkeep) to charity. We are trying to get with a Bingo hall and maybe get one night a weeks profits.
Hope this helps. If it does, I would like a small consulting fee (The money will got to my team)

[Carolyn Duncan]

After today's events I think fundraising will be difficult. With the elimination of the WTC, the economy may be in a tight downward sprial. Hopefully not too many teams will be affected.

[Ira Goldberg]

Fundraising, especially for teams with financially challenged sponsors, can be a very daunting task. Every weekend, our calendar is filled with car washes, can drives, pizza kit sales, etc.....

Last year, one of our students wrote a matchmaker program, which led to "the Cupid Matchmaker Fundraiser." During Valntines week we had all of the students in the building fill out a 20 question questioneer. On Valentines day, students could then purchase their matchmaker portfolio for a nominal fee. It was a complete hit, and this year we plan on doing the fundraiser twice: once during the week of Sweetest day, and once during Valentines week. Last year, we raised close to $700. Doing it twice (the questions need to be changed), brings the potential of $1,200, or more. As an additional fundraiser, we are making this program, directions, and all of the supporting materials available for $75. Our building is relatively small, so your profit potential may be even higher!

Drop me a line at igoldberg@berkley.k12.mi.us if interested. Good luck!

[Pamela]

I know this type of fundraiser to be a hit, sadly it is run by National Honor Society at my high school. i don't want to steal their profit! Anyone else with ideas? Any and all will be greatly appreciated!

[skrussel]

Wow, $20,000 is a lot to fund raise on weekends and after school. I have done fund raising for years, and the most my kids ever raised (with a concerted effort....and all year long!) was about $4000. That's over the course of a whole year.

Why don't you go to individual businesses in your area, and ask for donations with the stipulation that you add their business logo to your T-shirts, to your robot, and to your shipping crate. And so on. I don't see that your main sponsor could complain about this, since it is exremely difficult for a group of kids do come up with such a whopping sum with bake sales, car washes, and such.

One other idea that some teams use, and which is very successful is to sponsor a raffle. You need a state license, and you could sell a limited number of tickets, say a couple thousand, for $5 each. Each of these tickets entitles the buyer a shot at 3 or 4 different prizes. Good prizes are things like a good laptop, a digital camera, and palm pilot, and other electronic items. You could spend approximately $1200 - $1500 purchasing the raffled items, and could easily sell up to $15000 worth of tickets. Even if you didn't make the amount you planned, you could then convert the raffle to a 50/50, with half the money going to the raffle winner.

You need all the kids on the team and their parents and relative helping with this, but it could be well worth it.
Good luck.

[Brian Savitt]

Every year my team does various fundraisers and our team has about 40 or so students on it. Each students is REQUIRED to raise $450 each year or they will not be allowed to go to Florida with us. so 40x450=$18000. Even some students like my self cap the 1000 mark because I know for a fact that our team needs money.

We all decide on prices for various levels of sponsorships. For instance I think last year we set the bar at $75 for a small name on a shirt and the prices go up to around $500 dollar for various spots on our robot and the cart and in our pit.

We also do side fundraisers like a car was in October. Bake Sales at our school wrestling matches (our school has an exceptionally good wrestling team, which inturn brings in more money). Also, 2 years ago we did lolligrams for Valentines day and that also was a hit.
The last idea, our French Club does a Carnation sale during Valentines day. They get the Carnations donate or for a fraction of the regular cost and they just write out a little card that says your name, who its too, and a little message along with a carnation for $1.
I have some more suggestions you can email me for some or Instant Message me
Brians421@aol.com
and for AIM Brians421

[EddieMcD]

We do a dance and spagheti supper every year. We do car washes indoors when the snow is on the ground, and the dirt from thse big dump trucks is common on cars. We do a few things, pending the condition of things. In '00, we raised roughly $30,000 because our sponser (NUWC) can't gve us money (that also comes from donations from companies and people).

We call our dance (usually the first weekend back to school in Jan.) "The FIRST Dance of the Year". Clever, huh?