Quote:
Originally Posted by Kevin Leonard
Byfar the best fundraising tool teams have is the ability to get corporate sponsorships. Contact local companies and ask if you can present for them or do a demonstration and show them what you do. Any money, materials, tools they can offer is much appreciated, and if they feel their money is being put to good use, they may increase their sponsorship over time.
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For what it is worth, this has never once worked for us. The "ask if you can present" part is always where it falls flat. Now a company that you already have an "in" with might be a different situation. I hear people suggest this a lot, so I'm sure it must work, but I think there is something hidden in the execution of it that isn't often mentioned.
As far as specific fundraisers we usual run two fundraisers (in the traditional sense) a year. We sell
Otis Spunkmeyer cookies using the "give your students order forms and have them hawk the products" method that many schools and clubs do. The company sends you everything you need for the fundraiser (order forms, flyers, information, etc.) and you just collect money and then distribute the cookies. We raised around $1,300 over 4 weeks. The real benefit of this is that the work is distributed among students and doesn't require a huge investment by mentors or a small group or organizing students.
We also did a fundraiser through
Innisbrook. That one raised more money but required a bit more work on our behalf. Same setup as the Spunkmeyer one however.