Fund Raising Ideas

[Protronie]

Krispy Kreme donuts have fund raising packages they offer to groups.
Theres a local car wash franchise (Auto Bell ) the offers groups help with fund raising , the groups sell preprinted coupons for a car wash and they get a percentage of the money for themselfs.
Food Lion supermarkets also help groups with fund raising with hot dog sales in front of their stores.
Something to check into also... here in Greensboro,NC ... non-profit groups man the concessions at the Greensboro Coliseum Complex . The groups keep the profits from the food and drink sales. Perhaps the coliseum in your area has such a deal too.

Good luck at the fund raising
Remember sell the sizzle not the steak.

[Dantvman27]

We, Team 241 (out of NH), Do a classic Car show, brought in huge amounts of money. we contacted all the local car clubs and asked them to bring cars and had the public vote for their favorite cars. we charged a small fee to have your car in the show, and then charged admission and had a huge consession stand. A DJ is also something good to have at one of these, as is your robot. we got press coverage and tons of other stuff



here is our basic outline from our website on how to plan a car show

Planning a Car Show

Booking a Day
· Early fall is the best time to host a car show
o Be sure to start working on it before summer vacation
· Run the show from mid morning to early afternoon (10-2)
· Find a suitable parking lot that can support all your cars
o If your school has one we recommend using that
· Choose a day when the lot is available months in advance
o If you are using your school’s lot be sure there aren’t any home sports events to compete with
o Choose the day months in advance for advertising purposes
· Be sure to have a RAIN DATE!

Getting Cars and Spectators
· Contact area car clubs and invite them
o Go to “cruising nights” and advertise the event
· Find local websites for car shows and clubs to advertise on
o Advertise months in advance
· Put up flyers in local businesses
o Especially car dealerships and auto shops
· Contact local papers to advertise the event
o Also invite papers to send a reporter to the show
· Invite car local car dealerships to bring cars
· Advertise months in advance

Entertainment
· Ask to borrow your school’s sound system and hook it up outside
o Be able to play music and use a microphone
· Play music during the event
o Make a play list of car and cruising songs
o Be sure the music is appropriate and tolerable my all age groups
· A DJ is not required
o If you can find one who will donate his time do it
o If not just choose one of your team members to MC
· Have your robot there and driving around
o Entertainment as well as a demonstration of your team

Food
· Keep it simple
o One choice for a meal (we recommend hot dogs)
o Have chips and drinks
· Try to find a grocery store who will donate some food and drinks for you or give you a discount

Prizes
· Give a complementary just for entering a car
o We used ribbons with the name of the event
§ Order in bulk and don’t put the year on them so they can be reused
· Keep it simple: first, second, and third place
· Get prizes focused around car care: oil, detailing kits, oil changes, etc
o Try to see if local car shops will donate prizes
· We recommend awarding prized by popular vote
· Each car owner or spectator gets one voting ticket with entry
· Assign each car a number upon arrival to use for voting
o Keep a record of the year, make, and model of cars and their numbers

Running the Event
· Get there early to set up food tables and equipment
· Charge a fee for cars to enter and for spectators
o $10 for cars and $2-$5 for spectators recommended
o Post people at every entrance to charge entry fees
· Keep a record of all cars entered and a way to contact the owner for next year
· Have students parking cars in the lot
o Park cars in order of their number
· Be sure to have cans for garbage
· Have plenty of extension cords
· Set up a table where people can vote, check in, and look at information about your team
o Have your robot near by
· HAVE FUN!

[RoboMom]

I just stopped by my local volunteer fire dept and bought 2 dozen roses for Valentine's Day. I live in a rural area and we depend on the fire dept.

In talking with the all the volunteers, this is the first year they have tried this fundraiser and they are very happy. The flower company provided all the signs (they are everywhere) and the fire dept. can return any roses not sold. It is pure profit for them.

Teams might want to think about this for next year!

[Carol]

MOE 365 last year had a 5K run in which we raised about $2000 from sponsorships and pledges. We had a local company that organizes these types of runs in order to make it an "official" event that serious runners can use to record their times - I'm not a runner so don't ask me for details on that. It cost more but we got more runners than we would without it. But you can make an unofficial event as well. Money is raised by sponsors and by pledges. We were able to get sponsors that wouldn't ordinarily be interested in sponsoring a robot team but who routinely sponsor 5Ks and marathons, like a chiropractor. Individual team members also went out and got pledges per miles ran (or walked in many instances). The amount you can raise that way is unlimited.

We also advertised to local FLL and FVC teams, several of which used it as their own fundraiser via pledges.

Our 5K this year is scheduled for April 7th. Details are on our web page - http://www.moe365.org/

P.S. I didn't run it last year - I took pictures of the runners instead!

[kireitenshi00]

our team made over $400 just doing cookiegrams. get the team to create an order form of their specialties, and the school can order cookies with messages to send to friends or whoever they wish within the school.

[FunkyRatDemon]

We host a FIRST Lego League, clean-up after basketball games, and put the Mascot (me) on street corners with a sign saying "Need money for bolts"

[752PRMami]

Our team was thinking of hosting a game night. that's when people pay to play games, like chess, checkers, or even video games, which is really popular in my school. I think that when thinking of ways to fundraise, people have to think of ideas that are popular amongst their community and/or school.

[TriggerHappySK]

Gogogog Carwash, we raised uhm

$300 +
pretty sweeet...