Five Great Ways to Raise Money for Relay for Life

If you live in a neighborhood in America I am positive that, at some point in your life, someone soliciting donations has approached you. Chances are you have been approached by various organizations more than once-whether they were asking you to buy Boy Scout cookies, magazines, or simply requesting a donation. With all of the people out there trying to raise money for their cause, raising money for Relay for Life can be difficult. So how can you raise money for the American Cancer Society? Here are a few techniques that are tried and true.

2. Garage Sales.

Believe it or not, with a little effort a garage sale can become a major fundraiser. To increase your profits, try turning the garage sale into a team fundraiser. Have each team member search their house for items that they no longer need and have them talk to friends and family as well. The more, the better.

Ask each member to see if they have any tables they could lend for the garage sale. Customers are a key component to any garage sale. Design flyers that clearly state the date, time, location, and purpose of your garage sale and make certain it is clear that the proceeds will be donated to American Cancer Society via your participation in Relay for Life. Be careful to follow the American Cancer Society’s requirements for printed flyers.

Once the flyers are ready, go around to local businesses and ask for their permission to hang the flyers in their store.

You will also need large, noticeable signs for intersections. Once again, make sure it is easy to read from the street and clearly states that the proceeds from the garage sale will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

Lastly, design a large poster for your front yard using the Relay colors. The large poster will guarantee that all who travel your street are aware of the garage sale’s purpose.

2. Kiss a Pig.

The Kiss a Pig contest works well in almost any environment, whether it is a school or the work place. You will need to find volunteers who are willing to kiss a pig for cause. In addition, you will need jars or cans to hold the donations.

Before the contest can begin, you should take a picture of each contestant and place his or her picture on a can. Then, place the can on the participant’s desk. The idea is for fellow students or co-workers to drop their change into the can of the person they want to kiss a pig. At the end of the contest, the participant with the most money in their can must, literally, kiss a pig. Where, how, and when they kiss a pig is up to you. Some choose to add extra conditions to the contest, such as allowing the winner to pass the pig kissing to the person in second place by matching the amount in his or her own jar. Feel free to tweak the details as you see fit.

2. Suns and Moons.

I’m sure you’ve seen the paper cutouts on the walls of your local stores. If you’ve seen them before you probably took note that there were quite a few of them posted. Suns and moons are a fantastic way to raise money for Relay For Life. The Suns and moons represent the twenty-four hour cancer patient’s fight against cancer day and night because cancer never sleeps.

It does not matter whether you buy pre-cut suns and moons at the store or make them yourselves. Whichever way you choose, make sure you have an abundance of them.

You can sell the stars for a set amount ($1, $5, etc) or offer them for a donation of any amount.

Next, you’ll need to find a local store willing to host your fundraiser. Try stopping by the ones who receive the most customers first.

To get the fundraiser started, you might wish to purchase one yourself. Additionally, a great way to give your fundraiser a boost is by word of mouth. Ask your friends and family to visit the store and purchase a sun or moon. If there are a few of them already on the wall, the chances of a random customer seeing them and then deciding to purchase one are increased.

2. Community ‘Split the pot’ Drawing’.

Split the pot contests are an easy and fun way to raise money. Both you and the winner come out ahead.

When fundraising for Relay For Life, it is important to remember that actual raffles, as well as the use of the word ‘raffle’, are prohibited.

To get around this rule, you need to provide a question for the contestant to answer or a problem for them to solve.

For example, you could have a riddle. Anyone interested can purchase a ticket and write the answer on the ticket. At the end of the contest a winner will be drawn and if their answer is correct, they will receive half of the pot. Of course you get to keep the other half.

This contest works well in almost every environment. The best places are areas that receive a fair amount of traffic.

As to the price of the tickets, how high or low you set the ticket price is entirely up to you.

1. Talent Shows.

Everyone loves entertainment. If you do not mind tackling a larger project, holding a talent show can prove to be an incredibly triumphant fundraiser.

First, check with local areas that would be suitable for holding a talent show and see if they would be willing to donate their space. Local community centers and high school auditoriums are fantastic places to start.

To have a successful talent show you will need talent worth watching. You need to decide whether the show is going to be focused on comedy acts, more formal and serious acts, or a combination of both. If you know a fair amount of people who would make great performers, you might not need to recruit elsewhere. If not, try hanging posters around town advertising that you need volunteers.

After you have your talent in place, you must start promoting. Tell everyone you see, hang flyers, and tell your city newspaper. Exploit all of your connections.

When deciding on the price of admission, make sure to take the quality of the talent, the time of day, and the general prosperity of the area into consideration.

Depending on the length of the show, you might wish to have an intermission. During the intermission you could sell or provide snacks and refreshments.

The success of your talent show will depend, primarily, on the amount of promoting you do and work you put into it.

When it comes to fundraising, sometimes going door-to-door and sending letters will not produce the type of results you were hoping for. This proves to be most true in the spring and summer because the local schools have spent the majority of the school year asking the community to support their organizations and projects. Hopefully, these ideas will allow you to reach your Relay for Life fundraising goal.