Great Ideas for a School or Group Fundraiser Event
Bake Sale: By far the most popular event for fundraising I have seen on college campuses is a bake sale. Bake sales are pretty easy to create. All that is required is permission from the school administration to set up a table around campus and post fliers advertising your bake sale. You need to get a table that is relatively easy to move from one place to another. In your group or organization you should delegate roles to members of the group to make the event as successful as possible. For example, some people might have the job or photocopying fliers and posting them around campus while other people who are good at cooking might be assigned to bake cakes or cookies to sell. Another person might be in charge of making the prices and collecting money from sales. Finally, there should be someone who sits at the bake sale table and sells the food. Bake sales are relatively cheap to make and usually generate some kind of profit. The only downside I have found with a bake sale is that since it is such a popular fundraiser, many other groups and organizations have bake sales as well. The key is to choose a location on a college campus with plenty of students hanging around and a place where other groups aren’t selling food or baked goods.
DVD/IPOD raffle: This is the second most popular idea I have seen. A raffle is not a bad idea. However, it can be a failure if the items you are selling are too expensive or the items do not attract people’s attention. For example, if you are raffling off a new bicycle, don’t pay like $300 for it. Buy an item that is on sale or at a huge discount like an IPOD or electronic device that people will want. For a dollar or two most people will be willing to try for a nice item in a raffle. Also make sure that you have plenty of people going around campus and selling raffle tickets. If you don’t sell enough raffle tickets, not only will you not make a profit off of the raffle, but you might even end up losing money in the process.
service auction fundraiser: The service auction fundraiser is one of the most interesting fundraisers and a very original idea. The premise of this fundraiser is that you sell your service or labor to someone. It is basically an auction. For example, you might volunteer the service of cleaning someone’s dorm room. Then in the auction, people will bid on how high they are willing to pay for you to clean their room. The service auction is an orally binding contract so don’t volunteer to do anything that you aren’t willing to do. This idea is really unique and I have actually seen this idea gain popularity around college campuses. Another similar idea is a date auction in which people bid money in an auction to go on a date with a person.
Kiss Drive: This idea I have seen particularly among sororities. Basically, a sorority of girls will sit at a table and people will pay a couple of dollars to get a kiss from one of the girls. This usually generates a lot of money because guys are eager to get a kiss from a pretty girl.
Toga Party: The Toga Party fundraiser idea is pretty much a regular party in which people dress up in togas like in ancient Rome and Greece. People bring food and drinks. Money is raised by charging admission into the party and making the party into a fundraiser. This idea will generate some money but not that much because you will have to cover the costs of drinks, music and food for the guests.
Car Wash. Perhaps the oldest fundraising event ever is the car wash. I don’t really need to go into detail with you about it. During the summer or spring time it can be a good idea.
DVD and music CD’s. This fundraising is based on the foundation that a member of your group or a friend that you know has a CD and/or DVD burner. To do this fundraiser, collect DVD’s and CD’s that you and your friends have and burn them by making copies of them on a computer. You will need to buy blank CDs and DVDs to do this. Then sell these copies for a few dollars and it will be a great hit and fundraiser because everyone loves to listen to music and movies and buying them cheaply is a great way for people to save money.
Hopefully these tips and suggestions will get you started on fundraising ideas. Remember, the best way to generate money is through good advertising and promotion of your ideas.
