I need some fundraising ideas!?

[blahhhhhh]

I'm part of the fundraising committee at my college's chapter of Alpha Epsilon Delta, the pre-med honor society. It's my first time ever doing something like this so I need help! This year, we're raising money for Relay for Life. We already have a few ideas: bake sales, penny war, and selling Valentine's grams. Are there any other ideas for stuff we could do?

Also, about 10000 students attend my university and Relay for Life takes place in March.

[O.o]

The most important thing about a fundraiser is the location. Your ideas are great but they will only really be worth your time if you set up a stand in a very public place. If you can fundraise like downtown, or in the mall parking lot that is where you get a lot of people.
ps.I find that chocolate cover pretzels sell very well, decorate wiht sprinkles and such bc it appeals to little kids they love food :]

[Katherine W]

I was just thinking tonight that one of the best events I ever went to was an "all-you-can-eat-chocolate" fundraiser. They went to local restaurants and got donated desserts and foods and had a chocolate dessert judging and named a best dessert, best chocolate drink, best chocolate entree, things like that. People paid money to attend and it sold out completely. It's fun and repeatable. Maybe you could do that, and also throw in a speech about how chocolate is medically good for you. You could do advance ticket sales at a lower price, and use a little of that money to buy more chocolate, too.

[Hampo14]

Okay, I'd suggest you go to Rewarding Fundraising Ideas (RFI) to find loads of good ideas you could use. It's a great website that has some excellent advice and tips on running those ideas profitably.

Remember though, that before you do any fundraiser it is going to take effort and motivation on your behalf to make it successful. No matter how great the fundraiser is, it won't just provide success unless you put your mind and effort to it. You should also not try do too many fundraisers at once... Pick the ones that will work the best for you and then run those as well as you can!

Here are a few ideas you should look into when you are at Rewarding Fundraising Ideas...

-The Online Magazine Fundraiser - This is always the first fundraiser I suggest. It is one of the best and hassle-free fundraisers you can do! Many people and groups are raising between $2000 - $5000 with this fundraiser while I've seen others raise over $20,000. If you only have time to do one fundraiser... This should be the one you do!

-The Credit Card Fundraiser - Another really hassle-free fundraiser that will work really well alongside a magazine fundraiser! Get people to apply for a credit card online and you'll earn $15 for every approved application.

--By promoting both of these fundraisers together you increase your likelyhood of getting a positive response... Someone may not want to apply for a credit card but they may be interested in the magazines, or vica versa, or maybe they'll want to do both!

--Online Charity Auction - An online auction is one of the most profitable fundraisers that anyone could ever do. Unfortunately it will take a lot of work to get right... But if you have enough helping hands it's definitely a worthwhile consideration!

-Get Paid Guides - Many people make money online by completing surveys, receiving and reviewing advertising emails, and also just by surfing the net. There are loads of companies on the net that are doing research and also trying to gain exposure and they all pay for it! A get paid guide is a single website that finds and lists all those websites that are offering paid surveys etc. There's usually a once off membership fee but you can generally earn that fee back by doing a couple of surveys!

-Lollipop fundraiser - This is one of the easiest and profitable fundraisers around. Most people will generally buy a lollipop from you as they are really cheap. A lot of Schools and organizations are having great success with this simple fundraiser! (In fact, any food fundraiser, like Cookie Dough, Popcorn, or Candy Bars, will usually always work... People need and love food!)

-Discount Fundraiser Cards - Another winner! You raise money while saving money for your supporters through the discounts offered on the cards.Win-Win for both of you! And the businesses Win as well as they get more customers to their shops!!!

Raffles - A fundraiser that will always work really well. It is also the best fundraiser to add to any type of event. What you must make sure you have is some really great prizes that people actually want to win. That way they'll want to buy as many tickets as possible, to have as big a chance to win!

Events - Generally any sports event will work well as people love getting involved in sport even if it's not to raise money for a cause. Consider a Dodgeball compo or a mini soccer tournament! You could also consider doing a sponsored challenge like a cross country walk or a sponsored cycle.

Whether you do a sponsored challenge or not, you should start a facebook page to promote your challenge, your cause and your other fundraisers!

Set up a method for people to donate online (Check the Online Donations page on RFI to see how to do this) and then link to it via your facebook page. Then invite all your friends, family and contacts to join the page and take part by sponsoring you a small amount ($2 - $5; Compare it to something like a couple of cokes or a few beers. Something so small that they wouldn't even miss it if they didn't get it)! Write a emotive invitational letter that makes people feel like they are already involved. Make sure you convey the importance of the cause that you are embarking on. Also encourage them to forward the invitation on to all their contacts.

You should also advertise your other fundraisers, like your magazine fundraiser, on your Facebook pg! Try to also keep people interested in the page by updating it often and keeping people in the loop of how your fundraising is going etc.!

There are also quite a few other fundraisers at RFI that might work for you like the Bracelet Fundraiser, Candle Fundraisers, or the Cookie Dough Fundraiser, so look around and use the ones that will suite you best!

Good Luck!

[Mel M]

In my area, Relay for Life is a fundraiser where participants have people sponsor them for either the amount of time they walk, the distance they walk or a flat donation amount. Why are you doing the extra fundraising or is this instead of the sponsorships?

To keep your costs as low as possible, focus on fundraisers that rely on the time and effort of your chapter members like the Valentine grams. Depending on the area where you are located, you could provide a service like shoveling snow or washing cars -- this would work best with residents of the area rather than students. Try to think of a service the other students would find valuable and see if you can turn it into a fundraiser.

Hope this helps. Good luck.