Fundraising fun events for CF

[anonymous]

Has anyone been successful with fundraising and happy to share a few secrets?
I am thinking of organising a Dinner/Dance to raise funds for our chapter. I would appreciate suggestions on ideas to heighten awareness for people attending and fun ways to raise funds on the night. Obviously a raffle/door prize etc but I thought someone might have some new fun ideas. Also, ideas for something like a power point display showing that people with CF look like everyone else and also showing some of the daily things we do to try to maintain our health. I read somewhere that a puppy was raffled off at a Ball which is a great idea. Thanks
Mary

 

[anonymous]

i have some success with fundraising. before i had a child with CF i raised money for burned children (i am a burn survivor as well) anyways i went from raising 500 the first year to 4500 by year 3. i learned alot of things. i used a gym in a church and used local dance places to bring in people. Businesses love to also help SPONSOR anything involving kids. i have a ton more info if you want it just write back and let me know.

 

[anonymous]

Hi,
You are doing a great thing by raising money for your local chapter, good for you! I do have one concern, though, I don't think raffling off a live animal like a puppy is such a great idea, you never know who the 'door prize' will go to. Just my 2 cents..... But I think door prizes such as gift certificates are a wonderful idea. Good luck!

 

[rose4cale]

Maybe if there is a -special- bucket for them to drop a ticket in for the live animal, keeping separate from other prizes would be ideal.

 

[anonymous]

How about one of those like dance-athons where ppl take it turns to dance for say 12 hours. They're great fun and everyones usually in great spirits! Or a sponsored walk,run or swim. For the tsunami, our pool did a 24 hour swim! It was so much fun...Shamrock, x

 

[anonymous]

Our company sponsor's an extra "jeans day" each month, where employees can pay $5.00 to the charity of the month to be able to wear jeans for the day. Additionally, our company matches the funds raised up to $300, so each month, we normally present a check to our cause for $600 to $700, depending upon employee participation. For May, my company has agreed to support the CFF in support of the Great Strides Walk.

I'm working with my other friends who work for larger organizations to see if their companies will support a "jeans day" as well, but so far have not had success with this....I keep trying though!

Amy
36 w/CF

 

[anonymous]

I haven't worked on a dinner/dance for CF, but my son's school as done them the last several years for other school projects.

I think one of the main projects is just as you pointed out....getting the word out there. Use radio newspaper, and TV (some stations and local newspapers have the 'community calendar' and the give you air time or print for free in that segment).

Maybe use posters at the grocery stores and Walmart, KMart, etc.

We have used a silent auction in our area. We have had many different prizes, mostly if not all, donated. With all of the gifts, folks can bid on the ones they are interested in. I agree with the SPONSOR idea, donate, donate! Gift certificates go really well, dinner and hotel room for an evening go well, we have had the older girls give babysitting time for free away, or older boys will mow lawns (costs no one anything but time), kids love stuffed animals or hyped up trucks, we have had silk plant arrangements, wooden benches and birdhouses. We have had services given away, too, like a free airplane ride by a pilot in the group, or free 'will service' by an attorney. There is no limit to what you might get, but it takes time to solicit the donations. We have had live animals a couple of times (actually rabbits), and it has gone well, through the silent auction, because if they bid on it, you know they feel like they can care for it.

My family and friends also sell the CF beanies at the local minor leage baseball team in the area. They are great to work with. If you have any 'teams' (hockey, baseball, football, basketball) in your area, you may try that as well....or even the local Walmart or gorcery store may allow you to sell them sometimes.

Good luck~

 

[rose4cale]

Banks and salons are also a great place for beanies in our area.

We had the purple rubber bracelets at our bake sale and sold them for $4.00 with the proceeds going to the foundation. They ended up being a trend in the local school and everyone came to my sister's salon to purchase them even after the sale.

We also had the local paper do a feature on my son and CF and it turned out more publicity then we could have asked for.

 

[anonymous]

To the person who wrote about business sponsors; how do you go about getting businesses to participate in your fundraiser?

Thanks.

 

[lovemygirl]

Our family has done a lot of different fundraisers and over the years we have learned that it is best to have one annual event, than to hold more smaller ones. The reason is that you tend to ask the same people all the time and they get fed up. If it is an annual thing they come to expect it.
Find something that interests you and something you think others will be interested in, to get good attendance. We hold an annual golf tournament. We chose it because many of our family members enjoy golf and knew a lot of people that would attend. For golf we have games on designated holes and a raffle and door prizes during the evening. Last year there was a silent auction but through a company that gave us commission on what she made. This year we decided to have our own auction and get autographed items from various sports teams/athletes. For those who don't golf we invite them to join us for the dinner (at a separate price) and they often will buy raffle tickets or buy from the auction.
Getting companies/athletes/sports teams to sponsor an event is easier than you think. We print up a letter every year, send it to various places and always get a good reply from our local organizations, they have budgets for this and they can use it as a tax right off (in Canada).
As far as presentation, we do this because our daughter has CF. We have named the tournament after her and each year I speak about her life, her health, and CF. There is also a video presentation to show her with pills, doing therapy, hospital visits and of course leading a normal life.
For publicity we use radio and newspapers. A local radio host emcee's the event and local papers always print a story for free. We usually try to include a picture in everything we do and year after year they recognize her face/name. If it is well publicized people tend to think that it is a big event and that makes them consider going (the everyone will be there theory).
Good luck in whatever you decide to do...my only piece of advice is to make sure that it is something you will enjoy because it can be a lot of work.

 

[ChastensDad]

ok there is 2 ways to approach this, the shy way and the heads up way. shy way, use your computer to make up a small pamplet on cf and kids and what you need money for. search the web, you may find something without making your own statements. go to local businesses ie., stores on the street and small businesses downtown, keep it simple dont do a big business because youll have alot more loop holes and they will want you to be non-profit. remember nothing over $250. if you have connections with someone in accounting at your work then maybe they can help you with this aspect. heads up way, go to a business and sell them what you are doing. "Hi, I am Jane Doe, and i am raising money to help children. these children have cf and they need money because blah, blah, blah etc". of course find the owner or manager. if they cant donate money, which is going to be 30% of what youll find then get donations that will help bring them business, such as gift certificates, free merchandise, or whatever will get there name out. then its win/win. you get something to raffle, door prize or sell and they get business thrown their way. whatever you do let them know that this is a huge benefit for the community and its helping children. tell them youll have a program and their name will be listed as a sponsor or donator. if you want to know more email me. im the same on that did the fundraiser you were asking about when i was anon.
Shane
slcccdavis@msn.com

 

[thefrogprincess]

This year for Great Strides I put out donation jars at local businesses. Franchises are usually more willing/able to do this than coorporate companies because they don't need approval from a coorporate office.

 

[anonymous]

We have a golf tournament each year and it contines to get bigger. In addition to our corporate sponsors we also have live and silent auctions with donated items. We also sell raffel tickets for $1 each with lots of good prizes.

Check out our website:

www.lukenmac.org

 

[anonymous]

lovemygirl - loveyourname!

Do you get alot of response/awareness from showing your daughter having treatments/doing normal things etc. How long does it go for and did you add music etc? Is she only young. If we are having dinner/dance we could do similar on bring screen if a child is willing to be recorded. How do you guys go about getting in contact with sports stars for signed memorabillia. Their agents? What are good things that people like to bid for in live/silent auction?

Thanks
JT