Checkin: Fundraising Experiences - What Will You Do For Money?
Thought it'd be fun to swap hair-raising stories of fund-raising! We had a huge amount of fun all Thanksgiving week preparing and running two different events. One was for Big Brothers/Big Sisters, the other for local scholarships. (Both also helped kept the families of Anheiser Busch-Inbev off the dole).
What sorts of things have you done to raise money for various groups? This morn I'm thinking of chilly morns spent ringing the bell for Salvation Army. I never looked forward to that, as we worked the main wind tunnel which funnels every westerly December breeze approaching the town into one frigid trough. And it’s a solitary thing--no co-workers—don’t like that. Yet I have to say, each time, though it doesn’t raise much money at a setting, it is the most satisfying of things when you're done.
In Oct. we sold pancakes for three days straight - $16,000 worth. You can have a great deal of fun with that much pancake batter! We certainly do. Those of a more delicate temperament would not want to hear the endless stream of jokes: none pious, politically correct, or anything else. This year the T-shirts read "Just because we serve you doesn't mean we like you". People are so convinced our cakes are unique they'll drive for hours, and then brag them up online and back home. (They may be a tad confused). Usually a big chunk of the pancake money goes to scholarships; this year we're focusing on helping build a YMCA in our county. The HS ball teams, ROTC, and others get a share.
The cold I'm nursing four weeks now came from a health waiting room, where I was waiting--hat in hand--to beg $250 for a youth festival. Not so fun there.
Ooh! Any near-death fundraising experiences?
We’ve built a lot, too. What are your building and other such experiences? I nearly killed someone by leaving a hammer on a 12 ft. ladder. It hit him smack on the head, claw first. Seriously. We still laugh about it,…but…. Oh, well, the kids have a stadium to play in.
I'm not very good at fund-raising of the begging type. It scares me to ask for money by myself. Hence projects I have started have tended no to go very far. I’m getting better—someone actually asked me how to do it recently. What a lark!
How about you? How do you handle begging for significant checks?
Yesterday we started a new project-tentatively. We're trying to save the pool in our county. It was built all by volunteers; most veterans, plus their offspring like me (very young then). Today, to get money, I am strangely working with the school district superintendent and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Natural? A pool? Ya never know.
Last spring we turned in a trails grant app with 10 partner organizations. What are your experiences in the partnership vein? I was scared at first because the first people I had to ask I had no history with. After that, pulling the partner team together was great--a chance to meet people, to talk and share and hope. (People are so positive once the ball is actually rolling). Writing within the 3 week deadline was OK, if a bit rattling. What I don't like about that is that it’s still largely gambling.
Speaking of gambling, we’ve done Monte Carlo nights. I don’t gamble myself, and even for pennies don’t see the attraction. But,…income is income. Same with oodles of 50-50’s.
A hilarious game we did run was to raffle off a trip to the Caribbean. This was at Christmastime. So, in the Christmas parade, we borrowed someone’s 18ft palm tree, loaded it on a trailer, put on shorts and tropical flower shirts, and sang our way through town. It was about 16 degF, I believe. Oh, what fun it is to ride with an icy palm tree.
College experiences? This time of year our Alpha Phi Omega chapter would buy a rather substantial pile of toys, and wrap them. To raise the money for that and other projects, we ran the concessions at the football games and the spring carnival. Never make cotton candy if you don’t have too! Anybody familiar with the Ugly Man on Campus contests?
Finally, I guess, WHO? Who do you work with on fundraisers? Our last Congressman was always very good about stopping by and serving or taking orders at cooking fundraisers. He genuinely liked it, and was pretty helpful. One county commissioner can’t hear the orders over his own mouth. The current Congressman I’ve never seen, but our state rep was a great sport this year with stirring apple butter. The Judge just always cracks me up. The younger welder and truck driver keep us going.
My favorite two people are two ladies who ran, cajoled, organized, chopped, hauled, begged, poured, cleaned for the church fair diner half a summer for 34 years. Built an education building.
So, there’s my topic. What do you hate, love, fear, embrace about getting out there and bringing in that old bane of every worthy cause, good old hard, American (Aussie, Israeli, Canadian, Korean, French) cash?
What sorts of things have you done to raise money for various groups? This morn I'm thinking of chilly morns spent ringing the bell for Salvation Army. I never looked forward to that, as we worked the main wind tunnel which funnels every westerly December breeze approaching the town into one frigid trough. And it’s a solitary thing--no co-workers—don’t like that. Yet I have to say, each time, though it doesn’t raise much money at a setting, it is the most satisfying of things when you're done.
In Oct. we sold pancakes for three days straight - $16,000 worth. You can have a great deal of fun with that much pancake batter! We certainly do. Those of a more delicate temperament would not want to hear the endless stream of jokes: none pious, politically correct, or anything else. This year the T-shirts read "Just because we serve you doesn't mean we like you". People are so convinced our cakes are unique they'll drive for hours, and then brag them up online and back home. (They may be a tad confused). Usually a big chunk of the pancake money goes to scholarships; this year we're focusing on helping build a YMCA in our county. The HS ball teams, ROTC, and others get a share.
The cold I'm nursing four weeks now came from a health waiting room, where I was waiting--hat in hand--to beg $250 for a youth festival. Not so fun there.
Ooh! Any near-death fundraising experiences?
We’ve built a lot, too. What are your building and other such experiences? I nearly killed someone by leaving a hammer on a 12 ft. ladder. It hit him smack on the head, claw first. Seriously. We still laugh about it,…but…. Oh, well, the kids have a stadium to play in.
I'm not very good at fund-raising of the begging type. It scares me to ask for money by myself. Hence projects I have started have tended no to go very far. I’m getting better—someone actually asked me how to do it recently. What a lark!
How about you? How do you handle begging for significant checks?
Yesterday we started a new project-tentatively. We're trying to save the pool in our county. It was built all by volunteers; most veterans, plus their offspring like me (very young then). Today, to get money, I am strangely working with the school district superintendent and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Natural? A pool? Ya never know.
Last spring we turned in a trails grant app with 10 partner organizations. What are your experiences in the partnership vein? I was scared at first because the first people I had to ask I had no history with. After that, pulling the partner team together was great--a chance to meet people, to talk and share and hope. (People are so positive once the ball is actually rolling). Writing within the 3 week deadline was OK, if a bit rattling. What I don't like about that is that it’s still largely gambling.
Speaking of gambling, we’ve done Monte Carlo nights. I don’t gamble myself, and even for pennies don’t see the attraction. But,…income is income. Same with oodles of 50-50’s.
A hilarious game we did run was to raffle off a trip to the Caribbean. This was at Christmastime. So, in the Christmas parade, we borrowed someone’s 18ft palm tree, loaded it on a trailer, put on shorts and tropical flower shirts, and sang our way through town. It was about 16 degF, I believe. Oh, what fun it is to ride with an icy palm tree.
College experiences? This time of year our Alpha Phi Omega chapter would buy a rather substantial pile of toys, and wrap them. To raise the money for that and other projects, we ran the concessions at the football games and the spring carnival. Never make cotton candy if you don’t have too! Anybody familiar with the Ugly Man on Campus contests?
Finally, I guess, WHO? Who do you work with on fundraisers? Our last Congressman was always very good about stopping by and serving or taking orders at cooking fundraisers. He genuinely liked it, and was pretty helpful. One county commissioner can’t hear the orders over his own mouth. The current Congressman I’ve never seen, but our state rep was a great sport this year with stirring apple butter. The Judge just always cracks me up. The younger welder and truck driver keep us going.
My favorite two people are two ladies who ran, cajoled, organized, chopped, hauled, begged, poured, cleaned for the church fair diner half a summer for 34 years. Built an education building.
So, there’s my topic. What do you hate, love, fear, embrace about getting out there and bringing in that old bane of every worthy cause, good old hard, American (Aussie, Israeli, Canadian, Korean, French) cash?
About
Fireside Council
Questions, problems, comments? Here is the "Fireside Council" of folks who help Connie with the administration of this site: Anna, Ian, Mike, and Or-Tal. Click on their names to visit their Profile Pages and leave comments for them with your inquiries and ideas! Meanwhile, if you have technical questions or suggestions, Laura will be glad to help.
Roll The Dice
Roll the dice... and visit a random Fireside member production online!
Chat
Roll The Dice
Roll the dice... and visit a random Fireside member production online!
(It's easy to make your own Delicious dice if you want!)
Chat
Delicious Firesidelearning
© 2009 Created by Connie Weber on Ning. Create Your Own Social Network
