Funding

[Shari]

Wee is going to daycare at the Early Intervention Preschool he went to prior to starting kindergarten.

They are WONDERFUL.

Back in January, I found a wonderful alternative to a therapy that they have always wished to provide but couldn't, so they are trying to raise money to purchase the equipment, and have asked me to help.

Where do you go to hit people up for money these days???? Can we just have a bake sale???

 

[slsh]

What kind of equipment is it? If it's adapted, you might be able to get info on funding resources from the vendor. There was also a group whose name I simply am not pulling out of my atrophied brain right now - Legotek, Something-tec.... darn it, I've googled and am just not coming up with it.... grrr... anyway, they are a resource for adapted equipment. Also, some places have equipment libraries - I know when we lived in WA state, there was a charitable agency that recycled wheelchairs... and I know UCP locally has a loaner library for donated equipment.

Lekotek!!! That's it - but I think it is more for toys http://www.lekotek.org/

Bake sales are always good. If it's a pricey item though, you might see if there are any grants, etc. available.

 

[trinityroyal]

Let's see:

- Bake sale
- Car wash: set up in a busy parking lot, not too near any gas stations with car washes. (Get permission first, so that you don't get tossed)
- Marathon-type events (running, walking, jumping rope, etc.)
- Rummage sale, with all proceeds going to the purchase
- Pony rides?

Let the manufacturer of the equipment know about your dilemma. Sometimes grants are available, or they might be willing to lower the price or do matching funds or something.
If there are any large corporations in your area, contact them and see if they are willing to sponsor your event and contribute funds to it. Whether it's a bake sale, pony rides or whatever, having a big banner saying "This event sponsored by ACME Corporation" is great publicity for them. They might pay for supplies for the bake sale or set-up costs or whatever, or they might even contribute to the equipment purchase.

For that matter, large corporations often get involved in fundraising and charitable events. Perhaps this could be their cause this year. Some fundraising events that we have run at companies I have worked for are:

• $2 casual Fridays. You can dress in jeans rather than a suit, but you have to contribute $2 for the privilege.
• Paper airplane contest. $1 per entrant. People make and decorate their own airplanes, and then gather in a large boardroom or out on the grounds somewhere. Have a landing pad (large sheet or piece of paper with a target on it) and whoever lands closest wins a prize. Dollar store prizes are fine for this sort of thing.
• Simple pass-the-hat. Let everyone know about the cause and ask them to contribute what they can.
• Board game round robin. $1 per entrant, and have a board game tournament. Things like Pictionary work well for this.
• 50/50 draw. Like a raffle, except that the prize is 1/2 of the total money collected. Tickets can cost $2 for one, $5 for 3 or something like that.

That's all I can come up with off the top of my head.

Trinity

 

[susiestar]

You can make lots and lots of phone calls. I am sure that if you look you can find grants that you may be eligible for.

Tyson has Project A+ which gives something like 24 cents for every label from Tyson frozen foods. The bags say Project A+ on them. You can get info by googling them. Sign up is a breeze. The group may also be eligible for BoxTops for Education and Campbell's soup labels. Nestle Pure Life water also had a label campaign, they may still.

Given enough support you could do a rummage sale or festival. One thing that seems to be fairly novel and lots of fun is to pull a bunch of different types of vehicles into a parking lot and let the kids play on them for a fee. Bake sale and concession booths there will make money. (You might even think of offering baby wipes or hand sanitizer for ten to twenty-five cents each. Someone set up near the food booths at a fair we went to. They were between the potties and the food and in another spot between attractions and food. A squirt of sanitizer (1 pump) or a baby wipe was a quarter. No change other than quarters was given. Parents and grandparents raved about it. It is easy to remember wipes if you have a purse or stroller, but not so easy if you just have shorts and a t shirt, Know what I mean?? The booths were both very well received, overhead was dirt cheap and revenue was one of the highest of all the booths. (Wipes are about $2 for a box of generic from WalMart. They have 80 wipes, so profit would be about $6 if a dime was charged.

Some parents here ask to opt out of fundraising. They have offered to send a flat fee to the school if their child is not asked to sell items AND gets at least the basic participation prize that other students get. Even if the parent only donates $20, it is still more profit than most of the entry level prizes offered. So far our PTA has not allowed this, but I think it will be a trend in the future because we have so many parents who hate selling stuff for their kids.

I assume the item will benefit a certain group of students. Take a look at what parents do for work. They (or their companies) may be willing to donate an item or service or even $$. Large corporations often have matching gift programs. Ask the parents to speak to their employers about this. The employer would match whatever the family donated. Jess and thank you did a lemonade stand at church one day to raise money for Heifer International. husband's company was happy to match funds dollar for dollar.

Maybe you could have the teachers and staff (and parents if they want to) work at McDonalds one evening. Here McD's will donate a % of the total take for an evening if a school uses it as a fundraiser. Just be sure that you publicize it well - not just to students and their families. Use facebook and everyone's friends. Put a notice in the paper. Have parents stand outside with posters.

One way to get the most out of your profits for any type of sales (brochure type programs) is to do your own prize package. Many companies charge you 10% or more for the prizes that they send to kids. These are all junk. You can offer prizes on your own. Pizza party for the top selling class (can often get a few pizzas donated). Popcorn and a movie for any student selling X amount. When I did this pokemon cards were all the rage. Burger King had just done pokemon toys, kids played the card game at events all over town, etc.... So if students sold 1 item they got something pretty basic. Then if they sold 10 or more they got to choose either a pack of pokemon cards (parents must sign saying these were okay) or a craft kit. I had to plead to get the cards because they were in short supply at that time. We still spent less than 5% on the prizes.

 

[KTMom91]

Many of the restaurants here will also donate a percentage of the evening's receipts to a school, sports team, band boosters, etc. In addition to the fast food chains, check with the local, mom-and-pop places. I've found they're more likely to donate to the community. Maybe a silent auction? Box Tops and soup labels are really big here...Miss KT's former elementary school made enough from Box Tops to purchase new playground equipment for both the kindergarten and primary playgrounds.