Hi,
I've heard that others have had good luck raising funds through
www.buginarug.com. The site allows you to list your group and then every time someone comes to the site to shop (they have tons of shops that people shop at anyway), they just select your group, shop and then a donation is made to your group. It's an easy way to raise money, since everyone shops anyway and it costs nothing extra.
Just my two cents.
Good luck and have fun in your new role!!