We did a few fundraisers this year. We did a candle jar sale that we made some money off of. I can send you info if you are interested. We did a magazine sale through campusfundraisers.com and that didn't go over all that well. We also tried to do the concession stand thing at Ravens stadium...it was HELL!!!
10 hour day and in the end it averaged out to less than minimum wage per person. We made a lot of money off of our 50/50 raffle though. Each sister was required to turn in a minimum of 40 tickets. That way when you were selling them, you could say that there was a guaranteed prize of $650 or so. Most sisters sold more than 40 so we made quite a bit of money. Our highest seller got free formal tickets. This cost our chapter nothing. I printed up the tickets 10 to a sheet and one of our sisters works in an office and made free copies. We ran it for 3 weeks and everyone really got into it. It was easy and cheap!
Some of the philanthropy things we do are rock-a-thon. We did it in the fall and spring this year. We have smaller jars that sisters walk around with asking for donations. We raised over $1000 for the foundation with rock-a-thon this year. We do a build-a-bear philanthropy twice a year. If you have a Build-a-bear store around you, they really hook you up with discounts and free bears. We then schedule a trip to a local childrens ward at a hospital and spend the evening with the children and give them the bears.
Some great philanthropy ideas that boost your chapter image are to get in contact with your school's studen life offices. We have a cooridinator of student service and tag along on their projects. Throw on some letters and make connections with your school. Trust me, it does not go un-noticed.