Archive of Some of the Best Fundraising Ideas Posted Here

[decadence]

This is a great sub-forum on GreekChat but I know some of the good ideas can get lost in all the threads. That being the case, I've grouped together lots of the best ideas so people can have a common thread to find them in. Please note the suggestions are from all different GreekChatters past and present. I have not referenced them all and they are from all different people. I originally saved them for my own use and thought it may help to put them in one thread for someone else too. Happy reading. I guess if this thread isn't liked the mods can just delete it. By the way, this thread is more oriented to fundraisers FOR the fraternity or sorority (with perhaps a percentage going to a philanthropy if the group is large/can afford it) than for their philanthropy itself. So hot-tub-athon's, Dance Week etc are not included. The more obvious perennial favourites like Bake Sale also aren't included.

[decadence]

Sales

N.B Try not to over-estimate demand... you don't want to find yourself in a situation where your members are having to buy (for example) the candy themselves or give it to people who come into their room just to get rid of it! Planning is important on all funraising events, these have worked great for GLO's and some people have less success with them

Another idea is to maybe solicit help from those in the community. One of the things we're doing this semester is selling ice cream tickets. For $5 they get a gigantic slice of ice cream pie (it's really good!), and $3.25 of that goes to us. I know companies like the Cookie Corner and Mrs. Fields do similar things with bags of cookies.

Another thing we've done in the past is buy candy and goodies wholesale, put an assortment of them together in a giant bag and sell them for $5. Selling them during exam times is a good idea! Very profitable too.

It is kinda of selling, but we do final grams at the end of every semester. we send out letters to parents (we get them from the registrar). We charge something like $20 a piece. they have food, toys and some stress thingy. our cost is like $4. we make like $1200 a semester. We deliver them by hand. Just make sure you get addresses and phone numbers from parents. we use excel to keep them straight. parents can write their own message. frosh parents love it. they are so worried about their kids. We have a small college (1100) and it is residential. so that helps but you could maybe do it somewhere smaller.

Crafts

Handmaking candles and selling them - for example - for £5.00 and the cheapest one £2.00. The group raised £250.00 in two weeks doing something that was fun for them.

Others

Calling Cards. A fundraiser from an organisation called National Collegiate. They market calling cards to sell on campus, for Greeks and others. http://www.nccallingcards.com/

T-Shirt sales. Contrary to some experiences, this fundraiser CAN be very effective. But you need to be careful your university's Greek community is large enough to carry it. Otherwise you will be left with a lot of hard to sell shirts! In other words on larger group campuses e.g. during Greek Week if you can ensure beforehand there will be interest then it can be hugely effective and highly lucrative. Obviously you can sell to people other than Greeks too! The website for the company which does this is http://customink.com/cink/r.jsp?S=BLP. For questions you can email lilacgirl77@collegeclub.com . For larger quantities, she can even get you a discount on the Customink quoted prices!

[decadence]

Event Assistance

A GREAT way to make money and have fun doing it! One chapter has a contract with a security company at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta where they work as ticket takers, ushers and security. Basically, they pay them to come to do minimal work and watch football games, concerts and other events!
One year they did the Super Bowl, a Backstreet Boys concert, the Metallica/Kid Rock/Korn concert, 4 different WWF events, all the Atlanta Falcons' home games, and other various events. Since Jan. 2000, they have raised over $15,000 doing this. The best thing about it is that they can pretty much bring as many people as you want, so we would often bring girls, non-affiliated friends, and other people who just wanted to see the event - of course the understanding was the money went to the chapter, and their payment was seeing the show for free.
So, any chapters out there that are close to major cities with large venues like the Dome can look into it. Almost all of these type places have a program like this.

They used to work concessions at the Atlanta Braves games, but found boy does that SUCK! Lugging around all those trays of beers, cokes, or whatever was a real pain and after the first few times, no one ever wanted to go back. With what they do at the GA. Dome, the work is minimal...you basically stand around and point to seats; plus after the event starts and everyone has found their seat, the job is pretty much done.

Another sorority/fraternity also used to work at the local Six Flags over Georgia amusement park in various capacities. Working at the games was the best, and working in the food areas sucked the most. Six Flags there also has a large ampitheater where concerts are held, and we work as ushers for it sometimes as well.
They were also looking into getting hooked up with Phillips Arena...they have more events than the Dome -- tons more concerts, NBA, NHL games, etc.
The biggest problem comes when the dates are during the week and no one can attend or they can't get the minimum number...but we always try to send a few guys. A little money is better than no money!

All they did to get this started was to call the main office of the Georgia Dome and ask about who was in charge of the security and they connected them with a company named Argenbright Security. Argenbright already had a program in place for non-profit groups to come and work as fundraisers. All they had to do was send a couple of representatives (President and Fundraising Chair) up to the Dome one afternoon to meet with the manager and to fill out some paperwork. Now they just call them a few weeks ahead and let them know what event we want to work and about how many guys they're bringing.
THE BOTTOM LINE - Just call whatever venue happens to be near you and ask!

[decadence]

Car Washes etc

Some always do car washes. A lot of the guys are in town or come in to party or work on summer recruitment stuff on weekends. You just call your local Wally World, invest in some cheap soap, sponges, towels, buckets etc.. They usually have hoses and such (most of them are probably sick of car washes but they are probably the easiest fund raiser out there - also doesn't help to call your favorite alums and let them know to get their car washes).
Or, if you know the right people, plane washes can be EXTREMELY lucrative. Go to a private airport and volunteer your services for 'donations'. Apparently $100-$200 per plane is not completely out of the question.

For chapters which are small, holding big fundraisers can often seem out of the question. Once a semester they might hold a car wash at a gas station--preferably one close to a mall, shopping centre, or grocery store. A great time to hold it is on Sunday morning when lots of people head out shopping. The last car wash earned one small chapter almost $900!

"We are having our first ever summer fundraiser. We are gonna have a couple of carwashes. The only thing is, what should we say the money is for? If we say that the money is for Kappa Kappa Gamma, people might be like "you're raising money for yourselves?" kinda deal. Any ideas?"
"-- Donate a percentage to your local philanthropy. Put that on your signs, etc.. and if they ask you, it's a fundraiser for KKG with a portion of the proceeds going to (your philanthropy's name here)".

[decadence]

Sponsorship

I love planning these things, and I see that you two are writing from Pittsburg and Milwaukee? I have only planned philanthropy projects in my small college town, but the way I see it (correct me if I am wrong), that is to your advantage that you are in bigger cities because businesses won't be as tapped out. To solicit donations from businesses, I usually target the small-mid-sized ones. The bigger ones, like Staples (for paper and stuff) or Wal-mart (just in my experience) can more easily brush off requests because some managers say that they need to talk with the national office. The local businesses are MUCH more responsive.
First, I start with a business letter, so I don't have to ambush the manager with my request and then follow it up with a meeting/phone call about a week to a week and a half after the letter was delivered. Most businesses are happy to help!

"I work for a non-profit and do public relations and event planning. I just finished my big fundraiser for the year, and we had a profit of about $150,000. I can tell you that you make more money from sponsorships from companies than you do with individual tickets. -Melissa"

[decadence]

Sponsorship - Events

I know this is a little late for the first post but my chapter does a Golf Tournament where we get companies to sponsor holes for 200 each with a hole in one and closest to the pin prize for our players. We also offer a cash prize for the winning team. In the past, we've earned as much as 2000 from one tournament and another chapter in the fraternity back in the midwest charged more per hole and earned almost 6000 or more, I can't really remember.
We also do a bingo where we get the prizes donated and then charge admission. Last time, we got a palm pilot from Target as our high end item. It usually earns us about 1000 each time and is easy to plan.

Its late, so my brain is getting towards E, but we used to hold events in high school, and charge for them. Whether it be a fashion show, social, fair, or whatever. For most of these kindsa things, you can ask loca businesses to donate the things you need for the event (ie, food, supplies, raffle gifts) but you have to make sure you ask in advance, because more than likely you'll have to write tothe corporate office. But just make up one of those gag-me-barf letter, that are all sugary sweet about yur org and what you're trying to get money for, and send them to any and everyone. Most places will give you stuff for free or at least at a considerable discount. Pepsi and Coca-Cola are good, as well as McDonalds and try little local places. Let them know that all advertising is free, and empahsize that LOTS of college students and their parents will be in attendence and this will help to get their name out as a partner in the community and a supporter of the youth of America (you gotta make it sound good, but don't OVER do it). Then you have your event, charge folks, and you make a big profit because your cost were little to none!!!