RMH Fundraisers

[ASUADPi]

Okay so myself and another sister are trying to come up with ways to raise money for RMH. We have thought of the following ideas:

Email letter campaign
RMH walk (long term goal)
Pop tabs
Table at convention
Silent Auction (another long term one)


What are some things y'all did as collegians or alums to raise money for RMH?

Any and all ideas are welcome!!!!!!!!

[emleepc]

Over the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays I collected items that the RMH here in Bham needed----I called first to find out specifically what they needed.

I received items from people I work with, people that my parents work with, and other friends and family. I set a date to have everything turned in to me, and then my father, brother, and I loaded up the cars and took everything down to the RMH here. They were so happy to see everything we had.

We had food items for their pantry, toys for the kids, as well as travel toiletry items for the guests to use.

It was very easy to ask people to help such a good cause, especially when I gave them background about how to help, and what the RMH is used for. I found out that a lot of people didn't know the purpose of the RMH.

[peanutttu]

At random events that our alum association has, we request that the ladies bring either a $2.00 donation or a specific item (i.e.travel size toothpaste/toothbrush, toliet paper, travel size soap, etc).

We collect these things throughout a couple of months and then send them off to the RMH. The RMH we support is actually 6 hours away, so its hard to actually get there to visit and spend time there.

Next month we are actually going to do Cookie Dough sales.

[WLFEO]

A fvorite topic- I'm always trying to figure out how to raise money for one thing or another!

The best event our AA had for RMH was a scrapbook event. We had a 12-hour crop at a local scrapbook store. The registration fees all went to the RMH (I think it was $20-30 a person- can't really remember now). Plus we had raffles in the store all month and during the crop. Some families from the House came to make scrapbooks of their children (scrapbook store donated all the supplies) and that made it newsworthy. We had coverage in the newspaper and TV, which helped generate publicity for the store. Our first year doing it we raised over $2000 which we were happy with.

I have heard of AAs who have fundraisers during their meetings- like if you want to say "Violets" to someone, you pay a dollar, and then you can talk. Or if your name was in the paper for some reason (wedding, birth, just a story, etc.) you have to pay a dollar. It would generate a small amount of cash but it can get to be fun and it is ongoing and does not take too much coordination.

You can also raffle off an item (Bath & Body Works Violet basket???) during an AA meeting.

Often restaurants have programs where if you get a number of people to eat at their restaurant on a certain night, they'll donate a percentage of the bill to the RMH. You make flyers and pass them out for the restaurant advertising the special date.

Another idea that my AA did (because we didn't know if people would show up for a real 5K in the association) was to have a "fake 5K" and people donated money for how far they would like to "run"- I don't know if that makes sense the way I explained it. It's along the lines of a garage-less garage sale- in other words, people donate $25 just to get out of th trouble of having a garage sale. The Denver Alumnae Panhellenic does something similar in having a phantom tea party.

If you want to get specific items for the RMH, you could hold a shower for them- make invitations, register for the items, and invite people to a party & ask them to bring a gift- have light food, maybe a tour of the RMH, etc.

[HBADPi]

Are these for convention or the Phoeniz AA? Just wondering because some of them have already been implemented by other chapters or AAs.

Not sure what an email letter campaign would accomplish but I know either USC or UCLA did a RMH walk recently (or maybe it was the LA AA...dont remember much other than hearing about it in general). The walk was organized by the local RMH and the adpi (collegiates and alumn) formed teams to support so you might want to talk to the local RMH first and alleviate some of the planning headaches that way.

For pop tabs, chapters got a letter asking them to bring all pop tabs they collect to convention so you might want to double check on that if these are ideas for convention.

Silent Auction is a good idea if you can pair it up with a benefit dinner or some sorts.

Any of the RMH programs I've been involved with have mostly been food drives. For the holidays we do family gift baskets with things they might need during that time of the year. We did penny wars every year at school where each class (freshman, soph, etc) would get a big water jug. Girls would take turns maning a shift at the campus center and ask people for change donations. In the end we'd match whichever class raised the most.

[FirstAndFinest]

We recently held an interesting event. We reserved a Community Booth at a nearby mall (a sister alumna works for the mall, which helped them overlook their "no solicitation" policy) and borrowed a RMH tablecloth, clear House for donations and RMH literature from the local RMH. We set up the table, originally to act as a drop-off point for previously-solicited donations (from the wish-list for the under-construction RMH). We didn't do so much collecting, but people were very generous in their giving! In retrospect, I think we'd have made more $$ had we had more sisters to man the table. (I'm thinking cute collegians, not just us alumnae...)


We are also hosting a series of dinner fundraisers, at restaurants that have a "give-back" program (Uno's is one example).

[nauadpi]

I know there is at least one alum association that already does this, but the silicon valley alum association is planning one as well... It is a golf tournament... Many companies will actually enter because it is tax deductable so you can do fairly large entrance fees...

One thing the Peninsula Alum Association has done in the past is setup a gift wrapping table at a nearby mall during the winter holidays... You charge a few dollars per package to wrap and that money goes to the RMDH...

My chapter had a walk at one point along with a bowling competition...

Raffels are also great, we did that too...

I do have to agree with others about getting lists from local RMDHs of items they need... I know the Stanford RMDH even posts their list online...

[scho5148]

Denver Alumnae can donate to the RMH when paying dues by adding an additional amount above the annual dues.

We have an annual wine tasting event (friends & spouses welcome) where all proceeds are donated to the RMH.

We occasionally have drives to collect items needed at the RMH.

We provide quarterly dinners to the RMH residents.

This was our 2nd year of selling African violets, with proceeds going to the RMH. With that, we allow people to sponsor violets to be given to Mother's at the local Children's Hospital on Mother's Day weekend, sponsor violets for Founders' Day, or just personal orders.

[TN-TX ADPi]

As a collegian, my chapter did alot. I'll see if I can remember it all.
-We had to bring 10 travel size tolietries (sp?) each to summer retreat which we then divided up into care packages and delivered to RMH.
-We also had a chili cook-off and clothing drive open to all student organizations on campus, with the top org. in each division receiving $100 towards their philanthropy and all other proceeds going to RMH.
-Jail-N-Bail
-Baby-Picture Date Auction in which sisters had a jar with their baby picture on it set up in the student center, guys (usually good friends) would bid on a "date" with that girl. They had to be group dates and "pre-screened", etc.
-My favorite of all time was Teeter-Totter with Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity in which each member of both orgs. had to get at least $20 in donations, then it was divided equally between ADPi and AGR for RMH and Ag-in-the-classroom. We had 2 gigantic teeter-totters or see-saws and had a 12 hour teeter-tottering marathon. There had to be 1 guy and 1 girl on each side of the teeter-totter at all times! So much fun!

I'm sure there are more, I just can't remember all of them. I'll call my younger sister and see what they still do and post more later.

[Zillini]

Wow, some great ideas here. Hope none of you mind if others borrow some.

Here at Eta (University of Alabama) we've tried alot of different things over the years. Jail & Bail never really took off so we scrapped that. We tried making and selling a Greek Men's calendar, but ended up getting stuck with numerous leftovers. Same thing for a cookbook.

Asking actives to bring supplies hasn't gone over well either. Too many women are working alot of hours to put themselves through school and pay their sorority dues. Then you have the fortunate members whose parents are paying the bills. A few bucks here and there won't make a difference to these members, but it can kill the others.

But we finally hit on a couple of winners. First, pop tops are always easy to do. We keep collection containers in the TV room at all times. We've also asked other sororities and fraternities if we can place them in their houses as well. You just need to remember to send someone around every few weeks to collect them.

Our most successful was a letter writing campaign requesting donations for the Hope on Wheels campaign. To date I believe (2 years?) we've received over $17,000.

We incorporated this into our Recruitment Philanthropy Day. The PNM's used markers, stickers and such to decorate the letters giving them a personalized touch. (Oh yeah, we also served mini Coke cans that day too. We had the PNM's pull off the tabs, place them in a collectin container and explained what they are used for.) Then we had a competition between classes to see which could generate the most donations. Each member was required send out at least 5 letters. They could send them to family, friends or check out the Eta alum listing. Extra letters could be sent as well to earn Positive Points, always a big hit when it gets close to Formal time.

Our other success started this last fall and was called "Chili for Children". We had a chili dinner the Friday evening before the Alabama vs Auburn football game. Tons of alums in town for this massive rivalry game plus family and friends. We were able to get most of the food and supplies donated so our costs were minimal. Then we sold tickets prior to and at the door for around $5 or $10. (I can't remember exactly, but I can check it out if anyone wants.)

I was amazed when our House Director told us how many people we ended up serving that night. Including additional donations that many folks made, we were able to donate $3,000+ to the Foundation for RMH.

Regardless of what project anyone decides to pursue, here's some advice I've learned. The most successful fund raisers come from targeting alumnae and parents. They understand the need for being generous to charities on a personal level. As parents they can appreciate the desperation another parent must feel if their child is sick and requires hospitalization. RMH can provide a haven in that emotional (and financial) storm. Sadly, most college students don't quite get that yet, not to mention most of them are broke. Adults also appreciate the potential tax benefits donating brings.

Hope this helps.

Loyally, Z

[nauadpi]

Originally posted by Zillini
(Oh yeah, we also served mini Coke cans that day too. We had the PNM's pull off the tabs, place them in a collectin container and explained what they are used for.)

I think that is such a cute idea... Especially because I also think the little coke cans are so cute...