If so.... what has been successful is raising funds???

I'm having a HARD time meeting my fundraising minimum ($1200 more to go by next month!) I sent out my fundraising letters and have done emails and such and i'm currently going through the hassle of putting together a dog wash fundraiser. I wanted it to be different from your typical "car wash" type stuff. But now i'm running into the problem that most pet stores only donate to animal charities and I had planned to raffle off prizes! So, i'm currently trying to find a way through this one.

Other than that.... any suggestions? I've read and read and read online and nothing seem to be jumping out at me! I swear... running this marathon will be the EASIEST thing out of this experience. Fundraising is hard, hard, hard!

By Paulas on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 07:33 pm:

Fundraisers I have done in the past have been:
hot lunches at the school
yard sales
car washes
asking local businesses

My friend's son is trying to raise money to build a school in a third world country. He is having a golf tournament. It's a little late for that for you, I think. He got a donation of $1000 from a local business.

By Dawnk777 on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 09:25 pm:

If you live in Shebogyan, WI, a brat-fry is a good one. Sarah's Girl Scout troop consistently raised $400 on 2 different occasions, doing a brat-fry. We like our bratwurst around here! Depending on the cause, people raise more or less.

For church, we do a brat-fry to raise money for 3yo, 3rd grade and 7th grade Bibles.

By Tsa on Sunday, April 15, 2007 - 11:10 pm:

Maybe, I missed something. What are you fund raising for? Here in MN suppers(spaghetti feeds, Hamburger stands, fish fry, belgium waffles, etc.) go over really well. In fact we plan on raising about $600 for every dinner. Another one they do is put a cannister by the checkouts at gas stations with a little info on what they are collecting for. People usually throw their loose change in the cannister. Good Luck

By Tunnia on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 08:33 am:

What are your resources? Are you a member of a church where you can use the building? Do you know any business owners? Do you know anyone with space or items you can use in your fundraising? Do you have any personal talents you can use? Do you have friends and/or family that will help you? Many businesses and attractions have tickets and/or items that are for donating. You will need to write detailed letters asking for exactly what you want and stating why. For several years I managed to get some really nice attraction tickets for either 2 or 4 people as well as nice items for raffles by simply asking and letting them know what I was doing.

Here are some ideas (some of them I've had success with). I'm unsure of your time-frame so some of these may not be do-able for you. If you like any of them let me know and I'll go into detail.:

Pancake Breakfast
Spaghetti dinner
Date Night Deal
Kids Consignment Sale
Yard Sale
Bake Sale
Raffle
Plant Sale
Kids Fair
Chili or BBQ Cook-Off
Kid's Fishing Tournament
Arts and Craft Show
Ask Businesses to Sponsor You

BTW, I think that the Dog Wash is a neat and original idea. You could do a Doggie Bake Sale to go along with the wash and you can hand-make special dog treats to sell ahead of time. You can even make them organic and in different flavors and shapes. I've seen recipes for pet treats on the internet and in magazines.

By Boxzgrl on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 09:45 am:

Thanks for the ideas so far.

Stacy, I already have a few dog biscuit recipes and planned on doing that. I planned on selling them individually and by the bag. I searched for a recipe that is good for dogs with allergies as well. I'm going to do a raffle. So far things I have would be dominos pizza coupons, grocery gift cards and I have one big raffle for a free body massage. I really wanted to include dog items since it is a dog wash like toys, frontline, collars etc.... to really attract people. I'm going to do more research today. We'll see how it goes. I hate being stressed over this.

Tsa- I'm running a marathon to raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

By Jjb on Monday, April 16, 2007 - 11:12 pm:

DS's school had a great fund raiser this fall. They had spag. dinner and then showed a movie done by Julie Clark (baby einstien) about stranger danger. It was a big hit. I wouldn't have gone to the spaghetti dinner without the movie. We had a great time and the movie was really good.