looking for ideas

flatstick · 12-15-07, 07:38

I am here asking for some ideas from the members here. I will be running a golf tournament in August 2008 to benefit the High School marching band . my kids are part of the school band and they are always holding fund raisers in order to pay for their trips to their competitions. the school in all honesty does not assist as much as you would think. for their ACC ( Atlantic Coast Championships ) this past fall they traveled from Pa to Dover , Delaware to compete for the top spot.the ACC'S used to be held locally in Pa. but now that the Yankees farm team took over the stadium where they were held, the band has the extra burden of coming up with more funding. to make a long story short I have decided to hold a golf tournament at a local course to help the kids raise the funds they need. what I am looking for are thoughts on where to obtain small donations that we can use as door prizes for all of the contestants. been tough to find any corporate sponsors these days as they seem to prefer to not deal with the small time fund raisers. if anybody has any ideas, feel free to share then with me. as always looking forward to the members thoughts. I hope this post is ok with the mods and David. I tried to word this as to covey I am needing opinions on where I can try to find some generous people. not trying to bother the members or be labeled as a shill here. any help you all can provide would be greatly appreciated by the kids as well as me.

mcc · 12-15-07, 07:54

I don't know if this would work for you guys, but it is one of the best fund raising ideas I've heard in a long time. My wife was talking with a lady at an office she cleans, and the lady has kids that are in some sort of travelling all-star baseball league. They needed to raise funds, so here is what they did:

In our area, there are fans of 2 main college athletic teams, the University of Louisville Cardinals (Go Cards!) and the University of Kensucky.....er Kentucky, Mildcats.....er Wildcats. Whatever. Anyway, this lady asked every parent of a child on the team to donate a piece of memorabilia for whatever team they preferred. They had basketballs, footballs, baseballs, cards, banners, etc. They then put together a basket for each team. They were even fortunate to get some of the Louisville coaches to sign some of the memorabilia. She and the kids then went around to local bowling alleys, restaurants, wherever they were allowed, and they sold chances to win the basket of your choice. They priced the chances at $2 each, and most people would just give them a $5 bill for 2 chances with a dollar tip. They wouldn't walk out of just about any establishment with under $100. I don't know how much they raised in the end, but it was quite a success.

If that fails you can always put together a good old fashioned car wash, keeping things to autopian standards, of course.

Hope that helps.

flatstick · 12-15-07, 09:16

mcc,

Thanks for the suggestion. sounds like it would be a good idea. we already have the golf tournament date set and scheduled at the course. I did have the kids do a car wash last year and it did ok. I was not able to attend the car wash but did have the kids use some Optimum car wash and some grout sponges and WW drying towels. thinking I may need to dig through my detailing supplies and see what can be given away by me. you did give me a great idea as I will have to go to the stadium where the Yankees farm team plays and see if they will donate a couple of signed baseballs

plan on taking the kids with me and stopping by the local businesses in the area. what we are doing for the people who donate is placing the owners business card, or copy of it on our sponsor sheet. the sponsor sheet will will be included in every persons goody bag that is given out at the start of the tournament. we will give everybody a doorprize, hoagie, some snacks and water for the round in addition to a catered dinner after the round. this way all of the people will get some cool stuff and have some fun , while helping a great cause. thanks for your thoughts. please keep the suggestions coming everybody.