Fundraising Intro:

Fundraising is critical to the success of any Grad Night Party. With more and more groups and causes competing for funds, it is important to get an early start on raising those needed dollars. Don’t be afraid to be creative. The old fundraisers like car washes and bake sales will still help to raise money for your event, but trying something new and different, something with a fresh approach (Like with BABIESLOVETODANCE.com), will normally get a bigger response and garner more free publicity. The following thoughts and ideas should prove helpful in getting rid of those “Budget Blues.”

Get It For Nothing:
Whether it’s to be sold, given away, a prize in a raffle, or used as a part of the event, always try to obtain the goods and services you will need as a donation from local merchants or vendors. Don’t forget those businesses in the community who don’t have a physical product to donate. They may not be approached for donations as often, and can still donate their services. A lawyer might donate the preparation of a simple will as an item for an auction, or an accountant might offer tax preparation as a prize for a raffle, or a dentist might provide a free examination. The same principle applies to the items and supplies needed for other fundraising projects. A printer might donate the flyers needed to promote your raffle or a bakery can donate the rolls needed for your sandwich sale.

As an added incentive for donations from some businesses, suggest that they might want to provide “giveaways,” or “promotional items” for your Grad Night Party, or more specifically, to possible lifetime customers. As the Graduates enter into adulthood, businesses looking for long-term customer loyalty from your young adults, can derive tremendous advantages from the following form of donations. For example, a Frisbee, mug, or book bag inscribed with the words “Congratulations Class of ‘07 from Your Friends at Starbucks ” can and will provide promotional benefits to the business long after the event.

Get It Wholesale or at Cost:
If a merchant or vendor is unable or unwilling to donate to your event, ask if you can purchase what you need at cost. Buying the goods and services you need at cost or wholesale rather then retail can add up to big savings on volume purchases. If your organization doesn’t have a wholesale number or tax-exempt status on purchases, you should investigate these options with your parent volunteers, perhaps one or more of your members runs their own business and actually has one or both items. If conditions make this impossible, check into the possibility of using your school’s purchasing department to make needed purchases.

Get as Many People Involved as Possible:
Don‘t try to do everything yourself. In order to execute an effective fundraising campaign, it is necessary to involve and motivate those around you. Energy, excitement, and most importantly enthusiasm build in proportion to the number of individuals involved. If possible, try to get people who are always on the go. People who are civic minded, and involved in a wide variety of organizations and activities, are the ideal candidates for fundraising. Their networking abilities will greatly enhance awareness of your event and fundraising activities and may even provide some unsolicited donations. Also, consider co-sponsorships, groups that share a common goal with your event such as SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions: 1-877-723-3462, www.saddonline.com), MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers: 1-800-GET-MADD, www.madd.org), or DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education: 1-800-323-3273, www.dare-america.com) would be ideal co-sponsors.

Set a Definite Goal:
How much money is enough? This will depend on a number of factors such as the type of event you are planning, the number of people in attendance, site location, etc. Is the event at the school or are you holding it at another location that must be paid for? Is there a theme for the event? Can committee members make decorations or will they need to be purchased? The list goes on. What is important, though, is to determine exactly what you want to do in relation to the Grad Night Party, stick to that agenda, and be realistic with your planning. More importantly, though, work together!

Set a realistic goal — don’t set a goal of $50,000 when you can realistically only expect to raise $25,000. If you exceed your goal, great! If not, you have at least diminished the impact of disappointment that comes from not meeting your fundraising goals.

Make a Definite Plan:
Try and learn from others.Evaluate others' effectiveness. What did, or did not, work well? If a particular fundraising event was unsuccessful, ask why. Was it poor planning or bad weather? Was it bad timing? Would the same fundraiser have been successful if it had been held four weeks earlier or later? The following steps should help get you going:

Decide Who Your Target Market Is — What appeals to the people in your community? What types of activities you hold and what you charge will be based on your target market. If the big annual attraction currently in town is the monster truck rally, don’t expect to meet your goals raffling off tickets to the ballet.
Walk Before You Run — It is easier to have a number of smaller events than one large one that can quickly get out of hand. Small projects can be just as financially successful. In addition, having a number of different fundraising events allows you to direct each one at a different target market within the community.
Selecting Your Fundraiser Event Date Is Critical.
Eliminating possible conflicts is a key factor in the success of most fundraising endeavors, unless you plan on tying your fundraising efforts in with other community events. Check the school, local athletic and community calendars, newspapers, and radio for other fundraising events, which may coincide or conflict with your fundraising plans.

How Much To Ask For:
Whether you’re selling hot dogs or tickets to Babies Love to Dance, unfortunately, there is no set formula that can tell you what to charge. Don’t price yourself out of the market, but don’t sell yourself short either. Common sense of the spending habits within your community will be your best guideline to dictate what you should charge. Also, a great deal of this will depend on how much and how well you can “sell.” Make a list of all the good and virtuous points to your cause and use these as your selling points.
Types of Fundraisers:

Sales — Along with the traditional candy sales, there is an entire list of potential items, both necessary and frivolous, that can be sold for fundraising. Plants and flowers, calendars, and gift-wrap are just a few that come to mind.
Food — Everyone eats, and most people enjoy the social interaction that is integral to any food function. Be it individual items, such as subway sandwiches, candy bars, clambakes, ice cream socials, or a chili cook-off, let creativity make your event both fun and profitable.
Social Occasions — Talent shows, dances, hayrides, lectures, theme parties, and scavenger hunts are all examples of social events that can draw crowds. Also, other events combining this appeal with sales, such as bridal and fashion shows, craft fairs, and auctions offer additional possibilities.
Sporting Events — Modern society loves competitive sports and will usually turn out for such events. Golf, softball, 5K runs, and games between the home team and a group of local celebrities, are just a few of the many types of sporting events that can be staged for fundraising. It is imperative that the equipment be safe and functional and that any referees or scorekeepers know and follow the rules of the game. Any questions as to the fairness of a competition of can haunt an organization and its events long after the fact; this is important to understand. The last thing you want for your Grad Night Party is to start off on the wrong foot and be associated with a bad stigma.
Games — This will depend on the laws in Washington State and municipality regarding gambling. Many states that prohibit any type of activity involving gambling will permit gaming for charitable causes. Las Vegas nights, track nights, and bingo usually should be restricted to adults.
Services — Washing windows, raking leaves, shoveling snow, or mowing lawns are all services most people need. Different services might be singing or humorous telegrams (have the cheerleading, football team, and other school organizations and clubs do personal telegrams during Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc.), a shopping service, a gift wrapping service during the holiday season, a wake-up or important date reminder service, and dog walking are all “off-beat” services that could be offered. Remember, the more unique the service, the better chance you have of getting free publicity in the local media.
These ideas and suggestions should give your organization some basics to get you started. Your particular community may provide avenues for fundraising that are outside the scope of a brief chapter such as this. Your local library should provide additional ideas and information. Civic clubs, fraternal groups, fundraising, and organizations are all areas to research.

Fundraising Ideas:

Tie Dyeing
Fundraisers that get the whole school involved are a great way to promote your cause and raise money. Vintage and nostalgic, tie dyeing is a fun and campy way to raise money. For a fee, you would distribute cotton t-shirts for dyeing. The dyeing process involves placing rubber bands on each shirt and dipping it into cold water. Then the portion of the shirt to be dyed is dipped into the dye itself. The shirt is then hung up to dry. The rubber bands are removed when the drying process is completed. As with any fundraiser, this type of event should be placed in a high-traffic area (outside the cafeteria, or commons areas) and could also do well at other outdoor and sporting events.

Mascot Mania
Who could resist the opportunity to have a photograph of oneself as the school mascot and help out a worthy cause at the same time? Have a graphic artist/painter create a plywood cutout of your school mascot holding a football. It could have a detachable arm holding various seasonal items such as a basketball, track shoes, tennis racquet, golf club, etc. This will enable your group to use the fundraiser year-round. Polaroid photos are fine, however, you might want to check with your local photo finisher regarding shooting in 35mm or digital, you could then offer 8" x 10" photos or even posters.

The Great Pizza Taste Off
Pizza is one of the most popular food items around, so what better food on which to center a fundraiser? For the admission fee, patrons get two slices of pizza from each pizza company. Encourage each pizza company to give away hats, t-shirts, cups, coupons, etc. This idea provides exposure to restaurant owners and gives them the opportunity to promote their products to the community. As with any food event, try to procure the support of a local distributor for the beverages. Location is important — try local community halls or park facilities as possible venue sites.

Bombs Away
This is an adaptation of a program that the University of Kentucky used to promote its Little Kentucky Derby Spring weekend activities. The college’s student activities board imprinted ping-pong balls with “LKD” and numbered them (they used approximately 3,000 balls). Prizes, everything from restaurant gift certificates and free car washes, to a get-away weekend at a local hotel, were solicited from local merchants. Numbers were then randomly selected to correspond to the over 400 prizes. The site of the drop was announced two weeks prior, and was promoted with posters, flyers, etc.

The balls were dropped from everything imaginable, including a helicopter and a hot-air balloon. The prizes were distributed at the Little Kentucky Derby itself, and the fact that they might have already won a prize got people excited and anxious to attend the event! With a little creativity, this could easily be used as a fundraiser itself, or use this idea as a way to distribute door prizes at another event or at the Gradnite.

Track & Field
How about an event that really gets the blood pumping? Teams or individuals compete in a variety of events that are as much fun for spectators as participants! All you need is an area approximately 100' x 100', scorekeepers, judges, timekeepers, and prizes! The events are up to you, try to make them fun and silly such as a javelin toss with brooms, shot put with tomatoes or cabbages, a backward 50- or 100-yard dash, a hammer throw with yo-yos, instead of high jump do a limbo, a relay race with high heels and rubber chickens as batons, a belching contest, anything goes, so use your imagination! A team of local celebrities (mayor, principal school staff, police chief, etc.) can be a great addition to this event! Trophies and prizes to the winners, and more opportunities to rack up funds with concessions sales (t-shirts, food, etc.).

What Are Some Unique Promotional Ways to Promote My Fundraiser?
The following proven ideas are guaranteed to get attention:

Stick labels advertising your fundraiser on soda pop cans or the disposable cups used at fast food restaurants.
An often missed, but sure-fire, spot for advertising is inside the doors of rest rooms and bathroom stalls!
Depending on local ordinances, events can be advertised by writing in chalk on the sidewalks. Avoid writing directly in high-traffic areas!
“Do Not Disturb,” hotel-style door hangers that say, “I’m at the (City/Town) High School Strawberry Social,” with the description, dates, and times on the reverse.
Ask local vendors if you can place promotional items in key locations, such as placing a flyer at the drive up window for a fast food restaurant.
Always try and place your signs, banners, etc. near a clock! This seemingly obvious tip is often overlooked.
Have committee members dress in appropriate costumes a day or two prior to the event — Western attire for Bar-B-Q, Hawaiian shirts and leis for a pig roast, etc.
Make announcements at school events, your local sporting events and social gatherings. A small one-minute plug at any special event doesn't seem like much to a company or organization sponsoring the event, but can make a big difference for the awareness of your Grad Night Party.