Best Practice on Fund Raising
Joliet Central
Joliet Centrals fund raising takes place in the fall time. We found out that fall fund raising brings a larger profit. The things we tend to not to sell is magazines, coupon books or perishable/refrigerated foods. Profit wise, we try to get a 50/50 profit from the organization funding. We have great turn outs on catalog sales, selling food, and NIC-NAC’s (house objects, candles, etc.). The catalog ranges from an average of $5-$7 dollars. This year we made a $12,000 profit from our catalog sales, which is our biggest profit yet. Our catalog sale usually ranges from $5,000-$7,000 profit. With our catalog sale we use incentives for the sale. There is the mystery staff, if you find the staff member in the school and sell to them, you receive $5. Within the first 3 days of sales, if you have sold X amount of items, you get extra credit or merits. We hold a class period pizza party for the class with most sales. First place winner gets $50 and second place winner gets $20. If you sell equal to or more than 26 items, you receive a no dress day card for once a quarter. Another fund raising sale we hold is our year round snack sale. Our school allows us to sell as long as there is no candy bars, energy, or soda drinks. We profit an average of $700 a quarter.
Who:This is helping is our JROTC program with fund raising for money.
What/When:We do have our snack sales are year-round, our big fund raiser with catalog sales in the fall, and depends on years if we do our Sweetest/ Valentine’s Day sale.
Where: We do this? Our snack sales are only sold to JROTC students during class periods in class. With our fall catalog sale we try to get every JROTC cadet to sell at least something around the school or community (some students have parents bring catalogs to work for sales). With our Swt/Val Day sale, it is done in our school in the cafeteria.
How: We accomplish these fund raising events takes a lot of effort from our instructors and cadets. Everyone needs to take part in it and do their best to sell items.
Betty H. Fairfax
JROTC is very big on participating in events, competitions, and even volunteer services. Any adult or staff member knows extra-curricular activities cost money. Most events come at little to moderate cost, but those costs add up fairly easy. With Army funds being cut, district money shortages and no money in the Stampede JROTC Battalion account, fundraising is essential. After many research hours of fundraising possibilities, the battalion loaned money from the school’s bookstore to invest in a fundraising option from the College Options Foundation. On February 12, 2013, Betty H. Fairfax had its annual potluck for our winter awards. At the potluck we sold Soldier Fuel bars, Survival Bracelets and ACT prep DVDs. Volunteer Cadets successfully set up, operated, and tore down the potluck, while maintaining a professional appearance.
What: ACT DVD ROM, Soldier Fuel Supplemental bars, Survival Chords
When: February 12, 2013 5:30 PM
Where: Campus Auditorium, Cafeteria, various locations on campus
How: Cadet Volunteers during intermission period at ceremony
Why: To raise funds for the Stampede Battalion
Profit:ACT DVD- $96.00
Soldier Fuel- $76.00
Survival Chords- $120.00
Night’s total- $292.00
Mustang
Our Bronco Battalion is extremely successful when it comes to fundraising. Our fundraising process is fairly simple. It consists of two annual events, a battalion carwash and a candle sales event. We encourage all our cadets to participate in these events. Those who participate in both events are awarded the N-4-5 Fundraising ribbon.
At the beginning of the school year, we hold our annual Bronco Battalion Carwash. It’s usually held the last week of August if the weather permits. We ask a local business if they will allow us to use the facility and water supply to wash the cars. For supplies, we bring our own sponges, buckets, and towels. It helps to have as many supplies and carwash signs as possible. Also, it is necessary to bring ample amounts of car soap for washing. Once we have all the supplies and water ready we form two assembly lines and commence the car washing. As for the cadets, we split them up evenly between the two washing lines, a drying station and carwash sign holders to attract business. To encourage cadets to come out we make a competition out of the percentage of cadets who are present from each company. Our total sales are generally between $1000-1500.
Our second fundraising event is the Bronco Battalion Candle Sale. Every year we have our Booster Club parents come do a presentation on how to sell the candles and what is required of each cadet. We give each cadet a candle order form and an envelope to put the money in. As a requirement to get the fundraising ribbon, each cadet has to sell at least $60 worth of candles. A part of the $60 requirement goes towards paying for the cadet’s military ball ticket. Also, the top three cadets that raise the most money in candle sales either get $25, $50, or $75 as a prize. We also turn the candle sale into a competition between each company in our battalion. The company that wins gets points put towards our “Honor Company” competition.
Who:Our entire battalion participates in both fundraisers to compete Company against Company
What/When:We do a Candle Sale Fundraiser and a Car Wash. The car wash is in the fall and we do the candle sells in the spring
Where:The car wash is in a parking lot by our school and we sell to our school, neighborhoods, and family.
How:We plan these events about a month in advance
Livingston
At Livingston High School, we have a couple of different ways of helping our program with fundraising. Those ways are hosting car washes, selling BBQ meals at the car washes, selling discount cards, and selling paracord bracelets.
At the car washes, we have cadets come out on a Saturday morning around 10AM and begin helping. Before all that can happen, though, the staff has to plan the event out. Normally the entire staff plans about what day to host the car wash on. Once that is decided, the Battalion Commander (BC), Executive Officer (XO), and S-4 begin talking with the SAI and booster club to decide what supplies is needed and what food is going to be served during the car wash. The S-2 would create a weather report and a risk assessment to make sure the weather is going to be clear that day and to be prepared for any possible accidents. Once the day has come, cadets come out and either holds signs by the street, wash cars, dry them, or help the booster club sell dinner plates. After the day is over, the next Monday each company does an AAR (After Action Review).
For the discount cards, we buy the cards originally for a set price of $1.50 each. Then we sell each card for $10 with all of the discounts that come included on the card. For example, at Burger King, you get a free Whopper Jr with a purchase of an Original Whopper and a Medium drink. At Ci-Ci's Pizza, 2 people can dine (including 2 buffets and 2 drinks) for $9.99. Each cadet begins with receiving 10 each and then they can come back and ask for more as needed. For every 10 cards sold by a cadet, they will receive one free. If they sell 20 total cards, they can receive a free Military Ball ticket. The cards are sold individually, but in some cases, businesses around town allow the cadets to set up in front of their store.
A more recent way of raising money is by selling paracord bracelets. We began selling them to help raise money to come here for the JLAB competition. Since they were so popular, we decided to continue to sell them to the community.
We are slowly trying to expand to different ways of raising money for the program, that way we can make our Military Ball and other events more enjoyable for the cadets.
Who: The entire battalion has the option to participate in each fundraising event.
What:We do a car wash, paracord bracelet, and discount cards.
When:The car wash and discount cards take place in the beginning of the school year and the paracord bracelets are sold towards the end of the school year.
Where:The car wash takes place at the telephone company and we sell the discount cards at various locations around town.
How:Each event is planned about 1 month ahead of time.
Why:To help raise money for our Military Ball and drill competitions.
Profit: Car wash: Around $500
Paracord Bracelets: $2000- $4000
Discount Cards: $5000- $8000