Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising Ideas

·  Jeans Day: Center employees can pay to wear jeans on Friday.

·  Trike-A-Thon: It is exactly what it sounds like. Make it an athletic challenge where young children get donations per lap that they will ride on their tricycles on a given day or flat donations. Paint a special trike path in your parking lot or use tape on a gymnasium floor. Hold the ride on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and invite families and donors to attend to cheer on their child. Or it can be held during the school day and invite the families to come at specific times to cheer for their child's class.

·  Amazon Website: We receive8% of any/all sales with Amazon if you enter the Amazon site through the portal or our website. www.brighthorizonsfoundation.org This has huge potential and every Bright Horizons employee and parent should save this link as a favorite. It doesn’t matter what you purchase – hair spray, books, music, clothing, tools but you MUST go to Amazon through our Foundation link.

·  Game Day/Day of Fun for All: It could consist of playing pool, watching movies, a big poker tournament, or any other type of games all in one place. Get places to donate gifts/prizes and raffle them off.

·  50/50 Raffle: The 50/50 raffle is a raffle where anyone buying a raffle ticket has a chance to win 50% of the money collected in the raffle! So that means some lucky person could win $500! (or more depending on how many tickets are sold!) Please be sure raffles are legal in your state.

·  Pizza Sales, Cookie Dough Sales, Candy Sales, Wrapping Paper Sales, Book Fairs: There are many vendors that provide school sales.

·  Partnership with Center Vendors: Photographers of children will often offer a percentage of their sales to a charity or encourage parents to add $5 to the purchase of their photo to go to the Foundation.

·  Stay-at-Home Tea Party: Send a fundraising letter with a teabag to potential donors for the Bright Space. Place a note inside that tells the potential donor not to fuss, not to get all dressed up and invite them to stay at home in their pajamas and enjoy a cup of tea when they please. Include the donation card with a stamped envelope where they can place their donation. You could also ask them to send you the names & addresses of friends & family who would possibly donate.

·  Balloon Pop: Before filling a balloon with air or helium, put a note inside. Have a certain number of the notes worth a prize. Have people buy balloons and pop them in the hope of getting the prize. Be sure to pick up the broken balloons afterwards.

·  Dining Out Nights at a Local Restaurant: This type of fundraiser appeals to families because they get to eat out and socialize while helping raise money for your cause. The restaurants appreciate the extra business and the potential for repeat customers. And your organization can earn several hundred dollars in one evening. Dining out fundraisers are usually held on week nights because those are the slower nights for restaurants. The restaurant usually donates a percentage of the pre-tax sales generated by your organization. Twenty percent of sales is a common amount that is donated. So, the more customers your organization provides the restaurant the more money you will raise.

·  Classic Car Show: Organize a classic automobile show. Invite people to attend and to bring their cars by placing ads in local newspapers, leaving flyers at local businesses, and charging people to come and see the show.

·  Dance-a-thon, Rock-a-thon, Anything-a-thon: Turn your children's boundless energy into donations for a shelter! Schools have invited parents to join in the activities and distributed sponsor sheets approximately 10 days before the event. Parents collected donations from sponsors and turned proceeds into the office. Prizes were awarded to children at $25, $50, $75, and $100 donation levels. You may also wish to make this into a faculty event and ask employees to participate, collect sponsors, or donate.

·  Art Auction: Children love to draw, so why not let budding artists raise money for a Bright Space? Hold an auction of your children's artwork, selling the one-of-a-kind creations to parents, relatives, and friends who want to decorate their refrigerator and support a Bright Space at the same time.

·  Silent Auction: Collect donations from area businesses, parents, and/or faculty. Set up a silent auction that runs over the course of a day or even a week.

·  Bake Sale: Invite your parents, clients, and faculty to show off their baking skills! To raise the stakes, ask some high-profile individuals (CEO or President, radio or TV personalities, local celebrities) to bake a special dessert and auction it off to the highest bidder. Fabulous desserts baked with love by well-known personalities. Who could resist?

·  Jellybean Count: Fill a jar with jellybeans (coins, beans, etc.) and have people pay to guess how many there are in the jar.

·  Bag Groceries: Ask a local grocery store if you can bag people's groceries for donations. Be certain to put up a sign saying what the donation is for.

·  Perform aFree Service for Donations: Rake leaves, shovel snow, take care of a pet. When offering your service, ask the person who benefited from your actions for a donation toward your worthy cause.

·  Sell Candy or Cards: Work with reputable businesses that provide merchandise you can sell. Be sure at least half of the money raised goes to your cause.

·  Host a Carnival: Host a mini-carnival, with games, prizes and popcorn, in a local park or your own backyard. Charge admission and/or a small fee to play games.

·  Spaghetti/Pancake/Barbecue/etc. Dinner: Prepare a meal for students, teachers, or community members and charge a fee.

·  A Day of Community Service: Gather together a group of friends, and contact a number of organizations for which you would be interested in volunteering. Then have people sponsor you to do community service for 24 hours.

·  Craft Sale: Make all the crafts yourself and sell them.

·  Three-on-three Basketball Tournament: Organize a basketball tournament in your school with the winning team receiving a prize. This can also be done with soccer, tennis, badminton, or any other sport.

·  Bingo: Host a bingo night.

·  Plant Sale: Organize a plant sale with plants donated by local nurseries.

·  Book Sale: Ask all your friends, relatives, and teachers to donate their old books. Advertise your book sale by means of posters and flyers. Set up a table and sell books. If there are leftovers, you can always give them to a library, shelter, or school.

·  Buy a Brick: If you are fundraising to build a school or building, have people make donations to purchase bricks.

·  Scavenger Hunt: Set a route and make a list of items that the participants need to find in order to win. Advertise your scavenger hunt well and charge everyone a small fee to participate. The winning person/group gets a prize.

·  Car Wash: With a group of friends, set up a car wash in the parking lot of your school or public area.

·  Miniature Golf: Build a nine-hole miniature golf course, featuring ramps, water and sand traps, and other obstacles. Charge people to play a round during lunch.

·  Talent Auction: Auction off the talents of people. For instance, great singers offer to sing at a wedding, party, or special event.

·  Duck Race: Sell numbered plastic ducks. Set all the ducks afloat in a race on a river. The person who bought the duck that wins the race gets a prize.

·  Calendar Sale: Create a calendar highlighting the projects and members of your organization, and sell it to students and their family members.

·  Recipe Book: Gather together favorite recipes and put them together in a book. Sell the book through your school, sports organization, or community center. Try to get the photocopying donated by local businesses.

·  Lemonade Stand: Make lemonade, post signs, and sell it on a hot day.

·  Hot Chocolate/Coffee Stand: Make hot chocolate and/or coffee, post signs, and sell it on a cold day

·  Create CDs: Of favorite naptime music or a CD of the children singing their favorite songs and sell them for a small fee.

·  Publicity: Publicize your plans by telling everyone about your Bright Space and the need for funding. Put up posters, send home notices with your children, and alert the media (They love a good human interest story). Work with the Foundation if you (or your client, sponsor, or shelter) has specific media needs.

Websites with Fundraising Ideas:

http://www.fundraiserhelp.com/fundraiser-ideas.htm

http://www.fundraiserinsight.org/ideas/

http://www.fasttrackfundraising.com/fundraising-ideas.php

http://www.funpastafundraising.com/

http://www.abcfundraising.com/

http://www.ezfund.com/

http://www.auntieannes.com/Fundraising/Fundraising.aspx

http://www.first-aid-product.com/first-aid-kit-fund-raising-raiser.htm

http://www.justfundraising.com/cookie-dough-fundraiser/?gclid=CNjg4sfx-6YCFdtg2god90QQBw

Contributions should be made out to the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children. Donations of checks, cash, or stock are welcome. We are a 501(c)( 3) organization, so all donations are tax-exempt. A copy of our 501(c)( 3) letter from the Internal Revenue Service is available. To receive one, call 615/256-9915 ext. 1845.

ALL DONATIONS SHOULD BE SENT DIRECTLY TO THE FOUNDATION. THEY SHOULD NEVER BE DEPOSITED INTO A CENTER OR SCHOOL ACCOUNTS.

A Foundation Donation Collection Form should be used when sending in all donations. Contact Becky Bowman if you need a form.

SEND TO:

Bright Horizons Foundation for Children

105 Westwood Place

Suite 125

Brentwood, TN 37027