More FUNDRAISING IDEAS for YOU!

Need further info?

Contact your Family Teams Specialist,

Betsy Rhodes @ (804)968-4120 or cell (804)955-9538

Or via e-mail at

SEND BETSY MORE IDEAS and she’ll add them to the list!

Don’t forget FACEBOOK and TWITTER:

Need to raise money QUICKLY? If you’re part of a social networking group, don’t forget to post a link to your Personal Page so friends in your network can donate to you!

Also, Create a VIRTUAL March for Babies Fundraising EVENT on Facebook – Create a “Help Me Support Healthy Babies Day” Facebook event and invite all your friends.

  • Post motivational photos/videos.
  • Tell YOUR STORY!
  • Post your fundraising goal bar online – go to for help!
  • Include the link to your Personal Page
  • Ask everyone to donate via the link
  • Periodically on that day, rally everyone with posts such as “I’m just $150 away from my GOAL! If just 30 of my friends will each donate $5, I’ll reach my GOAL! Won’t you HELP!”
  • CELEBRATE at the end of the day, thanking folks with SHOUT OUTS – “Thanks Uncle Pete for your $50 donation! You’re the BEST!”

Eat Out AND raise money for your Family Team!

Another QUICK way to fundraise! Many restaurants will hold a Restaurant MARCH FOR BABIES Night Out and give you a percentage of the revenue. Contact your local restaurant manager for details. Here’s a list of restaurants that will generally participate. SEND BETSY MORE RESTAURANTS and she’ll add them to the list!

  • Noodles and Company
  • Appleby’s
  • CiCi’s Pizza
  • Sonic
  • Chucky Cheese
  • Big Boy/Shoney’s
  • Max & Erma’s
  • Papa John’s Pizza
  • Pizza Hut

Sell Great Stuff!

Are you a whiz at selling things? Here’s a list of great businesses that offer wonderful products AND will donate a portion of the sales price back to worthy non-profits.

All you have to do is call or go online to the business and ask how you can raise funds for your favorite charity: The March of Dimes. If you need an official letter of reference for the business, contact Betsy Rhodes at

SEND BETSY MORE Participating Businesses and she’ll add them to the list!

  • Plushland Bean Bags for Babies – March of Dimes collectable bears & stuffed animals; also sells Collegiate Collectables – Visit
  • Yankee Candle – Visit
  • Silpada Jewelry – Visit
  • Home Interiors – Visit
  • Schwan’s Food Delivery – Visit
  • CANDY SALES in the Richmond Area – Contact Karen Parry with Luke Parry Enterprises – or (804)514-7468

Create/Sell customized T-Shirts

This idea comes from Diane Lawson, Team Captain of her company, Russell County Medical Center, Lebanon, Va., which walks in the Russell County March for Babies. This idea could work for both medium-to-large companies and/or family teams.

Walkers approach local businesses who pay $100 each to have their logo, phone# and website address put on the MFB COMPANY TEAM’s custom t-shirt. About 50 businesses (think lawyers, hairdressers, hardware stores, etc.) do this; the logos & info is placed on the back of the shirt. Then the COMPANY TEAM puts its logo and the March for Babies logo on the front of the shirt and sells the shirts for $25 each to walkers, others in the community.

OTHER VERSIONS OF THIS:

  • Partner with a school and have the children compete to design the front of the shirt. Winner gets a free shirt; the rest are sold.
  • A CLUB (Mothers of Multiples, church, school etc.) could ask parents to buy space on the back of the shirt and supply wallet sized baby photos of their children (for $10-20 per photo). The front would read, ie: - “We March for Babies to create a world where every child is born full-term and healthy. We March to celebrate ALL our Babies!”

Hold a Pretty Baby Contest or a Beauty Pageant!

This is a very simple way to raise lots of money quickly. You won’t need to reinvent the wheel to plan this fundraiser. Simply contact March of Dimes Community Director Nikki Hicks at ((866)881-0032 OR at

Nikki has done this for years in her community and has all the plans, forms, paperwork, etc. to help you create a great event.

Hold a Wonder Walk!

This fundraiser works great with schools, day cares or churches. Children get to create their own mini-March for Babies event using supplies from the March of Dimes.

Contact March of Dimes Community Director Nikki Hicks at ((866)881-0032 OR at

Nikki has done this for years in her community and has all the plans, forms, paperwork, etc. to help you create a great event. (PS – We call Nikki the “Wonder Walk Queen” because she’s so successful at this)

Hold a ROCK-A-THON!

Your local Cracker Barrel restaurant may allow you to hold a Rock-A-Thon Fundraiser using its front porch & famous Cracker Barrel Rockers! Visit to find the store near you, then contact the local manager and ask.

THANKS to Kelly Truxell of “Annabelle’s love”, Augusta March for Babies, for this idea! She’s doing one for her Family Team this April! Top prize for the event is – you guessed it! – a Cracker Barrel rocking chair! Awesome!

If you need further info about organizing this event, contact Betsy Rhodes at

Organize a SCAVENGER HUNT

Many local businesses, restaurants and/or bars will participate in a Community Scavenger Hunt.

Angela Wolf, Family Team Captain of “The Survivors” of Shenandoah Valley March for Babies, organizes a Bar Hop Scavenger Hunt in her young adult community each year. She contacts numerous bars and restaurants in her community and asks each to participate by keeping a bowl of clues on hand for participants on the appointed evening; each clue leads to the next stop. She also asks business owners to donate a small freebie for prizes AND encourages participants to patronize the businesses, too. Each participant then pays $25 to play in the Scavenger Hunt.

Angela raises about $1000 each year for her Family Team by signing up 30-50 people to participate in the Scavenger Hunt. It’s fun and profitable!

Though Angela does this with young adults, it would also work great for high school youth, church youth, college sorority/fraternity groups, or a school club etc.

Other Creative Fundraisers:

  • Jolynn Perry of Team Aspen, Eastern Shore March for Babies, holds a yearly Mystery Egg Competition. She gets local businesses to donate great prizes – big and small – and then puts notes telling about each prize in plastic Easter eggs. Other eggs contain candy. Jolynn advertises the Competition around her community via flyers, posters, radio PSA’s and the local newspaper. People in her community purchase 1 egg for $2 or 3 eggs for $5. ON THE PRESENTATION weekend, Jolynn sets up all the prizes at a local Pet Store and has the eggs on hand. People open their purchased eggs and get whatever is inside. In 3 hours, Jolynn typically raises over $900 for her Family Team! THE SAME IDEA COULD BE DONE FOR SPRING – using a flower theme; putting prize info or coupons for “Enjoy a sweet treat!” in envelopes decorated with flowers. Be sure to have a jar of penny candy on hand for those who get the coupon for candy!
  • Team Aspen (above) has also raised money by holding a PENNY DRIVE or a DIME DRIVE – with drop sites all around town.
  • COLLECT YOUR CAR CHANGE – Betsy Rhodes, Family Team Specialist for the March of Dimes and Capt of Crazy for Carter, Richmond March for Babies – keeps a purple baby bottle in her car cupholder during March season. Every time she gets change back, she puts it there. A baby bottle holds appx. $65-$100 worth of coins, depending on the denomination.
  • Do you have out of town friends/family members who want to help but can’t walk with you on the day of the March? Ask them to be a VIRTUAL WALKER for your Family Team! They will register for your Team as a walker, but then raise money for your team offsite, online, etc. Then on the day of the March, take a photo of your team, with a sign saying “We miss you! THANKS SO MUCH for being a VIRTUAL WALKER for us!” – then send them a copy to Thank them for helping your Family Team GROW!
  • Find a LOCAL SPORTS TEAM who will let you do a Family Night/Day. Contact the local manager or publicity office for that team and ask how to make it happen.