Does your gym organize fund raisers? Ideas?

[Deanna]

I was just wondering if your gym held fund raisers to help defray costs?

The team at our gym holds several fund raisers a year. They have had three so far.

They got a local fast food restaurant to donate a small percent of the money raised while they were there to the comp team. We handed out tickets as people walked in, or came through the drive through.. all they had to do was then hand the ticket to the casheir and a percentage of what was spent by the people with the tickets in the three hour time we were there was donated to the team..each girl 22 of them walked away with just over 20 dollars. (not much on that one..but not bad)

They also just stood outside of a major distributor in two hour shifts..4 girls, two at each door. At the end of each shift the money was divided between the 4 girls equally. (Kadee got the shaft on that one, she raised over 100 by herself..the little cute factor..lol..but only walked away with 76 plus change)

They also went around to local businesses and asked if they wanted to sponser them as individuals. They could donate at different levels, bronze, silver, gold, platinum. Those who donated, their business name would apear on the back of their t-shirts they wear under their warmups to comps. (they also get a free shirt) and depending on the level they donated would determin how large a font their name appears in.

The PC (parents club) are very good at managing this. And for the most part the girls get what they earned. 90% of what each child earns goes directly into that childs "kitty" to draw from for comp fees and such. (from the 3 raisers she has just over 350 in her kitty which is such a relief to just know its there to draw from if needed) The other 10% goes to the gym. Half to the gym itself for repairs, updates, or replacements and the other half to the PC to help fund future fund raisers.

Tomorrow night we are haiving a PC meeting, and they were asking for new ideas we may have for future fund raisers. Something that isnt too mature for the little ones, and not to childish for big girls. Something that is weather appropriate for fall/winter.

Does anyone have any ideas. Something new and fresh, something different. What things worked for you guys what things didnt?

Any adivce will be great.
I hope i put this in the right place.

 

[bookworm]

Our gym's parent association runs a leotard re-sale in the fall and everyone brings in their outgrown leos and they are sold to rec classes or other gymnasts at a fraction of their cost...the person who sells the leo makes 100% of the profit because their is really no overhead...I have made between 200-300 every year doing this...we also resell old warm ups and competitive leos (the rec kids really love these).

 

[bogwoppit]

Our gym sells chocolate every year, I hate it, hubby is a dentist, need I say more!!

 

[Blazing15]

I was gonna say if you have a room availble or do this on a day the gym is closed and then post signs everywhere. Have everyone do a big garage sale. Everything in the garage sale is donated by the families and any money made goes to the girls team.

 

[All Chalked Up]

Well, our gym has somthing called the "Tumble-A-Thon". Basically, the gymnasts raise money, and then depending on our level, we either do 50 or 100 or 200 tumbling lines! It's really fun for the gymnasts, and the gym makes money too! We raised 3,400$ this year and it was amzing! The money went to a guy going to Nationals and girls going to Atlantics and Easterns, and we also bought some new equipment.

 

[gymnastgets10]

My mom organizes a year-round fundraiser with a local grocery store. Basically the store offers bulk gift cards to non-for-profits at a discounted price. So the parents club buys the discounted gift cards and then sells them to the parents at full price. The difference between the full value and the discounted rate gets added to the gymnast's account. It's a little bit of a pain, but you can raise money for gymnastics by buying groceries! You might want to check with local stores and see if they have anything like this. We also have candy sales throughout the year, a sleepover/Halloween party, and an open gym/exibition thing on National Gymnastics Day (September somethingth) that was a big success last year!

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

At our gym, we have been fundraising for travel and here is what we have done:
Silent auction ($13, 000)
50/ 50 tickets
selling sausage/ cookie dough, etc.
bottle drive
soon we will have a car wash

I think there may be a few other things but thats all i can remember

 

[ProudMomofGymnast]

We actually fo quite a bit of fundraising. We do a Pasta fundraiser that the parents love. This company puts out themed pasta. We also sell candles twice a year, Joe Corbi, flower bulbs and a car wash!

 

[gym law mom]

Deana, one concern I have is that the parent's group is giving money to the gym. Is your parent group at not for profit also known as 501(c)3? If so, you cannot legally give funds to a business---they are in a for profit category with the IRS.

Also you have to be careful with corporate sponsors. If "Susie" gets company x to donate money then that check needs to be made out to the booster or parent club and not "Susie." Now, the booster club may have a formula for how much goes into "Susie's" account(it should not be 100%) and how much to their general fund. Corporate sponsors are great, but you have to watch how you handle them.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Our biggest fundraiser is running a meet. Other things are candles pie sales for Thanksgiving pizza Avon leotard sales entertainment books and candy. Also ad books which are at the meets. If you do alittle at a time it adds up and really helps with the costs.

 

[Deanna]

Thank you all for the ideas, i will bring them up tomorrow night. As far as the money and the businesses..the checks they made out were to the Parent Club, not the gym. We also gave the business a tax paper with the 501c3 on it, for them to turn in when they do their taxes. Im not sure how the parents club goes about "donating" the 5% to the gym, I dont believe that they just hand over the money. It was agreed apon and in one of our main fund raising papers saying that 5% would be used towards the gym, such as equipment, repairs, yadda yadda..the other 5%goes to the parents club to help fund other fund raisers. I will ask tomorrow night and see just how they go about the 5% to the gym. Private donation ect.. The 90% that goes to each girl is pooled in the main Parents Club account, the president keeps a running tab on each childs kitty. Like i have said MANY times before (lol) i am still so new to this whole team thing, i am learning as i go along. Im glad that you brought up the deal with the gym getting the money and wondering how that was working with it being a non profit deal. Now it makes me wonder how they go about this legaly. Im sure its nothing shady..and they (the parents club) has found some loop hole in which to donate to the gym. I know that it was taken to vote at our first meet just how much money went where. We were able to vote out that part (the gym) if we wanted but we all thought it would be nice to donate a portion and voted on the amount of 5%..but i will surely be checking into how this is actually done. Again thank you ladies for all your ideas, and i will bring them up tomorrow.

 

[Gymdad2]

Also, check the 501c3 rules about divison of funds. It is my understanding that funds must be shared equally among all members if you are non-profit.

 

[1sttimecoach]

We do brat frys at a local grocery store. We sell brats, burgers, nachos, ect. Try to get the food donated to the team and then you will make clear profit.

Also look into local fests or fairs in your town. Try to get a booth to sell food.

 

[gym law mom]

You asked for fund raising ideas and got a legal lecture Anyway some fund raisers for us are hosting meets(usually 2/year), used leo sale(real easy way to make money), sell Butter Braids.

A mega garage sale, carwash with bake sale are good ways to make money without having alot of overhead. Have also sold Pizza Pals from Old Chicago(don't know if they do it anymore). Our booster club is trying to get away from doing alot of selling. Right now, with the economy in a major slump it is just tougher to get people to buy things and everyone does get tired of asking people at work and the same friends/relatives over and over.

 

[B Gymnast]

we had a trivia night for the past two years and it's a lot of fun! the gymnasts get to work it and i thgink we get about 50 dollars each for our competitive fund. And everyone's favorite part is the handstand contest!

 

[Deanna]

Thanks again everyone. I dont mind people bringing up the legalities of it all. It interests me, and it prompted me to ask about it. What they said was that no, they (the parents club) could not physicaly hand over money to the gym. But lets say a beam needs re-leathered, or new springs for a tramp..ect, then the parents club can then use the money set aside
"for the gym" to buy these things for the gym, then "donate" the springs or what have you.

As far as each kid, i know this one (yay me..lol), because someone else brought it up tonight. Yes, each child that participates gets an equal share. But it can be broke down into say... days or hours. The business we stood out in front of, went on for 2 days, 8 hrs a day, broken down into 2 hr shifts. There were 4 girls per shift. So what ever the 4 girls raised in their specific 2 hr shift was combined then divided equally. But they didnt take the whole 2 day event and divide it between the 32 girls that worked it. They broke it down per shift. Each girl had to sign in and out. This is the "fundraiser" where i said Kadee got the shaft, because she collected over 100 on her own, but only walked away with about 75.