Parents Looking for fundraising & auction ideas

[josie55]

Hello.

I know there was a post on this a while back, but as the search feature isn't working for me I can't seem to find it. Regardless, perhaps by creating a new thread we can generate even more ideas.

I'm looking for fundraisers that our booster club can sponsor. Specifically I'm looking for three things:

1. General ideas for fundraisers, ideally that don't involve selling things to other people or asking parents to buy things. That said, if you know of something hugely profitable that involves selling then I'd love to hear it.

2. Ideas for fun things that could be included in an auction. Items are great, but I'm also looking for ideas for "experiences" that could be auctioned off, either to team or rec families.

3. Any ideas for fundraisers that could be done at an event/banquet, including ideas that involve coaches. I'm thinking of something along the lines of a dunk booth/pie-in-the-face type of thing, but perhaps not quite so bold. I don't know if coaches read the parents forum but if so and you have ideas of something you'd be willing to do for a good cause, I'd love to hear them!

Thanks in advance!

 

[bogwoppit]

A golf tournament followed by dinner and a silent auction was our schools biggest fundraiser. Tickets sold out each year.

 

[kayjaybe]

One of our biggest fundraisers where we don't have to sell things (as individuals) is a 5k run. But you really need to know what you are doing to hold one and it takes a TON of work. But if you advertise & promote it, people will register even though nobody at the gym "sold" them a registration.

 

[kayjaybe]

As for option 3 - pie in face/dunk booth/etc - that isn't going to raise much money and the tickets are really only going to be bought by the gymnasts...so you aren't really raising anything. It is your own money you are paying.

 

[gymdoc]

We had a Halloween party/open gym night. The coaches volunteered their time as well as parents to supervise. We charged $20 and it was open to the public. We had about 120 kids, 40 of which were team. Parents donated snacks and pizza.

 

[mommyof1]

Some supermarkets allow customers to register their frequent shopper cards to nonprofits. The nonprofit gets a donation every time the customer scans the frequent shopper card. It costs the customer nothing and requires no effort other than re-registering the card once a year. Our booster club makes a little money this way, and it's totally painless for parents.

 

[Pirouette]

1. The best "sell stuff" fundraiser we ever did was from Celebrating Home. The products sell well, and the profit margin on non-perishables is 50%, perishables 40%. I looked far and wide for a more profitable selling fundraiser and have yet to find one.

2. Do university teams ever donate tickets to one of their gymnastics meets? I'd bid on that, especially if you could find a limo or transportation company to donate the ride there and back.

3. Do you mean fundraisers at your team's banquet? How about a candy/cookie walk? Kids buy tickets and walk from square to square until the music stops. Pull a number, and whoever is standing on that number wins a treat. So yes, you are getting the funds from your own team, but it's fun for the kids.

 

[CTMOM]

Not sure where you are located, but we sold pies and cookie dough this year and it was a HUGE it. The team made almost $2K and it was an easy fundraiser. I think they only do the northeast states, but maybe you have something like this local?

http://www.mcmfundraising.com/who-we-are

 

[Texasmomof3]

We do local restaurant nights quite successfully. Chick Fil A, Boston Market, Chuck E Cheese, Chilis, iHop, Spring Creek, Whataburger -- around here many, many places participate. They give a portion of their night's sales to the school/club in exchange for the free advertising.

Patrons just have to say to include their meal, even if they aren't part of the club or school. One night where no one from the gym has to do anything (except advertise the event), usually nets our school $1500-$2000.

 

[gymmiemom]

Our biggest fundraiser (besides meets), is our annual father-daughter dance that we host. It has turned into a huge event that our community looks forward to every year. Since there is virtually no over-head (we just use a local gym at a school for venue, a dj donates her time each year and each booster family makes 50-75 treats) it has a huge profit margin. On top of tickets to the dance, we sell raffle tickets at the door for prizes. 3 prizes for the dads (the tv, sound bar, $100 gift card to a sporting goods store, etc.) and 3 prizes for the girls (kindle, gift card, beats, etc.). Each girl gets one free raffle ticket. The 1st 50 girls through the door gets a rose that our local florist donates. We only have drinks and a desert buffet. Easy peasy!

It's also my favorite fundraiser. It's so fun to see the girls all dressed up having fun with their dads/uncles/brothers/grandpas!

 

[josie55]

Thank you so much for all of these ideas! There are so many great ideas here, and hopefully more will come. I particularly love the idea of a father/daughter dance... so cute! And a golf tournament could also be really popular. It's great to see the various options for different types of sales so that I can figure out what will work for our community. Thank you!!

 

[aksaunders]

I know you don't want to sell anything but if you get professionally made raffle tickets and sell them for $5 each, you can make quite a bit of money. The site I use for tickets cost $41 for a 1000 raffle tickets. Raffle off an iPad mini or something and have the booster families sell the tickets. At $5 each, it is an easy sell.

Also, poker tournaments can make quite a bit of money.