meet donations?

[sportyfam5]

Our gym is hosting the level 4 state meet in early June. We plan to hold a raffle as a fundraiser. Does anyone have any good sources of places willing to make nice donations. I already sent an email to Ten.0 and DGS. This is the first state meet I have been involved with so any others suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[coachmolly]

Try families from the gym as well as local businesses. Sometimes a family or group of families is willing to chip in for a specific prize, gift certificate, basket of goodies, etc. Local companies and stores will also sometimes offer a product or service or at least a discount. Do you have any big companies nearby?
Do you have a photographer attending the meet? My brother was a swimmer and at one of his meets one of the raffle prizes was a free photo collage from the meet photographer. My mom ended up winning and it was a really memorable prize that my mom wouldn't have bought for herself. So you could inquire about that if there will be a photo company on site.
Someone will probably be able to provide much more help as I've never helped organize a meet. Good luck!

 

[Gymdad2]

We always offer something in return for a donation. Its usually an ad in our program or a banner at the meet and/or in our gym or both depending on the size of the donation. We also thank all of our sponsors/doners at the beginning of each session. Coachmolly is right about families; try to get them involved either as sponsors or have them ask their employers to be sponsors.

 

[Tim_Dad]

Our parent group doesn't do fundraisers - so to speak. They talked about it, had lots of typical ideas (car washes, raffles, candy sales, etc). Bottom line, it was easier to just ask for money. It was a donate what you can afford 'anonymously' approach, without anyone knowing what was donated or when. Some parents couldn't afford anything, while others, myself included, kicked in $100 to the cause. We ended up with over $1500 in the kitty after the first go-around. Plenty to cover the groups expenses, but the bulk tends to help the parents that are having a hard time affording gym. (due to sudden unemployement, etc).

If you want to do a raffle -- I would HIGHLY recommend buying an American Girl doll, along with a few outfits (like the AG leo, gymnastics book, etc), and package them all into a single gift basket. Ask for a $2 donation at the door. Trust me -- when the girls see this upon entering the meet - a lot of parents, and grand parents will buy the raffle ticket(s).

 

[bookworm]

At our meet we would get one of the gymnastics camps (Woodward, IGC, USGTC) to donate a week and raffle of tickets for 10 bucks each...the week at camp is between 600-900 dollars so to risk 10 dollars (or you could do $5) for a great return was always a big hit. Lots of girls do camp so this always went over well.

The American girl doll was also another big hit for us. We also got one of the equipment companies (that was hired to bring the equipment for our meet) to donate a home beam and raffled that off too. Check to see which company is doing your equipment set up and give them a call.

 

[gym law mom]

Have all the families start to make contacts NOW. Beat the bushes with local businesses for any type of donation---gas cards, passes to a theater, cards for restaurants. Try the larger chains since you'll have people coming from all over the state and don't want to restrict them to businesses just in your town. Raffling off a leo or 2 always goes over big. Also meet t-shirts or hoodies.

We had raffles at our home compulsory meet and you really need to have some aggressive and creative folks working on this. We found many places need at least 30 days to get something to you. Certainly offer to put a mention or their ad in your program and if your booster club is a 501c3 remind them this is a tax deduction for them.

We did "theme" baskets and had them sitting out on a table in the lobby with a card on each saying what was in it. That way people can check out the loot before going into the meet or come out and take a look between rotations. We also had girls walk around with the baskets and our annoucer would do a little commercial to talk them up.

The raffle for camp is a great idea and I've seen it done at some big optional invitationals. The only drawback you might have is timing. Since the meet is early June, many families may already have plans for the summer and L4s don't go to the camps as much as older girls and girls at the higher levels.

Good luck!

 

[Gymdad2]

GLM is right about the non-profit angle - that is always an extra incentive for a company to donate. Asking for items for the raffle is great, but don't forget to try to sell them ads and banners as well and always suggest a cash donation - that adds up fast and sometimes is the easiest way for them to help you. Most companies have an advertising budget and lots budget for non-profit donations as well.

 

[mariposa]

Check the local businesses. Also ask parents to look around their house for any unused gift cards or gifts they received, but never opened. We have also had success doing raffles year round in the gym. So much traffic with rec classes, cheer, etc.

We have non-profit status, so we have a form that gives them a receipt to write off their donation. We list them in the program and certain dollar amounts get a banner. A thank-you plaque, with team pic, etc.

I think the key is just asking. I am not good at that, but we have several parents who have rocked getting the donations.

Good luck!

 

[floorlover14]

For the meet my gym hosted, all the gymnasts had to bring in something to put in the basket that we were raffling off. We had two sessions so it made a lot of money!

 

[sportyfam5]

Great ideas! Thanks to everyone. I never would have thought of the American Girl but that's a great one, especially for level 4!