OT Fundraising Ideas?

[ShoWStoppeR]

hey ya'll.
I'm head of the fundraising committee for our athletic training association. We have to bring three fresh ideas to our first meeting, and I'm kinda stumped. they don't want things like car wash, bake sale, etc. For example, things we've done in the past include massage clinics, steelers games, clothing orders, and intramural teams. They kind of want us to start from scratch and bring in some fresh fundraisers to see if it will raise us more money. any ideas?

thanks!
peace, love, and happy cheering!

showstopper

 

[dawgshow]

Are you non-profit? If so, check out SCRIP. Basically, you buy gift cards at face value and get a % back from the vendor. You're spending the money on gas and groceries anyway so you might as well make some $$ off of it. It's a long term fundraiser but it adds up quickly. Our very small school last year earned $45,000 and I personally earned through the gym about $800. Not bad since I divided my purchases between school and cheer.

 

[Tosh]

I make customized rhiestone T-shirts for fundraisers. I usually create designs in the school logo and the cheerleaders get orders from school mates, family & friends and their community. I give back 20% of all orders back to the team. The largest amount I did was for almost $2000 for about 300 shirts and they did some bows also.
Check out my website at cheerstones.net so you can get an idea of the different shirts I've done. The average cost per shirt is $30

Thanks,
Shayne

 

[reaxion07]

Do you have a main quad or student center there? Try selling some sort of cheap/easy food and drinks during school.

 

[Mamarazzi]

We recently did a Zumba fundraiser. We pre-sold tickets (but you wouldn't necessarily have to,) and the instructor came and taught a 2-hour class. We gave her half the money (tickets were $10, she got $5) for each person that showed. My kids had to sell or get donations for at least 2 tickets, and it worked out really well! Plus, it was fun!

 

[MomOf2ThatsMe]

Best fundraiser I ever saw was Home Interiors Candles... The company is now Celebrating Home, but they are the same products. A lady I worked with brought the order form in to work thinking she wouldn't sell any, and ended up selling a few dozen just in our office of 15. They were pint jar candles, maybe $6 each. IIRC the company will let the organization set it's own price for the candles. I still have some here in the house, and this was probably 6 or 7 years ago. They last that long. The candles are amazing! Way better than Yankee.

 

[Kel Kell]

I love fundraising! I've done it all too, from Krispy Kremes to Tupperware. Here are the best that I have found:
1) Raffles, let's face it, you put money in for one big ticket item (we did a flatscreen TV from costco) and then get parents to find donations. Print up some tickets, sell them for $5 a pop. 60 tickets pays for the tv, anything over that is all profit. We held the raffle at the end of the year banquet (I raised over $800 consistently for four years while I was on the Robotics Team in school, as did 40 other members).
2) Open Gyms, Have a few hours towards the end of comp season for Rec and make it open gym time, offer it to local leagues, you will get tons of cash from teams wanting to "try out" the feel of a comp mat.
3) Pie in the face. Yeah, you get the idea, you cut a hole in a piece of plywood and the highest 10 bidders (or whatever) get to smash a pie into the face of their coach.
4)Matchmaker, if you are associated with a school I would do Matchmaker... info can be found at Matchmaker - the ultimate student matching compatibility fundraiser! . It looks super hood and hasn't been updated in awhile but the kids LOVE it and I've used the company, they work. Have everyone take the bubble test and then sell sell sell them at lunch. We paid for Prom this way in high school.

 

[Pel]

We make customized stainless steel heart charm bracelet ( think Tiffany's ) engraved with the team's choice of cheer, line, text anything. It's such a classic piece that has a fresh approach to it. Sell it at about $17 and make 40% profit. the bracelets are just gorgeous. Email me for more info.