Are you smarter than a 5th grader? How about your friends
or parents?
You can find out with this adult spelling bee!
Get the different grades at your school/organization to pick three adults
to represent them. Set an entrance fee per team. The teams are responsible
for getting sponsors to pay the fee. For even more competition, you can allow
each grade to have more than one team, and then let the Bee begin! You can
get small prizes donated, or simply make a certificate for the winners!
It’s hard to go wrong with this one.
Get volunteers to bake cookies, cakes, candies, or any treat.
Find a good place to set up a table, (sporting event, community garage sale,
busy street corner, kitchen at work, etc.) and sell cookies and treats for
a small price. You can even let the customers pick out treats from a large
selection, and charge them by the pound.
You have a Great opportunity to help other people, just by
being born!
Got plenty of sweaters?
For your birthday this year, why not get your friends and family to donate
money to The Arc in your honor? This is the easiest way imaginable for you
to give back to the community, and it happens every year!
This is definitely a crowd-pleaser! If you have access to
a body of water this one’s for you!
Have teams sign up and pay an entry fee for each boat. They can get people
to sponsor them for that fee.
Rules vary, but generally only three materials are allowed to make the boat:
cardboard, tape and paint. Life jackets are REQUIRED. Sometimes judges pick
winners from two categories: Fastest and Funniest. The funniest prize winner
gets a prize regardless of its durability. Also, a Most Creative category
can be added. Give the winners trophies or certificates.
There are millions of variations to this event!
The basic idea is to raise money by recruiting some men to either shave or
grow out their facial hair.
Either way you do it, people usually pay big bucks to see it. It can be done
with bosses, pastors, principals, youth pastors, or anyone who needs a haircut!
You can set a goal, saying that so-and-so will shave his beard off if we raise
enough money, or it can go the opposite way.People can sponsor men to grow
out mustaches or beards until a certain day, then have a party, shave them
off, and announce the total amount of donations collected! The sky’s
the limit with this one!
One Great Don’t Show Up Event!
This event will never happen, except for on paper, so let
your imagination run wild as you “plan” this amazing event.
All you have to do is design and send out invitations to the “Don’t
Show Up Event”. Make sure that you describe the scrumptious cuisine
and the high-class entertainment, not to mention the guest of honor…the
president, perhaps? Just remember that this event will never take place.
Why would you do this? People don’t have time to come to fundraising
events, and boring letters asking for money will get trashed. The only thing
you have to pay for in this event is the invitation, so make it a smash!
This is your chance to get their attention! Pick nice paper, and include an
RSVP card with the “Unable to attend” box checked for them to
return with donations.
Be creative and funny, but classy all at the same time!
After the event doesn’t happen, write personal thank you cards to the
people who sent donations. Done!
Variation: Throw a Make Believe Tea Party. Send out invitations with a inexpensive tea bag tucked in. Pick a date and time when the pretend tea party will take place, and ask the recipients to send a donation as the “cost” of “attending” the tea party. Again, be sure to send out thank you cards to those who send donations!
This is a great way to add some color to your event! Specifically
the color PINK! It’s easy and it gets your community/church involved
with little effort!
Purchase 10, or more, plastic flamingos (lawn decorations).
Pick yards in your community, preferably people you know, to be the lucky
recipients.
Put the flamingos in the first person’s yard with a note tied around
the flamingoes’ necks with your organizations name and information,
and a phone number they can call.
On the note, tell them that for a $10 donation the flamingo will be removed,
but for $15 they will be moved to another yard of their choice. (And tell
them that the money will be donated to a charity.)
Also place a sign among the flock of flamingos for those who drive by and
would like to have them placed in their friend’s yard.
(Some people have no sense of fun, so be sure to offer to pick them up for
free.)
This event takes little organization, and doesn’t require a large group
to pull off!
Variation #1: With lots of holidays coming up, why not use one of those giant inflatable yard decorations instead? Of course it can represent any holiday BUT the appropriate one!
Variation #2: Got an extra potty handy? Use the exact same
idea, but replace the flamingos with a toilet.
Variation #3: Again, use the exact same idea, replacing the flamingos with
brightly-colored flower pinwheels. This one will brighten up any neighborhood!
What would you do with a goat? Don’t want to find out?
Sell “goat insurance” to people so they don’t have to ask
themselves this question. People won’t be able to resist because they
won’t be able to stop laughing!
First you have to find someone who has a goat (or anything outrageous will
work, too! Try an old car, or ____ . Next mail fliers to your membership or
any groups, announcing that your organization will be raffling off a donated
goat, to one lucky person. For $10, a person can send three people’s
names (and emails) to be put in the raffle jar.
Those three people should then be sent an email informing them that they have
the Great chance to win the goat, but if they would like, they can also purchase
“Goat Insurance” to have their name taken out of the raffle.
Deliver the goat to the winner, but after the fun wears off, take it back
to it’s owner.
One Great Holiday Singing Telegram!
Who doesn’t love Christmas carols? Spread some holiday
cheer and support your community at the same time!
This fundraiser is similar to a singing telegram, and everyone can get involved
in singing the classic carols!
Charge $10 per song, but advertise that treats will also be delivered, and
give the sender the opportunity to write a personal note, which will be delivered
as well.
Shhh! Don’t tell anyone or it will ruin the surprise!
Have carolers sign up to sing and divide them into teams of three or more.
You can designate one night to deliver the telegrams, or assign specific days
for each group.
Appoint one person as captain of the group and they will act as the spokesperson
when the team arrives at a customer’s home.
Add some fun and have the teams dress up and don’t forget the cookies
to pass out!
One Great Kiss the Cow (or any barnyard animal) Event!
Have people volunteer to decorate a jar with their picture
on it, and set the jars out, allowing people to put money in the jar of their
choice.
Next all the money is counted.
Have a dinner/refreshment time, where the winner will be announced. Have the
animal to be kissed there and at that time the winner must kiss the cow (or
other barnyard animal) in front of everyone!
Get well-recognized people involved! If they win, they have to kiss the cow!
Lots of organizations have access to movie projectors, and that’s all you need to throw a movie night! Charge a small price for families and friends to come watch the movie, and sell popcorn and drinks. Another option is to charge nothing and simply ask for donations.
Variation #1: Pick a popular TV show, or movie series and have an all-night marathon!
Variation #2: Know lots of sports fans? Broadcast a game on a big screen to attract a different audience. Sell hot wings and nachos.
Host a Karaoke night! People of all ages will sing over this
event!
Charge $5 admission per person, but also allow people to pay $5 to hear their
friends sing the song of their choice. Provide snacks and drinks, or have
pizza donated. If you don’t have a karaoke machine you can rent one
from a local DJ along with the library of songs!
You can even combine this with a game night! People are bound to have fun
at this event!
Do you have neighbors? Then you can pull this fundraiser off!
All you have to do is go door-to-door asking for pennies, being sure to mention
that you are raising money for The Arc. If the person tries to give you any
coins but pennies, kindly refuse, but tell them that you will accept paper
money.
This might confuse people at first, but then they’ll chuckle and give
you some cash.
Put some pennies in a bucket before you start asking people. Folks will give
you more money if they see some already there. Trust us.
Most of your money will come from the bills people give you, but what are
you going to do with all those pennies?
Go to your local bank and have them exchange them for bills. Most banks will
do it for free if you have an account with them.
One Great Ping-Pong Tournament!
Got some ping-pong fans? Find a big room and get volunteers
to bring their ping-pong tables for this tournament!
Draw a large bracket on a dry-erase board (or just a large sheet of paper),
so everyone can see who is winning.
Charge an entrance fee for the participants, and put out a donation box for
the audience. Make it a fun environment! Sell refreshments and have music
playing! At the end, announce the winner and present them with a trophy or
a gift card.
Fall is here, and with that comes many pumpkins! What to do
with them when they start looking droopy? Glad you asked.
Have volunteers of all ages build a medieval-style catapult (a trebuchet).
You can find instructions for building one on the internet.
Pick a SAFE location where the pumpkins won’t make a mess.
Have people bring their old pumpkins to be “chunked”, and suggest
a donation of $5 per pumpkin. If you want, let the person pull the chord for
their own pumpkin and watch it fly!
Variation: If you want to, you can also hold a pre-chunkin’ event. Get together and decorate some pumpkins, then set up a pumpkin patch, and sell them for a profit. Be sure to advertise the Pumpkin Chunkin’ at the sale!
One
Great Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament!
Annie Up! This fundraiser will be as fun for you as it is
for the people that participate!
Set a time and date for your poker tournament, and be sure to advertise it!
Word of mouth sometimes works the best. Invite all your friends! Be sure that
they know that it is benefiting a charity!
Have people buy in for $10-$20 at the beginning, and if they lose in the first
30 minutes or hour, whichever you prefer, let them buy back in for the same
price.
Set up card tables in a big room with numbers on them, and have people draw
numbers to decide which table they sit at.
Give the winner 25% of the winnings and donate the rest!
Decorate the room, play music, get volunteers to be dealers, and sell snacks!
You can go as far as you want with this one, but all you really need is a
deck of cards, a person to collect and handle the money, and a place to play!
People of all ages can have fun with this one!
Variation: Don’t be limited by Texas Hold ‘Em! Try this with any game! Bowling would be a fun one! Ask about it at your local bowling ally!
People love to be entertained! They love watching their family
and friends showcase their talents, too, so why not combine them!
Set a time and date, and have “entertainers” sign up to perform
in the show. A meal can be served with this or snacks can be provided. Put
a theme with it and decorate! Roaring 20’s? Holiday? Make sure that
the performers stick with the theme when they pick out their songs, etc.
Put an announcement in the newspaper, or on bulletin boards around the community.
Invite everyone!
An admission price can be set, or donation boxes can be put out (maybe decorated
to look like wrapped presents?). The creative possibilities for this event
are endless!
This one requires a little more organization, but it raises awareness and
money for a good cause!
Ask 7 local restaurants to donate a dinner for two, and have a raffle! Pick the price per ticket, around $25-$30 is reasonable. The winner will eat Great for a whole week! This works with other fundraisers, too!
People will love you for this helpful fundraiser! Seriously,
who doesn’t like a clean windshield?
Pick a local drive thru and ask people to donate money to have their windshield’s
washed.
Pick one or two people to stand at the beginning of the drive through with
a sign and ask people if they would like their windshield’s washed for
a donation to The Arc. If they do, have the person place a pamphlet under
the windshield wiper.
When a car pulls up to the front of the line with a pamphlet, have people
ready with squeegees and windshield washer fluid. It’s a good idea to
have two teams ready, so you don’t slow the line down.
This has almost no set-up; all you need is a pail, windshield washer fluid,
and some squeegees. It also doesn’t require many people. You can do
it with as few as five people; one at the beginning, and two teams of two
people to do the washing.
Another idea for this event is to get people to pre-pledge a certain amount
per car you clean! Then the cleaning can be free for the owner of the vehicle.
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