Simple fundraising ideas? A woman’s crazy and adventurous quest for fundraising event ideas

When I began my journey as a parent several years ago, I didn’t realize that I was also embarking on a never-ending search for simple fundraising ideas. In truth, I had no idea that one of your main responsibilities as a parent would be to continually come up with ideas for fundraising activities.

Even after having resigned myself to the fact that fundraising would be a regular part of my life, I still had no idea that such an adventure would be.

You see, I have three kids at school selling everything from cakes to pizza. We are involved in theater, soccer, basketball AND I sit on a hockey table that is self-funded solely by, you guessed it, fundraisers.

I’m trading staples with friends, “I’ll take that cake and trade you cookie dough … well, we’re on hand.” My family members don’t even answer their phone anymore, for fear of buying more things they don’t need.

We have done them all!

Let’s see, there are the sales of gift wrap / special items / trinkets. If you ask me, these types of fundraisers are overused and too expensive. Every time I turn around, my son has another catalog! In this economy, when I can buy wrapping paper for $ 1.00 at the local dollar store, why would I want a roll of wrapping paper that costs $ 9.00? (So ​​what if it’s of better quality, you just take the gift off anyway?) Actually, I’d rather write a check to the school and then try to sell these things.

Of course, we’re so tired of selling stuff anyway, so half the time, I just place a good-sized order for my own family (reluctantly, of course).

Case in point: My daughter recently came home and mentioned that “The cookie dough guy” said that if they wanted enough money for their field trip to the Boston Museum, they were “encouraged” to sell at least two containers. of cookie dough (for $ 14.00 each!). I spent $ 28.00 on two small jars of cookie dough. I could have gone to BJ’s, bought a GREAT can of Tollhouse cookie dough for $ 6.99 AND bought my daughter’s museum ticket for less than that! Why didn’t they just ask for the money for the excursion? It’s stupid!

And how about those stands at craft fairs or festivals?

Well, if you are ever asked to “run a position for a couple of hours,” be very careful. Our organization signed up for a booth at our community’s Summerfest in June. I signed up for the early shift (I would finish my shift and enjoy a fun-filled afternoon with my family). Yes, first mistake. Funny how your “replacements” never seem to show up to replace you. So there I was, 6 hours later “tending the booth”. If that wasn’t annoying enough, all of a sudden the sky went dark, the wind picked up, and we were in the middle of one of those horrible thunder and lightning storms. Everything was blowing wildly; the canopy was about to take off. And the rain was pouring down. Needless to say, we made very little money that day. (Even putting the

Aside from the “severe storm factor”, the event was not very profitable because although there was a lot of traffic, there was also a lot of competition).

Oh, and let’s not forget one of my favorite “simple” fundraising ideas, pizza and cake kits.

Okay yeah, they are pretty decent sellers, but the logistics of everything is insane. First of all, you need to arrange an EXACT delivery time with the company because they need to keep the merchandise frozen. Then you need to let everyone know when that EXACT delivery date is and pray that they actually come to pick up your goods. And when they don’t. . .well, let’s just say it was great that I had a spare freezer in my basement to store some of those overgrown boxes. And don’t get me started on how I had to make a billion phone calls to those people who didn’t show up on our EXACT turnaround time.

But my all-time favorite adventure was “The Bottle Drive.” The most basic of the simple fundraising ideas. Basically, you collect people’s garbage and exchange it for money. Piece of cake.

That’s what we think too. The conversation went something like this: “We will have a bottle drive!” “Yes!” “On New Years Day.” “Great idea!” “All those New Year’s Eve parties! We’ll make a ton of money!”

It became an obsession. I’m at the grocery store and I meet Mike. He says, “Hey, we’re having a New Years Eve party, you and John should stop by.” Great, I’m thinking. Give your address to one of the drivers to collect your bottles in the morning. I’m so engrossed that I find myself eavesdropping to find out where everyone is going to celebrate.

So it’s New Years Day and with maps in hand and directions to all those parties that happened the night before, we get in our trucks and head out. Did I mention that we live in Maine? We had been hit by several December storms and a Northwest Easter, as they are affectionately called, awaited us today. (In case you’re unfamiliar with the term, this basically means that snow falls in unpretentious little crystals at a moderate but relentless pace until you suddenly realize that you are fully tucked in.) However, that was not going to dissuade us. . . don’t worry, bundle up and start early.

Here’s a curious concept … an early start on New Years Day. Granted, not everyone spent New Years Eve like me: in pajamas, snuggled by the wood stove, getting to bed early so we could start early in the morning for bottle collection. At 9:00 am, if you had a party, you are probably NOT moving, let alone cleaning your house. So many doors went unanswered.

Finally, a neighborhood turned out to be promising until we saw … the Boy Scouts. We could not believe it. They were also going to do a bottle drive! (It’s amazing how quickly a group of teenage hockey players not so excited to be up so early on a weekend can move when they’re trying to outrun the Boy Scouts.)

My friend and I decided, enough of the door-to-door stuff, we will go to the local restaurants and pubs. We arrived at the mother load at our local Thatcher. We are cool! Our hopes were high. Then we hear, “Sorry you need to talk to the manager and they are not working on New Years Day” or “We have a lot of bottles in our shed, but unfortunately the guy with the plow hasn’t gotten us out of the last storm. Come to see us in spring “.

Okay, this was getting daunting. We exchange cell phone calls and meet at regular intervals at the local redemption center. The snow was falling faster than the plows could clear the roads and we realized that it was becoming too dangerous to have vehicles on the road. With an army of twelve trucks, we returned to the redemption center only to find that it had closed due to the weather!

What do we do now?

“Bring them to my garage” (What, who said that? Me? Note to self: you’re too accommodating.) Of course everyone thinks that’s a great idea!

Before I know it, my garage is full of musty-smelling beer bottles, my hands are sticky and cold, I’m exhausted, my husband is ready for a divorce AND my car is now outside covered in 18 inches of heavy, wet snow because Not enough space in my garage!

Over the course of the next week, my husband and I packed the bottles and made several trips to the redemption center. Woo Hoo! We made $ 350 for 15 people, having a cold, snowy day, driving all over town. There has to be an easier way to raise funds!