| Key Points
Create Goals and Objectives for the fundraiser first. Plan plenty of time in advance.
- Design a well-prepared budget for the organization as a whole.
- Itemize the budget
- Prioritize what needs to be done and determine deadlines
Communicate
- Let everyone know the overall goal, why and how it is going to be attained.
- Break the goals down. Each family needs to raise XY dollars that helps the group leader reach its goal of XX dollars.
- Share ideas. One person's ideas may be a seed for someone else's ideas.
- Give periodic updates. The club newsletter is a good place to show the status of the fundraising project. Have a visible aid for the community. Show a pool (drawn) that fills up with water as you reach your overall goal. No water is $0 and a full pool is your overall fundraising goal.
Develop an organizational flowchart. Spread the workload evenly. Fundraising campaigns are not a one-person project.
- Select an energetic and resourceful chairperson.
- Choose several group leaders. This will depend on the number of participants. No more than 10 families per group leader. These group leaders are to report to the chairperson.
Be prepared for participation challenges
- Give options. Strongly encourage that everyone should participate.
- Families that don't participate can donate $25 per fundraiser or $100 per year as a buyout option from the fundraisers. This gives people the option to participate, but busy families can still have a way out.
Make the fundraising campaign fun!
- Create challenges. This gives motivation as well as drive creativity. You can have challenges within families, within groups, and within the entire organization.
- Reward the challenges that are met. Ask local vendors for support with rewards. Reward families/people that have exceeded their goals. An example would be to give club t-shirts to families that have exceeded their goals by $100, and those that exceed by $200 a club t-shirt as well as a towel each.
Good Relations and Clean-up
- Be sure to properly thank all of those who donated funds. Those who donated a considerable amount should receive a certificate or a plaque showing they did so. A letter showing what was paid and to whom should be offered for tax deduction purposes.
- Keep records and notes on how the fundraiser went. Learn from the experience. Pass along the knowledge. People will be fundraising long after you have left. Like anything else, fundraisers will improve with time.
Fundraising Ideas
For a professional fundraising organization, please contact ABC Fundraising through their Web site, www.abcfundraising.com or by phone, 1-800-368-4543. Their program is called Scratch and Help. It looks very promising and is easy to do.
Pink Flamingo
Plan a gathering time and place for the club members. From here go out and place pink, plastic flamingos in people's yards. Usually these people are friends of the club.
-Contact the owner and inform them thatthey have been flocked and that there is a ransom to have the flamingos removed. Somewhere between $5 and $10.
-If this fundraiser is to continue year after year, let the people know that they can purchase insurance to not have the flamingo placed in their yard year after year.
One mile of dollar bills
Locate a one-mile stretch of road. One that is busy yet has lots of room off to the side and has a stoplight or signs. As people stop at the light or sign, ask for one-dollar donations. As the members get these donations, place them end to end along the side of the road. Tape or some sort of weight might be needed to keep the dollars in place.
Yard work in local neighborhoods
Make sure that your club has plenty of rakes, shovels, gloves and so on. These are generally donated by the member's family for usage only. The family will get the tools back. After enough tools are gathered, check around your local neighborhoods to see whom all might need some yard work done. Make sure to work as a team and schedule appropriately. Charge a fee for each person per hour, but don't be greedy.
Stadium Clean-up
Check with your local stadiums and theaters to see if your club can help with clean-up duties after an event.
Cookbook Sales
Call 1-800-667-5595 for details on a USA Synchro cookbook fundraising project.
Mall escorts
Work with your larger local stores and malls to offer assistance during the shopping season, helping people carry bags to their cars, gift wrap, shopping bag check services, all for small or patron donations to the club (plus valuable mall discount coupons!)
Synchro-thon
Just like a swim-a-thon with pledges for accomplishment, with figures or laps of ballet legs and other workout laps, with the first $50 collected by each girl going to the club, and the remainder to the athlete's travel fund.
Ushers at events
Volunteer to usher (help people find their seats) at local civic center, theatre, and sports events for a donation to the club.
Clean Golf Balls and Clubs for $1
Ask a local golf course if you may have a small space to set up. Obtain cleaners, cloths, brushes, a cash box, table and chairs, and posters. Set up and put posters up so that people know you are there.
Grants
Numerous grant programs exist for everything from team travel to educational programs to equipment purchases to leadership and civic volunteering. Research those sources at your local library and develop grant proposals for your existing programs, or new programs you would like to initiate. Also check on-line with the Women's Sports Foundation and with USA Synchro (www.usasynchro.org) for more suggestions of grant procedures and availability for nonprofit sports.
Grants
Scrambling for resources to help athletes achieve their goals is a challenge in itself. Just like a competition. Good grant writing can be a key resource in your artillery to help prepare winning athletes.
Getting Started
- Allow plenty of time
- Only submit those that are a priority
- Make it an interest of the grant maker
- Use all resources - foundations, corporations, local and state governments
- Obtain 501(c)(3) status
Tips
- Write directly to a contact person.
- Use the form requested by the funder.
- Have someone outside and inside your organization review your grant proposal.
Contents of a good grant:
1. Executive Summary (1 page)
- Problem
- Solution
- Funding Requirements
- Organization and its expertise
2. Statement of Need (2 pages)
3. Project Description (3 pages)
- Describe objectives, goals and methods.
4. Budget (1 page)
- Make sure to review the previous success of the club. Show your accomplishments
5. Organizational information (1 page)
6. Conclusion (2 paragraphs)
7. Appendix
Follow up on a proposal
1. Send a thank you.
2. Report to the granter as you said you would or as the granter requires.
3. Find out when it is best to ask for more money.
4. Ask for more money. Be persistent.
Follow up on a rejection
1. Send a thank you.
2. Call to find out what can be done next and obtain feedback on the proposal.
3. Don't take the rejection personally.
4. Find out when is the best time to ask again.
5. Ask again. Be persistent. |
