Fundraising Ideas

JELLY BEAN GUESS Not an original one, but people love to try & guess how many there are in the jar. Charge .25 - .50 a guess.

DART OR POOL TOURNAMENT

CAR WASH Presale tickets to a carwash.

“YCJCYABFMAWF“ Hang a sign with these initials on it. When people ask you what it means, ask for a dollar donation & say “Your Curiosity Just Cost You A Buck For Make A Wish Foundation.“

SHAVE HEAD A manager pledges to shave his/her head if $1000 (or more) is raised.

BALLOON BURST A large amount of balloons are placed around the business & clients pay $1 to burst them. Slips of paper inside contain prizes or nothing.

Secret BABY CONTEST Fee to enter your baby picture...all are posted in the business together with a number on them. Customer who figure's them out win's a prize. Each guess cost's a dollar per person.

MYSTERY JAR 3 clear containers are filled with folded pieces of paper (small, medium, & large). A donation to pick a prize - may be buttons, key chains, a hug from the manager.

PUTTING GREEN One putting green in front of business on Friday or Saturday to entertain during the wait. Three putts for $1. Nice prize to people who make the putt.

BROWN BAG Fill a variety of brown bags with small items. Guests buy them.

FLEA MARKET

LOCAL BUSINESS AUCTION

ROAD RALLY Map out a long course. Teams of 2 (driver & navigator) leave at staggered times. They check in at certain points & get a signature or pick something up. Winners are determined by the team that gets through the most of the course with the fewest miles and the fastest time. Rally end at a party at your business. Donations to run the rally and / or attend the party.

SCAVENGER HUNT A $25 donation per couple. Everyone picks up the list of items Friday afternoon, then has until Sunday at 3:00pm to find the most. Could be shorter with an easier list.

NAME THAT TUNE Individuals or teams compete.

PIE THROWING Fill pie tins with whipped cream, stand on a tarp & throw. Think: managers and senior staff.

DANCE MARATHON Reserve your school's gymnasium or cafeteria, or work with a local pub. Charge an entrance fee or ask employees to collect pledges from friends, family, or local businesses to participate. Determine a time frame for the marathon. We suggest twelve hours. Ask local businesses to donate refreshments or door prizes for the participants. And think of fun themes for each hour i.e. the 70's hour, and devise activities to keep dancers motivated, i.e. play the hokey pokey, do the limbo, etc.

COORDINATE A SOFTBALL, VOLLEYBALL, SOCCER, BASKETBALL OR FLAG FOOTBALL TOURNAMENT Post flyers announcing the tournament. Specifically invite vendors and clients. Ask local restaurants to donate refreshments or prizes for the winning team. Charge an admission fee for each team. You can also sell official tournament T-shirts.

BOWL-A-THON One local college has a bowl-a-thon as a Greek Week activity each year. They collect pledges based on the number of pins they hope to knock down. If they collect five cents per pin per sponsor and score 100, they'll collect a $5.00 donation per sponsor. The student that raised the most money wins a prize. Ask your local bowling alley to donate a few lanes for the event. You could also charge a flat fee to each player to participate.

HOST A CONCERT Contact a popular local band and plan a concert. Hold it on campus or at a local bar that will donate the cover charge to Make-A-Wish.

ORGANIZE A 5K WALK FOR WISHES Charge a $5 entrance fee or have employees collect pledges to participate. Put flyers up in local business inviting the community to participate. Get refreshments donated from local restaurants. If you ask participants to collect pledges to participate, give the top fundraiser a prize.

JAIL-A-THON Elect a few people to be the deputies. Employees pay to have their friends and professors arreste. Those arrested are taken to a roped-off spot in the office. They can pay bail or stay for their entire sentence-- approximately ten minutes. All proceeds go to Make-A-Wish.

HOT DOG EATING CONTEST Charge participants a $10 entry fee or ask them to collect a minimum in pledges to participate. Set a time limit for the contest and ask local restaurants or grocery stores to donate the hot dogs and buns.

HALLOWEEN CANDY GRAMS For a $1.00 donation, employees purchase a small candy bar and write a secret message to a friend. Each message is attached to the candy bar and delivered on Halloween.

ROCK-A-THON Get a rocking chair and have members of your organization take turns for a twenty-four hour period rocking in the student union or at an intersection in town. Charge participants $5 to rock for 5 minutes or have participants collect pledges for their hour of rocking.

MAKE-A-WISH CUTOUTS You can make your own Make-A-Wish cutouts. Cutouts can be sold to employees for $1.00 each. Employees write their names on them, and then cutouts should be displayed on a wall in your student union to show your support of Make-A-Wish. You can also give cutouts to local businesses and restaurants to sell to their customers!

FILL THE BOOT One local college recently borrowed firemen's boots from their local fire department and raised $2,200 by having a competition among their school's organizations to each fill one of the boots with change. The winning organization received a pizza party courtesy of one of the local businesses.

HALF COURT SHOOTING CONTEST Sell raffle tickets to spectators during the basketball season to shoot a half-court shot for a big prize such as $500. One local college sold chances, and the winner got a chance to shoot a half-court basket for one year's free tuition! Unfortunately for her, she missed.

DECORATE A TREE Set up a tree in your office and sell ornaments to decorate it. Silver ornaments sell for $50 and gold ornaments sell for $100. You can also ask local businesses to purchase ornaments too.

COORDINATE A SCAVENGER HUNT A committee works to come up with clues. Employees are charged an entrance fee that is donated to Make-A-Wish to participate. The first team to solve all the clues wins a prize.

PAPER CHAIN LINKS CONTEST Paper links are sold to employees for 50 cents, and each organization on campus makes a different color chain. They compete to see who can make the longest paper chain for Make-A-Wish®.

MAKE A WISH MONEY WEEK On Monday, employees donate their pennies; on Tuesday they donate nickels; on Wednesday they donate dimes; on Thursday they donate quarters; and on Friday, they donate one-dollar bills. You may want to locate a bank that is willing to count your change. Once local elementary school raised $1,200 in one week!

GUESS THE M&M'S Ask for $1.00 donation to make a guess. The employee closest to the correct number wins the candy.

VALENTINE'S DAY FLOWER GRAMS For $1.00, employees purchase a carnation and write a message to a friend. Each message is attached to the flower and delivered on Valentine's Day.

JEAN'S DAY For schools with a dress code, allow employees to a $1.00 donation to Make-A-Wish to wear jeans for the day. Many schools have a jeans day once a month.

HOST A SPAGHETTI DINNER OR PANCAKE BREAKFAST Post flyers announcing your event. Ask a local grocery store or restaurant to donate supplies. Invite another student organizatio, fraternity or sorority to co-host your feast. Sell tickets in advance and charge more for people who show up at the door.

50/50 RAFFLE Sell raffle tickets for $1.00. Fifty percent of the proceeds goes to the winner of the raffle. The other half goes to Make-A-Wish.