Anyone have any ideas about fundraising? - I`ve been involuntarily volunteered.....

Hillbilly Housewife wrote: to head the fundraising from now until Christmas.

I work in an old age home, but I don`t actually work with the old people.

The events until then are pretty much at Halloween - where we`re mixing a halloween party with a bazaar, in order to cover the fact that it`s a bazaar, since we`re not allowed to have a bazaar except in may.

And then Christmas.



The only ideas I have so far, since it`s old people and they don`t have the most amount of $$ in the world.... are little bags of cookies, little bags of popcorn, rice krispie treats and roasted pumpkin seeds.



I`m SOOO lost as to where to begin... I've never headed fundraising before... and old people are so cranky and hard to please that I don`t want to put a lot of extra time and energy if they ain't gonna be happy anyways, kwim?

Anyone have any ideas for easy fundraising?

kit_kats_mom replied: What are you raising the money for?

mckayleesmom replied: I use to work in a nursing home and they put on a play one year.

amymom replied: I was thinking of posting something similar. My husband volunteered to head the fundraising committee for my dd hockey association. So you know that will be work for me.

I have loads of ideas about fundraising for kids ... but for the nursing home I am unsure. So questions first:
How much do you want to raise?
Is sounds a bit like it is a social event .. Is that part of the purpose to socialize and fundraise?
What will the money be used for?


We are looking at home delivery of frozen foods (getting a percentage), A raffle for $5000 or more, a reverse raffle (fun and can be scaled to any size event), a dinner dance, selling spirit items, and other things. Our target to raise is $15-20,000.

We can brainstorm together!

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
HA!

We'll be happy if we raise 150$ by Halloween!! The money is mostly used for the social comitee, to do activities for the old people - since the company can't really afford to do allthese extravageant activiteies.... there is raffles every month, they pull in about 50$... pretty sad, huh?

The emplyees put on a play around Christmas every year... THIS year, my BABY was volunteered to be baby Jesus. They COULD have asked.

luvbug00 replied: LOL they are planning a gig for the little one already?! Oh man. well my Oma is in a home and they invite families over for like a dance or somthing. They just clear out a dining area and bring in home made desserts and get a volenteer singer with kareoke and they raise money that way and it works really well and the decorations are El chepo ( cheap ) but none really notices it's just time to be together. Donations are accepted at the door. Our kareoke guy was generous and gave all his tips to the home too. Good luck!

mckayleesmom replied: How about a desert baking contest? You can involve the community to make even more money...Say 10 dollars for an entry fee.....Get some of the residence together and make a pretty quilt or something as the prize. You can get really cheap pieces of scrap fabric from walmart. Also..you said you knit and stuff right? How about an afgan as the prize? You can put an add in the paper.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I don't think the baking idea would roll over well here - none of the resident rooms have an oven, since they're all people who need constant care.

But community would be nice...

An afghan would be better suited - more people would be able to crochet a square or knit a square than sew... That would be great!!

Now, I just have to give out specifications as to how big the square should be... lol

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Yeah families are welcome. We (employees) do a little lunch/dance thing everymonth, for birthdays and stuff - lunch, cake cofee, I play the piano and sing, another employee sings too, and another plays the violin....

so they get lots of entertainment... cuz there is events almost every week, like bingo, drawing, music, yoga, memory games etc...

Alice replied: -How about something the visitors could contribute to? Canvass the local merchants and see whether you can get a donation-- a small TV or VCR you can raffle off. Then run a month-long raffle to give people time to know about it. Maybe $1 per chance, 6 for $5??

-Could you run a Scrabble/Gin Rummy/ whatever tournament? Charge a small admission fee and have a rundown to the final round?

-Could you get a local beauty parlor/spa/ makeup artist to come in and do makeovers for a small fee? I bet the Seniors would love it!

-Contact your local high schools and speak to someone in guidance. Ask if they do community service and would be interested in a Junior/Senior Prom. (They provide the "Juniors"-- you provide the "Seniors") Each student is assigned a "date" for the afternoon. I can give you more details if you want-- the school where I used to teach and the one where my husband teaches both do this and it's wonderful for everyone involved.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
If there is a cosmetology program in the area, you could get students to do it for free I bet. They need a certain number of 'dos and stuff to graduate. And I am sure the senior women would love to get done up.

gr33n3y3z replied: why not sell chances and ask area business to donate money or prizes or 50/50 those make alot of money and if ppl. know its for a good cause they will be more then happy to help out.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Heh heh.... we alrady do that, and I`m a Mary Kay consultant (not so much anymore... but I`ll start up again when I`m on mat leave)

a coworker of mine is currently in the process of opening up a small esthetics shop in the centre where I live, she`ll be using me for that too...

Hillbilly Housewife replied: Thanks for all the wonderful ideas!

Hopefully, I`ll be able to raise more than 100$ - that is the amount raised last year between August 31st and December 31st.

I`m SURE I can handle more than 100$.