Akeelah's Mommy
- Jan 15, 2012 5:39 am
(#3 Total: 36)
A moment in our arms, a lifetime in our hearts.
Oooh what's a Stampin' Up party?
So far our tried and true fundraiser has been our garage sales. Now that we're on our 4th Annual their known in the neighborhood and we get a really good turn out of return visitors and donors. We always sell cookies and coffee as well.
Last year I did monthly raffles for folks who donated that month. I had high hopes of doing the donated blankets or onsies (Thanks Julie for this idea from SU!) buuuut I'm not sure if I'll actually get my act together on that one... but I want to!! Hrrrmmmm.... maybe I could host a blanket making party at my house with my team mates... oooooh that could be fun and team building!!
Mom to Emilyn and Hailey (our 20 week angels) and Elim (our 38 week, full term miracle)!
Shannon: You could do some online parties for those companies if you can find a friend willing to do it! Then you'd get people all over the place that you know that could participate even if they're not located to where they could come over!
Lauren: Yup, love how we can take ideas other people have come up with and run with it! Is the garage sale a ton of work? I've got a bunch of stuff I was planning on selling at a garage sale after we moved, but I never got to it before it turned to the cold weather! So it's sitting in the garage till the spring. How do you advertise for it, just signs up around the neighborhood, craigs list, etc?
I thought of this last year. To contact a local flower shop and ask them if they will be willing to sponsor our team by donating a dime for every rose sold on Valentines day. I need to get on the phone. I also made up flyers for it so they could advertise for it before Valentines Day. Maybe more people will by a rose or roses from them knowing that some of the money will be helping a good cause.
Laura
Akeelah's Mommy
- Jan 16, 2012 2:12 am
(#6 Total: 36)
A moment in our arms, a lifetime in our hearts.
Laura- That is an AWESOME idea!!! I might just give that one a try!!! I bet they'd love the free advertising too!
Stacy- Garage sales are exhausting... but man... they make a lot of money for what you put in. I ask friends to donate, neighbors, whoever. I post on craigslist and in local papers. At this point, folks know about us and we're always jam packed. I think over the 3 years we've probably done over $2,000 just from garage sales.
Alright, I've decided to jump into the blanket donations... gonna throw a blanket making party... girls... movies (think Bridesmaids)... blanket making.
Laura - That really is an AWESOME idea! There is a florist a couple of blocks from me. I just might ask them to do that!
Lauren - I did a garage sale last year, and I'm doing it again this year. A lot of people donated stuff for the sale, which was a big help, and my mom came and "watched" it with me. We didn't advertise and the weather was crap and we still made $100 in a morning. So thanks for that idea
Stampin' Up is a company that sells craft stuff, mostly stamps (go figure) and card-making supplies. My friend, Bonnie, is a consultant and has card workshops every month. She has agreed to donate all of the workshop fees ($10 per person) to my team, as well as allowing people to use her supplies. Most of my friends are crafters. I think it was Donna who suggested doing what your friends do as fundraisers. If I can get my people and those that Bonnie usually gets, I should have a pretty good turn out. Online is a good idea, too, Stacy.
I tried doing the donations; I got a girl to make preemie hats, but it didn't really take off.
I'm a mom of a 4 year old who was born at 27 weeks at 1 lb 12 oz...
I'm new to this site but I want to help. I live in Winnipeg, Canada and would like to try and start something out here. Any info/ ideas?? How do I start?
Welcome to Share! You can start by looking at MarchforBabies.org and finding a walk in your area. You should be able to contact a community director who can point you in the right direction, or just start a team online for a local walk.
Wishing you the best of luck!
Shannon
Madisons mom
- Feb 10, 2012 12:32 am
(#10 Total: 36)
does anyone know if it is ok to do "direct sales" parties and donate or raffle off your hostess benefit to MOD? I have a fried who does Lia Sophia and she is willing to do 50% of her commission as a donation to our family team. I also have a cousin who does Pampered Chef and she wanted to raffle items that were the host free gifts. Is this ok? I assume it is ok to use MOD name on invitations?
Mom to Emilyn and Hailey (our 20 week angels) and Elim (our 38 week, full term miracle)!
I say go for it! If they're willing to donate, then it sounds like a fabulous idea! We're having an open house over here with several different groups that are donating their proceeds to our family team! Good luck, hope it raises a bunch of money for your team!
I've found that they're pretty open when you're raisin' money- no logo police gonna come get ya. But you could always just run it by your local office. In fact, they would probably LOVE to know what you are doing and might even help spread the word for you. Those ideas sound totally awesome! I think you're someone your local chapter wold want to meet!
Lauren
James SooHoo
- Feb 21, 2012 7:16 pm
(#14 Total: 36)
Share Your Story Community Host
I saw that we created a video here (at the National Office) on fundraising tips...so I thought I would post it. The speakers are colleagues of mine.
[Last Editor: James SooHoo, Feb 21, 2012 7:18 pm. Total Edits: 1]
this will be our second walk, my son was born at 26 weeks and is now 10 years old. We are looking for ideas to help us get donations. Can anyone help us?
Akeelah's Mommy
- Mar 4, 2012 6:07 am
(#18 Total: 36)
A moment in our arms, a lifetime in our hearts.
Hi Babbott-
Congrats on a second year walking! If you go back in this thread there are lots of ideas from other teams... as well as in the team spotlight folder.
Some of the things that my team does:
-Garage & Bake Sale
-Emails to friends and family
This year from an idea from another Share momma we are also donating an item (blanket) for each donation made to our team. This is our 4th year walking, so we're trying to keep things fresh.
I've also heard of some teams doing Poker Tournaments at their homes and partnering with businesses to donate.
The Lia Sophia fundraiser was a hit! We raised 200 dollars in one night. 189.50 was from the donated comisson of the salesperson and the rest was a raffle. People were excited to be giving and going on a shopping spree. I will try it again next yr for sure!
-Kate
liz loschinskey
- Mar 7, 2012 1:01 am
(#20 Total: 36)
I love my kids!
Holy jumping beans!! I don't know who's original idea it was to do the preemie onsies. As soon as I posted it on facebook with a picture of the onsie I am donating I got instant donations. $30 donation onsie to T's NICU.
Also, I am donating isolette covers that I am making (Pittsburgh Steelers ones if anyone is interested) a $20 donation is one to Tori's NICU.
I've had 20 people RSVP to my card party. That's $200! Plus, four more people who can't come want to buy cards, so that's $40 more, if they actually do.
I want to play a March of Dimes trivia game on Saturday for some small prizes I have. Does anyone have ideas for trivia questions? I want to have five or so and have people with the correct answers entered into a drawing. Please let me know if you have any ideas.
Also, if any of you are interested in the cards, here's what they look like.
Our 4th Annual Garage Sale is tomorrow.... I swear every year I'm going to be more organized... buuuuuuuuut ya know. I think my goal is going to be $200... though I'm hoping for $300!
Mom to a 25 weeker who is now 8 years old and a 38.5 weeker who is now 6
I'm loving these ideas!
Here are a few things I've heard about that I thought I would pass along:
1) If your child is old enough, have him/her write a letter asking for donations. I had Kimmie do one and Matt of course wanted to as well. I posted them on FB and got $150 I wouldn't otherwise have.
2) Find a different way than usual to tell your story, if you haven't done a video before, make one. They are pretty easy to do and VERY powerful. Write a story or a poem. make a sign for your yard. Whatever can get people talking!
3) Make sure you are sending out the link to your online fundraising tool page to everyone you know... and tell them to pass it along. Teams that use the OFT page raise and average of 3x more than teams that just do offline fundraising.
4) Don't hesitate to remind people to donate. Don't be nagging, but if you haven't heard back in a few weeks, send them a note letting them know you are still fundraising.
5) Talk to your local chapter and find out how money is being use in your area. Being able to tell them exactly what they're helping to raise money for makes a big difference. And make sure they know that nationally $0.76, goes towards research and advocacy. Those are good numbers for similar organizations.
6) Thank them! You want to make sure they feel appreciated so they do it again next year.
Good luck everyone! Hope this is your best year ever!
Awesome ideas Jackie! I think we're going to do postcard thank yous with a picture of us walking this year. They seem pretty easy to make and inexpensive.
Lauren
lilymaysmom
- Mar 26, 2012 5:12 am
(#29 Total: 36)
Team tigerlily we do car washes raised 500 dollors for one day then we made bucket in to diapers and made sign that said fill the diapers for babys and made 250 dollers in two hours at wal-mart
Akeelah's Mommy
- Mar 28, 2012 2:40 am
(#30 Total: 36)
A moment in our arms, a lifetime in our hearts.
Ooooh that is so cool Team Tigerlilly! Can you share a bit about the logistics? How do you get to sit outside Walmart and get a spot to donate the space/water for the car wash? I'd love to do things like that but am a little lost on where to start!
Mom to Emilyn and Hailey (our 20 week angels) and Elim (our 38 week, full term miracle)!
Love those ideas Jackie and team Tigerlily!
We had a zumbathon this weekend, I got the idea from our very own Jessica! All I really had to do was talk to my friend who is a Zumba instructor and she took care of the rest! She posted on a page for our local Zumba instructors and one girl piped in and said she had the perfect location, and better yet, it was FREE! She also had someone to DJ for us, and the location provided the stage and screen for the video! We advertised on facebook as well as put a few fliers out. We had 65 people sign in, though I suspect there were actually more in attendance. We sold t-shirts, water, and had a silent auction as well as a raffle going on. It was about two hours of zumba and so much fun! Even though I have never done zumba in my life! We raised 1400 with very little effort on our part!
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I think my goal is going to be $200... though I'm hoping for $300! 
