Fundraising ideas?

[Misty Glen]

I'm with a club in real life that needs to do some fund-raising and although we've discussed it and come up with a few ideas there wasn't anything particularly fantastic or practical, so I was wondering if anyone on here could provide some suggestions. We could probably come up with 5-10 volunteers for whatever we ended up doing, and we have a reasonable amount of money that can be used to purchase any materials that might be required for a fund-raising effort. Based on that, what do you think we could try?

[Alabama]

What kind of club is it? Is there a "theme" for the club? Like dealing with animals, school pep squad, citizenship, etc.

[Misty Glen]

It's a caving club. The theme could also be expanded out to loosely include rock climbing, archaeology, palaeontology, geology and bats, if that helps. (Bats are awesome! *cough* moving on...)

Club equipment may be available for use as part of the fund-raising, if necessary. This can include anything from helmets and torches to ropes and ladders.

[Vitani]

Well, theres the classic bake sale...( bat shaped cookies, anyone? )

And the ever popular car-wash....


But since its for caving.....

Maybe some things associated with being in the dark? Like a nocturnal nature walk....Or a 'shut-in' where the only form of lighting is helmet mounted and hand held torches....

Indoor rock climbing...

An 'experiance' day...Everything from climbing ladders, finding and identifying rocks, how to set up a safety harness.....Info on cave animals etc...


Depending on how many people you can get to help, of course....



Our local scout troop did an experiance day ( I was a volunteer, lol >.< ) and charged a general admission of $5 for the entire day and all activities, the parents made and sold refreshments at varying prices, a few local places donated things for raffles at $2 a ticket...

After a 2 day ( overnight was an extra cost ) fundraiser....They ended up with almost $2000.

[Misty Glen]

[Alabama]

Taking inspiration from Vitani..

What about a dark treasure hunt? A few darkened rooms with things hidden around in them like caving tools, toy animals found in caves (bats, bugs, etc). Perhaps a couple children's swimming pools filled with dirt/sand/water with things to be hidden in them. Boomboxes with unexpected cave sounds, like bats flying or bat sonar, water trickling, etc. Items found can be turned in in exchange for donated items and then rehidden. Might ask local stores if they would be willing to donate gift certificates.

[Misty Glen]

The dark treasure hunt sounds fun, but impractical. What more, caving tools are typically expensive (hence the fund-raiser) and it's imperative that they are not just undamaged, but that their history of use is known so that we're aware how long they can last. Believe it or not, caving is classified as an 'extreme sport'. Using dodgy equipment will result in death, so it's probably unwise to risk them being compromised in this manner.

I should clarify that this is not a kids club. None of the regular members are under 18, and the average age of members is at least a decade above that. Also, any fund-raising activity will likely be in a public place, possibly at uni, so the target age group is adults. Also, we don't have anything in the way of allocated space, club hall, etc, so some things may not be possible based on that. At best we might be able to use an area in the uni gym.

[Alabama]

Hmm.. I was thinking high school/college age and the tools weren't the expensive things that might "disappear" More like pitons, hand shovels, etc.. But yes, I guess if your group is older even that that, I think your sausage sizzle idea might be the best, but I have to throw in the southern favorite, smoked Boston Butt If you do the smoked beef, it's something one or two people can do overnight, if anyone knows how. You'll want to check your local health regulations though.

What about an ice cream social? No cooking involved and if you can get enough cans and such, might not even need to buy ice cream, just the stuff for it.

[Vitani]

Oooh yeah, sausage sizzles are a really big thing here...Why didn't I think of that? >.<


Raffles are really good too, especially if you can get the prizes donated....Its pretty much all profit that way.


'Bama's idea and mine could be combined......Something like an elephant chain where you must either hold onto, or be roped to the person in front....Feeling your way through darkened rooms with certain obstacles...Like a simulated narrow passage requiring you to crawl, etc etc...Easily done with something like a pile of beanbags...




Lol, you'd be surprised how much fun adults can have in the dark once they get into the swing of things.

Could hold a pub quiz night ( sans the alcohol ) and entry is a gold coin donation...Well...Actually you don't use coins, do you? I forget Anyway...Y'know what I mean lol Prizes could again be donated, or simply award bragging rights to the winners. Questions could be caving themed, possibly...

Speed dating?

Date auction?



Family friendly stuff is good...Cause the kids that get interested may well be future cavers...



Hmmm...Soon as I stop thinking about it, I'll have more ideas.


Carboot sale?

'Bob-a-job'...Odd jobs done for donations....

Dog walking, grooming etc...

[Misty Glen]

[Vitani]

I couldn't remember if you were Australian or American....

Americans can't say "gold coin donation" lol....But Aussies can.

[Misty Glen]

Figured it was something like that.

[LizM25]

I'm 25 and the dark treasure hunt sounds like fun to me...

[wolfgirl159357]

hehe this sounds like fun noew i wanna go lol but what about like the quiz thingee+bake sale+say a few non-alcohal and alcohal drinks+some fun in teh dark like the treasure hunt thing adn maybe even my own idea possibly finding soem of the bugs and rocks adn maybe bat PICTURES.(i caps pictures because i was talking to my friend about bugs adn i said why dont you get soem bug pictures adn she went out and found the real life thing and i am deathly terrified of bugs lol XD)