Charity Fundraisers Don't Have to Be Boring
By Teresa Ambord
Charity fundraisers are nothing new. But if you're lucky, the age old rummage sales and other tired ideas will give way to some more creative and fun ways to fill the coffers for good causes.
When a Tennessee high school needed new gym equipment, they hosted a Cow Drop Raffle. The idea is simple, natural, and basically, a cash cow. The high school sectioned off the football field and assigned each square a number. Participants bought numbers for twenty dollars each. Then a cow was brought in and allowed to wander around the field until the inevitable happened. When nature struck the winner was determined by what number the cow pie landed on. If that sounds tacky, just consider that the raffle was an enormous success. Some chapters of Ducks Unlimited (an environmental charity) do the same thing with a duck. It's low cost and a lot of fun.
A more expensive variation is the "Ball Drop" which benefits Sertoma Center (for the mentally challenged and disabled) in Knoxville, Tennessee. Participants buy golf balls. After designating a specific hole, a helicopter rises over the golf course and drops all of the balls. The winner is the owner of the ball that lands in or nearest the designated hole.
At the end of every summer in Redding, California, the Rotary club sponsors a Ducky Derby. A maximum of 40,000 rubber ducks are sold, usually for five dollars each. Each duck is marked with a number held by the duck's adopter. The derby begins when the ducks are dropped from above into the Sacramento River. The first duck to complete the 300-yard race is the winner. The grand prize is usually a vehicle or boat. The proceeds of the Ducky Derby go to Northern California Rotary Clubs Against Substance Abuse.
Click below to adopt a duck online for next summer's event:
Before you set your heart on one of these fun charity events, find out if your state permits charity gambling. Many states do permit low stakes gambling that benefits non-profit agencies. Just go to a search engine and type in your state and "charity gambling."
Here are a couple of successful funders that do not involve gambling:
How about a crab feed? The Shasta County Women's Refuge (SWCR) in Shasta County California has been putting on a crab feed annually for nearly two decades. Local businesses donate much of the food for an all-you-can-eat Dungeness cracked crab, clam chowder, salads and desserts feast. A live auction provides the entertainment, as well as more revenue. For details, click here:
Another big hit is a Navajo taco feed. Like the crab feed, area businesses and individuals donate the ingredients (meat, vegetables, beans, cheese, Crisco, and flour). Volunteers bring roasters and electric frying pans and large griddles and have an outdoor feast (weather permitting). While some participants chop vegetables, cook the meat, and heat the chili, others fry sopapillas as the meals are ordered so that the food is as fresh and hot as possible. Navajo taco feeds are a big hit in the southwest but they can be successful anywhere.
Click here to see a list of other successful ideas: