|
|
Making A Difference
Ideas to
Enhance the Fundraiser Experience of Each Member
While Expanding Your Group's Success
It's
exciting to experience the power of a fundraiser that offers as its
product a real memento to hold and share for a lifetime, capturing a
moment in a child's life. (They grow up SO quickly, don't they?)
How about enhancing the power of your fundraiser even more? What if
your fundraiser built in an additional aspect that was designed to touch
lives outside the parents, children and friends of your group?
We're talking about adding an additional theme, or motivation to your
fundraiser that will undoubtedly touch other lives for the better, while
generating additional revenue for your group.
Below is a list of ideas to get YOU thinking.... about how you and your
group can enhance this entire fundraiser experience, and make it even more
memorable and impactful for the kids you work with.
Remember,
the ideas below are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Yet, we
encourage you to give thought to these ideas, and come up with ideas of
your own. It's to make the fundraiser an experience to remember...
and make a difference in your own community... and the world!
Welcome to Our Idea
Page!
Below are ideas
designed to enhance the experience of a KidsAreStars.com fundraiser, for
both the members and leaders alike.
Of course you'll be focusing on raising funds for your group to meet the
financial demands you must deal with everyday. Yet, we invite you to
consider expanding your experience of the fundraiser by generating an
additional motivation for sales, while directly touching the lives of
people in your community.
By setting up a
theme to your fundraiser that will add a focus to benefit others, you'll
be generating an awareness in the child of the positive impact on others'
lives that each of us potentially possesses. You'll be expanding
social awareness. And you'll be demonstrating the power of doing
good for others.
And don't stop
here! Allow the ideas below to stimulate your own imagination and
the imagination of your group.
"Touching Others" is our theme here.
|
| |
Send Your Group's
Cards to our Troops Abroad
We are sure you know of the power of a child's touch. Combine the
artwork of a child with a greeting card, along with the innocence of a
child's message of hope, and you and your group will have the potential of
touching the lives of many people for the better. Individuals who
are far from home cherish these thoughts from the children of this nation.
Regardless of political
feelings about war, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all the other issues
surrounding the subject, there are men and women in dangerous and desolate
places who have left the comfort and support of their families and
communities to fulfill their duty to their country and commander-in-chief.
While there are those who may not honor the war itself, we all certainly
honor these men and women.
How powerful it is to
send a card to these individuals featuring the artwork of a child, with a
handwritten message inside! Simply conduct the art session as
described in the Fundraiser Handbook. And during the session, let
your group know that you'll
also be making these cards to send to our troops overseas.
We'll then send you a
bonus box of cards specifically printed for your 'cards to our troops'
campaign. It will contain the artwork of each child, blank on the
inside, of course, for the message each child will send. When your
group accomplishes its 100% participation sales goal, and you would like
to send your very special cards to troops stationed somewhere in the
world, let us know. And we'll make up a bonus box for your group to
send and include it in your order.
Next, we'll put you in
touch with agencies whose sole purpose is to get cards and letters to our
troops. Or, send the completed cards back to us, and we'll send them
to one of these agencies on your behalf.
Send Your Group's
Cards to Children in Hospitals
What better way
to touch the lives of children challenged by life-threatening illness than
to send a card featuring a child's artwork, with a hand-written message of
hope inside.
While, again, you'll be
raising funds for your own needs, you could let your group know that
when the cards are printed, they'll be sending a card with a personal note to children
at a hospital you select. No doubt you live near a hospital with its
own pediatric wing. You could engage the children in an even more impactful experience by hand-delivering the cards to the children
at the hospital. However, if you do not live near a hospital, you could
select one in your region, or send them to a national research hospital
for children, such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis,
Tennessee.
Again, if you wish to
send greetings to children in hospitals, let us know. When your
group reaches its 100% participation sales goal, we'll send a bonus box
to your class. And if you would like us to send the completed cards
to a children's hospital, we'd be happy to do it for you on your behalf.
Personally Give
Your Cards to the Elderly in Nursing/Convalescent Centers
This idea is very much like the idea above, yet your group could personally
visit the elderly in a nursing center to hand-deliver their cards.
We know from personal experience the power of a smile, a hug, and a card
to those living in nursing and convalescent centers. You can only
imagine the impact you'll have when the children personally deliver their
messages and cards to these amazingly appreciative individuals.
You'll change lives through giving of yourselves. And what could be
a more moving experience than taking the wonderful artwork from these
greeting cards to the elderly... to share with them that the child
themselves created the card... and then to open the card for the child to
read the message aloud to the residents. Like we said... it can be life-changing.
We wish to emphasize
that your own imagination can create far more ideas than these above.
With a desire to enhance the experience of youngster's minds, to create
greater social awareness, and most importantly, to demonstrate the
difference one child can make.... you'll be making life-changing
differences in kids' lives.
Co-Fundraising
Ideas
In addition to conducting your own sales campaign within your own circle
of members,
parents and friends, you might wish to consider 'co-fundraising' as a way
to support a worthwhile organization in your town, and raise additional
funds for your group.
Here are a couple of
ideas:
Contact Your Local
Animal Shelter
Animal shelters are in
constant need of financial support. There can be no doubt that a
community animal shelter serves the needs of the entire community, yet
often struggles financially to maintain humane standards in the care of abandoned or
sick animals. Here's where you can come in to make a difference.
Contact your
animal shelter, and let them know that you and your group will be
conducting a fundraiser, featuring the artwork of the children or members
of your group or school. You can let them know that your leadership
is considering the theme of 'pets' and other animals as the focus of the
artwork. Let them know that you will be focusing on raising funds
through the sale of the greeting cards and stationery printed with this
artwork for your own member needs. However, you are calling to see
if the animal shelter would be willing to also raise funds through this
campaign. For example, if your group is generating $8 or $9 to your
group from the
sale of each box, you could offer to split the profit generated through
the sale with the animal shelter. As an idea, you could offer the
animal shelter $4 or $5 for each box of cards the shelter sold at its
meetings, at its own fundraisers, and at the adoption counter.
Contact Any
Non-Profit Organization in Your Area
As you are aware,
virtually any non-profit organization is always looking for ways to raise
additional funds. A KidsAreStars.com fundraiser, featuring the
artwork of the children you work with, can be incorporated into virtually
any fundraiser with any other group.
And the good news is that
with other groups, there is virtually NO time limit on sales. Your
cards can appear at rallies, fundraisers, member meetings, conventions,
auctions, as a potential fundraiser for BOTH your group and the non-profit
organization you chosen to become affiliated with.
Simply let the non-profit
organization know of your own fundraiser and the theme of your artwork.
Let them know that you have made arrangements to make the boxes of cards
and stationery available for a certain price, and that they would be able
to make $5 (or your determined price) per box for all boxes they sell.
Ideally, the boxes would contain the group artwork of each member or
child. The non-profit group could then make arrangements with you
regarding purchasing the boxes at the price agreed upon.
Remember that these
"co-fundraisers" are suggested as methods to add to the funds your group
will already be generating through sales to parents, families, friends and
acquaintances, member meetings, auctions, and other event fundraisers.
Questions?
Please contact us!
The sky is the limit.
You can create a life-changing experience for the kids while raising those
necessary funds that you need so badly.
Go for it!
Have fun!
And touch the lives of others in your community!
robb.mcdaniel@gmail.com
870-480-9700
|
