Fun-draisers
 This section has a ton of resources for raising money. Tried and true, you will be able to use these ideas as presented, or as starting points for your own imagination to kick in. The sky's the limit when you're telling the DREAM story.
And don't forget, you can also apply for an Alumni Fund grant to get money for big and creative ideas!
Click these links to jump to different sections, or just read on for fundraising info...
Intro & Examples
The overall amount of money varies a little by college size, but the guessstimates below have been fairly accurate across schools when good, hard work is put in and the "Fundraising Pointers" are followed. Most of these are meant to be on-campus fundraisers, but the greater community can certainly be included for larger support.
The number of  's is equal to the amount of fun the event is, how involved the kids can be, and the camaraderie it builds amongst kids and mentors (depending on what you want from the fundraiser, this may be very important). Also the success of a fundraiser is somewhat proportional to the amount of time between fundraisers, especially between two of the same fundraiser (people can only take so many spaghetti dinners!).
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Fundraising Pointers: Never-Before-Released DREAM Secrets!
The fundamental purpose of fundraisers is to raise money. The following helpful hints really are THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BIG BUCKS AND POCKET CHANGE (not all are applicable to all the fundraisers):
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Pre-sell Tickets: Above and beyond everything else, pre-selling tickets (for a fundraiser with tickets) makes the fundraiser a huge success. Do not ever count on lots of people showing up at the door; from past experience, we have found that you make only about a quarter of the money at the door (even after lots of publicizing). Pre-sell tickets for a couple Fridays before an event, and you’ll meet your goal before you even start the event!
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Kids Sell Tickets: Only heartless penny-pinchers reject children. Kids can outsell mentors 100 to 1, and it gives them salesmanship experience and also builds ownership in the activity for which they are raising money (the kids can even make the tickets the week before). It is important for mentors to accompany them for safety reasons and to give them support and advice during the sales. It is also a great idea to do some good and bad sales "skits" before hand to get everyone in the sales-mood. Here are some tips on going door to door that you can give the kids:
- Introduce yourself and tell what DREAM is,
- Tell what you are selling and why,
- Say they can either pay cash or put it on their college card (if your college allows that method), and
- No matter what, say "thank you!"
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Fake Money, Charge the 'Rents!: 80% of people will buy a ticket simply because they can put it on their college's cash alternative card (Dash for Dartmouth, CAT for UVM, Purple Night for St. Mike's). This is huge. If your college does not allow this yet, get them to start because it will triple your fundraising!
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Shamelessness: Be shameless for your event... don't hold back trying to get people involved and/or signed up (especially for the fun-run). The more affable and passionate you are about what you are doing, the more people will respond.
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Be Cheap: Hold quality fundraisers, but don’t blow all your earnings on making the fundraiser a four star event. Keep costs down, be economical, and seek out donations!
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Raffles: Although they don't bring in much money, coupling raffles with any fundraiser is a good way to bring in a little extra cash (people who have pre-bought tickets are apt to buy a ticket or two at the door).
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Resources & Documents
- Website: This website (www.dreamprogram.org) is, by far, the best source of information about DREAM that we have going for us. We usually direct people to it when they want to learn more about what we do and who we are.
- Alumni: The Alumni love to help out with big projects, especially if they are trips coming into their town. Fro more info, contact
. They also raise money annually to give out as grants to Local Programs for culminating trips and other cool projects -- check out the Alumni Fund grants page.
- General Documents: For general materials that can be useful for any event or in any situation when asking for money, goods, or time, see our Documents page (over in the Resources Section of the website).
- Specific Documents: Further down the page you'll also find specific resources for individual fundraisers in their extended details.
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Fundraiser Details
Bake Sale
Bake Sales are incredibly straightforward fundraisers. Kids and mentors can make bake-goods one Friday and set up a booth near a high student-traffic area the next to sell them. When using tables and space in buildings, most colleges require that you check with the appropriate department, and towns sometimes require that you receive permission to set up a booth on a sidewalk (especially in a commercial area).
Along with bake goods, it's a good idea to have some t-shirts available just in case, and don't forget to bring change and a cash box.
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Campus Organization Donations
There are many campus organizations that can directly fund activities or hold fundraisers. Fraternities and sororities are fantastic in this regard. They often have extra money they can donate outright, and usually have community service requirements they need to fulfill. Residential Halls sometimes have extra money that they are excited to put towards campus groups, especially if they can have something to do with the event. Other potential organizations include student government, clubs, teams, religious groups, the community service office, school newspaper, TV station, and campus radio station. These groups are also great publicizers of events, as they can sell tickets to their constituencies and email out to their group lists.
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Chili Cook-off
The basic idea is to recruit people to cook chili. Then you have a big party with lots of chili, some music, and other fun stuff. The people who cook the best chili win cool prizes. The people who come to the cook-off pay DREAM to enter. For their entry fee (~$5) they get to taste all the chili and vote on which they think is best. It is great to add other incentives to encourage people to come to the cook-off – good live music, raffle prizes, killer clowns, or six humpback whales and a small poodle.
The cook-off is a TON of fun, but make sure you start planning early. Organizing this cook-off is a big job. Don’t try and do it by yourself. Find a few friends who are psyched to help.
You should all sit down and watch the Simpsons episode where Homer goes to the Chili Cook-off. Johnny Cash plays the voice of Homers foxy spiritual guide during a hot-pepper induced psychadelic experience. This will get you fired up for a Chili Cook-off like nothing else.
Meet with your friends. Discuss and Delegate.
You should plan an initial meeting with your DREAM buddies. First, go over the following stuff together, then decide who is going to take what responsibilities:
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What is the event? A Chili Cook Off and Concert? Pick a cool name (e.g. "DREAM Chili Cook-off: The Musical Fruit") and run with it!
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When will the event be? Settle on a date and time.
- When will the most students be around & available to attend?
- When will mentors be most able to give time/energy?
- Check for competing events like concerts or other fundraisers.
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Where will the event be? Come up with a few possible locations for the event. Someone should compile a list of possible places and be in charge of getting the OK at the best spot possible.
- Anyone have a big yard near campus? A big parking lot?
- Behind an apartment complex?
- Other campus Spaces?
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Think about layout at the event site.
- Keep the band near the food;
- Provide shelter (tarps or tents -- in case of rain) for food and music;
- Anticipate a lot of people and plan for a grill to satisfy disgruntled people when the chili inevitably runs out;
- Where is the power source?
- Where can people park?
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What DJ or bands could play? If you decide you want live music...
- Who has friends that play in bands?
- Who wants to be in charge of getting bands?
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Think about Prizes/Donations:
- Make a list of possible prize donors.
- What businesses might donate good grand prizes?
- What about other prizes?
- Who wants to be in charge of gathering prize donations?
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Think about best mediums for Advertising.
- What’s the most effective way of communicating with students? With the local community?
- Use your networks of friends, and the groups they belong to like Student Government, Clubs,
- Teams, Greek Organizations, Community Service Office, Student Life, Residential Life, school
- newspaper, TV station, radio station, and anyone else who may publicize your event
- Tell other mentoring programs or non-profits in your area
- Invite local Media: newspapers, TV stations, radio stations
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How are you going to get Chili Cookers?
- Similar to advertising – how can you reach the most students to invite/entice them to enter?
- It might be a good idea to have some prizes before you start recruiting cookers... then, focus first on groups, like sports teams, clubs, fraternities, sororities, academic societies, households of friends. Give potential cookers a list of brief instructions, with an RSVP date.
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Hunt down and reserve the required equipment (grills, tables, heating stuff, signs, band stage, juice coolers, student card machines) with the proper sources.
Warnings and other helpful hints:
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It is always a good idea to have a grill ready to cook hot dogs and hamburgers for when the chili inevitably runs out! Both those who have pre-purchased tickets as well as those who have come with money and are hungry will appreciate it!
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Consider applying for event funding. Many schools have funding for this type of healthy on campus event!
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Lots of people are vegetarian. Be sure to have separate meat and vegetarian chili categories with prizes for each.
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If the event is on campus, clear the way for serving food on campus. This may involve getting permission from the university food service provider (example: Sodexho Marriott at UVM). You may have to get a catering waiver form signed.
- Good luck and have a lot of fun!
Here are some examples of past tickets, flyers, etc that you can print up or use to pump up your own creative ideas:
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VT Bottle Drive
In Vermont, you can turn in bottles and cans at redemption centers for $$$. It ’s fun to think of creative ways to collect as many bottles in as quick a time as possible. This is a great fundraiser to do on a weekend, when you have the time to drive around. Some redemption centers will allow you to post a sign asking for bottles if people feel so inclined when they are dropping off their bottles.
One site in South Burlington that has been open to DREAM is:
M T Bellies
340 Dorset St, Ste 3
S Burlington
802-863-8058
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Seeking Local Donations (churches, etc.)
There are plenty of resources in the community for cash and goods donations. In the "General Resources" section, there are plenty of handy documents for requesting donations.
Letters and phone calls are good ways of warming people up to the idea of a donation, but if you can manage some face time then you are much more likely to secure the donation and build a lasting relationship!
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Family Weekend Fun Run / Walk
The Fun Run/Walk is a no-cost way to RACK in the big bucks. It takes a minimal amount of planning, too! Simply put, it's a pay-to-participate race with pocket change for overhead. And... it's a blast. The key to a successful fun run is, of course, getting a load of people to sign up. So, read through this straight-forward agenda, add to it to make it even cooler, and have a great time! Yeah money!
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Choose a Date and Time: College family weekends are great. They ensure money and interest, and since they have shown more success than any non-family weekend planned events, this outline is going to be based on the assumption that the event will be scheduled sometime during a family weekend.
Morning runs (9am or so) are better for most people because they leave the rest of the day open, which is important for families, but which also means that you'll need to count on half of your volunteers oversleeping. It is also a good idea to use the first registration day of the family weekend to secure as many participants as possible, so having the event later in the weekend is probably best.
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Getting People to Come: Most of your time should be spent in ways that immediately secure racers (and therefore the $$$). Throwing signs around campus is great for the visibility of DREAM, but it doesn’t get all that many people to actually come and spend money. It's not so hot when a lot of people say they’re going to come and don't... but it's a lot sweeter if they've already paid! On that note, for strictly money-raising reasons, it’s important to get people to buy their spot before the morning of the race. You will still get a group that shows up the morning of to register, but it wouldn't be worth it if that was the only group.
In terms of effectively marketing the event, there are a couple tricks to use for families and students:
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Families: The reasoning behind adding “Walk” to “Fun Run” is so it appeals to a larger group, especially to parents who are really showing their years. Other great selling points are that families like the concept of seeing the “best parts of campus,” having an opportunity to do a family event during the week, and knowing that they are helping a program that their student’s are running (use these points to your advantage!).
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Family Weekend Info Packet: If you’re reading this in time, see if you can send out a pre-registration form in the family weekend info packet that gets sent out to all the families long before the weekend. It’ll probably take a little schmoosing with which ever administrative department deals with the mailings).
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Booth at Family Weekend Registration: Make sure to have a booth at the actual family weekend registration (and wear your DREAM shirt!). This may also take some schmoozing, but it is THE HOTTEST way of getting people pre-registered and pre-paid. Be polite, but shameless - parents may not approach your table unless you approach them first with something they can connect with, like, “wondering if you’d like to support our student run community service program.” It’s really good to have some DREAM pictures at the booth, along with a brief program description (with an address in case parents want to send millions later), and a map of the race (campus maps can be downloaded from your college’s website).
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Booths: Booths (except for the booth at the family weekend registration) are pretty lame. They really don’t get all that many people to sign up and can be a huge waste of time. If you’ve got some pushy mentors and kids behind the table, though, as well as a prime student-traffic location, you’ll have some luck!
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Fellow Students: Mass emailing to fellow students is a final way to get a handful or two to the event. Get fellow DREAM mentors to email to their friends, but also send an exciting email to any and every student list you can. It’s generally a good idea to make this the last push for the event. Do this fairly close to the event (most students will ignore it if it’s further than a day or two away).
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Misc.: There are a whole lot of other ways to get the word out about the race, like signs, running naked through the streets waving a banner, mass mailings, or praying. The methods above, however, are tried and true, and should make your event a wild success.
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Secure Race Goods: There are a few supplies you’ll need throughout the publicity process and for the big day…make sure to hunt these things down in advance! Your athletic department is a good resource for some of these:
- Map: The race course and length is up to you. 3k is usually a good middle ground for all different personalities of runners and walkers. Make the course exciting, and have it start and end in the same spot if possible! Xeroxing a campus map with the race course details is an easy way to produce a course map. mark the map up (figure out any and all confusing or dangerous spots) -contact local police department if the race is going to block off any busy streets.
- Race Shoot: The race should end in a funnel of some sort (cones, or an actual racing shoot are great).
- Stop Watches: Four or five stop watches should be sufficient for the race.
- Big Clock: Your athletic department should have a race clock that they will let you borrow. It’s not absolutely necessary for the race, but it adds character.
- Air Horn: For the start of the race. Cheap air horns can be purchased at any disgusting large department chain store (your athletic department may also have one).
- Pens: You’ll need a bunch of pens for the score keeps and the registration table.
- Start line: Cones or a ribbon.
- Prizes: Community stores are always great places to hit up for prizes. They’re generally supportive and excited about service work. In return, you may offer to put their name on a poster at the race as a shop that helped make the race possible.
- Cash Box: For those people who register at the race, you’ll want to have a cash box at the table to hold incoming money (with some petty cash for change).
- DREAM T’s: You may want to have DREAM T-shirts and Cards available at the race’s registration booth to bring in a little extra cash!
- Race Numbers and Safety Pins: To be given to racers. Race numbers can be ordered online, but they’re expensive (especially if you want to include perforation at the bottom). A really low cost way of making them is to print them on card stock at your local copy center. For usually a couple cents more per copy, they’ll perforate them for you. It’s cheap, and the cards will hold up for a race.
- Bike: to lead the way during the race.
- Race Staff: to stop traffic at roads and to guide racers.
- Table, trash cans, cups, water jugs: at the start line for finishing racers.
- Camera: to record the event!
- Morning of the Race: there are a number of things to do. You should plan to arrive at least an hour early to set up, synchronize watches and send race staff out to the course, and have 20, 10, and 5 min. warnings as the start time approaches... then send them off!
Warning! This is definitely a fair weather event, which is why it's important people sign up before hand too (although some people will come the morning of, regardless).
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