Bake sales, or seeing if your local grocery stores will let the scouts bag groceries for donations. 50/50 draws are a good fundraiser as well.
Fund Raiser Ideas?
- Thread starter zacdl
- Start date
I know this won't help you much this year, but the BSA Troop in Florida that my oldest son belongs to sells Christmas Trees during the holiday season. They place an order and 2 semi trailers are dropped off at the location where they sell them.
The initial purchase is what hurt, but after that it was a breeze. The profits they made were OUTSTANDING and tax free. They made enough for the trees for the next years purchase and to fund 3 trips for all the boys in the troop. If they wanted to do anything extra then they did the standard fund raising. (Car washes, bake sales, candy sales, etc....)
"T"
The initial purchase is what hurt, but after that it was a breeze. The profits they made were OUTSTANDING and tax free. They made enough for the trees for the next years purchase and to fund 3 trips for all the boys in the troop. If they wanted to do anything extra then they did the standard fund raising. (Car washes, bake sales, candy sales, etc....)
"T"
When are you going on the trip? I have a few ideas, but some take time. I worked with my kids band for years and they had fundraisers all the time.
T's idea with the Christmas trees is very similar to our best fundraiser. We have a couple of companies we work with and sell wreaths and poinsettias every fall. If you are interested for this year, pm me and I'll see if I can get the info. Not sure if the companies we deal with go to OK or not, but it owuld be a start. The kids take orders and collect the money and then they deliver them. You will need people to sort the orders...they just drop them off.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a store in our town, but is a national franchise. They have candy bars that put the usual fundraiser bars to shame. We did very well with that too.
In addition to your spaghetti dinner/pancake breakfast, have a silent auction and ask local businesses to donate items. A friend of mine works with her kids marching band and they make lots of $$ this way. They do it evey year and have quite a following. We have started it, and are building ours up.
Rex cleaner. Depends on your market if this goes well or not.
The usual pizza and frozen dessert sales. We did well with this until everyone else started doing it.
McDonalds and I think Fazoli's around here has fundraiser nights. Your group comes and helps out ..likle greeters, cleaning tables I think, and they donate a percentage of the evenings profit to your group.
The Krogers here will let your group cook hot dogs, brats etc out front to sell and they sell you the supplies at a reduced cost.
We work with a local nursery and they grow mums for us to sell in the fall. We had an in there because one of our booster group officers worked there. That has been very good too, but you have to set it up in the spring.
T's idea with the Christmas trees is very similar to our best fundraiser. We have a couple of companies we work with and sell wreaths and poinsettias every fall. If you are interested for this year, pm me and I'll see if I can get the info. Not sure if the companies we deal with go to OK or not, but it owuld be a start. The kids take orders and collect the money and then they deliver them. You will need people to sort the orders...they just drop them off.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory has a store in our town, but is a national franchise. They have candy bars that put the usual fundraiser bars to shame. We did very well with that too.
In addition to your spaghetti dinner/pancake breakfast, have a silent auction and ask local businesses to donate items. A friend of mine works with her kids marching band and they make lots of $$ this way. They do it evey year and have quite a following. We have started it, and are building ours up.
Rex cleaner. Depends on your market if this goes well or not.
The usual pizza and frozen dessert sales. We did well with this until everyone else started doing it.
McDonalds and I think Fazoli's around here has fundraiser nights. Your group comes and helps out ..likle greeters, cleaning tables I think, and they donate a percentage of the evenings profit to your group.
The Krogers here will let your group cook hot dogs, brats etc out front to sell and they sell you the supplies at a reduced cost.
We work with a local nursery and they grow mums for us to sell in the fall. We had an in there because one of our booster group officers worked there. That has been very good too, but you have to set it up in the spring.
From the other side of the fence--the fundraisers I'd rather not deal with:
Magazine sales
Discount cards to local restaurants (I never manage to use them frequently enough)
But things I happily support:
Cutting lawns/raking leaves. A couple of the local kids groups provide the tools, then go around cutting yards and raking leaves and such, usually about $10 per yard, and the adults collect the money and it goes towards a trip.
Bake sales--check with your local farmer's market to see if you could setup there. Good captive audience, limited hours. Breakfast items go really well.
Recycling pickup. Not paper and such, but having the kids pick up the items you can turn in for money--aluminim cans, etc. It's not a huge amount, usually, but I happily give my aluminum cans to some one else, just so I don't have to drive them in.
Pampered Chef. Mostly just the smaller, easily carried items, but it's good kitchen stuff, and tends to make a ton of money. If you know a PC rep, sometimes they will donate their income from a party as well--I've done it for good causes. You need a large place to hold the party, but it can make a few thousand dollars in just one day in a big enough community.
Magazine sales
Discount cards to local restaurants (I never manage to use them frequently enough)
But things I happily support:
Cutting lawns/raking leaves. A couple of the local kids groups provide the tools, then go around cutting yards and raking leaves and such, usually about $10 per yard, and the adults collect the money and it goes towards a trip.
Bake sales--check with your local farmer's market to see if you could setup there. Good captive audience, limited hours. Breakfast items go really well.
Recycling pickup. Not paper and such, but having the kids pick up the items you can turn in for money--aluminim cans, etc. It's not a huge amount, usually, but I happily give my aluminum cans to some one else, just so I don't have to drive them in.
Pampered Chef. Mostly just the smaller, easily carried items, but it's good kitchen stuff, and tends to make a ton of money. If you know a PC rep, sometimes they will donate their income from a party as well--I've done it for good causes. You need a large place to hold the party, but it can make a few thousand dollars in just one day in a big enough community.
nursie said:
This was what I was thinking. Have the dinner with a silent auction but don't stop at local businesses. Ask parents to donate to the auction. My dad used to donate an afternoon of sailing on his sailboat, others offered weekends at their vacation homes. Do a 50/50 raffle at the door that night as well. See if you can get a local comedian(s) to donate a set to the event or at least come cheap so that people will feel good about spending the money and getting something in return.
T
Or you could play to the kindness of scouts (there is no such thing as a former-scout ya know) all over the country and set up a dutch auction on ebay for $10 donations. In exchange, your troop will hand write thank you letters and send pictures from the trip to each and every person that "buys" a donation. Get the local paper and news channels involved as well..
Get a big ticket item donated...flat screen tv, motercycle...car...amnd sell raffle tickets.
If you have an American Legion or some such organization in your comminuty appeal to them for a donation...and have the kids volunteer to do some kind of service for them. Our legion has more $$ than they know what to do with and they do make hefty donations to our high school athletic program.
Also...if I remember right you are looking at a 50 passenger bus for 24 people...is there the possibility that you can share the bus with another scout troop interested in going the same place and half your transportation cost?
If you have an American Legion or some such organization in your comminuty appeal to them for a donation...and have the kids volunteer to do some kind of service for them. Our legion has more $$ than they know what to do with and they do make hefty donations to our high school athletic program.
Also...if I remember right you are looking at a 50 passenger bus for 24 people...is there the possibility that you can share the bus with another scout troop interested in going the same place and half your transportation cost?
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This is just one troop 
I dont think getting a TV donated would be going over too well.
Also this canoe base is a very popular spot, and they are booked pretty good, we just were able to get 24 slots.
I dont think getting a TV donated would be going over too well.Also this canoe base is a very popular spot, and they are booked pretty good, we just were able to get 24 slots.
