Parents In need of fundraising ideas.

[christinafred3]

Hello!
My daughter has been on team at our gym for 4 years. Her first year we did a few fundraisers to help out with the cost, but not much since then. I have taken it upon myself to start up some fundraising.

Our gym is fairly new and we do not host any meets, so that is out.

We had a parent meeting last week to discuss some things. We discussed starting a 501c (3).
Those of you that have a 501 at your gym, how do you get everyone's involvement, so that it is fair for the $ to be split between all of the members.

We are wanting to put together a fall festival for a major fundraiser.
We've had a few things donated to put together a basket for a raffle.
Local businesses host some fundraisers as well.
Any suggestions will be appreciated!
Thanks in advance!

 

[txgymfan]

Good lucks, starting. 501C3 is serious business. Is one of your parents a lawyer willing to donate their times? If not you have an even greater challenge on your hands. If you fundraise and goof up the legal part you could jeopardize the future of any athlete receiving any athletic scholarship in any sport ever. Search the forum for booster club threads and you will see why some CB parents LOVE their booster and some detest them.

 

[MILgymFAM]

The only part I can speak to is getting everyone involved. At DDs gym they don't force parental involvement in any way, and there are parents who do nothing and still benefit from the hard work. It's just one of those things, unfortunately.

 

[gymdog]

Actually I think there is a system where you split people into fundraising "groups" based on how much they fundraiser (such as 10-20% in one group and 90% in another group) and then the total earning of that group are equally distributed among the group. I'M NOT AN EXPERT, this is just an idea you can look into.

 

[duyetanh]

We have the one where everyone benefits even if they don't contribute. It is what it is...

 

[aksaunders]

We did this fundraiser for my son's baseball team and raised over $3500 with minimal involvement from at least 3 families. Each family donated ten dollars worth of scratch off raffle tickets. We bought 1000 professionally made raffle tickets for $41 and sold them for $10 each. Each family was given one raffle ticket to cover the cost of the scratch off tickets they bought. Sell as many as you can then give prize basket with scratch offs in it at restaurant that will give you a small percentage of the food sales.

 

[2G1B]

We aren't 501c3 (at least, not yet. It is expensive!)

A great fundraiser that my DS just finished was a pledge drive. I loved it because the boys had to do the main work (they had to do a skill or conditioning that they committed to doing). It is also great because we aren't selling something, the money all goes back to the booster club instead of to cover products. And the incentive to the kids was fun gym time, so no cost for prizes.

 

[B.Gold]

I feel I need to defend us "non-joiners" a little bit....my kids belong to a total of 5 organizations that all fundraise. If I sold something every time one of these organizations asked us to my friends would run the other direction when they saw me coming. I've recently had two pizza fundraisers going on at the same time that have led immediately into candles and chocolate, and also butter braids, and then cheesecake in October. Not even kidding. It's nice these options are available for those who choose to participate. But no thank you.

I work my part time job to support their activities. I'm not looking for more work. Please don't try to get me involved.

 

[blueredzone]

We don't get any if any involvement. There are a few of us that would like more involvement but it is what it is. A 5013c benefits everybody in the group. Any monies raised or donated get divided up. So no one wants to do it.

I refuse to have my daughter go door to door selling something for gym fees. I'd rather see if we could "bag for tips" on a Saturday at the local grocery. Or something where a service is provided.

I just hate when I see kids trying to raise money for a sport or trip there parents should be funding. Not strangers. But I would tip people for bagging my groceries for a cause. Or some other service

 

[MILgymFAM]

I feel I need to defend us "non-joiners" a little bit....my kids belong to a total of 5 organizations that all fundraise. If I sold something every time one of these organizations asked us to my friends would run the other direction when they saw me coming. I've recently had two pizza fundraisers going on at the same time that have led immediately into candles and chocolate, and also butter braids, and then cheesecake in October. Not even kidding. It's nice these options are available for those who choose to participate. But no thank you.

I work my part time job to support their activities. I'm not looking for more work. Please don't try to get me involved.

I just wanted to clarify. When I talk about people not helping or joining in, I am talking about their time and nothing else. Helping at meets, planning and prepping for meets, donating old leotards for gym sales- that's the extent of what I think everyone who benefits should contribute. I don't ever sell to my friends and family. I hate being sold things myself.