Taking a lesson from a Superbowl party, one of our St. Jude Heroes adapted the football pool to her race finish time. Everyone has seen the sheet with numbers across the top and down the side where people “buy” individual blocks, with the ending score paying out to the person owning that block.

Create a grid with 60 blocks to represent your finish time SECONDS, starting at :00 and going through :59 and sell those blocks. The winner is determined by the official race chip time, which can be viewed by anyone. As an example, if your finish time is 2:16:31, the person with the block “31” is the winner.

Football pools pay out the entire amount, which could be confused with gambling and obviously defeats the purpose of fundraising here. You can pay out a set amount, offer a free service if there is something you do, or provide any other incentives. My friend offered gift cards. If you sell each block for only $5 and pay out $50 to the winner, you still net $250 for your charity!

Running behind on your fundraising goal? Quick, put the kids to work!

Seriously, bracelets and other simple craft items are inexpensive to make, but perfect to sell and raise money for your charity. You have the opportunity to get the family involved and share with your kids the joy of helping others.

Okay, let’s get started! Tell the kids that just like a company, they are going to manufacture and sell bracelets for your charity. Let’s call it Bracelets for the Cause.

Research and development
I am not going to tell you what beads to use or how to make bracelets. Part of the fun of this venture is to make selections and work together. Any craft store or even WalMart will have large colored bead assortment packages plus alphabet beads. You can string them with a name or event. There are various string and clasp options available. My personal Memphis St. Jude Marathon “racing” bracelet shown here was made by a St. Jude patient named Brayden, who is being treated for retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. He does not see well, so a stiff wire works best for him. Sometimes the true value of a bracelet is based on who made it.

Design and Production
Child labor laws do not apply, so put them to work! Let them be creative and do a test run or two. Don’t get too far ahead, because flexibility may come in handy. You can standardize, but customizing is much more fun!

Marketing and Sales
You can sell each one for a standard price, set a minimum price and ask for more, or don’t set a price at all. You can also auction them. The purpose is to overcharge, right? Spread the word online and by using your charity’s email system.

Accounting and Collections
The beauty of most charity’s’ site is that people can use a card to pay online if they want (make the donation) and you both get an immediate acknowledgement. Cash collected is submitted using the same forms as any other cash donation.

Shipping
Make sure to include your cost of mailing the bracelets if needed!

Make Bracelets for the Cause a fun family project while helping the others!

Hosting a wine tasting for your charity can be both fun and rewarding. You can determine the size based on your situation, connections and comfort level. It can be an event such as a recent one held at a business location and featured here, or a small, intimate one in your back yard.

One of my fellow St. Jude Heroes raised $1500 in one evening by using a local auto dealership showroom. Fruit, cheese and light snacks were donated by a local caterer and 10 bottles of wine were donated by local wine stores. In addition, each guest was asked to bring two bottles of the same wine, one for tasting and the other for “purchase.” You can’t actually sell wine without a license, so people were asked to make a “donation.” Guests who wanted to attend but not bring wine were asked to make a $15 donation.

Guests would sample the wines and “bid” on the bottle. You have to be flexible and if someone is leaving early, accelerate the final bid. Your objective is to get the donations!

The 10 donated bottles were wrapped identically and people purchased for $20 a random “number” assigned to each bottle. One of these bottles was valued at $100, with several in the $50 range.

Thoughts and hints:

• Get EVERYTHING donated. The goal is to raise money, and everyone understands.
• Do not pay for a location. Many businesses would gladly host this event.
• The wine being “purchased” was either donated or brought by the guests, so no inventory cost.
• Have jars with money on tables to encourage people to make cash donations.
• Don’t make the event too long. People are there to sample, purchase, donate and leave.
• Get volunteers to dress appropriately to keep the event “upscale.”
• Have music plus someone to announce the happenings and share information on wines.
• With internet access or on your smart phone, you can have donations made directly into your St. Jude Heroes donation page, which sends the donor a receipt.
• Not aligning with just one store may help you get more donated wine from multiple ones.

Offer your time or willingness to provide a service to friends in exchange for a donation.

Babysitting for kids

One of my St. Jude Hero teammates babysits in exchange for donations to St. Jude and passed along this great idea. She has time available and found this unique way to use it. It is a win-win for everyone. Friends who would never otherwise ask her to babysit and certainly feel uncomfortable paying her for it are more than happy to take her up on the offer and donate to St. Jude. I’ll bet you those donations are more than the going rate for a typical sitter, too! If you have older kids who babysit, get them involved. Are they willing to offer this for a night to a neighbor?

Pets

Someone to feed, walk or simply let out an animal is something pet owners need all the time. If you are an animal lover, perhaps this works better for you than taking care of kids. After all, they don’t talk back!

In addition to helping out for a great cause, restaurants, sports bars and businesses want to attract people, and runners come in groups. Don’t be afraid to talk with a business owner if you have an idea for an event at their location. I promise you, they will listen!

There are no set rules, so you may ask for a percentage of sales, a set amount per order, or a percentage of a certain item (i.e. all the cheesecake for the month). Here are several ideas!

National chains
Many restaurant chains will donate part of their proceeds to a charitable group.  Here is a partial list. Hopefully it will give you a good place to start.

Local businesses
A local business can offer the same contributions as national chains, but may not have “ready to go” programs. For example, we have scheduled some of our long Saturday morning runs to start and end at the Tin Roof 2, a local club. They prepare a breakfast for the group with a portion of the proceeds going to St. Jude. They even hosted a “Karaoke for the Cause” night for our St. Jude Heroes team.

Get to know the local business owners and work with them to create special events or days. They may be willing to donate part of their sales, but you must do your part and bring customers to them.

Editor’s Note: Even though this article was written specifically about fund raising for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the ideas and concepts are universal.

A. “Support me by donating to St. Jude.” or . . .

B. “I want to throw a party. When a child has their last chemo treatment, they have a “no mo chemo” party with balloons, music and dancing to celebrate. It costs $75 for the party. We want to pay for 10 of them. Can you help?”

Help people “see” what their donation means. Make it visual. Kids pulling little red wagons around the hospital is a common sight. These wagons are $70. Who would not want to help buy a wagon?

Do you have any great ideas to share? Please do!

Every dollar donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital counts! Take a look at some of the possibilities that your donations could provide to the kids and families of St. Jude.

Infant Care Supplies for 10 Babies: $50
These supplies help parents and nurses care for babies in treatment and include items like diapers, baby bottles, sippy cups, pacifiers, footies and heel warmers.

Wagon: $70
Wagons can make traveling through the halls of St. Jude easier for parents and more fun for a young child.

Parties: $75
Celebrate birthdays, holidays and “coming off chemo.” Jude provides parties, decorations, cakes and more to keep spirits high during the holidays and to celebrate special occasions like birthdays and a child’s completion of chemotherapy treatment.

Creative Toys: $100
Play is an essential part of every child’s life, and it’s important for the children to have fun as often as possible. At St. Jude, colorful, toy-filled play areas are just as plentiful as exam rooms.

Delicious Meals: $210
St. Jude provides meal cards so that patients and families can enjoy the comfort and convenience of good, nutritious meals in the Kay Kafe, our cafeteria.

One Day of Oxygen: $447
Oxygen is key to keeping the immune system strong. A gift of oxygen can help a young body thrive and help fight cancer at the cellular level.

Child-sized Wheelchairs: $700
These special wheelchairs help children move easily through St. Jude.

Airfare for a parent and child: $1,000 Average
For a patient referred to St. Jude, the hospital covers the cost of airfare for a child and one parent or guardian.

 

Editor’s Note: Even though this article was written specifically about fund raising for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the ideas and concepts are universal.

Uncomfortable asking people for money? Everyone wants to make a difference, but we all have our comfort zones, and this is a deal killer for some. If this sounds like you, here are a few easy steps that can make this experience rewarding, and not stressful!

• Be an educator, not a solicitor. St. Jude sells itself if people have a few facts, so I share these in my messaging. Go to http://www.stjude.org/quick-facts and you will be amazed at what you never knew.  You can do a simple message such as “Did you know that no family ever pays for treatment at St. Jude, and the survival rates on some childhood cancers have increased from 20% in 1962 to 80% today thanks to treatment protocols developed by St. Jude. That’s why I am running as a St. Jude Hero to raise money!” Include your web link after that and the money comes in!
• On Facebook? Type in your St. Jude Heroes web page address in the status bar, the link pulls up and you can make an announcement such as “I’m running this for St. Jude!” See, that’s not asking for money directly, is it?
• Personal emails are easy with the St. Jude Heroes website. If you have an “address book” on your computer, there is an easy “upload contacts” button. Upload them all, then you can then choose some or all to customize your email messages. For example, I send a different one to business contacts that to friends and family. Once again, educate and provide your St. Jude Heroes link.
• Do you have a “signature” set up at the bottom of your emails? I add a link to my St. Jude Heroes donation page just below my company information. People ask me about it or just donate.
• Be “you.” People who know you want to support you, and if it is important to you, it will be important to them. In conversations when you mention you are running as a St. Jude Hero, they always want to know more. Be prepared with some of those facts.

These are just a few things that may help you if you have a hard time asking. Everyone has a different reason for signing up as a St. Jude Hero, and that affects the amount of effort put forth. There is no shame in setting your goal as $100 to qualify to wear the St. Jude Heroes singlet in the race. My experience is that once someone gets started, they quickly exceed that amount.

I hope you will share other ideas here on how to get donations for those who have trouble asking.