My dd11 really wants to go to a week-long overnight swim camp this summer. The cost is almost $1000- WAY more than we can afford. Do you guys have any creative ways to fund activites like this? We can do a yard sale when it gets a little warmer, but that wouldn't fund all of it. Dh mentioned getting her to write a letter to friends/relatives asking them to sponsor her, but I'm thinking that might not be acceptable.
I would consider the letter, but only to people I knew had extra money, and today not many people do. What about the fundraiser boxes of candy from Sam's club? Could your DH sell some of them at work? It's not a huge profit per box, but it's a start. I can remember my sister wanting to go with a youth group to Cedar Point park, it was way out of my mom's budget.. she was a single parent. By the time this came up my sister was the only one left at home. The trip was like $600 and the kids were allowed to take $500 in spending money. They sold some Easter candy to raise the money.. Wolfgang I think it was.. anyway I sold and I sold and I sold. In all I sold over $7,000 in candy, they got to keep 25% of it so she had more than enough for her trip and paid the way for another girl who didn't have the means to go. I know I could not sell that much the way everyone's money is now, but it was fun back then (even though it was a TON of work). Good luck
I just emailed to ask if they have full or partial scholarships. I'll start there and see what we need to do once I get a response.
yes, love Sommers Ideas those candy bars all work and Sams club will let you stand outside there door selling them... try that...
I just recieved a letter from a girl who wants to go to AK this summer.... I was taken back a little because her parents have more money than me! So if you do letters, just make them to where the people know that it is ok not to send any support..(the letter I got was not so) Walmart will let you sit outside their door and sell.... Car washes are fun to do, but you don't make that much from them.
Rachael will be sending out support letters for her missions trip this summer. I am SO dreading that!!!
I'm really not wanting to do the letter thing. We've received them in the past, and I think they are a little tacky. This is something she wants to do, not needs to do. So, I feel like we should find a way to come up with the money or not send her. We may try the candy bars, and let dh take them to work.
I have three going to youth camp this summer. It gets more expensive each year, but our church youth group works all year raising money to help pay for it. We have dinners that usually raise a lot. Belk lets us sell coupons for $5.00 each and we get to keep the whole $5.00. The person who buys the coupon gets to go to a special sale and they get the money back on the first thing they buy. A lot of groups in our area take part in this. We also have a big bulletin board up right now with big red envelopes. It says something like have a heart and help send a kid to camp. You can take down an envelope and put any amount in and turn it into the office at church before Valentines day. We also gave away those plastic tubes of mini M&Ms once and asked anyone who could to fill the empty tube with quarters and return them to us. The candy cost us about $75.00. We raised a lot of money that way. Most people filled them with quarters but others put in checks or cash. It was an easy fund raiser and everyone loved it. If you couldn't send money back it was fine and nobody noticed who did and who didn't .
Are there any other kids you know needing to raise money? If so a car wash can work really well, especially if you sell tickets ahead of time. That way even if they forget to come you still have gotten some money. I did that several times with friends. We each kept the ticket money we sold and then we split the money earned that day evenly. Too much work for just one person though.
Most people I know consider letters asking for help on mission trips to be a worthy cause. The money can be counted as a donation and claimed on taxes. Besides it's helping others, not just that person wanting something. So, I'd be reticent at sending out letters for something like this. I think that if the child really wants to go sokewhere/do something, they need to take the initiative to work for it! Lots of good ideas so far! My dd and her friend want to get a horse and help pay for lessons. So they gave out flyers in the neighborhood for dog-walking and dog and cat-sitting. They have one lady that has asked for their services, and others saying they will call them when they need that done. That's not going to bring in a huge amount right now, but it's a good learning experience! This was interesting: We once had 2 girls come to our door selling bags of coffee. Their group had somehow been given about 100 bags of coffee that was past the store shelf date, but barely, and still good, so they were selling it for $6 a bag. People were buying it up, so that was $600 profit right there! Just sayin.....if you know anyone that works in a place that could donate something, it'd be 100% profit! Around here, getting people to donate ingredients, then having a dinner seems to go over pretty well. That's for mission projects though, not sure about camp projects. Camp is a great thing for kids, though, so I'm sure there are people who would be willing to help out. Best wishes!
I don't mind donating to missions trips, but although this is a Christian swim camp (with Josh Davis, 1996 Olympic gold medalist), it is not through our church. It's just something she wants to do. We're still waiting to hear about scholarships, and we've tossed around the idea of a Pampered Chef fundraiser or something similar. Dh said her could take candy bars to work to sell, so we'll weigh that againt the cost. I agree that it would mean more for her to earn at least part of it herself.
Do you guys have Papa Murphy's pizza down there? They're all over the place here, and they have coupon cards that are *excellent*. You buy them for $1 and then sell them for whatever you want, usually $5. THe ones here let you sit right in front of the store and sell them to people walking in the door. They're really excellent coupons - 8 different ones saving at least 40% off of those big pizzas, some of them as much as 60%, and it's easy to make back your $5 with the very first purchase. See if you can find a local World's Finest Chocolate representative. Ours here keeps the $1 variety boxes onhand, and therefore the minimum purchase mentioned on the website doesn't apply. We can buy just one or two boxes of chocolate at $25 a box and then sell them at 50% profit - $1/bar. And then, of course, you can turn right around and do it again, and again, and again.... THis is what our brand new cub scouting group did and has already made $600 only selling for a month. We're about to go a second round. If there are other kiddos wanting to go, you might all be able to get together and do some other larger-scale fundraisers as well. Something to check into, in that case, are local food places. Spots like Chik-Fil-A (one of the best we've found), Taco Cabana, and others will let you designate a time frame and tell folks to come patron the restaurant during that time. Everyone has their own rules, but usually the gist is that customers donate their receipts - no money, just the receipt - and the business donates a percentage of the total on the donated receipts. Some places are better, and give just a flat percentage without bothering with the receipt thing. Some places are worse and don't let you ASK for the receipts, expecting that the only ones who will donate will be those who came specifically for that purpose. (Totally up to the manager. Just find a good spot.) Applebees is another one for a larger scale thing. You need a minimum number of servers, but they fix breakfast and the kiddos serve it. You sell tickets for $6 and only have to pay $2 for them; but if someone buys a $6 ticket and doesn't show up to use the ticket, then you keep the full 100% on that one. They let you sit in front of the restaurant and sell tickets to customers. They aren't usually open for breakfast except for these fundraisers, and they are all-you-can-eat eggs, pancakes, coffee. I think the ones here have told us a minimum of 15 adults is required, and kids aren't allowed in the kitchen. We had our scouts mostly bussing tables and cleaning up, with some of the older ones (Boy Scouts) pouring coffee, etc. You don't have to do the cooking for this - they do it, you just provide the servers. It's been a really good profit maker for the Boy Scouts here, even promoting it on the radio and such. Tandy Leather has some simple, multi-pack craft stuffs too, like beaded key chains and whatnot. If there's any sort of bazaar or anything going on any time soon, or if there happens to be a market for it in your hs group or church, that might be an idea. In that same arena, anything that you would think of as a homemade gift can turn into a mini fundraiser - mixes in a jar, flavored coffee spoons, towel-covered coffee cans to hold toilet paper... I think I'm done. I've fundraising on the brain lately.
Great ideas DaLynn! Our local Burger King and McDonald's do the "store takeover" thing---where you do the serving and stuff and get a percentage, or something like that. Somelocal groups have done that with good results. sixcloar, I've been wondering this same thing, with dd wanting her horse, or at least the riding lessons, so have been trying to figure out how she could raise funds for it. It was something I considered CERTAINLY not worthy of writing letters! Being a summer camp, yours is on the line between the two: Missions at yes end, and horse at the no end. Anyway, I'm reading this thread with interest as well!
