I've done a little fundraising through volunteer work also. Food always seems to work. Some type meal - such as a spaghetti dinner (just an example) usually works well. ADVERTISE (flyers, local news station, etc.) for the best turn-out. Rummage sales seem to do quite well also. Another idea is a charity golf tournament or fishing tournament. We have had good luck in our area with both of these.

One tip - for the sports tournaments it is very nice if you can enlist some sponsors and do small prizes for each person entering. The little sports towels, golf balls, fishing bait, fishing line, travel cups, etc. make a nice gift bag. Many companies will be willing to help with this as a form of advertising. We also try to get a few gift certificates (sporting good store, restaurants,etc.) for door prizes. Door prizes also work well at the dinners.

Not an event I've helped with, but have attended the last few years - one of our local Lions Club has a dinner with entertainment. They've had a Barney Fife look-alike, singers, etc. The entertainers will usually donate their time and you sell tickets for the meal/entertainment.

Just some thoughts - good luck!

tina

A friend of mine volunteered for the local Suicide Hotline several years ago and they were desperate for funds. She put together a wine and cheese tasting with silent auction, and they made tons of money for their cause. She was very creative in her auction items. Another of our friends did traffic for a local radio station and she auctioned off a ride in the helicopter with him during rush hour for several hundred dollars. He would usually accomodate for free! The wine and cheese tasting seemed to attract a group of donors who loved to socialize but also had discretionary income. She sold advance tickets to the wine and cheese tasting for several months ahead to cover the cost. Good luck, and what a wonderfully unselfish thing to do.
Dee

Our local newspaper is wonderful. At least once a week they feature a pet in need of a home and talk about the need for donations. Recently they published an article about pit bulls, featuring a great interview with the head of our local animal shelter.

'Sammie's Friends' took over the animal shelter from the county a few months ago and their volunteers have gone to school to learn about different breeds of dogs - like Pit Bulls - who overwhelm our shelters here. Learning about different breeds helps them match the right dog with the right family. Publicity like this is your best bet, IMO. Maybe you could submit a 'pet of the week' to your paper?

Also, I get a monthly newsletter from 'Sammie's Friends'. That helps too. I suggest you think long term support verse big bang, one time only, fundraiser. You must stand out from the rest of the crowd with their hands out...

I'm allergic to fundraising these days. Totally got burned out over the many years. I shudder when I even think about it. Sorry. Building solid community support will bring more money over the long haul than a creative fundraiser here and there.

People have left their estates to 'Sammie's Friends'. That is awesome!

BTW, 'Sammie' was burned to death in a home invasion robbery where the mentally ill robber burned the house down. Sammie's owner spent over a month in the hospital with burns. Sammie's owner is very involved with animal rescue now.

It takes a lot of dedication to do so, but I definitely encourage you to get involved. Here is a link to our local cat rescue organization. I've adopted two of my cats from them. They started out as a couple of people doing it, and now they're well established. You might try to get in touch with them and explain what your group is doing and they might have some tips.

Here is a link that might be useful: Salem Friends of Felines

I just adopted two kittens from a local animal rescue on Monday. The dears were found on a logging road..actually got run over (but not with the wheels) of a logging truck and the logger saved them.

I like the rummage/garage, etc sale. It's an easy thing to do, raises money from both friends of pets and others who just love sales. I've donated tons of stuff to entities like this (our favorite is a FOP in alaska that runs a thrift store). You could also ask people to make things for the garage sale, like animal theme quilts, pot holders, etc. I purchased two kitty quilts while picking up the babies :) And I plan on taking a bunch of kitty fabric up there next week so they can make more stuff.

A thrift store is also a great way to raise funds if there are enough volunteers...mind you, it's a committment, but it's funding a large entity in alaska that started out with just two gals with big hearts!

Thanks for your ideas. I am mulling over the question of what do do. One thing that worries me about a rummage sale is: will I be able to collect enough items of good enough quality that people will buy them? Also, our space inside PetSmart is too tight for hosting a rummage sale and I'm not sure they'd let us do it there anyway. Should I try to rent space somewhere? There are flea markets at the local elementary school where you can do that.

Right now, I'm thinking maybe I can reap a better return with a silent auction. Our town has two annual outdoor festivals where I could put out a table. I'm not sure how to get local merchants to donate goods and services. I'm thinking small items like gift certificates for food or beauty services, maybe use of someone's beach house, or experience-oriented prizes like a morning at the local news station, lunch and a tour of a winery, a "date night" with movie passes and a dinner voucher, etc. I am artistically creative enough to make a table top display and we could put out brochures to let people know who we are and what we do. I'm just thinking thqat we could earn more with something like this than with selling many smaller items at a rummage sale but am not ruling out the rummage sale idea either.

Do you like silent auctions? Would something like that catch your attention if you passed it on the street at a local fair or festival? What kinds of services or goods would you be most inclined to bid on? Thanks everyone!

Our softball team held a spaghetti dinner getting donations from local restaurants. Then they got all sorts of gift certs from town. They sold raffle tickets where you put your in the bag for the item you wanted. You could also do a pancake breakfast and get supplies from local McDs.

On a small note, my dd has sold sodas in the summer and coffee in the winter at my yard sales. She only charged 50cents but she made $20. She easily could have charged $1 because it was really hot. We went to the adoption day at pet store and sponsored a cat. Her name was put on the pen of the cat she selected. It was small amount but the lady was so proud of her. She also raised $22 for Katrina victims. Again, small amount but easily done and well worth her efforts.

Regarding the silent auction idea. I think it could work but you need to think big. Today the small local merchants and restaurants, who give until it hurts, are being tapped to the limit by the economy. You need to ask Macy's or Target or the rest of the large chain stores in your area. See if they support the community like the community supports them.

The big stores are getting all the profits right now and they are the most able to help. Don't put the burden on the boutique stores that most people don't frequent. Call on the large retailers who actually get our money.

Once again, gold is onto something. I heard that Walmart will match the amount you spend on items when it is for a cause. Not sure how it works but you could just ask them. Also, the bigger stores will generate more interest in the auction.

Judith are you talking about the Bensalem area?

You might want to host a flea market by selling spaces for people to sell their own belonings and they keep the profit...so you charge, say $25 per space. Then they are responsible for clean up and removal of their own stuff. Also you can host space for people who may only want to donate an item or two. My son's school does this for the different classes fundraisers. Check with the shopping center or a local public building to see if they would allow it. (I'd shoot for spring at this point).

Also, we do a lot of fundraising with restaurants hosting "spirit nights" where they will dontate a % of profits for all receipts which are identified as from people supporting your organization.

The key to the success of that event is your distribution lists and word of mouth to get people there on that date.

I am a fundraiser and I actually had a thought regarding the challenges you face finding vets who will donate or discount services.

Does the organization have a web site or any circulation materials (ie brochures, posters, handouts of any kind)?

You might want to look at a sponsorship type of relationship with a local vet(s) where they give you services have you give them exposure and visibility through your printed goods or even at your events in exchange. This is high impact advertising for them.

A sorta you scratch my back I'll scratch yours tends to be a beneficial and longer term relationship in situations like this.

Haley

haley's idea is a good one. I know our vet donates the practices' time. However, I don't know that it is anything more than just good pro bono? Our vet does an excellent job with marketing - now online monthly newsletters! The practice is also very well known in our small-town rural area.

I love to attend fundraisers with good silent auction items. The last attended was sponsored by police officers for Special Olympics, or something to that effect, I bid on and won a MLB jersey for our local team.

I know they raised a bunch of $$, as a member of our family is very involved in the fundraising aspect of this cause.

Was a happy hour after work during the business week. Venue donated a certain # of hours & unlimited cocktails for 3 hrs., hors d' ouevr' buffet was donated by a caterer, etc.

I think it was key that everyone involved in the search for donated items, really "beat the street" to accumlate enough items to make it worth it to people to come out on a Tuesday nite! Purposely held in late Spring so as not to interfere with parents' committments to sports, or after school events. By that time most of the school-related stuff is wrapped up.

Also, I'm thinkin it might be hard for businesses to say no to the cop asking for a GC or some other form of silent auction dontation!

Well thanks for the good ideas y'all! Right now I'm leaning towards trying to do some cat related craft things and selling them with all proceeds going towards the group. I have seen great plaques and stenciled pet food buckets. The group has a table where things are sold every weekend during adoptions. I am thinking of trying to work out a system where materials from say a JoAnne Fabrics are donated to the charity and I get them to a group of teen sewers I know to produce tote bags and pretty aprons in some of those adorable cat fabrics. The kids in our area need community service credits to graduate from HS and thru the group I can arrange for them to get those credits for their sewing. They can do this on their own time at home where most other volunteering jobs are scheduled hours. I also think I could get art students to make cute plaques with cat related quotes. I've seen these in upscale boutiques and they don't look hard to make at all. I'd like to get Joanne's or Michaels or ACMoore to donate materials, kids donate time and receive community service credits, and our group sells these things at the mall where the pet store is. We could also rent flea market tables.

Oh, and I thought for next year maybe we could make christmas tree ornaments with a cat theme, again utilizing the talented high school students who need those community service credits.

What do you guys think?

I would like to take on silent auction/wine event type things in the future. I'm just wanting to "work up" to something like that.

The pro bono vet services would be great but that's really hard. Right now we are having a very hard time getting any medicines for the cats. These are tough times for all businesses and Vets are feeling the same pinch as everyone else plus there are more needy animals than vets could possibly help plus people with money troubles aren't able to take sick animals to the vet.

We collect a small fee for the adoptions, under a hundred dollars to defray vaccinations, neutering, and other costs. Because there's been a huge drop in adoptions this year (due to the economy, we believe) those funds aren't coming it like they have in the past. Tough times!