Funraising

[emt12resq]

My volunteer department is trying to get money for a new builing. So far we have estimated the cost of the building at $800,000. Does anyone have any funraising ideas so we can start building up enough money for our new building?

Here is a list of funraisers we already do:

Haunted Hayride

Chicken BBQ

Ham Pot Pie Dinner

Community Garage Sale

Community Cook Book

Annual Carnival

[rdelisle]

Try a fireman's ball (dance) or a fundraising "tollbridge"

[spenac]

Whats a "funraiser" ? I bet you mean fund raiser :wink: .

Paint numbers on curbs. If rural sell cinder blocks with house number painted on it.

Mow yards. Car washes, etc. Chores that people need done.

[emt12resq]

Yes i meant fund raiser haha! sorry about that everyone. The one time I didn't use spell check!

"Try a fireman's ball (dance) or a fundraising "tollbridge"

The only thing wrong with that is people don't come because we have a policy against alcohol. Being a community organization and all some board members think it makes us look bad. Also people come and then don't have a ride home after drinking. It was done a long time ago but I'll bring it up at the next meeting.

Also how do we get some of our lazy members to get involved? When it comes to calls they're all for it but when it comes to helping out and having to do work everyone says they'll help but the day comes and no one shows up.

[ladyfirefighter36]

We have a Christmas Auction in November. A company comes in with ALL NEW merchandise (jewelry, tools, toys, clothing, candy, housewares, collectible dolls, just about anything). We provide the tables to display the items, the auctioneer and manpower to set up. We also have a food/baked table for the day. We get a percentage of the sales. It is really easy to do. Lot a lot of work on our part, other than the advertising. We have a set date from year to year. People look forward to it each year.

In the spring we have a junk auction. Basically, all the households in our coverage area ( and some outside) donate what they want rid of. Could be good stuff, could be junk. But you know the saying "One man's junk is another man's treasure". We usually make 4-5 thousand each year. Little more work than the Chrismas auction because we have to haul in the stuff, and haul away what doesn't sell. Again, people look forward to it every year. Same crowd spending money.

[brentoli]

Also how do we get some of our lazy members to get involved? When it comes to calls they're all for it but when it comes to helping out and having to do work everyone says they'll help but the day comes and no one shows up.

Become a paid department.

[Chief1C]

Become a paid department.

In my mind. I'm hitting you with one of spleenac's cinder blocks.

Anyhoo.

Here's something we used to do.. Country Craft Raffle. Collect up ten crafts, donated by community members or businesses. Get a small games of chance license, put them on a raffle ticket, sell them for $2 each for six months and then pull ten ticket stubs.

or

You can really do that with anything.. Send out letters to businesses asking for donated sale-able items, like appliances, furniture, TV's, etc.. Don't ask for anything specific, just put in the letter what your goal is and why you are needing their help. Put these on a raffle ticket.. and same as above..

or

Collect up good, non-junk, items donated by the community, and have a Chinese auction. We do that every year, usually brings in a good $2,000.

Or:

-- Chicken BBQ.

Mix this:

* 2 eggs

* 1/2 cup vegetable oil

* 1 cup cider vinegar

* 1 tablespoon salt

* 1 1/2 teaspoons poultry seasoning

* 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Do this:

In a blender or food processor, combine the eggs, oil, vinegar, salt, poultry seasoning and ground black pepper. Blend together and baste on the chicken when grilling, or marinate the chicken in the sauce in the refrigerator for 1 to 1 1/2 hours before grilling.

Cook over a charcoal fire. It's absolutely the best BBQ recipe you can think of. Multiply the ingredients for X number of chicken halves. Our FD only does fund raising as an effort to develop bonds with the community. The occasional raffle, a BBQ on busy weekends, a block party. Most of our funding comes from tax payers. That's how it should be. Spend more time training, than begging for funds. Our yearly operating expenses are over $95,000; and with fuel prices, I cannot foresee that price getting any less. While fund raising isn't a necessity for us, it helps smooth out the edges and give us some freedom to upgrade as we see fit.

[GBFDEMS174]

You could also do what my company calls a shake a boot. We go out 2 times a year and stand in the middle of the street with buckets wearing stuff that signifies that we are Fire Fighters and EMT's, This normally helps us bring in about $3,000 per time that we are out there. but, yes, there are the lazy members too that don't want to get up and do it which hurts the out come alot .

All of the other ideas mentioned above sound great too.

[Scaramedic]

Try a fireman's ball (dance) or a fundraising "tollbridge"

Firemen don't have balls.

Peace,

Marty

P.S. Seriously 800k is kind of steep for fund raising. You might approach you city/county for a levy, bond, or a tax.

[emt12resq]

WOW!!! Thanks to everyone for the great ideas. I will definitely bring some of them up at our next meeting. Please keep the ideas coming they are GREAT!!!