From Redlands, California, we came across a truly down and dirty fundraising article.

New equipment for the kindergarten playground is important to Lugonia Elementary School Principal Kathy Jeide - so much so that she was willing to bribe her students to help the school get the new equipment.

Last year, she says, students helped with a school PTA fundraiser by bringing in roughly 1,000 box tops from various consumer products ranging from cereal boxes to Ziploc bag boxes. Each top is worth 10 cents when redeemed through the Box Tops For Education program sponsored by General Mills Inc.

This year, Jeide upped the ante during a school assembly. She announced to students that if each classroom brought in 300 box tops, she would eat a worm.

The students raised 9,000 - satisfying their end of the bargain to help acquire brand new tricycles for the kindergarten playground’s re-opening in the fall.

At the assembly Friday morning, she led students and staff in a flag salute outside of her office, followed by the singing of George M. Cohan’s “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”

Fifth-grader Jaselin Lopez impatiently uttered an accusation under her breath: “She’s stalling.”

Jeide admitted that she was indeed stalling, as she set out her props and ingredients with a facetious flair on a table draped with a red cloth. The table setting included a fine set of utensils, a classy water glass, a tray of meal worms and a bottle of Pepto-Bismo.

Read the full article here.

Here’s an excerpt we found from a June 25th article from Oregon where contestants secured sponsors to promote them in a hotdog eating contest.

Saturday’s culinary event, held at Aunty’s Pasta at 181 Upper Applegate Road, raised $487 for the Ruch Rural Action Team, a volunteer group that distributes donations during holidays and serves as a command center in emergencies.

The contest was broken down into adult and teenage groups, with a $100 grand prize for the winning adult and $50 for the teen champ.

All competitors had 20 minutes to scarf down as many hot dogs as they could. But the true test came afterward, when they had to hold down the fruits of their labor for 10 minutes or face forfeiture.

If you’re curious, seven dogs plus a bite won for the adult category and six and a half dogs for the teen category.

Read the full article here.

I found an article from our brothers across the pond in Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset, UK that *literally* turns up the heat on local fundraising.

Watched by large crowds, more than 30 daring volunteers walked over burning hot coals to raise money for a local charity.

The red-hot coals were stoked up to temperatures reaching over 1,200 degrees centigrade before the night-time walk took place.

The walkers had to put mind over matter with every step and, fortunately, none of them suffered any pain or injury.

Read the full article here.

Not every idea scales to every size fundraiser, but reading about fun, unique events that other groups have organized are sure to get you thinking.

Here are some awesome ideas we saw in a Syracuse, NY newspaper article.

For several weeks, the Flamingo Fellowship at Erwin First United Methodist Church in Syracuse offered “flamingo insurance” for just $5. It’s a rather reasonable sum considering, as the fellowship warned, flamingo infestation is the “number one plastic lawn ornament hazard in the U.S.” Call it charitable extortion, because the fellowship also offered to decorate an unsuspecting target’s space Thursday and Friday with pink flamingos at $5 apiece and was accepting donations for removal of the birds.

[T]he InterReligious Council of Central New York raced thousands of toy ducks out of Onondaga Creek into the Inner Harbor to raise money for its Community-Wide Dialogue to End Racism. Professional engineers working for the event’s corporate sponsors modified their entries with such things as specialized rudders and windmill and solar power.

On Thursday, P.E.A.C.E. Inc. dropped about 1,200 numbered golf balls out of a helicopter over Drumlins Country Club in DeWitt. The ball closest to a golf hole won $10,000 for Judy LaVelle, of Elbridge, who, like the other participants, paid $20 to play the game.

Perhaps the most efficient special event is the nonevent. The Catholic Charities Brady Faith Center is staging one - or not - right now. The Nothing Affair has no committees, dress codes, orchestra or tickets, no exact admission price or date, according to its flier. Late reservations are just fine. Just send a check to the Brady Faith Center and do anything you want whenever you please.

Read the entire article here.

The only way the Kurtz family of Waukee can help children like their daughter, McKayla, who has cystic fibrosis, is by raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

The Kurtz family are currently the organization’s leading fundraisers in Iowa. Last month, they came close to raising $20,000 for the annual Great Strides Walk in Des Moines.

“Other than taking care of McKayla, there isn’t much else we can do to further the progress of research other than raise money,” said Chaney Kurtz, McKayla’s mom.

“It takes a long time for the money we raise to actually affect our kids - it might not affect McKayla, but maybe the next generation. But we didn’t feel like we could stand by and do nothing.”

Three years ago, the Kurtz family decided to try and raise $5,000 for the organization. They were bowled over when they generated about $8,000. The second year, they raised an estimated $14,000. This year’s total was $18,537.

Read the entire article here.

I love when we get emails like this:

“Thank you for all your help with this little project. Word has gotten out that I am expecting a shipment of candy - I am going to have to hire armed guards to keep the staff away from the lollipops when they get here! People are already calling dibs on what flavors they want - we have a staff of 90 - I hope 2,400 will be enough! Anyway, thanks again.”

Check out our large assortment of lollipops for your next fundraiser.

We get this question alot.

You may or may not have to pay taxes. Remember, not ALL fundraisers are tax free. Basically, it depends on what type of organization you have, what types of products you are selling, and where you are located. Plus, there are quite a few other rules that might apply to your organization as well.

Here is a fantastic resource to help jump start your research.

http://www.fundraisetaxlaw.org/

Relay for life get’s kudos for a great fundraising effort in Massachusetts.

“Students at the Martinson, Daniel Webster, Eames Way, Governor Winslow and South River elementary schools were allowed to wear their hats with a donation of $1 or more to Relay For Life.”

Get the whole story here.

We love to hear success stories from our customers. We love it even more when it makes it into the newspapers!

Check it out, selling candy bars and beef sticks can make your fundraiser a huge success. Duffy’s Relay for Life Team did a great job and our hats are off to them!

“Bob Muhlhauser, the top individual fundraiser at Hoquiam, took in more than $29,500 by selling candy bars and pepperoni and teriyaki flavored beef sticks to customers at area taverns and bars.

“I was going out almost every night hitting the bars” for the past year, he said. “If there were people, I found them. I got a lot of people addicted to the pepperoni and teriyaki sticks.”

In all, Muhlhauser said he sold about 19,000 beef sticks at $2 apiece, plus about 8,000 candy bars at $1 each.

How sweet it is

The candy bars and beef sticks came from Wow! Fundraising, an Indiana-based company that sells 21 different fundraising kits.”

Read the rest of the story here: Muhlhausers, Duffy’s team top winners at Hoquiam

If you’re interested in the products take a peek at these links:

Dollar Bar Candy Bars or Brand Name Candy Bars, Beef Sticks and Beef Snacks and Lollipops

If you’d like to share your success stories with us, please just give us a call or send us an email to info [at] wowfundraising [dot] com.

Fundraising is tough.

Convincing your supporters to donate their hard earned dollars to your cause is tough enough without criminals like this guy using a fake charity to swindle money from the community.

This guy’s punishment was (thankfully) more than a slap on the wrist. Let’s hope it sends the right message to any other con-artists lurking in the shadows.

“A man accused of running a sham coin-collecting charity in the name of helping animals was fined more than $330,000 and barred from fundraising in New Jersey under a court order released today.

Patrick G. Jemas, of Woodbridge, faced civil penalties after the state Division of Consumer affairs sued him and his Union Township-based organization, the National Animal Welfare Foundation Inc., for misleading how the money collected in countertop canister was used.”

Click on one of these links to get the whole story:
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