Jeans Day: Center Employees Can Pay to Wear Jeans on Friday

Fundraising Ideas

·  Jeans Day: Center employees can pay to wear jeans on Friday

·  Trike-A-Thon: It is exactly what it sounds like. Make it an athletic challenge where young children get donations per lap that they will ride on their tricycles on a given day or flat donations. Paint a special trike path in your parking lot or use tape on a gymnasium floor. Hold the ride on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon and invite parents and donors to attend to cheer on their child. Or it can be held during the school day and invite the parents to come at specific times to cheer for their child's class.

·  Walmart & Sam’s Club Giving Programs: provide support to a wide range of local nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and K-12 schools and higher education institutions located in communities with Walmart Stores and/or Sam’s Clubs. Churches and other faith-based organizations with projects that address the needs of the community at large are also eligible for support. The minimum grant award is $250; the maximum grant award depends on the budget of each facility. Organizations that meet the eligibility requirements can request an application at their local store or club. Applications are accepted from February 1 through December 1, annually.
Visit the Walmart website to review the programs’ giving guidelines at http://walmartstores.com/CommunityGiving/8979.aspx

·  Amazon website: We receive 7% of any/all sales with Amazon if you enter the Amazon site through the portal or our website. www.brighthorizonsfoundation.org This has huge potential and every BH employee and parent should save this link as a favorite. It doesn’t matter what you purchase – hair spray, books, music, clothing, tools but you MUST go to Amazon through our Foundation link.

·  Game Day/Day of Fun for All: It could consist of playing pool, watching movies, a big poker tournament or any other type of games all in one place. Get places to donate gifts/prizes and raffle them off.

·  50/50 Raffle: The 50/50 raffle is a raffle where anyone buying a raffle ticket has a chance to win 50% of the money collected in the raffle! So that means some lucky person could win $500!!!! (or more depending on how many tickets are sold!!) Please be sure raffles are legal in your state

·  Pizza Sales, Cookie Dough Sales, Candy Sales, Wrapping Paper Sales, Book Fairs: There are many vendors that provide school sales.

·  Partnership with Center Vendors: Photographers of children will often offer a % of their sales to a charity or encourage parents to add $5.00 to the purchase of their photo to go to the Foundation.

·  Stay-at-Home Tea Party: Send a fundraising letter with a tea bag to potential donors for the Bright Space. Place a note inside that tells the potential donor not to fuss, not to get all dressed up and invite them to stay at home in their pajamas and enjoy a cup of tea when they please. Include the donation card with a stamped envelope where they can place their donation. You could also ask them to send you the names & addresses of friends & family who would possibly donate.

·  Jenny’s Heroes: Jenny Jones is giving away 2-million dollars to people who want to help their community. Some Guidelines for Applying are Jenny's Heroes will not make cash donations. The total cost of the project cannot exceed $25,000. They are only considering applications from everyday citizens with a personal desire to improve their community. Fill out the application at http://www.jennysheroes.com

·  The Best Buy Community Grants Program: Provides support to nonprofit organizations that are located within 50 miles of a Best Buy store of distribution center. Grants averaging $3,000 to $5,000 will promote programs and services that provide opportunities for young teens in the areas of education, life skills, leadership skills, and relationship development. Special consideration will be given to programs that serve a diverse population, build skills in early adolescents (primarily ages 13-18), show positive results against a demonstrated community need, and reach at-risk children in working families. The grant application process will open on June 1 and close on July 1. Visit the Best Buy website at http://www.bestbuycommunityrelations.com/our_foundation.htm to review the program guidelines.

·  The State Farm Companies Grants Program: Strives to meet the needs of company communities by supporting nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government agencies that focus on safety, community development, or education. The Safe Neighbors grant category focuses on driving safety, home protection, disaster preparedness, and personal financial security. The emphasis of the Strong Neighborhoods category is on affordable housing, homeownership issues, community revitalization, and economic development. The Educational Excellence category targets K-12 teacher development, service-learning programs, and systemic educational reform. Applications are accepted from January 2 through October 31, annually. Online application guidelines are available on the State Farm website http://www.statefarm.com/about/part_spos/grants/cogrants.asp

·  The Neighborhood Excellence Initiative: Bank of America's signature philanthropic program recognizes nonprofit organizations and individuals working to improve their communities. The Initiative's Neighborhood Builders category provides grants of $200,000 each to two nonprofit organizations that are focused on local neighborhood priorities in each of the Bank's 45 markets. The Local Heroes category provides grants of $5,000 each to nonprofit organizations selected by five recognized individuals in the targeted markets. Applications and nominations must be submitted online. Guidelines for both categories are available on the Bank of America website http://www.bankofamerica.com/foundation/index.cfm?template=fd_neighborexcell

·  The WHO Foundation: Women Helping Others supports grassroots nonprofit organizations serving the overlooked needs of women and children in the United States and Puerto Rico. The Foundation's Education/Literacy Grant Program provides grants to free after-school programs and other education or literacy programs for low-income children of all ages. Organizations must have been incorporated for a minimum of three years prior to applying. Preference will be given to organizations with an operating budget of $3 million or less, those not dependent upon government grants, and those with greater organizational program costs than personnel costs. To review the funding criteria and access the application form, please visit the Foundation’s website at http://www.whofoundation.org/Funding/WHO_FundingEd.asp

·  The J. Jill Compassion Fund: Provides grants to nonprofit organizations serving women in need in communities throughout the United States where J. Jill stores are located. The Fund supports job training, education, and transitional or affordable housing for women, as well as programs that break down barriers for women in crisis to achieve and sustain self-sufficiency. Grant funding priority is given to programs and organizations that have established a relationship with one or more of the J. Jill store(s). For the grant program pre-applications must be submitted online by November to receive a grant for the upcoming year. Visit the website listed below to the funding guidelines and submit a pre-application.
http://www.jjill.com/jjillonline/compassion/cfgrant.aspx?XID=S2009285163941D717E4B8110B4053BEFDA7&sk=M&h=M

·  The Ameriprise Financial Community Relations Program: is committed to giving back to company communities throughout the United States by supporting nonprofit organizations whose shared goal is to improve the lives of individuals from all walks of life. The company's community outreach focuses on three key priorities: The Meeting Basic Needs category focuses on programs that help at-risk populations stabilize their lives and become more self-sufficient. The Supporting Community Vitality category promotes programs that build strong communities by creating economic vitality and cultural enrichment. The Volunteer Driven Causes category provides grants to nonprofit organizations where company employees, advisors, or retirees volunteer. Requests are reviewed three times per year. Visit the company’s website to submit an online application at http://www.ameriprise.com/about-ameriprise-financial/company-information/ameriprise-community-relations.asp?vanity=communityrelations

·  Balloon pop: Before filling a balloon with air or helium, put a note inside. Have a certain number of the notes worth a prize. Have people buy balloons and pop them in the hope of getting the prize. Be sure to pick up the broken balloons afterwards.

·  Dining out Nights at a Local Restaurant: This type of fundraiser appeals to families because they get to eat out and socialize while helping raise money for your cause. The restaurants appreciate the extra business and the potential for repeat customers. And your organization can earn several hundred dollars in one evening. Dining out fundraisers are usually held on week nights because those are the slower nights for restaurants. The restaurant usually donates a percentage of the pre-tax sales generated by your organization. Twenty percent of sales is a common amount that is donated. So, the more customers your organization provides the restaurant the more money you will raise.

·  Classic car show: Organize a classic automobile show. Invite people to attend and to bring their cars by placing ads in local newspapers, leaving flyers at local businesses, and charging people to come and see the show.

·  Dance-a-thon, Rock-a-thon, anything-a-thon: Turn your children's boundless energy into donations for a shelter! Schools have invited parents to join in the activities and distributed sponsor sheets approximately 10 days before the event. Parents collected donations from sponsors and turned proceeds into the office. Prizes were awarded to children at $25, $50, $75, and $100 donation levels. You may also wish to make this into a faculty event and ask employees to participate, collect sponsors or donate.

·  Art Auction: Children love to draw, so why not let budding artists raise money for a Bright Space? Hold an auction of your children's artwork, selling the one-of-a-kind creations to parents, relatives, and friends who want to decorate their refrigerator and support a Bright Space at the same time.

·  Silent Auction: Collect donations from area businesses, parents and/or faculty. Set up a silent auction that runs over the course of a day or even a week.

·  Bake Sale: Invite your parents, clients, and faculty to show off their baking skills! To raise the stakes - ask some high-profile individuals (CEO or President, radio or TV personalities, local celebrities) to bake a special dessert and auction it off to the highest bidder. Fabulous desserts baked with love by well-known personalities. Who could resist?

·  Jellybean count: fill a jar with jellybeans (coins, beans, etc) and have people pay to guess how many there are in the jar.

·  Bag groceries: Ask a local grocery store if you can bag people's groceries for donations. Be certain to put up a sign saying what the donation is for.

·  Perform a free service for donations: Rake leaves, shovel snow, take care of a pet. When offering your service, ask the person who benefited from your actions for a donation toward your worthy cause.

·  Sell candy or cards: Work with reputable businesses that provide merchandise you can sell. Be sure at least half of the money raised goes to your cause.

·  Host a carnival: Host a mini-carnival, with games, prizes and popcorn, in a local park or your own backyard. Charge admission and/or a small fee to play games.

·  Spaghetti/pancake/barbecue/etc. dinner: Prepare a meal for students, teachers, or community members and charge a fee.

·  A day of community service: Gather together a group of friends, and contact a number of organizations for which you would be interested in volunteering. Then have people sponsor you to do community service for 24 hours.

·  Craft sale: Make all the crafts yourself and sell them.

·  Three-on-three basketball tournament: Organize a basketball tournament in your school with the winning team receiving a prize. This can also be done with soccer, tennis, badminton, or any other sport.

·  Bingo: Host a bingo night.

·  Plant sale: Organize a plant sale with plants donated by local nurseries.

·  Book sale: Ask all your friends, relatives, and teachers to donate their old books. Advertise your book sale by means of posters and flyers. Set up a table and sell books. If there are leftovers, you can always give them to a library, shelter, or school.

·  Buy a brick: If you are fundraising to build a school or building, have people make donations to purchase bricks.

·  Scavenger hunt: Set a route and make a list of items that the participants need to find in order to win. Advertise your scavenger hunt well and charge everyone a small fee to participate. The winning person/group gets a prize.

·  Car wash: With a group of friends, set up a car wash in the parking lot of your school, or public area.

·  Miniature golf: Build a nine-hole miniature golf course, featuring ramps, water and sand traps, and other obstacles. Charge people to play a round during lunch.

·  Talent auction: Auction off the talents of people. For instance, great singers offer to sing at a wedding, party, or special event.

·  Duck race: Sell numbered plastic ducks. Set all the ducks afloat in a race on a river. The person who bought the duck that wins the race gets a prize.

·  Calendar sale: Create a calendar highlighting the projects and members of your organization, and sell it to students and their family members.

·  Recipe book: Gather together favorite recipes and put them together in a book. Sell the book through your school, sports organization, or community centre. Try to get the photocopying donated by local businesses.

·  Lemonade stand: Make lemonade, post signs, and sell it on a hot day.

·  Hot Chocolate/Coffee stand: Make hot chocolate and/or coffee, post signs, and sell it on a cold day

·  Create CDs: of favorite naptime music or a CD of the children singing their favorite songs and sell them for a small fee.

·  Publicity: Publicize your plans by telling everyone about your Bright Space and the need for funding. Put up posters; send home notices with your children, and alert the media (they love a good human interest story). Work with the Foundation if you (or your client, sponsor, or shelter) has specific media needs.

·  Grants: Many organizations are funding part or all of a Bright Space with their child care center. Ask your Client Liaison if you can request a contribution from the company foundation or corporate contributions program. You may also identify donors within your community--check local foundations, civic clubs, such as Rotary Club or Civitans, United Way, etc.