Kids Konnect — Parents — Awareness Ideas

This Web page contains fund-raising and awareness tips and insight. First, we'll present some tried-and-true ideas for fundraising. Then, you'll see how parents have sucessfully raised money and awareness in their schools and communities.

Ideas That Worked

Links for Locks Golf Tournaments: Teeing off to Raise Funds for NAAF

Local Family Excited by National Impact — CV

Tragedy Brings New Life

School Days — NN

Inspirational Ideas

Sometimes it takes just a few ideas to inspire normal people to do phenomenal things. We hope that sharing our successful fund-raising experiences might serve as a motivational tool to recognize your own potential. There's no better time than right now to begin planning your fund-raising or awareness events, so here is a general list of some creative ideas derived from "The Grass Roots Fundraising Book. How to Raise Money in Your Community," by Joan Flanagan.

For Starters

Rummage Sale. Great fun, lots of work, and you can do it with what you have.

The Potluck Supper. Delightfully high-calorie, low-cost fundraiser. Each person brings a dish that will serve five or more, and pays a small amount for admission. It is a great way to get families together and an excellent way to introduce small groups in a new coalition to each other.

The Raffle. A raffle is a game of chance. You sell chances to win prizes. All of your customers support your program and hope to win a prize. They have been popular since colonial days. Today’s raffles are called lotteries when done on the state level.

Holiday Favorites

The Haunted House. Get a spooky house with lots of room and a floor plan that allows you to run people in to one room and out another. There’s also the haunted basement, attic, the haunted school room, the haunted tent, and even the haunted choir loft. Plan great acts, scary experiences.

New Year's Eve. Dress up party or dance. Make it razzle dazzle. Include bingo if it suits your group.

Lincoln's/Washington's Birthday. Patriotic birthday party with American foods and revolutionary costumes. Colonial recipes and games. Your library can supply more ideas.

Valentine's Day. Good for a dance or a ladies' luncheon.

St. Patrick's Day. Perfect for a corned beef and cabbage dinner or beer fest. You can also join or start your local parade.

April Fool's Day. Send out an invitation to a "no-show party." Instead of having people come to a dance or other special event, ask for donation instead, with great savings on tuxedo rentals, etc.

May Day. Celebrate the coming of spring with spring revels, May baskets, and Maypole dance.

Independence Day. Perfect for parades, sack races, barbeques, picnics, ice cream socials, and any other all-American festivities.

Seasons

Holiday Season: Craft sales, caroling, dinners, bake sales.

Spring: Bazaars, plant sales, garden walks.

Summer: Any kind of outdoor sports or contests, picnics, fiestas, walkathons and marathons. Celebrate Mid-Summer Night's eve with some Midnight Madness.

Fall: Bazaars, harvest celebrations, hay rides.

Winter: Sports, like ice-skating, sledding and tobogganing, holiday food and craft sales, indoor events like speakers and movies.