Friday, 2. April 2010
Church fundraising is often necessary for those special activities, trips or equipment needed for the church or youth group. If you have been there and done that, you know that it can not only be a huge undertaking, but can be much more work than you bargained for. You may need a new bus for the youth group, money to take the children on a special trip, or funds for a new piano. No matter what you need the money for, church fundraising should be a fun experience that is enjoyed by all who are involved – including the ones who do the organizing!
Depending on how often you have been through this before, you know that some ideas just don’t work out very well. When small children around the ages of 6 through 9 have too much to keep up with, the results can be unhappy kids and a fundraiser that doesn’t pan out as well as you had hoped. Fundraisers that involve catalog sales are often not suitable for small children, because it involves keeping up with catalogs, orders and money – not to mention having to deliver the products after they come in. In order for church fundraising to be both productive and fun, keep things as simple as possible.
If your church has participated in many fundraisers over the years, some of the products may be getting old. How many times do you want to offer jerky or candy bars? As the time approaches, everyone in your community knows what you will be selling; the same old thing you have been selling in the past. When it comes church fundraising time once again shock everyone good by offering something different that is actually useful – discount cards for local merchants! Exceptional value for the customer, easy profits for you and support for local merchants in your area.
Church fundraising often involves bake sales, car washes, special breakfasts served at the church on Saturday morning and other events. While these are all easy and low cost ways to raise money, you may have a hard time raising all of the money you need. If your church needs to raise $5,000, you will have a hard time raising that kind of money using the above methods alone. This is when discount cards really come in handy. If you have 50 people who will be participating in your fundraiser, ordering 500 cards means your profit margin is 70%! At $7 per card profit, you can easily raise $3,500 which may put you over the top for the $5,000 you need.
If you have been put in charge of church fundraising, you know how difficult it can be to organize it all and make sure that the product you choose offers value and easy profit. Your desire is to have a product that sells easily, offers real value to the customer, and brings in good profits for your group. Fundraisers can be extremely time consuming and a lot of hard work, but they don’t necessarily have to be. Isn’t it always a pleasure when everyone involved has a good time while raising the funds you need, and you don’t have to work your fingers to the bone getting it all together?
The next time your church or youth group needs money for additional activities, equipment or other causes, make it easy and fun for the entire gang! Church fundraising is simple when you include discount cards that offer savings on many products and services people in your community use every day.
Mark South
Source: http://www.easychurchfundraising.com/church-fundraising-should-be-fun-and-enjoyable-for-all-involved
Posted in Updated* Recent News by Christopher -
Friday, 2. April 2010
The Apple Gold Group, franchisee of Applebee’s restaurants in North Carolina, Oklahoma and Arkansas, is proud to partner with the South Wake Storm Girls Softball Team of Garner, NC to host a Flapjack Fundraiser on Saturday, April 3, 2010. All proceeds raised will directly support the team’s efforts to participate in a 14U Fast Pitch Softball Tournament this upcoming season.
“Applebee’s strives to be an active member in the community, dedicating itself to helping local programs and organizations,” said Michael Olander, President and CEO of Apple Gold Group. “The Apple Gold Group is proud to support the South Wake Storm Girls Softball Team and we wish them all the best in their tournament.”
The South Wake Storm Flapjack Fundraiser will be hosted by the Applebee’s restaurant located at 1165 US Highway 70 W., Garner, NC starting at 7 am. Tickets for the Flapjack Fundraiser are $7 and can be purchased by calling Jennifer Hillesland at (919) 868-3445. Breakfast includes a short stack of pancakes, sausage, milk, juice and coffee.
Applebee’s is proud to partner with any local non-profit organization as a way to raise money for their cause. From ticket sales to event-day staff, the breakfasts are managed by the non-profit organization with the assistance of Applebee’s employee volunteers. Breakfasts can be held on any Saturday or Sunday morning, and cost the organization around $2 a meal. The Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraisers represent the restaurant chain’s latest efforts to remain active within its local neighborhood. To request a Flapjack Fundraiser to benefit your non-profit organization, please visit www.AGGrestaurants.com.
Posted in Updated* Recent News by Christopher -
Friday, 2. April 2010
Popping kettle corn for the yard sale and boiling water for the spaghetti dinner didn’t raise their blood pressure. So for this year’s summer-trip fundraiser, a church youth group from eastern Bedford County turned to an adrenaline-pumping mission: vandalizing lawns — and getting paid for it.
That’s why three teenagers, two parents and two pastors from Forest Family Fellowship were creeping up a suburban hill the other night, toting 50 hot-pink plastic flamingos — America’s tackiest lawn ornaments — to plant in a front yard. A car down the street cast its high beams on the group, and someone said, “Oh no! We’re going to get caught.”
Teenagers from Forest Family Fellowship, a storefront Church of the Nazarene congregation on U.S. 460, this month began offering to drop a flock of flamingos on anyone’s lawn for $50. In the past three weeks, people have paid them to prank at least 15 houses, making the fundraising strategy more successful than a week of pancake suppers.
“With a spaghetti dinner or something like that, it just depends on who comes, and it’s just one event, and it can be boring,” said Jenee Whitt, 16. “Flocking affects more people because people don’t drive by a spaghetti dinner and laugh. They’ll laugh at the flamingos and they’ll remember them.”
The gag is a way of appealing to the budget-conscious. It has been employed by other Southwest Virginia youth fundraisers, from Roanoke to Christiansburg to Galax, where a Methodist group in 1990 used the money to fix houses in South Carolina. It’s unclear where the idea started.
The Forest Family Fellowship youth group aims to raise $5,500. Ten teenagers and six chaperones plan to spend the money traveling to Savannah, Ga., to help repair homes in July, said John Gilmour, the youth pastor.
The group has made trips in previous years with a nondenominational organization, Group Workcamps, to rural parts of West Virginia and New Hampshire. Funds to pay for those trips were raised through traditional bake sales, dinners and collections.
What’s distinctive about the flamingo punking is enthusiasm. Group members sing pop songs with avian alterations. Queen’s “We will rock you,” becomes “We will flock you.” Tobymac is transformed to “Somebody’s flocking.”
And they’ve given one another flocking nicknames. Whitt is called “Quasi,” though she says she hasn’t accepted the moniker. Youth pastor Gilmour is “Big Bird.” Others include Nicolas Foust-Meyer, 16, alias “Stud Muffin,” and Ashleigh Gilmour, 18, aka “Alpha.”
On Friday night, Big Bird held a briefing at the church’s storefront quarters. The house they targeted hadn’t been scouted in advance, so they wouldn’t know the terrain, he said. The owners had a dog, which Gilmour expected to be inside. Stud Muffin and Alpha listened.
Seven people packed into the church’s van, and, after saying a prayer, rolled to the street of the target house. They left the engine running as they pulled the flamingos from the van’s back door. In the darkness, they crept up the street to the two-story home with a circular driveway.
A car up the street turned on its high beams, and another drove past.
“Act natural,” said a girl as she cradled three flamingos.
They began propping the ornaments on the lawn. One of the teens dropped a flamingo, which landed with a hollow plastic thud on the pavement.
“Shh!” someone said.
Once they planted the flamingos, Big Bird hung a pink ransom note on one.
“Congratulations!!,” it read. “YOU HAVE BEEN FLOCKED! Thank you for being a good sport! It’s all in fun and to serve the Lord.”
As they drove away, everyone in the van clapped for completing the mission without trouble.
Two days later, the victim, a Rustburg High School teacher who was reached over the phone, wondered who would have targeted her house for the stunt. She said she and her husband hadn’t seen the flamingos until morning.
“For sure it has to be a student of mine,” said Stephanie Ragland. “I thought, ‘This is going to be so embarrassing. Everyone’s going to drive past our house.’ But after we knew what it was about, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
Flocking requests are stacking up, Gilmour said. The group bought 50 more flamingos for $114 last week, and they’re planning pranks at least until May.
Source: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/241686
Posted in Updated* Recent News by Christopher -
