Thank you so much to all of you for your input! I don't know what I would do without these message boards! I have already talked to my VP about this and she's also ecstatic about these new things we are going to do!! Thanks again to all of you for sharing!!!
another idea for a family night like that is a 50/50 raffle. we sell the tickets for a dollar each, or $5 for an arms length of tickets. the school keeps 50% and the winner get the other 50%. the only out of pocket expense is the cost of the tickets.
Hi guys--sorry haven't looked at this post for a while. This fundraiser was for our music department. We like to do pinpointed fundraisers where the teacher is the primary focus and the PTO is the work horse. That does 2 things...gives them a TON of buy in and allows us to use our fundraisers for large student support opportunities (like laser shows, pep rallys etc). So our music teacher was in essence the "chairperson" and she used the 2 weeks prior to teach the children the line dances...plus some had been fun dances they used in the gym etc...like ymca. Then she organized teacher led auction items like "A day on the farm with Mrs. Carpenter" or a "Pottery Class with Mrs. Endler". I personally gave an inhouse creme brulee cooking class to a very nice lady that paid 54 dollars for her and 4 of her friends--so nice to have a party where something other than "buying" was the focus.
We also did
Principal for the day
Assist't Principal for the day
Gym teacher for the day
Sports afternoon with the PE and Ass't Principal (4 children - 4 highest bidders0
School sleepover for 8 in the library
One month of lunch time piano lessons
Spirit basket (PTO donated)
A week of meals prepared and delivered by the PTO board
A day of rocket making with our science expert.
A hand made christening gown.
A hand made quilt.
Lunch and shopping with one of our "girlie girl teachers".
Music teacher for the day.
Gosh there were about 27 items. I'll have to get them all so we don't forget them (I'm getting very old)
We charged 4 dollars per person for a slice of pizza and a soda and then we had donated baked goods for purchase (a quarter or so). Dinner was from 6-7 and the dancing went from 7 to 8:30. We have folks wanting to do this every month now but of course they say that whenever we have something cool. As far as the running of it. We had tables in the hallway with a large card that read what the item was (or for the Spirit wear we had a basket) and there was a sheet with the minimum bid and folks just strolled up and down. We let them know when we would close out an item for last minute bids (I.E. we're closing items 1-20 in 10 minutes...) and then at the end announced the winners.
The grants were art/state grants from the Washington Post and Virginia State department of the arts. Just start googling for your states opportunities.
Crew Chief--that was a VERY nice thing to say...I appreciate it and really do think that spreading the wealth and work makes all of us rise to the top. Trust me though, on these sites I take as good as I give [img]smile.gif[/img] .
So in the end we raised about 4,200 for the music department and our Chorus is going to the state competition with new shirts, and our children are getting great new stuff for their music education.
addingspice - you sure landed on a great spot. dlf is amazing! I'm new to the boards and have been poking around a lot. Whenever I see a post from dlf I pay attention.
dlf - thank you for so willingly sharing your success stories and for giving such sound advice. It's folks like you who keep the rest of us focused, positive and involved! Congratulations on your event being a big hit!
Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for awhile and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same."
"The ultimate aim of karate lies not in victory or defeat but in the true perfection of one's character."
That sounds like a lot of fun!!! What did you charge for the dance? Who taught the kids the line dances? What other silent auction items did you do and was that part successful - how exactly does that work? I would also love to know how you got grants for your departments. I'm going to be the new pres next year and am totally new to all of this, so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated!!
