thanks, LostChild, she could use it.
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fund raising ideas:
flamingo insurance - get together several plastic lawn flamingos (any number should do, depending on how into it you want to get). set up a booth somewhere that a lot of people will be passing by (ie. grocery store, wal-mart, k-mart, etc.) or at church after the service, or when/where ever else you can think of. have a sign at your booth, as well as forms for names and address, and money to change bills with. the idea is that for one amount (ie. $5) a person pays you to put flamingo(s) on someone else's lawn, and for another amount (ie. $10) they pay you for insurance to prevent anyone else from flamingo-ing them. when you flamingo someone, be sure to mark all the flamingos clearly with contact information to you/your group, as well as a note explaining why they are there (as well as something about what you are raising money for), that for an amount (ie. $5) you will come pick them up, and that they can also buy insurance and pay to flamingo someone else. this is supposed to be most effective with large amounts of flamingos. and when you flamingo someone, make sure to do it when they aren't home
. if you can't find pink flamingos, any other ugly/garish/etc. lawn ornaments will do, just make sure to rename your insurance correctly. (soul's comment - i've only read about this in a magazine, but it sounds like fun, especially if your community really gets into it
)
frozen cookie dough - my high school's marching band sells this to make money for its trips, and it really sells well. plus the dough is quite good, raw or as cookies. there are specific fundraising companies that sell this, you could find over the internet quite easily. (soul's comment - seriously, if at all possible do this fundraiser... i got quite a few complaints when we stopped selling cookie dough because it was time for the trip)
donation auction - there are probably lots of people with different talents in your community who wouldn't mind making something or donating services to be auctioned off. advertise a date to have items turned in by, and the time and place they will be auctioned off. (soul's comment - i've seen this be most effective by coupling a silent auction for some items, and a live auction for others)
cookoff - almost anyone who likes to cook, likes to showcase their talents. have a themed cookoff (ie. chile, dessert) and have people pay a fixed amount for each item they sample, or pay a larger amount to sample everything. (soul's comment - i've seen this be real effective paired with an auction)
pine floats - sell this new craze in dessert drinks, straight from the back woods of Kentucky... pine floats. the actual pine float is a glass of water with a toothpick in it... make it up by bringing actual floats out to replace the pine floats. (soul's comment - bad pun, i know, but i know people who have done this)
those are all i can think of off the top of my head, and yes, some of them *coughpinefloatscough* are rather lame. but i hope these help, good luck fundraising for your trip