Donations from Businesses
I wrote letters to a few businesses in the area. No one replied, so I handed out flyers to businesses. Only one business replied, and they said that it wasn't possible to give me money. I did ask the United Presbyterian Women at my church, and they gave me $300! There was also a local individual that made a donation. Except for the UPW, the business soliciting wasn't really successful. I think this was partly because I live in a small town. I would try it again in a larger city.
Selling Candy Bars
My parents and I went to TPC and purchased Hershey's and Nestle's fundraising kits. These kits include several types of candy, and you buy them for less than the selling price. We got to keep the profit! My parents purchased the first kits, and I paid them back. I was able to purchase future kits. I bought cases of candybars, and sold them for $1 each, and I sold about 1,000 candybars! The candy bar selling was the most successful, even though my parents had to do a lot of math to pick out which cases of candybars to get! I think people like the candy because they don't have to spend a lot like some of the other fundraisers.
Arts and Crafts
My mom agreed to help me make some crafts to put in a local craft show. I paid for the booth, but my mom, (who is very creative), made most of the crafts. My dad did all of the physical stuff. I made holiday clip magnets, while my mom made ornaments, angels, and fake pumpkins that were decorated. The show didn't turn out as well as the candybars, but we did make about $170, as well as had fun.
Raffle
To hold a raffle, we had to get some items to raffle. My mom had two Isabel Bloom statues (a very popular local artist) that she donated to me. She also made a quilt that was very cool. Mom printed raffle tickets on the computer (you can buy pre-numbered blank tickets at office supply stores.) I sold raffle tickets for $3 each, with a first, second and third place prize. I sold tickets locally, and to my family members all over the country, and to church members. A local bank also let me sell tickets. This was very successful, but it is important that you have items that people want to win.
Spaghetti Dinner
We still needed to make a little more money, so we decided to host a spaghetti dinner. United Church let us use their fellowship hall, which had a huge kitchen and eating area. Another student ambassador and his family helped with this project. My mom and dad made homemade spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. I went around selling tickets as did Dakota, the other student ambassador. The tickets sold for $5 each, and we even offered delivery in a limited area. Lots of people showed up, and some people wanted delivery, which was done by my dad. This was very successful, and I will definitely do something like this again.
As you see, my family worked hard on fundraising, but we still had fun. In the end, we had made $2,500 which covered my half of the trip, plus my spending money. And I know that when I go on another People to People trip, I can earn the money again!
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