PinkTulip Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 So last week I received a phone call from my good friend's daughter. The drama department at her HS is raising money for a trip in the spring to go to NYC to see a few shows and participate in a master class with a well- known director. Great - sounds like a worthy cause for fundraising. Then she tells me what they are selling: mattresses. She goes on to say they will have all sizes from Twin to King, plus memory-foam, gel, traditional, etc. Such a bizarre thing - who wakes up one Saturday morning and thinks, I'm going to swing by the high school and pick up a mattress?! I told her we are all set for mattresses, but that I will happily contribute so she can go to New York. What strange items have you seen being used to fundraise? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Here's a funny fundraising story. You know those impassioned pleas you get in the mail? The one with quotes, italics, bolding and underlining? I have a colleague who was once writing one and put some place holder language into the second paragraph..."blah blah blah blah..." He intended to go back and add something specific. Well, you guessed it. It went out to the printers and the mailhouse that way and that is what their entire donor base received Apparently though the mistake was found to be refreshingly funny because they got more donations than typical for that campaign and people complimented him on being clever. 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I don't have any strange ones to share. The only worthwhile one I've heard of (for selling stuff) was the Boy Scouts selling 50 lb bags of potatoes for $12 in the late 1990s. They dug the potatoes themselves and they were cheaper than the store. Everything else I've ever seen has been a ripoff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinder Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I haven't seen anything nearly as interesting as mattresses and blah blah blah. :laugh: I'm just waiting to see what other kinds of curious fundraisers are out there. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 A shotgun raffle (it's not for a school fundraiser, though). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I haven't seen anything nearly as interesting as mattresses and blah blah blah. :laugh: I'm just waiting to see what other kinds of curious fundraisers are out there. I used to teach fundraising workshops and I kept that blah blah blah one in my folder of direct mail exemplars for quite a while. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bettyandbob Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 We had mattresses for some high school thing locally a few years back. I love blah, blah, blah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plansrme Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Sheets are popular here, but I've seen the mattress one also. I know it's popular, but I think selling grapefruit and oranges is weird. We live in Georgia; fruit in the winter is not a novelty anywhere any more, but especially here. I buy it anyway because my rule is that I'll buy whatever a kid (not a parent) asks me to buy. My favorite is the Boy Scouts who come around and collect Christmas trees for a donation. We email them right after Christmas to get our address on the list and tie $15 to the tree, and they pick it up the weekend after Christmas. Saves my having to load the dry tree into my car. I wish a group would do Christmas wrapping: your little squad of cheerleaders or violinists comes to my house and wraps everything with my paper and supplies. If anyone's looking for an idea, there's one for you. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Sheets are popular here, but I've seen the mattress one also. I know it's popular, but I think selling grapefruit and oranges is weird. We live in Georgia; fruit in the winter is not a novelty anywhere any more, but especially here. I buy it anyway because my rule is that I'll buy whatever a kid (not a parent) asks me to buy. My favorite is the Boy Scouts who come around and collect Christmas trees for a donation. We email them right after Christmas to get our address on the list and tie $15 to the tree, and they pick it up the weekend after Christmas. Saves my having to load the dry tree into my car. I wish a group would do Christmas wrapping: your little squad of cheerleaders or violinists comes to my house and wraps everything with my paper and supplies. If anyone's looking for an idea, there's one for you. That is an awesome idea! If you find a group doing that, PM me. I'll hire them, too. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 A shotgun raffle (it's not for a school fundraiser, though). Shotgun Raffle sounds harder to play than Russian Roulette. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happi duck Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Sweet onions were a big deal for awhile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Word Nerd Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Shotgun Raffle sounds harder to play than Russian Roulette. Rifle raffle would be much harder to say. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tangerine Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Rifle raffle would be much harder to say. Psh. Only riffraff play rifle raffle. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JumpyTheFrog Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 I want a fundraiser where they come weed my garden or mulch my landscaping. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsheresomewhere Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 One here was selling stationery. It was a 10 piece set for $15. This was a only a year ago and from what I heard, they didn't sell much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted September 24, 2015 Share Posted September 24, 2015 Same thing: mattresses. I was flabbergasted when I saw the kids on the side of the road, waving their fundraising signs, directing people to the high school, for...an impulse buy mattress? I just rolled my eyes and carried on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I want a fundraiser where they come weed my garden or mulch my landscaping. Lots of youth groups around here sell pine needles in the spring and fall. For an extra fee, they will spread them in your yard. I know of several that sell Christmas trees too. I've heard of groups asking people to DONATE mattresses (for children who don't have one) but never SELLING them as a fundraiser. Seems like an odd thing to sell something so expensive and that only gets replaced every 10 years or so. Why not sell toilets too? :confused1: 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimm Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I've never seen a weird fund raiser in person but this came across my facebook a while back and it cracked me up and summed up how I feel about fund raisers in general. :) Link is just to the image, not the article about it. http://media2.popsugar-assets.com/files/2015/08/27/669/n/1922398/118f86dc_11948382_10207433461340743_497460071_o.xxxlarge_2x.jpg 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Mattress fundraisers have become quite popular in my area. Apparently they make quite a bit of money on each sale, but the mattress quality is poor. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto10blessings Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I've never seen a weird fund raiser in person but this came across my facebook a while back and it cracked me up and summed up how I feel about fund raisers in general. :) Link is just to the image, not the article about it. http://media2.popsugar-assets.com/files/2015/08/27/669/n/1922398/118f86dc_11948382_10207433461340743_497460071_o.xxxlarge_2x.jpg Ballsy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 So last week I received a phone call from my good friend's daughter. The drama department at her HS is raising money for a trip in the spring to go to NYC to see a few shows and participate in a master class with a well- known director. Great - sounds like a worthy cause for fundraising. Then she tells me what they are selling: mattresses. She goes on to say they will have all sizes from Twin to King, plus memory-foam, gel, traditional, etc. Such a bizarre thing - who wakes up one Saturday morning and thinks, I'm going to swing by the high school and pick up a mattress?! I told her we are all set for mattresses, but that I will happily contribute so she can go to New York. What strange items have you seen being used to fundraise? Our local HS does this.....I find it strange too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Earlier this week I saw a sign in somebody's yard: "Leftover fundraiser compost - FREE!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incognito Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 In our area car dealerships partner with schools to do test drives - so for the fundraiser, for every person who test drives a vehicle the school gets $20ish. Meat is also a popular fundraiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annie G Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Mattresses as fundraisers...I think I have heard everything now. We're old school here- our high school just sells fruit in December. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Oh, here's another story right out of the annals of my professional fundraising career. So I was hired to be the development manager for a nonprofit right before their annual fundraising breakfast. The person I am replacing was leaving 2 days after the event. My first day of work was to be the day after the event. Anyhoo, I attended the breakfast and the keynote speaker, who was to take the microphone and talk about the mission of the organization for about 20 minutes took the microphone and slowly devolved into a tirade about politics and a personal slide show. Then he further devolved into a rant about the need to legalize pot. He went way, way way overtime, mostly about pot and when he was done, he forgot to ask for money for the organization AND the staff was so flustered they forgot to do it either. And of course, many people had left before the event was over because ain't nobody got time to be late for their jobs because this dude wouldn't stop talking. And no, the organization had nothing to do with pot legalization whatsoever at all. This was not a known loon either, he is a nationally known person with a high profile. Needless to say my first day of work was, um, interesting. Talk about damage control. I was on the phone with sponsors and donors for weeks smoothing things over. I ultimately managed to woo all the sponsors back. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I think the fact that mattress fundraisers 1. exist and 2. are apparently widespread counts as my learning opportunity for the day. Also, mattress fundraiser sounds wrong. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I think the fact that mattress fundraisers 1. exist and 2. are apparently widespread counts as my learning opportunity for the day. Also, mattress fundraiser sounds wrong. Maybe it should be paired with the "topless" car washes I've seen (where they wash everything but the top of your car)... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Same thing: mattresses. I was flabbergasted when I saw the kids on the side of the road, waving their fundraising signs, directing people to the high school, for...an impulse buy mattress? I just rolled my eyes and carried on. We'd look at it. We could replace our mattress. And DS's. But his is a non-standard size so I doubt they could help with that. ARe they taking the old mattress as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alisoncooks Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 They do the mattress sale around here, too. I always think: "Um, we're good on mattresses for at least another 5-10 years. We'll catch ya then...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Library Momma Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 My dd's middle school band did the mattress fundraiser for the first time last year. The mattresses were actually a top brand sold for far less than you would normally pay retail (almost 50% off). The sale was for a few hours in the school gym and the purchase included delivery and removal of your old mattress (you weren't able to buy a mattress and drive home with it). They made over $5,000. I didn't buy a mattress because I didn't need one but people I know who did were very happy with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RioSamba Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 I want a fundraiser where they come weed my garden or mulch my landscaping.My neighbor is a minister (not at our church). She asked if her middle school youth group could come and do our weeding/fall cleanup. I said yes. $200 later I had more weeds than I would expect and no roses. They dug up and hauled away my roses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeachyDoodle Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 My neighbor is a minister (not at our church). She asked if her middle school youth group could come and do our weeding/fall cleanup. I said yes. $200 later I had more weeds than I would expect and no roses. They dug up and hauled away my roses. :svengo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heatherwith4 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Our local high school has been doing the mattress sales, too. We have some friends that adopted and did a lot of hard work raising money. They had several yard sales and during one they found a fur hat. Another friend, who is quite the card, came up with an idea. People could challenge him to get a picture certain places wearing the fur hat. If he was successful, the challenger paid a certain amount into the adoption fun. Fun was had by all. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmingMomma Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 A shotgun raffle (it's not for a school fundraiser, though). Here in Nebraska and Wyoming gun raffles are very common. Earlier this year a local Catholic church was raffling off a really nice .12 gauge shotgun and a really nice rifle (I forgot what kind). We bought tickets from our neighbor but sadly didn't win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Our high school does mulch fundraisers. They take orders and then the company comes and delivers it in a dump truck. Lots of people buy mulch in the spring anyway, so I think it's a successful fundraiser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ocelotmom Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 I can actually see my DH going for a mattress sale impulse buy. Our mattress has life left, but wasn't that great to begin with. We've been vaguely talking about replacing it for the past year or so, but it hasn't become a priority at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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