As a fundraiser, you know you've arrived when...

[LisaKinVA]

Other base fundraising organizations invite you to join their events :D

 

I guess if they figure we can pull in 400 people in a 2 hour lunch (and 200 people in a breakfast), that having us take up residence with them would be a huge benefit?

 

Now, if I could figure out a way for the 30 families who never join fundraising at all to commit to a 2-hour shift (or even just hauling equipment), I'd be super happy!  Because I can tell you that the 4 families who are always there are T.I.R.E.D.  Yes, we make a lot of money, but it is a lot of work (granted, we netted over $4k with 14 total hours of work, which includes prep, set-up, service and tear down), and to get anywhere close to that with the other fundraisers would take between 30-36 hours of work (and, if you're going by man-hours, the difference is even more striking). 

[maize]

Congratulations!!!

 

Now could you share your secrets on how to pull this off with the rest of us?

[LisaKinVA]

Congratulations!!!

 

Now could you share your secrets on how to pull this off with the rest of us?

 

Actually, I could easily teach people how to do this.  You just need the equipment and support ;)  Our scouts (boys ages 11-16) can handle every aspect of this fundraiser EXCEPT the deep fryers.  The adults just need to help keep them organized and following procedures (we have various codes we have to abide by).

 

I have a basic outdoor set-up which requires:

 

4 - 10x10 Easy Up Tents (or similar outdoor covered space)

5 - 6' tables (6, if you add desserts)

4 - 150 gallon coolers (2 for drinks, one for prepped chicken, one for fries)

3 - 50 gallon coolers (1 for breading, 1 for back-up sauces/condiments, 1 for wrapped sandwiches)

1 - 10 gallon cooler (butter and pickles)

1 - 4' x 30" flat top propane griddle

2 - Bayou Classic 2-fryer basket propane fryers (or equivalent)

1 - plastic bin (ice bath for condiments)

3 - Chafing Dishes (sandwiches, nuggets, fries), 2 spoons, 2 tongs

8 - full size disposable foil pans (full size chafing dish) to use for milk/egg wash, breading,staging, 2 with cooling rack inserts to dump fried chicken/fries/nuggets, and one to hold buttered-toasted buns while they await being made into sandwiches.

1 - package 500 foil wrap sheets

1 - double boiler (small) to keep butter melted, but not burned

1 - basting brush

plenty of Peanut Oil.

** table covers, paper towel, cleaning supplies, plastic gloves, cash box, a couple of chairs, fire extinguisher, timer, meat thermometer, hot pads, ICE, half-size pallets (if required where you are), other things you might need, depending upon where you're at.

 

To keep up, you have 2 people on breading, 2 people on fryer, 2 people assembling sandwiches, 2 people on buns and 3 people at service/cashier and 1-2 floaters (KP, refill, etc.)

 

My set-up schedule is like this:

 

2 hours of prep in advance (cutting/trimming/brining, making breading and CFA sauce), this is with 6 people and roughly 400 servings.  Chicken should be brined for 12-24 hours, DRAIN it all before the event begins, if you can.  Leftovers are easily frozen.  We package 10 sandwich fillets or approximately 100 nuggets per freezer bag.

 

Day of Event Schedule:

0730 -- Unload and set-up

0900 -- heat equipment, start melting butter, start heating the sandwich and nugget chafing pans.

0915 -- begin cooking prep (buttering & toasting buns, and breading filets and nuggets -- we do 3 bags of sandwich filets, then 1 bag of nuggets). Begin by filling up the chafing dishes with the pre-wrapped sandwiches, or nuggets.  Once the sandwich chafing dish is stored, keep them in a cooler with the lid on (they will remain hot for about 2 hours this way)  We usually start out with about 100 sandwiches and 300 nuggets.

1020 -- begin cooking fries, once fries are out, you're OPEN.

 

We have the line start with the drink coolers -- there is a sign with prices at the beginning of the line.  Next up is the Sandwich/Nugget/Fries, then chip and dessert selection (if necessary), the cashier and the condiment area (everything is in squeeze bottles).  

 

At the events we do, we are slammed from 1030 until 1230.  Lunch is over at 1pm.  It takes about 2 hours for the fryers to cool down enough to drain the oil.  If you've been throwing trash out the entire time, and kept surfaces covered, clean up is fairly quick and easy....except for the oil.

 

The CFA Sauce recipe is easily duplicated and online.

The CFA Breading recipe can also be found online (although there are a few different ones -- mine has Basil)

The brine I use is a basic salt/sugar brine with some pickle juice **DO NOT BRINE YOUR CHICKEN IN STRAIGHT-UP PICKLE JUICE** You will ruin the texture of the chicken.  I make 5 gallons of brine at a time, and add the juice from roughly 62 oz. of dill pickle chips.

 

I don't have time to pound chicken.  My chicken breasts are cut down to about 1 cm (I can get mine cut for me...woot).  I can't give you exact measurements on the final size, but suffice it to say, you do need to trim up the breasts a bit, as they are usually super long -- we use the trimmings for nuggets.  I buy bags of frozen tenderloins to make nuggets.  Roughly 1 and 1/4 tenderloin will make a full serving of nuggets.

 

This fundraiser works really well for us because...CFA is not available here, and our food court food is ummm not very good, with long, long lines.  I would imagine this would work well anywhere you have a fairly captive audience, though.  YMMV

 

 

 

 

At the events we do, we are slammed from 1030 until 1230.  Lunch is over at 1pm.  It takes about 2 hours for the fryers to cool down enough to drain the oil.  If you've been throwing trash out the entire time, and kept surfaces covered, clean up is fairly quick and easy....except for the oil.

Edited July 7, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[purplejackmama]

Can you only divvy up the proceeds to the families who participate? That should encourage more volunteering. Right?

[LisaKinVA]

Can you only divvy up the proceeds to the families who participate? That should encourage more volunteering. Right?

 

Nope...against IRS regs...and against BSA Guidelines (because, it's against IRS regs).  My kids would have no issues with attending camp or anything else, if that were the case..  it used to be.  I miss those days.  

Edited July 7, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[purplejackmama]

Well there ya go. No incentive to work means they don't work. :(

[LisaKinVA]

Well there ya go. No incentive to work means they don't work. :(

 

Yeah, basically, the only ones working are those of us who are strapped financially.  So, if we need to raise $400 to offset transportation costs, we have to raise that number times everyone using the transportation.  REALLY bites.  No one turns down the "free money."  But, this is why I focus on events that I can maximize our profits per volunteer hour.  I figure that we're going to be putting in the vast majority of them, and if I've got to raise $20,000 so my kids can afford their $400 trip to Normandy, plus transportation to Switzlerland for camp, I'd rather it take 10 6-8 hour days rather than 30!

Edited July 7, 2016 by LisaK in VA is in IT

[Rachel]

Do you own or rent your fryers? How much did the necessary equipment cost and where do you store it?

 

Our church is across the street from a college football stadium that seats 70,000. Seems like the youth group could make a killing on game days.

[vonfirmath]

Nope...against IRS regs...and against BSA Guidelines (because, it's against IRS regs).  My kids would have no issues with attending camp or anything else, if that were the case..  it used to be.  I miss those days.  

 

Our band used to be this way. When it changed that it was divided among everybody, they suddenly started having problems staffing the concession stands that were their main fundraiser and ended up losing the ability to do it after one year.

[LisaKinVA]

Do you own or rent your fryers? How much did the necessary equipment cost and where do you store it?

 

Our church is across the street from a college football stadium that seats 70,000. Seems like the youth group could make a killing on game days.

Own...Amazon shipping. They make a larger one with a rolling cart. They make a rolling cart for mine, too, but it's separate. My fryer runs about $350 shipped. The easy up tents vary. Most of the cooking equipment is ours. We loan it for the fundraising, and it's stored at my house (we use it here at home, too). The other stuff is owned by the troop in our storage room. I would imagine a tailgate party would do pretty well.