Weekly Elixir – Rotary Club of Parry Sound…for the week of October 12, 2009
Problem: No budget for service project
How does the club manage fund-raising?
It’s January and you have just thought of a great community project, but you now find out there is no money in the club’s budget to fund it. How do you get the money the project needs?
How to you maintain the Rotary Club – continue the club moving forward – raising funds for the projects that will “do good works in the community.”
Without those funds, the club can do nothing. So, it is incumbent upon the Rotary Club to find ways to Raise Funds.
The question was posed in a Rotary forum recently. Here are a few responses:
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You don't need money to do a service project... My Rotaract Club does it all the time. You simply stop using your wallet and start using your hands! Lots of organizations need hands-on volunteers. Sure, donations of money are important, but when funds are low, you can find lots of ways to do service on a budget.
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Unique fund-raising where money comes from public in general is to provide for community toilets at various places. These can be got sponsored by advertisers for the toilet walls. After the toilets are in place, these toilets can be auctioned to individuals on annual rentals to the club. The money so collected can be used to fund more such toilets or for other community projects.
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Our club has printed and sold a "cash calendar" for 2 years - 2008 and 2009. Our fund raising committee draws entries each month, one for every day of the month. There is a money prize of $20.00 for weekdays, extra on weekends and holidays. We mail the cheques out to the winners and very often the cheques are returned to us as a donation!
We sell them at tables in the grocery stores and every community event where we can get space for $20.00 each. The pictures are local scenery and quite spectacular. We combine raising funds with raising awareness and also appreciate that it gives us a chance as a club to come together while we fund-raise. If you need info on how to do it jane.r.cameron@rbc.com
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Two years ago, our LeRoy Club in District 7090 began "Rent a Rotarian". The idea is for residents to pay for the services of Rotarians on a designated day. So on a Saturday, we rake leaves, cut grass, etc. We don't make a ton of money, but whatever we make is necessary to our small budget. It's a great way for Rotarians to interact and have fun. One thing that would make it easier would be some younger males in our club!
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Our club has a membership of 80 but this is a new high, we had 55 members for a long time. Our biggest fundraiser with little investment is an in-house auction, where members bring in items and we auction them off. The largest amount of money comes from Rotarians offering to cook dinners for another Rotarian.
2 to 6 couples go over to Rotarian home for dinner. Our members pay 50 to 100 per person. Easy money no cost, our last auction lasted 1.5 hours and we raised $11,000.00 our cost 0, so you do the math.
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My small club has suffered from always relying on club members to be the primary purchasers of tickets for fundraising events. In this economy, that burden is too great! So, we are currently coordinating a fundraiser where we are making a concerted effort to reach out to the community to seek supporters for a specific project. Through efforts to gain newspaper publicity and through members making direct appeals to friends and acquaintances in the community, we are developing a list of "Friends of the Rotary Club of Central Marin" with names and contact info.
In the future, this Friends list will be the starting point for our fundraising efforts. The result will be that local community members can participate in and share pride in the success of our service projects and the financial responsibility that was once the sole burden of club members can be lightened. A win-win for everyone!
Source: http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/090101_news_yourvoice
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