Fundraising

Our Aim Our stated purpose as a non profit corporation is; to raise awareness of and money for drug abuse prevention. To raise awareness we have our weekly e-newsletter and have passed out tons of free literature. This presentation will show you how to raise funds for your prevention program.

You already know what a challenge it is to raise money. When it comes to the issue of kids and drugs more people will know how important this is and will donate. Sometimes those you least expect will find this a most important effort to support.

Who to Ask

Within your group Outside of your group In your community In your region Media

Within Your Group Charity begins at home and the people who know you best should be your best supporters. Even those who have given for other drives may see this as important. You will be surprised how many tell you how long they have been clean and sober.

Outside Your Group Not everyone who lives near your school has children in your school -but- They do know your students They do care about kids and drugs Friends and relatives of your parents and students also tend to be more supportive

In Your Community Within the boundary map of your school area there will be plenty of stores, offices and professionals. They want their customer base to know and patronize them. They know how much drugs can affect their business and will want to help you prevent the problem.

Supermarket typically can donate $250 for a local event. Target stores need a request on the school’s letterhead. Walmart stores will give up to $250 in products or a store card.

Professionals Ask your child’s chiropractor, dentist or pediatrician to sponsor their classroom. Check to see if one of the chiropractors in our network is in your neighborhood, they have other ways to help you raise money.

In Your Region Parents and students shop & dine beyond the school’s boundary map Focus on family friendly businesses Contact professional teams they will usually donate tickets or autographed items

Media Newspapers are always looking for a story and yours is a very good one Newspapers and radio will usually announce your event for free Television stations may put you on the evening news

What to Ask For

Money Gifts Support

Money If you are using the pins for $1/runner ask to donate $25 to sponsor a classroom. If using T-shirts & medals ask to sponsor a runner or two. Tell everyone about the event and what you plan to do with the money and you will find out how many have been affected by drug abuse and are willing to donate more than you would have expected.

Gifts Kids love to win the pin or medal but they also like to win prizes. Most businesses prefer to make donations “in kind” with products or services instead of cash (it costs them less to do so). Use these as prizes in a raffle Or get bottled water and ice cream sandwiches to give to each runner

Support Larger businesses encourage their employees to be involved They may offer volunteers to help you out this can be as good as gold

Local Police They may have money in their budget for programs like yours. If not, they will welcome the opportunity to be there and distribute whatever information or gifts they have.

When to Ask

Before your event At your event After your event All year long

Before Your Event Start right now The more people who know about the event the more who will donate Send s Use your phone trees Send flyers home with students Ask everyone

At Your Event Have a raffle with the gifts that have been donated Sell tickets for 25¢ Purchase a roll at Staples or Office Max Put up a sign and a jar at the registration table to ask for donations Sell extra T-shirts and pins

After Your Event Thank your supporters. Let them know how successful you were; how many kids were reached, how many pieces of literature were distributed, how much money was raised. Send them thank you letters from the kids more than anything this will help your efforts next year.

All Year Long The need for prevention does not end at the finish line. Send monthly or quarterly s to remind your supporters what you are doing with their donations. Let them know in advance when the next event will be.

Ways to Earn Money

Do a silent auction with some of the gifts from local businesses 5 or 10% dinner night Kid friendly stores have rebate shopping Sell “The 5 Year Journal”

5 or 10% Dinner Night Restaurants will give back 5 or 10% of receipts from your supporters who eat there on a given night. Tell everyone to where and when to eat. The restaurant will send you the check.

Rebate Shopping Especially with kid friendly stores they will offer your school or group a day where they will rebate a percentage of sales to you, usually 5%. Some store will do this with people who identify themselves as your supporters. Some stores will do this for the whole day’s receipts.

The 5 Year Journal Retails for $29.95 We can provide them for $15 The difference is yours to use Journaling is a great tool for self discovery This one has room for entries for five consecutive year that allows the user to see how they have grown Excellent for kids to track their own growth

Pledges

This works especially well with relay events but can be just as effective on a Red Ribbon Week school wide event. For a relay have donors pledge for each lap completed Or pledge for each runner in a classroom This is a good place to use the pizza party we offer to each school.

Pledges & Running Club Our online running club can be linked to pledges A quarter per mile or a penny per quarter mile Pledges from family and neighbors will help the child see just how important this issue is

Quarters Since The Run is a quarter mile it is a good idea to work with quarters Ask pledges to give 25¢ for each lap or runner in a classroom Have kids raise an entry fee of $1 by collecting 4 quarters

eScrip If your school is not registered with eScrip do so right away 1% to 10% of purchases can be rebated If your school does not register you can register on our account and the money raised will help us keep more kids from ever starting on drugs Go to our ID# is http://escrip.com

Some eScrip Merchants

Bashas Card From Sept 1, 2005 to March 31, 2006 Bashas will give your school 1% of sales from your supporters who use their registered Bashas Card Register your school at or sign up as part of our group using ID#

Inkjet Cartridges Many schools recycle empty inkjet cartridges Most dealers will offer what sounds like a good price Most schools find the deal to be not as good as it sounds

What Happens At the Recycler Recyclers may offer a good price but only pay on a few types of cartridges Of those they only pay for the ones that are usable They may offer $1 each but when they eliminate the unusable ones you may only earn 50¢ each

Our Recycling Program Our recycler offers $1.50 for reusable cartridges regardless of the condition even if they can’t be reused. Our recycler offers 10¢ for tank cartridges that are not refillable. No one else will pay anything for these. This way if you send in twenty cartridges you get paid for all of them.

How to Collect Keep a collection box where student can drop off empty cartridges. If you are local, drop them off at our office. If you are not local mail them in. On this one alone you could raise enough to move up to medals for each runner at next year’s event.

What to Do With The Money

Use the money you raise for drug abuse prevention at your school and anything that helps kids be better people qualifies Purchase what you need on campus Cover the cost of other activities Pay the salary or stipend for your school’s prevention specialist