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Fundraising Ideas

Fundraising should be FUN—not only for your prospective donors, but for YOU too!  We've put together (with the help of some team captains) a list of fun-filled events your team could host and interesting items to sell.

Three Quick Ways to Raise $100

  1. Donate $20 yourself and ask four friends for $20 each
  2. Ask 20 Friends to donate $5 each
  3. Ask 10 Friends to donate $10 each

Brain Tumor Awareness Wristbands - The silicone awareness wristband comes in three styles;:

  • Duke Blue with white lettering (at Duke...there is HOPE)
  • Duke Blue with white lettering (ANGELS Among Us, with angel logo)
  • Grey with blue lettering (at Duke...there is HOPE).
You could sell the wristbands individually or give one free for a $5 donation. If interested, contact the Angel office at angelsamongus@dm.duke.edu. Cost of wristband is $1.00 each.

Dress Down Day at Work - Ask your boss for approval first—Announce that for the whole month anyone who donates $5 can wear jeans and sneakers every Monday (or whatever day your boss picks).  What a quick, easy, and FUN way to fundraise for your team and Angels!!

Charity Night at a Restaurant - Contact a favorite restaurant or fast food place to donate a percentage of the night's proceeds to your cause. Publicize to everyone to eat there on  the particular night you agreed upon with the restaurant management. The restaurant may require volunteers to help with the overflow.  

Have a Chili Cookoff! - Host a chili cookoff in your neighborhood or with people at your church. Each person who enters would provide enough chili for 10-15 people (depending on ticket sales). Ticket holder to receive a bowl of chili, cornbread, celery, and a dessert. Announce the chili cookoff winner and crown them chili queen or king. Have fun with it!

Create Business Cards - An easy way to hand someone information on how to register for your Angels team is to create business cards from a computer. Let them know the basic details of how to register, donate, or sponsor Angels Among Us.

Wine Tasting - Contact a local winery or a wholesale wine store to host an open house wine tasting. You could either sell tickets to the tasting or ask the store management to donate a percentage of the sales to your cause.  You could provide the cheese and crackers while the wine management provides the tasting. Throw in a raffle, and you have the makings of a great afternoon.

Selling Krispy Kreme Donuts - Krispy Kreme has a program in place to provide groups with fundraising potential. Visit Krispy Kreme Fundraising for more information.

Popsicle Sale - Ask a local grocery store to donate the Popsicles and sell them at school or church baseball, soccer, or football games. Set up a Popsicle stand at a yard sale or car wash. Tell the grocery store they would receive a gift-in-kind receipt.

Bowl-a-thon - Contact a local bowling alley and ask if they would donate the use of the alleys as a gift-in-kind. Charge teams to enter (ie. $100 for teams of 4-5 bowlers). You can also solicit for sponsors. For example, a business could be a lane sponsor for $250. These sponsors can be listed on a banner at the event.

Solicit businesses for donations of prizes for a silent auction, raffle, or door prizes for an event. Businesses will receive tax credit for the value of any products (not services) they donate. We can provide a gift-in-kind form for them to fill out and send to Duke. One event initiated a 50/50 raffle. Tickets were sold for $10 each. When the winning ticket was drawn, the pot was up to $1,200 — $600 to the charity, $600 to the ticket winner (in some cases, the ticket winner donated back their portion).

Dinner Party Night - Plan a dinner party for family or friends in your home. Solicit as much of your food donated as possible. You could even contact a local music ensemble that would volunteer to perform. One volunteer held something as simple as a hot dog dinner with all the fixings and homemade desserts for a $10 donation per person. Karaoke could take the place of an ensemble. Now that's a fun time!

Middle School Dance - Invite 4th - 7th graders to purchase tickets to attend (suggested price of $6.00 for about 2 1/2 hrs.) Snacks and drinks that have been donated, and hold the event at a community club that will donate the use of their space. Maybe a DJ would donate his or her time and make dedications available. Reach out to schools and churches to help you promote the event.

Bake Sale - An old-fashioned bake sale is easy and fun. Set one up at church, school, or even at work. Your children's sport games are another great place to sell yummy snacks.

For Winter Tree and Wreath Sale or Spring Pansy and Azalea Sale -- - Contact a local nursery and work with them on a good price to pre-sell seasonal plants before planting season. Have order forms (both hard copies and electronic) and send to any and everybody. Customers would prepay and choose from a selection of colors and styles. Set up a pick-up location and the nursery will drop off the order to you. This has been very successful. You can also try to get orders from larger accounts, such as universities and businesses. The nursery should have no problem delivering for you this "new account" you have created for them.

Car Wash or Pet Wash - Many high school students, service clubs or church youth groups need community service hours, so you may want to contact these groups to raise funds for your team.  This is another great way to add more members to your team.  A pet wash could be fun, and they’re not as common as car washes.

Replicate the Angels walk event in Your Community on a Smaller Scale - Sign up sponsors for your own walk—5K, 2 miles, 5,200 yards, or any distance you set. Collect your pledges and be extremely proud of all you've accomplished!


                            Please tell us about events you have found sucessful!